Scales (Avery Rome Book 1)

by P. S. Power

  Zack looked at Calley specifically. The glasses wearing Bat stopped moving for half a minute, then nodded rapidly.

  “Can you get them to confess? To sneak out to the press and tell the truth? Then we can put them back and let them handle it. It will need to be done carefully, so that daddy doesn’t keep it out of the media. Then… I guess they can kill themselves? It isn’t what they really deserve, but prison isn’t going to be happening for them, is it? Not if they have the kind of power behind them that can control the FBI.”

  The Greater Demon looked at them all, his face blank.

  “I can do that for you. What are you willing to pay for the service?”

  Everyone went silent then, until Avery spoke up.

  “I did thirty line transfers for you earlier? What is that worth to you?” It was haggling, which was what you did when you shopped. They were trying to buy a service at the moment, which meant it made sense to try and use whatever they could to get a better deal.

  The Demon snorted a bit, then touched her hand. Nothing happened however.

  “Oh. Right. Okay then. Nothing for the work done, since you didn’t bargain first. That’s a win for me. Hurrah. Work a shift for me Tuesday? Six hours?”

  She looked at the man, not knowing the value of anything they were talking about.

  “Three. Normal amounts of people coming in. Only once.”

  “Hmmm. Eight hours, normal traffic flow, only once, but I’ll make sure they suffer as they die and do it publicly. After confessing in a way that sticks in the press.”

  That actually sounded fair to her, but everyone else was looking away, as if she might be doing something wrong. It was informative as to what was going on.

  “No tricks? Nothing counts here, other than what I can understand at this moment?”

  Zack covered the whole thing again, but then the Greater Demon put his hand out, to seal the bargain.

  “Done on those terms. This Tuesday? If that works out, we can see about hiring you on full time. You’d be paid full rates for that work, so even if you only want a day or two a week it will be worth doing. We’ll talk about that. Right now… Let me deal with the junior assassins here. Anyone want to abuse them first? They really do deserve it.”

  There was a sinister air to the words, but no one was all that interested in doing anything to the boys in their fancy gray uniforms. The white hats were round, but shone a bit in the dark. They didn’t have gloves on, which would have really made the things come together. They were getting grass stains on their trousers at the moment, with a bit of mud mixed in. It wasn’t raining, but it had been.

  Eve moved in to slap her on the back.

  “Not bad, new kid. Let’s get out of here. Unless you want help getting the boys back to their prison school?”

  Troy spoke then, his voice almost playful.

  “I’ll handle that part. See you all back at the mall?”

  Calley shook her head, pulled her phone and took video of the kids’ faces. They were starting to stir, but none of them bothered to do more than groan. Zack listed off each name as she did it, as well as who their parents were. Also what crimes they’d committed. It took a bit, since he added in a lot more than the murders. Most of the things were very small however.

  Calley nodded as she shut her camera down.

  “I need to get this back to my people. Rome is with me for that part. Lars, do you need a copy of this for your people? Scotty?” She glanced at Steve then and winked. “You have to know that the Mages will want all the data they can get. They do love keeping records. I’ll send the files. Or… Actually, you should do that. They need to know who was standing for them.”

  The words were rapid. So was their leaving. Eve moved back with them, following along through the whole thing, which meant going to the Colorado node with them. She stood in the back, not pressing in, letting Calley do that part.

  She used the computers there to upload the faces of the uniformed killers to the needed people. When Lang, Jahn and Little got there, the Bat spun the computer screen around rather dramatically.

  “Our team located the murderers. They were working in several states. Almost cleverly, not the one they lived in. Kids. Military school students. One of them was well connected enough to hide what was going on. It doesn’t seem to be connected directly to the other attacks, but has been handled for now. We’ve contracted the Line Walker to get foolproof confessions from them. Then they’ll kill themselves. Publicly. Rome took care of that payment for us. This doesn’t fix or correct what was done. It isn’t justice, but it’s a win for our side anyway. The murders will stop. These killings. The attacks won’t be affected by this, at a guess. They might even get worse if the head of the DHS suspects we’re involved in his son’s suicide.”

  Avery saw the problem there without having to be very clever or anything. The task was done, but it didn’t explain why the FBI and other agencies had been attacking them. Not directly. That hadn’t been her job however.

  People at the Shifter Nation HQ seemed pleased enough with Calley at the moment. It was going to be useful propaganda for her coming campaign, after all. Plus, it would make them look good with the other groups. They wanted to keep them all there for the night, but Eve shook her head on that one.

  “Nope. We have at least three other reports to make. Vampires next?”

  Jahn Samson was clear headed enough to see that being useful.

  “We should have Rebekah report in to her people as well. She was very helpful today, when we needed to make connections with several other organizations. Do we get to have her in again? We can clear an office for her.”

  Eve hadn’t been there for that part of things, but was quick, mentally it seemed. She agreed instantly.

  “I can get her in and out. If not me, then Avery can see to that? If you have time?” She actually looked into Avery’s eyes on that one. It was a real question, not a hidden command.

  “Sure? We should do that now? I don’t know where the Vampires are right now.”

