by P. S. Power
“I have some good Human blood I can part with? You have friends that are Vampires, I hear? Call it a hundred bottles per trip? That’s what I do with Zack.”
Avery made a face, but had to shake her head at the words.
“I don’t know that many Vampires. It would probably go to waste. I can…” She really was at a loss. Nothing came to mind at all.
No one else did for a bit either, until Mr. Hobson did, sitting behind Catherine’s desk still.
“Clothes? She just mentioned needing a full wardrobe replacement. She’s getting some here tonight, but…” After a moment he seemed embarrassed, but the slightly mushy voiced person with the blood clapped a few times.
“Oh! I can make something for you? I haven’t had a chance to do much sewing in a few years. I used to be pretty good at it, back in the day. I’ll need a machine… Except that it would take a lot of clothing to be worth node travel.”
Avery felt a yawn coming on, so made an offer.
“A hundred silver coins and five dresses?” It wasn’t enough for the travel, but she kind of thought that it was technically part of her duty to the Shifters. If that was the case, then charging for it as well was horrible of her.
No one bothered even trying to haggle, which was always a sign that she’d undersold the value of her services. No one tried to take direct advantage of her over it, however. Calley simply made a pleased sound.
“Neat! We’ll meet you here? Or…”
“That works. I’ll be there a bit before nine? Unless there’s food there, then I’ll be there at seven.” As it was she needed to get to bed, if waking up that early was part of the plan. Food was going to come first though, since Keeber had mentioned that kind of thing. Taking care of her needs instead of just assuming that everyone would tell her when to eat and sleep.
Tyler spoke up then. There was humor in the words, but it was pretty clear he meant them as well.
“At seven then? I’ll cook. It’s not like I sleep, so I have time for things like that. Thanks, Ms. Rome. I look forward to meeting you.”
There was a clattering then, with a few people calling out their goodbyes. Then there was a single click. It probably wasn’t the most polite way to get rid of her, but it was pretty efficient. Given everything, that was good enough for the time being. After that, Keeber looking a bit confused by the discussion, she was allowed to pick out several outfits from the sales floor. That meant trying things on, the most annoying part of getting new things to wear but she hurried and only got three sets of clothing, selecting things that were on sale. She was paying for them after all. Not at that moment, but it was still coming out of her own pocket.
Then she changed into a nice pink sweater, which was soft and comfortable, along with a pair of stretchy jeans. That meant she was able to take her bags down to the Mage candle shop at a better clip than she would have managed wearing a dress. Not that her speed was physically better because of it. No, it was just a mental thing. Ladies didn’t run. In trousers she was a soldier. It made a real enough difference as to how she lived her life.
At the moment she needed to be ready to fight.
Once she got to the green door Avery had to tap on the glass for a while, before anyone came to the front. That was Lisa herself, looking exhausted. Her hair was lank, her skin sallow and dark rings looked to be nearly painted under her red and bloodshot eyes. The clothing she had on was the same stuff that Avery had seen her in last as well. For a Mage the woman reminded her of a Raccoon at the moment.
Avery got a bleary look through the glass, which seemed to lack comprehension. The woman on the other side clearly not understanding who she was at first. Probably because they’d only met a few times and her clothing was new. Regardless of that, the woman let her in, seeming to think that she wasn’t a big threat. That was due to the pink she had on, no doubt. The soft fuzzy sweater just screamed that the wearer was plush and cuddly. Like a rag doll or stuffed bear for a child. There were less wholesome things to seem like.
“Hello? We’re closed for the day… Is this Embassy business?” There was blinking going on, but no real sign of understanding.
“Hi Lisa. Um, Avery Rome? Line walker? You mentioned having a pickup of some people? Barbara said something about that? She would have come herself, but can’t leave her post right now.” That was a military idea, but given the war, Barbara had the right of it, as far as Avery was concerned. Someone had to be there, ready to do the job.
“Oh! Sorry. I just woke up. Sleeping in my office. Yes. Maddy Morse asked if I could find anyone willing to work with us. We’ll go with normal rates? Technically it’s an emergency, so we can’t really get the cost down on it. Three people, taken to a secure location? Paid in gold?”
Shiny, shiny gold. Avery liked the sound of that one, once it was spoken about. Silver would have worked as well. So could a lot of things.
“That should be doable. Are they near a node? If so I can do it now. I have to go get some sleep soon, otherwise and have some work first thing in the morning. Other than that… Well, I don’t know?”
Lisa didn’t speak, pulling her inside the shop, then closing and locking the door as if that was going to stop her from getting away. It wouldn’t since she could just turn the locking mechanism as well as anyone else. Kicking through the door, the wall or using the back door would probably work as well. She could, unlike most people, also walk through the node in the back.
She followed along anyway, noticing that the Mage smelled a bit. It was just like sweat and a bit musty, but it was there. Solid enough that she could have followed it that way, until she got further inside the space. Then the candle scent drowned it out. It made her nose tickle a little, so she tried to breathe through her mouth as she went to the back with the other woman.
