Other Places 3: Detours

by P. S. Power

  Other Places: Book Three

  Detours

  P.S. Power

  Orange Cat Publishing

  Contents

  Chapter one

  Chapter two

  Chapter three

  Chapter four

  Chapter five

  Chapter six

  Chapter seven

  Chapter eight

  Chapter nine

  Chapter ten

  Chapter eleven

  Chapter twelve

  Chapter thirteen

  Chapter fourteen

  Chapter fifteen

  Chapter sixteen

  Chapter seventeen

  Chapter eighteen

  Chapter nineteen

  Chapter twenty

  Chapter twenty-one

  Chapter twenty-two

  Chapter one

  Zack was a bit amazed at how fast the work had gotten done on the new store. His new place. It had gone from being two empty store shells in the Westfield mall, to having polished hard wood floors, a nice front counter area, rows of solid wood bookshelves, and a small cafe in the back on the left hand side. There was more than that too, since on that same side, a bit more forward, was the "reading room" where people could take books they selected and lounge on comfy sofas or in nicely appointed leather chairs while they read.

  If one of the Alede, or Zack supposed, other workers there, didn't lock the doors so they could have sex. That was the real purpose of the place after all. Technically there were two small rooms in there for that, having their own furniture. To him it seemed a bit overdone, but he hadn't had to do all the work, so wasn't going to whine about it.

  Kaitlyn and some of her friends had done that part. He'd just paid for it all. The cafe had been put in place by a nice Hsreth woman, named Palma, who had come with a recommendation from Zack's Aunt, Keeley. She looked like all of her kind, sort of blocky, with naturally curly hair, and pale skin. Still, she was willing to work for room, board and only a few thousand dollars a month. That was really high, for a simple mall worker, but the woman was a three hundred year old master chef and baker, so it was probably a steal, as far as that went. True, it meant that Zack had to trade for a small house close to the mall for her to live in, but that hadn't been all that hard really. People were more than willing to help him set things like that up now, for some reason.

  Even the ones that were clearly afraid of him. Especially them.

  That part of things wasn't his favorite, if he was going to be honest with the world. No one wanted people to live in fear of them, did they?

  Mirror Him, the voice that lived inside of his head laughed, and let his face show a bit in the shining brass molding along one of the shelves.

  'Right. No one wants to be feared... except for half of humanity. That's a kind of power, if you aren't too much of a pussy to take it.' There was less sarcasm in the words than Zack was used to, as if the broken part of his mind was actually just making a point.

  He was probably right, which was a scary thing to consider. Greater Demons were a lot of things, including strange, and about half the time, totally insane, like him. No one ever thought of them as wimps though. If he let that happen, well, the other Demons wouldn't make fun of him. They'd capitalize on it, and kill him, before he even noticed it being done.

  That sent a small shiver of fear through his soul, but Zack focused, remembering what it felt like to be calm and collected, then added a sense of confidence to the mix, as well as a tiny touch of magic. He'd been learning to be careful there, not using more than was really needed. No one had told him that, but once he started paying attention, it just made sense. You shouldn't waste resources, if you could help it.

  He didn't answer the voice in his head, or the reflection in the brass work, choosing to keep looking around closely instead. The books were on their shelves, all in the correct sections, and tightly packed enough that the place seemed to be real, not just a front for other things. They had a computer system set up too, with every title cataloged, as well as the ability to find and order things for pretty much anyone that wanted it.

  The place smelled a bit, since there was a hint of plaster and dust in the air still, from some work being done earlier in the day. The new plants had been brought in though, and while they were all ones that could deal well in low light situations, they were also nice and green, giving the place a refined feeling, that wasn't scary or depressing at all. A lot of the shops at the mall had that kind of vibe going on, which, along with the horrible location, being near the middle of an industrial area, meant very few real customers ever came in.

  Still, the whole place, other than being a sex hunting ground for the Alede, was really a front for his own operation. That took up nearly a third of the space too, and was off to the right, through the rather nice double wide wooden door there. The handles were more brass, and it was decorated with carvings of owls and pine cones. Okay, that was a bit generous, since it looked more like whoever had done it had started out doing very professional work and became brain damaged toward the bottom, but the fact was that it had been the other way around.