  Which didn’t really matter, because Eve did.

  They called first anyway. Interestingly they left Calley and Steve behind, dropping them off at the mansion in Sparks. That meant it was Vampires going in. If you didn’t count Avery. That part nearly didn’t make sense, until they got into place, inside a node that was almost a large mansion all on its own. It was impressive, but old seeming. Worn on the edges, but everything in the stone building was refined anyway.

  Eve waved them forward.

  “Home sweet home. For the council, not any of us. No, I get to work as a yogurt girl while they all lounge in splendor.” She grinned then, her face pleased. “Bey isn’t thrilled by this place. It’s traditional though and gives us an entire node complex of our own. Now that we have three people that can use it without slaughtering hundreds of Vampires it’s almost useful. Let’s see. Down this way? I hear voices at least. The shrill piping terror of Gene, to be specific.”

  Avery didn’t hear that herself. There wasn’t much movement either, so she had to trust in what her friend was telling her. When they got to the door of the right room, there were actually ten people inside, instead of the four that she’d expected.

  There had been hints of other council members, but Avery had never met them before. When they walked in, everyone at the table turned to look at them.

  Bey was about halfway down the large stone thing, his bald head shining a bit in the light from the candles that hung above them from the ceiling.

  “Eve. Rebekah. Scott.” The old Vampire bowed to each of them, ending on her. “Miss Avery Rome. Thank you all for joining us. This is grand news.”

  The others were still and silent, until a very strange looking bald lady with pointed ears and long fingers spoke.

  Her voice was ancient and smooth at the same time.

  “Indeed. That you did not allow yourselves to be sidetracked by the events of the day, finishing your tasks first… That is impressive. Few would
have managed that, given everything.” There was a direct look from the all black eyes. They lingered on Eve though, flickering to the others only in passing. Until they got to Avery.

  “This creature is the one you spoke of, Bey? The Dragon you hired?” The woman didn’t seem to mean anything by the words, though several of the people around the table winced.

  “That is correct. Perhaps a bit more kindness would be in order?” His voice was soft. Gentle and kind as he spoke to the ancient Vampire lady with no hair.

  She blinked several times then.

  “Ah… What did I say?”

  Bey smiled gently.

  “You called the new line walker a creature. We tend to not use that phrasing with the Shifters now. It’s a rather… antiquated term.”

  The woman stood then, bowing with a flourishing motion.

  “Forgive me? The years have pressed on my mind in strange ways. I meant no insult.”

  Avery didn’t know what to do, so she smiled. There were worse things to be called after all.

  “I understand.”

  Bey clapped then, looked at Eve and had her run through the entire thing for everyone. It took a few minutes, the events that she’d lived through being far different than what Avery and her team had seen. Then, they hadn’t been trying to find the killers of regular people. No, the Line Walker, Eve and Troy had been seeking the people behind the current attacks.

  “We still are. This was a dead end. Partially. Next we’re going after the heads of all the agencies involved, until we find something. Right now…” She paused, moving in to pat Avery on the shoulder. “Right now we need to get Avery home, so she can sleep. Her deal with the Line Walker has her working this Tuesday, taking his place. That’s tomorrow. It’s kind of a large thing. So far he’s only ever let Kaitlyn the Alede take over for him. I think he’s marking Miss Rome as being very important. He’s even offered her a chance at having a job with him. No one else has gotten that offer directly. We should make a point of courting her, if we can.”

  Gene, the boy, nodded.

  “That’s a solid plan, Snowflake. Do you suggest these others here for that task? They’re famous and well connected… Yes, that makes sense. What do you say, Rebekah? Scotty? Will you see to Miss Rome’s comfort and care for us?”

  The bone white woman bowed first.

  “Of course. Even if not asked. We’re friends after all. All of us.”

  Bey smiled then, clapping a single time.

  “Indeed! Very well. Please make arrangements for that? Eve, a word before you leave? Miss Rome, we may call on you in the future, I hope? We’ll have the funds you earned delivered directly.”

  That was a dismissal, so she nodded and left the room, Rebekah and Scotty along with her. They didn’t speak until they were back at the mansion in Sparks, stepping out of the very tidy and useful rift there. As soon as they got into place, Rebekah moved in for a hug.

  “That went better than I figured it would! Things can run hot and cold with those types. Most of them are a bit insane. A few are truly mad. This way Scotty and I can run interference for you there. We can report to Eve on it and she can go through Bey. That’s three levels of protection for you. Not that you need us for that, really. Still, do you want to come in? We can get you a room.”

  Avery was tempted, feeling tired to the bone, but the truth was, she already had a place to be. One in a nice house and everything. With Vampires, but they weren’t the only people that wanted her. Thanks to her new abilities.

  She begged off, smiling at the people with her. Each of them got a small hug, but she didn’t go in.

  “I need to rest up. There’s a war going on still. I’ll come back in the morning to get you?” She meant Rebekah, but Scotty seemed to think he had a job to do as well still. He might even, until the boys that had killed all those people confessed to the press.

  Then killed themselves.

  She was going to have to find a way to track all of that.

