Scales (Avery Rome Book 1)

by P. S. Power

  It was Bey who moved to repair the situation however, bowing a bit toward the others.

  “Perhaps we could find a telephone and contact the agent? Alas, I do not have such a thing on my person. I travel too much for them to be of great use.”

  Eric patted his jacket and pulled a small device then, smiling.

  “I can do that bit. I even have the number… Let me…” He stared at the screen and tapped it a few times, then held the unit to his head.

  Flesh colored, but still glowing, heat and radiation poured from the thing. It started to warm his skin almost instantly. After a bit it would probably get uncomfortable. Thankfully for the older man, he didn’t have to hold his position for long, a female voice answering. Avery blanched a bit, realizing that she’d been thinking of a lady as a man.

  “Borden here. Go.” The lady sounded annoyed for some reason. As if someone daring to talk to her was nothing more than a way to ruin her day. It certainly wasn’t the way a Human woman should have been speaking to a Mage Elder.

  Avery wouldn’t have, at any rate. Then, it was becoming clear that the ways she’d been taught were different than the ones the rest of the world used. It was a thing that had been mentioned as a child. How ungodly and unclean others were. Grimacing, she forced herself to drop that line of thought. It wasn’t right. No matter how she felt about things at the moment.

  Eric Weise smiled. His face showed that he was upset already. It didn’t show in his voice, thankfully.

  “Hello. This is Eric Weise? The delegation has arrived at the New Mexico node location… We seem to have missed you?” There was politeness in the tone, even if his face didn’t match that part of things at all. Lang watched him closely, but kept her own mouth well shut. It was a thing that was clearly taking effort for her to manage.

  There were tension lines on her face, as well as a red haze that moved away from her, directed at the telephone in Eric’s hand.

  The voice there, in the man’s palm, made a rather desperate sound then.

  “Fuck. I’m about ten minutes away. Maybe twenty? We had new data come in just as I was leaving, so I stayed to get the update.”

  For some reason that got Lang to nod.

  “That makes sense. Tell her that we’ll be just inside the main entrance?” The idea that the Human had been working, not just playing or being rude to them seemed to mollify the older Shifter a lot. Out of all of them, only Lars seemed worried then, the rest relaxing with the explanation.

  Avery didn’t get why the man was fidgeting, if it wasn’t about the sun.

  After Eric hung up, tapping a single button lightly with a finger, Bey led them back inside, his steps smooth and nearly soundless. The rest of them were a lot louder. Not as much as the nearby Humans were. Even their kids stomped along, instead of picking where their feet would fall. A tiny one, a boy of about four or five managed to run into her leg as he fled the attentions of what had to be his older sister. The girl and boy were both blond and pale. Thin as well.

  Except for their slightly rounded cheeks.

  The small boy froze when he hit her, then looked up, his blue eyes shining.

  His small voice was cute sounding, at first.

  “Watch it bitch! Stay out of my way.” Then, before she could even think to formulate a reply, the girl moved over, to pull the child away. That one only seemed to be about eight or so. Instead of scolding the younger child, she just seemed scared.

  “Come on Billy. Let’s…” They ran off, back to an older woman, who must have been about thirty. She was blonde as well, but sniffed at them, as if to let them know they weren’t nearly good enough to be there. Most of her attention was on Bey, however.

  That was strange, since Avery would have chosen to watch Lars herself. He was over eight feet tall and massive. Bey’s name was whispered from a way off, another person lifting his own phone, to get pictures.

  That man, who seemed Latino, was speaking rather urgently.

  “Vampire Council… Bey…” He was whispering and far enough away that Avery couldn’t make out exactly what was being said.

  It seemed that the Vampire could. So did Lang, her Wolf hearing being much better than the Dragon version that Avery had. If Lars got what was going on, he didn’t show it, seeming pleased to be out of the heat.

  Their group’s Vampire smiled hugely.