By the time Avery got there Lisa had already scrambled to her desk phone and was talking to someone far away.
Looking up she pushed a paper across the desk at her.
“These are the locations… Can you do those? They’re kind of hard to find. On purpose. We can probably wait for Zack to do it, but no one has heard from him for a day.”
The names were a little strange, but they were on Earth, which meant that with a regular map, a thing Lisa had in the office already, in the form of an atlas, they were able to find the right nodes more or less. She ended up going to the wrong specific node, on the trip out, but the Trollienkeine at that location were pleased enough to have the Mages use their space. So much so that they even formed a guard to help them reach their embassy alive.
No one was hunting them of course, but the place was in Europe, which meant that the design of the building was different. It wasn’t one big connected place, but fifteen smaller structures that looked a lot like stone houses. It worked and didn’t take too long to get finished up with. Avery went with them, using the Mage node after checking to make certain they were happy with the service.
No one complained all that much. One woman did a bit, but only because she had a shoe filled with snow. It was easy enough to understand how that would be unpleasant, so Avery didn’t take it personally. So other than a bit of glaring for getting the wrong node house in the first place, no one did anything about it in particular. It was really cold outside, so she left from there, using the rift in the center of the small building. There was a nice warm fire going along the side wall, so it made sense not to get all chilly again. It wasn’t like she had a coat on, or cold weather gear.
That meant going back to Westfield, though from there she used the node to get back to Edom’s house immediately. She had things to do, like getting in touch with Lars and Eric, but that was going to have to hold until the next day, or she wasn’t going to get enough sleep to keep going. Besides, she hadn’t promised that she’d be in touch that day, so it wasn’t really breaking her word.
At the house, which wasn’t a mansion for all it was well decorated and very tidy inside, she found herself alone. For some reason she’d expected to
find Ed there, if not Eve. It made sense that her friend was busy working, but Edom wasn’t at the Embassy at the moment. No one had ever mentioned him doing anything else though. Then again, she’d been running almost constantly for days and wasn’t supposed to be doing that either. It could just be something like that.
She slept in a t-shirt and underthings, not having anything else that would work. It would be embarrassing if anyone saw her, but the next morning when she got up, she heard Edom coming in first, so managed to get herself around in the dark. Putting some jeans on before he moved past the door of her room. He knocked first, but could hear what she was doing, so just walked in.
“Hello! I didn’t know the schedule or anything. So I slept here.” She felt suddenly awkward, not knowing if she was expected to have found someplace else yet. That kind of made sense, but hadn’t seemed like the plan before. Things might have changed. It wasn’t like Avery had been around to pay attention to what was going on that way.
Edom smiled at her, winningly.
“I had to go to the Western Washington Vampire properties and businesses, to make sure everything was secure. It seems good, for now. No attacks or government teams watching anyplace that I can find. How are things on your side?” He sounded interested, but moved out of the doorway, so that she could leave the room. Not that she’d felt trapped, but it made a difference.
“I have a busy day. Heading to Sparks early. Getting Tyler Gartner and Calley Hale, then taking them to Colorado. I’m drafting people for the investigation into those murders? Jahn Samson said I could pick anyone I wanted, so I chose Calley Hale. She’s planning to run for President, so it makes sense to me.” Maybe not to anyone else. There was an interested look, so she went on then. “I picked Scotty… I don’t know his last name, actually. He’s a Vampire and a Bat Shifter? Anyway I’m getting him for the Vampire side of things. Harland said I should just kill the first person that refused to help, but I think he meant I should just ask. That makes more sense to me. Not that it came up. Scotty just agreed to help without me mentioning that.”
The words didn’t get the laugh she expected from the fellow. Instead he looked away.
“That’s serious. Not just that you could get away with killing one of us either. It means that he thinks you can back that up. Given who you are, being a line walker, he would have assigned someone otherwise. Probably me or Barbara, since you’re working so closely with our embassy. Scotty though? That’s an interesting choice. He is solid. A master Vampire now, having had training for that. A bit libido driven, but as long as you keep him on task it will be fine. Try not to kill him if you can? Living Proof is actually a decent band. I want to hear their next album. If it comes to that… Well, do what you have to. After all, he’s a good drummer, but that can be done by a lot of different people if it has to be.”
Edom smiled then, making the words into a game, then walked off into the house. That meant she was going to have a chance to shower, brush her teeth and change quickly. Looking at the clock on the wall of the living room it was only about six-thirty. Which once she thought about it might mean she was late already. There were time zones to take into account. She just didn’t know if it mattered in this case.
“Ah! I’ve got to run! Talk to you later!” She scampered then, moving from the back yard to the Yoghurt World, directly to the front of the mansion where Scotty and Tyler lived. She thought that was the right place. It had been mentioned by someone. Steve, she thought.
Knocking on the door she got ready to apologize for not being there on time. She could smell the food already, so had to fight the wince from her entire body posture. When the door opened, it was a man she didn’t recognize. He was physically a bit better looking than average. Thin, but fit seeming. Holding a silver bowl with batter in it, being stirred with a wooden spoon. The motion didn’t stop just because he was at the door.