  Zack had gotten decently good at it by the time he reached the top. He was already working on another version of it, but even Darla, his Greater Demon Mentor, had thought that very few people would care about his shoddy and inept work on that. That was a quote too. She wanted him to do his best, and so did he, but she was also practical. The truth was that only a few people out of every hundred would do more than glance at the thing, and half of them that did would think it was a stylized representation, or something.

  Those that claimed to be interested in art generally tried to be open minded too, which made the whole thing a lot easier that way.

  The door didn't make a sound as he entered at least, the hinges well fit and oiled, by him again, and the space on the other side was...

  Pretty nice, and basically open. He had a little office in the back, but it was only about five by seven, and had a single tiny desk in it for answering the phone, if it came up. There were a few hooks on the walls for coats and things like that too. That, a soft looking office chair and a walk around phone. That was it for the place, so far. He'd need to personalize it with pictures, or some art.

  The main area was done in marble, with a stone circle on the floor about halfway to the back. That was where the node was, as demonstrated by the cut green marble tile that sat in a sea of white that had soft green streaks in it. He'd picked it all out, and again, done the work on it himself, but it had been after the door, and gone a lot better.

  That was mainly thanks to the vast storehouse of information in his head though. All of art, history and pretty much any skill that anyone had ever come up with. All he had to do was think about a subject for a bit, and the data would start to flow. It was harder to work with than it sounded, and he knew he wasn't really getting it all yet, but hey, for a Demon like him, that was pretty much what crazy meant.

  Now all they had to do was sit around and wait for some customers.

  Zack grinned, and headed out to the main area. Right now the floor staff was totally made up of women, for some reason, though that could change, if he wanted. Daily, if need be. The Alede were all going out as women at first, but if a lot of females came into the store, then they'd accommodate them by becoming a trove of good looking men.

  Right now though it was Claudia and Kaitlyn holding the front, along with him and Palma in their own sections. He was, even though no one knew it yet, planning to work clean up, and on the floor, for the most part. All the stocking was done for the moment, but things came up at busy places. He was almost sure of it. Not that this one would have that kind of traffic, especially at first.

&nbs
p; On the good side, they were going to be open twenty-four hours a day, since one of the things he got out of being him was the nifty ability to not need sleep. Not that he'd be there all the time, but if a call came in at four in the morning, there would be a body there to get in touch with him.

  So far though, no one seemed ready to come in. Then again, the front was closed off, and the big steel safety gate was still down, making that hard for regular people that might want to give them a try. Kaitlyn waved to him, Claudia standing beside her, beaming. It was almost nine after all, so they stood ready to get things started. It was sort of exciting, after all. He'd never owned a business before.

  Kaitlyn smiled at him, far too cutely for a real girl, her thick rimmed glasses looking out of place on her face. Like she was actually a top actress, just pretending to be a nerd girl for a role. Since that wasn't too far off, Zack let it go. At least she'd worn jeans and a nice sweater, rather than a mini skirt and come-fuck-me heels. Like the Alede next to her. She did look hot though. About as sexy as was manageable for a place like what they had.

  Zack smiled back at them.

  "All right! Palma, ready in the back?" He pitched his voice to be almost playful, since that was a thing he could do, if he worked at it. There was a brief pause, before the woman answered. It was, Zack knew, that she'd actually done an assessment of the whole cafe and eating area before responding. She was good at her job and took it seriously.

  "The back stands ready!"

  Then trying to be cute, he looked at the two girls. Well, one girl and one woman. They both looked young, but the fact was that Claudia was fifty-three, for all that she looked thirty years younger than that. Kaitlyn was seventeen though, and looked it.

  "Ready in the front?"

  The older one licked her lips, her mind going to things other than steel door activation switches, but Kaitlyn answered. Her words a bit loud so that Palma could hear her too.

  "The front stands ready!"

  Zack took a deep breath and then leaned in next to Kait, turning the brass key and holding it in place, since that was needed to work the door. There was a red and silver button too, which he pointed at.

  "Ladies, if you'd do the honors?" That meant both of the incredibly good looking women pressing against him in order to get it done. Not that they had to do that at all, but asking a succubus to avoid contact was probably considered rude, he reflected, trying to ignore it without using any magic to get the job done.

  Then, slowly and a bit laboriously, the heavy metal safety grate pulled up, spooling onto the roll at the top, stopping with a soft clank. The lights were already on, but they had some book displays that would actually move right out to the front, as well as signs on stands. Working as if they'd practiced the moves, that got done in about a minute, without any stress or dumping out of bestselling books at all.