  “It seems that I have been discovered! There was a time when such a thing would have required the destruction of everyone within sight of the accusation. Now it is simply a strange kind of celebrity. Young Eve has suggested that I perform in a reality television program, to amuse the masses. I’ve declined so far.” He moved smoothly, his face still pleasant seeming, as he glanced around the large open space inside the mall complex. “It lacks a certain dignity, don’t you think?”

  Avery nodded, though she didn’t really know what the man was talking about. She’d seen television, but only a few times in her life. Battle camp had been about learning to fight, not watching entertainments. When she’d been with The Gray, that kind of thing had been forbidden, for the most part. It was a corrupting influence, if given too much attention.

  Their leader had always told them that anyway.

  Still, she’d been in public a few times, which meant that Avery had seen screens with moving pictures on them. It was just the specifics she didn’t get. Thankfully she didn’t have to admit to that, since several other people were starting to pay attention to them. A few had cameras that seemed larger and more important thanks to their weight. One clutch of people boldly walked over, a young man in a light blue jacket in the front.

  “Hey! You’re from the Vampire Council, right? The killer? Can we ask a few questions?” Apparently saying no wasn’t an option, though Bey tried that one.

  “I would prefer not to be seen here as of yet…” He was very soft spoken about it, seeming nearly shy. It didn’t get the man to back away at all. In fact, it seemed to make him more willing to approach. That meant a small silver and black thing was shoved toward Bey’s face.

  The others all moved back, so that they wouldn’t be caught on camera as well. It wasn’t until Lang whispered to Eric that Avery understood that it could be a very bad thing.

  “We don’t need to disclose our being here yet. It could set our prey running before we even start…”

  Things clicked in her head then, as Bey started to hold very still. Eerily so, in fact.

  Blue jacket man, who looked to be about twenty, plus a few years, moved closer, as if not being killed outright was an invitation to join them.

  “Why are you here in New Mexico? Are you going to kill people? That’s your job, isn’t it? For the Vampires? It’s been on the web. Is Eve Benson going to be coming as well? If so, can I get her number?”

  The man looked around, noticed that the others were pulling back, which got him to wave at them, so his friend, who was also young, would focus on them. Not knowing why, Avery stepped forward then, which got the man to smile at her.

  “Are you, like… His food? I thought that Vampires were only allowed to drink bottled blood now. This is great. I’m putting this up on YouTube directly. Ken, make sure to get all their faces.”

  Seeing the Bey wasn’t going to be interesting, the man moved toward Lang, holding his hand out. That wasn’t going to go over well, since it was kind of clear that the Elder lady was going to harm him, if the Human approached too closely.

  So Avery stepped between them, trying to smile.

  “Back away. Move!” She was falling back on her crowd control training. It would have worked better if she had a rifle in her hands, but her voice was nicely low and booming as she growled at the men. Enough so that they actually started to step away. Until the others got there.

  People with other cameras.

  They were all being captured then, their faces and likenesses being recorded. Eric did something, turning his back, his shoulders moving as he waved his hands in the air, drawing patterns there in silver l
ight. It wasn’t a fast process, but Avery understood he was doing something to the devices. There were silver lines in the air running to about a third of them. The closest ones.

  Not even close to all of them, however.

  Lars, the giant Trollienkeine fellow, smiled then, moving to put himself closer to the crowd. Blocking the others with his massive frame.

  “Do they seek battle?” He had a heavy accent, which was kind of Germanic sounding to Avery. It was clear that he knew the Humans weren’t actually attacking however.

  At least he didn’t start out by tossing them away or hitting them. Even Avery didn’t do that, just moving in to stand next to him, about five feet away. Putting a barrier between them and the others with their bodies. Like guards. Lars even looked the part.