The being was also filled with a blackness that was incredible to look at. Energy formed in black motes all around him, moving constantly in his presence.
“Avery Rome? I’m Ty. Come on in! I should have everything ready in about ten minutes?”
That was a good sign that she wasn’t all that late. Otherwise the food would be getting cold already.
Chapter eighteen
As it turned out the time zone was the same in Nevada as it was in Vancouver, Washington. That meant she’d forced herself to rush into being nearly half an hour early. Thankfully, Tyler Gartner, who looked to be about her own age, even though he clearly wasn’t a Human at all, was ready for that.
In fact, the being was different by far from anything she’d ever seen before.
There was a curtain of black energy moving into and around him constantly. It stopped, then flowed at times, as he moved around. Pushing him, if she had it right. Like waves moving things in the ocean. That part looked and sounded fairly normal, the external picture. Though he was a tiny bit stiff seeming when she focused on him intently enough. The movements were blocky and choppy, but only around the edges. He also didn’t stop as he prepared food. Avery sat at the kitchen table, watching him do his work, fearing that he was going to think she was just in the way if she tried to help.
He smiled at her, the mask that was his Human face forced into a grin. It looked real, on the outside, but was totally controlled by the man. Much more than she could have managed personally. It was kind of impressive.
“Pancakes, eggs, sausage… Veggie versions of those. I don’t eat meat, myself. I could get something for you, though? We’d need to send out for it.” Tyler seemed to feel that was really important for some reason.
Avery shrugged.
“I can eat anything. That smells really good. I kind of need to eat a lot, for a girl.” She wanted to feel bad about it, but the words just got a smile from the pale figure.
“Not a problem. I do that too. Anyway, thanks for getting here so early. I’ve been tracking you for the last few days. It sounds like you’ve been having a time of it. You were caught up in Vegas yesterday? I’m shocked that they didn’t try for Sparks at the same time, to be honest. What have you heard about who’s behind this?”
She tightened her lips a bit, pulling them to the side.
“Not much. I don’t know if that means there’s no news… It could be that I just don’t get to find out about things like that. I mean, who am I in all of this? Even if being a line walker is useful, no one knows me yet. Plus, I look young.” She was, in a lot of ways. Ancient as well.
That didn’t show on the outside, however.
Tyler nodded at her, the darkness pushing his head around, from the outside, to make it happen.
“I can see that one. That won’t matter to some of the groups we work with. Vampires can look any age. That means they tend to pay as much attention to what a person that looks seven says as they do someone that seems seventy. Shifters are better that way than Humans, since some of them stay youthful looking for a long time. I’ve never seen a Dragon look over their mid-twenties or so, for instance. You’re the youngest one I’ve ever met, but my point is that the people directly around you will judge you on what you do, more than appearances.”
There was a sudden movement toward the large griddle arrangement, piles of food being cooked, crisped and warmed all at one time. As soon as it was done, the man refilled the whole thing. That was because they weren’t alone for the meal, it seemed. After a few minutes of talking they were joined by Calley Hale, Steve York, Scotty the Vampire and a bone white woman who had red eyes and a hundred fangs in her mouth.
Avery looked around, feeling blank, but waved to them all. Being shy didn’t help all the time. She was, if nothing else, there to work for the day.
“Hello! I know everyone here except for you, ma’am.” She looked at the very white woman, smiling, trying to seem hopeful. She’d heard her speaking the night before, at a bet, but that didn’t give the woman a name.
The lady filled that in, the voice matching the offer of blood.
It was anger, from the red waves coming off of her. She tamped it down well enough, after a few moments. That didn’t mean the glaring didn’t get noticed by the others. Mainly Scotty, who went still. That was telling, given how frenetic he was the rest of the time.
Avery just pretended that the Vampire woman had been serious, since people found that funny sometimes. Her social skills weren’t that great really, which was a thing she understood about herself. After all, she’d grown up in a very different culture than these people had. One that hadn’t been much as far as fun, humor or friendliness for anyone that was too different. It was influencing an awful lot of what she was doing. Even how it was getting done.
She explained that part, trying to work past the whole thing. Hiding it wasn’t going to help her, she didn’t think.
“My family, um, I grew up on the road, with The Gray? The clans don’t sing, really. I’ve never done that kind of thing. No dancing either. We do like music but it’s all instrumental. Only the men are allowed to play. It isn’t considered proper for a woman.” For a moment she feared that the white lady, her eyes gleaming blood red without whites or blacks in them, would take offense.
Instead she just hissed a sigh, then grinned a bit. It was toothy.
“I grew up in something kind of like that myself. It was very different than what we have now. I love the modern age. The point is that we can’t just sucker you into the band playing tambourine in the back then? Too bad. That would be sweet. I can’t afford to have line travel for most things. Then, I can’t afford a private jet either, so I’ll probably live.” She grinned then. “Unless you need an extra girlfriend? Or boyfriend? I can toss one of these guys at you? Steve’s cute, don’t you think?”