  Avery left, moving back to Yoghurt World first, then to Edom’s house. This time the man was actually there, even if it had to be early in the evening for him.

  “Avery! I got word that you and your team have found those murderers? Eve called.”

  “Yeah. It’s… Well, I wasn’t really involved. Just moving people around. I hope that I helped some? Anyway, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do next. Work for the Line Walker tomorrow. Taking his place at his shop. Making transfers. At least I don’t think I’m supposed to do the book part of things. I… I can read and write, but I’m not that good at it.” She felt embarrassed about that but the man in front of her simply moved in to give her a small hug.

  “Have you thought about going to school? My understanding is that no one has any real claim on your time so far. You were working for Bey, but that’s done now. Zack’s part is done tomorrow. We could get you registered locally, if you want? High school, I think, given your age.”

  She smiled at that.

  “I don’t know. I could… I guess I can try? Going to school with Humans…” She didn’t know if that would work. Half of her mind still wanted to look down on them. The rest looked at people like Steve and wanted to think that there was no way he was worse than anyone else.

  Zack, Troy and Chris from the other world were all Human as well. They were fine beings, not ones that tainted others just by existing. Even she, a Death Serpent, the lowest of the low, had helped find beings that were even worse that day.

  She nodded then, not letting her face show the fear she felt inside over the whole idea.

  “Yes. I’d like that. I’ll go to school.” With Humans.

  They weren’t beneath her. They never had been. The hard part would be in existing with them while they warred against her kind.

  Edom didn’t get that part yet, but it was what she intended to try.

  She was going to be around them. In their own place. As herself.

  A Dragon.

  With her scales and all. There for everyone to see.

  It would be different but if the world was ever going to change, it had to start somewhere. It might as well be with her.

  Other books by P.S. Power that you might like .

  (All books are in the suggested reading order by series.)

  Young Ancients: (The First Cycle)

  The Builder (Tor's first book)

  Knight Esquire (Tor)

  Knight of the Realm (Tor)

  Ambassador (Tor)

  Counselor (Tor)

  Slave Line (Tor)

  The Dark Half of the Sun (This is the first book with Timon as a main character)

  A Simple Darkness (This one has Tiera)

  Ancient Kings (Tor)

  Lord of the Sky (Timon)

  The Silence Within (Tiera)

  Kingdom of Stars (Timon)

  Goddess of the Moon (Tiera)

  Envoy to Earth (Garent)

  Strange Land (Sara)

  Young Ancients (The Second Cycle)

  Lineage (Dareg Canton)

  The Infected: (The super-hero stories)

  (The Beginning Arc)

  Proxy (Brian)

  Gabriel (Denis)

  Cast Iron (Marcia)

  Proxy: Reunions (Brian)

  Cellophane (Penny)

  Goblin (Tobin)

  Reunions (Brian)

  Ghost Girl (Becky and Scott)

  Impulse: A Whole New Day (Bridgette)

  War Day (Brian)

  Dead End: (Zombies, people with powers and the end of the world. Everything Jake!)

  A Very Good Man

  A Very Good Neighbor

  A Very Good Thing

  A Very Dark Place

  Dead End: Stories from the End of the World the Definitive Collection (This has all of the above books, plus a load of short stories from other perspectives.)

  Gwen Farris: (The story of a woman who wakes up in a magical steampunk world. Into a better life than she ever dreamed of. Which is still pretty darne
d dark and gritty.)

  Abominations

  Monsters

  Strangers and Lies

  Tremble in the Dark

  Friends and Enemies

  The Mask of Omegon

  Keeley Thomson: (The Greater Demon Universe, in suggested reading order. There are several sub series, marked in bold below)

  Demon Girl

  Keelzebub

  Mistress of Souls

  Demon Trap

  Demon Bait

  Related works:

  Christmas of the Vampire

  Friendzoned (Becky Hoader. This book takes place in the Greater Demon Universe, but isn't supernatural, and is instead a coming of age novel. You'll recognize a lot of other names however! Also there are some things that will be very different once you know what's going on...)

  Other Places: (Zack Hartley)

  Shortcuts

  Road Blocks

  Detours

  Alternate Places: (Zack Hartley, but a totally different one! These were the first three books written by P.S. Power. Then everything changed.)

  Mr. Hartley

  Between

  On The Line (Kaitlyn's first book.)

  Eve Benson: (Everything Eve!)

  Finally Dead

  Dead and Everything

  Dead Certain

  Tyler G.: (All Tyler!)

  Living Proof

  The Living and The Dead

  Among the Living

  The Lament: (This is a standalone, complete series.)

  Without Rhythm

  Off Center

  Missing Elements

  The Greasepaint Chronicles: (Mystery series. It's about a clown that solves crimes. The whole thing is rather dark.)

  A Fear of Clowns

  Stand Alone Novels:

  Josh and Amy: Something to Think About (Soppy author insertion love story, clearly, as written by a person that clearly has issues with their past, and a strong fantasy life.)

  An Unrelenting Terror (The worst book that P.S. Power ever wrote. An experimental horror novel. I'd skip it, or at least read it in a dark room, all in one go.)