  It was clearly, up to her to get the people away, without them becoming more interested in them than was needed. She had no idea at all what to say or do however. Fighting was probably their best plan, given everything. She could have beaten them all up and stolen their cameras, Avery was certain. They weren’t offering violence, however, just offense. Possibly ruining the whole mission, by letting the enemy know that they were there in the first place.

  There were several pops, as cameras clicked off. Most of the Humans didn’t get it, but Bey smiled slightly larger then, shifting in place. Distorting a bit as he did something. Whatever it was caused the rest of the devices to make noises as well. One of the Humans, the first man, yelped.

  “Ouch!” He was standing well back, shaking the hand that held his cell phone a bit. Probably in pain.

  The situation was better then, at a guess. Even if they didn’t know it, the people around them seemed to be lacking functioning tools now, so couldn’t capture their images. That wouldn’t stop them from spreading tales of who had come, but it might slow down the spread of that kind of thing for a few days. She glanced at the older people, feeling shy.

  “We should get to a more secure location. We still have five to fifteen minutes before our contact arrives.” Her voice was more girlish now, sounding embarrassed, though Lang smiled at her hugely.

  “We can go to Brand Village here? I’m sure they’ll provide temporary sanctuary for us all.”

  It was a good enough plan, but they were followed by the small crowd. Cut off from just walking down the mall to the correct shop. What was closer was this location’s Vampire Embassy. It was a Yoghurt World, but also had a sign in the clean window that said who ran the place. Bey led them in, his face fixed in a small grin.

  “Perhaps we could repair inside here for the time being? Barring the door against these… Kind people that seek only to heap praise upon us?” He sounded bemused by the idea, but it was kind of close to what was actually going on.

  These people weren’t rioting or attacking them, just attempting to get close to Bey, who was, apparently, famous. Also in charge enough on the Vampire side of things that walking into the embassy and locking the doors to keep Humans out didn’t get him yelled at. In fact, the woman behind the counter, who seemed to be in her early thirties, simply smiled at them.

  “Hello!” She glanced at the people standing outside, still pointing their broken devices and cameras. Her face was pleasant seeming as she tilted her head. “Can I get you folks anything?”

  The woman was filled with pink energy, lines of the stuff running off toward people in different directions. Except that the color was wrong for that. A darker sense to the things, which probably meant that they weren’t Human beings on the other end of those lines at all.

  Bey clasped his hands, facing the woman directly.

  “Ah! Ambassador Norret! I seem to have been recognized, which is placing us in a rather delicate position. I am Bey, of the Council? Here to investigate some recent killings. Would it be all right if we hide in here for a moment? Our Human contact should arrive shortly, but until then…”

  There was a nod from the woman, who was dressed in black slacks, a deep purple silk shirt and an apron over the top of that. It was white and green, with a Yoghurt World logo on it. She had very short black hair and features that spoke of her being at least part Latino. Her skin was too pale to really sell that, but it was mainly her being dead that did that part of things, Avery was willing to hazard.

  “Of course, Lord. Do you wish me to dispatch them, or… drive them back?” There was nervousness in the words, but the woman seemed ready to live up to her word on the matter.

  Avery shook her head, getting her attention.

  “Their cameras are all broken. They don’t know that yet. So they aren’t getting anything right now, I don’t think. How we’re going to escape from here… Is there a back door?”

  The woman smiled at her, just a hint of fang teeth showing.

  “There is! This way. We can…” She started in that direction, then stopped and winced. “Well! The nerve. Someone is standing back there. Talking on their phone. Speaking with someone who is standing out front, coordinating so that we cannot easily escape.” She spun, but didn’t speak at first, or point a finger. “There, the small blonde woman in the back of the crowd? It’s her. I fear we are trapped, unless we fight our way free? I can distract them while you flee…”

  They weren’t really trapped though, since there was a node inside the place. It was further to the left by about twenty feet than the one in the Vancouver complex, but the store layout was similar enough otherwise. There were no sofas in the back or anything here though. Just an empty space with shelves along the right hand wall. That had things like boxes of napkins and ice cream mix in containers, when Avery looked at what was there.

  “We can use the node? Then just go over to Brand Village here and walk out.” That was further from the main door, but if there was a back door to that space as well, they could probably make it work.

  Norret gave her a funny look then, but nodded.

  “Can you just walk through nodes then? That’s impressive. Are you a Demon, ma’am?”

  Bey shook his head, smiling.

  “This is Avery Rome. The Shifter line walker. She transforms into a Dragon, I believe? A most delightful young lady. At present she’s in my employ, here to aid us with our current mission. A joint task, as you can see. I do not know if using such is within our contract however? Moving from one node location to another. Perhaps it would be better to risk combat?” The ancient Vampire seemed serious enough about that, if soft spoken on the matter.

  Gentle and kind, even.

  The apron wearing Vampire woman nodded, as did Eric Weise. Lars however moved in and slapped Avery on the shoulder, rocking her forward.

  “I do not know, but shouldn’t that be up to Avery Rome? What would the price of such a journey be, line walker?” His brown eyes were tinged with yellow as the very tall man stared at her.

  Putting her on the spot.

  Avery didn’t know how to respond at all, since she already had a deal for millions of dollars in place. It was clear that these people valued her labor, but talking about money constantly left her feeling uneasy.

  “The bargain was for all line travel needed for the investigation. This counts.” She managed to sound certain of that, her voice being calm and smooth. Lars just slapped her on the shoulder again.

  “There! So we have a plan, which will save the lives of these strange and bothersome Humans. This is their land and they don’t deserve death for being in it, or watching us, I do not believe? We have some time to waste… Could I perhaps purchase a large treat?” He spoke directly to the Ambassador, since she was the one in charge there.

  It sounded good, but Avery didn’t have any cash on her, so didn’t mention getting anything for herself. She was hungry and would have to go and find food eventually. Not that she’d starve to death if she didn’t eat soon. She’d pretty much just go to sleep though, if she couldn’t find anything.

  Lang Peterson smiled then, reached into her pocket and pulled out several bills.

  “My treat? Avery, you need to eat. P
lease, get whatever you like.”

  Bey smiled and clapped his hands.

  “Oh, do allow us to provide that for you? We would be poor hosts, to charge our fellows for such simple things. If that is allowable, Norret? This is your protectorate.”

  Instead of seeming upset, the woman went slightly wide eyed, smiling at the same time.

  “That won’t be any trouble at all. What would you all like?”

  Avery looked at what was offered, then rather shyly asked if she could have a coconut pineapple sundae. It was ice cream based, but tasty enough. The Vampire didn’t stint either, making the things far larger than the pictures on the wall showed them to be.

  They ate with red plastic spoons, the crowd out front milling a bit as it grew. Out back there were more people as well. About twenty of them. Avery could build a mental picture of them as they walked, the deep roaring of their passing letting her know about them. They looked to be a translucent blue to her, but the detail was fine enough to get who was a man or woman. Even that one of the ladies was pregnant. There were more cameras however, so heading out that way was a bad idea now. Probably just as bad as forcing through the front, if they didn’t want to be seen. As it was they had to hide in the back room. Standing while they ate.

  After ten minutes, Eric had to pull his phone from his jacket pocket, since it buzzed at him.

  Avery kept eating, since the food was good and she didn’t know when more would be coming. That meant she was nearly finished as the Mage spoke to the FBI agent.

  “Weise? I’m just about there. Pulling into the parking lot now. You’re by the main entrance?”

  The man cleared his throat then, seeming amused, rather than worried.

  “Not presently. We were spotted. A rather decent crowd has gathered. We’ve manage to disable most of the cameras, but not all, since new people have come. We have the ability to move to that side of the complex however, using the nodes here… Teleportation? I’m not certain where we’ll come out however.” The man looked at Lang, which was correct, since she was the one that knew the layout there best.