  Zack clapped, then spoke, not bothering to make himself lie. That was still hard for him, but could be done, with enough magic and make believe. Otherwise he still told the truth all the time.

  "Good, now if you two remember to up sell, and remind people that Palma is one of the best at her job, we might even have a real customer or two someday." There was a smile that went with it, which turned to a soft chuckle when Kait made a tense face.

  "Um, up-sell?"

  Being a drop dead gorgeous succubus meant that a lot of them didn't have jobs at McDonald's when they were teens, but she'd worked in a coffee shop, so there was no excuse for her.

  Zack nodded.

  "You know, suggest that people buy things, especially if they go along with what they're getting at the time. You know, if they come in for a cookie, suggest a coffee or hot chocolate to go along with it. If they like mysteries, point out the new one that came in, that kind of thing. You know, like when you go to a fast food place and they ask if you want a drink with that?"

  The older Alede nodded her pretty red head and gave him a look that was best described as saucy. At least he thought that was what she was going for. He still had to think about things like that, since he was a bit, stunted, in that regard.

  Still, she followed it with a light smile, which he figured meant she wasn't being mean to him.

  "I see, so, we tell them that we'll blow them, if they buy at least a hundred dollars worth of stuff?" She giggled a bit, as if it were a joke.

  Zack shook his head.

  "Nooo... That would be prostitution. Blow them and then suggest that you'll be their friend if they buy things? I'm sure you'll work it out. In the main though, I mean real sales, not, you know, using sex for everything. Not that you won't do that too, but it isn't what you get paid for."

  That got the two women to stare at him a bit.

  Finally, Kaitlyn pushed her plain glass, make-believe glasses up with a finger.

  "We get paid too? I thought it was all about the free energy."

  They were all standing in the front of the place, since there was literally no one visible in the mall yet, talking about everything for the entire world to hear. Then again, anyone with good enough ears knew their secrets already, and if they didn't, they would after Zack sent Kait around with coupons for books and a flyer letting everyone know that mall employees got free food there. Like the rest of the mall, it wasn't a real store, so he could do that.

  If nothing else, if anyone ever came in, it would make them look busier.

  "Yep, ten dollars an hour. Overtime and paid vacation too. Two weeks a year." It really wasn't a lot, considering either one of them could have made a thousand dollars an hour as a call girl, and still gotten their feeding done each day. It was probably how a lot of their kind got by, no doubt.

  These two were a bit more industrious than that though.

  Claudia touched his arm.

  "Oh, time off? I don't suppose you'd set us up with free travel too? Or at least an employee discount?" She licked her lips, as if offering to pay for that with something other than cash, but Zack wasn't buying it.

  Not that there was anything wrong with Claudia, but the fact was, given their group dynamics, he was basically already hooked up with Kait, since she'd asked him to have sex with her first. He hadn't yet, but probably would, eventually. It was hard for him to keep in mind, but Greater Demons did things like that. They didn't have the same rules that everyone else did, and even if he knew for a fact that the girl was also a boy, sometimes, that wasn't supposed to be a thing for him.

  Darla had pointed that out, several times.

  Still, there were rules, and if he didn't want his workers sniping at each other, even he had to follow them.

  "Yes. To the discount. Though the payment for that will be in..." He had to scramble for a bit, since Kait was staring at him, her face a bit set, as if trying to not react, in case he mentioned the other woman performing sex acts for him. "Rewards for legitimate sales. In fact, each month, the highest seller gets to pick a destination and will get a round trip. You can use that for a weekend, or your two weeks, up to you. Non-transferable though, so you have to use your winnings yourself."

  That got some smiles at least, though Kaitlyn looked to the back, and whispered.

  "What about Palma? She isn't on the front floor, so that isn't fair, is it?"

  Zack shrugged.

  "She has a deal for room and board. That means she can get a trip whenever she wants one anyway. Good thinking though, you might want to remind her of that, since I'm pretty sure she didn't believe me when I mentioned it the other day." He looked around and then shrugged. "So, I'll leave how to do that to you two, though you need to set up something fair for the others too. We need some different races in here as well. That's half the point of this, right?"

  It really was, he knew. The Shifters in particular had pointed out that he'd been, as the Dragon man had said, "The Mage Guild's Bitch", which wasn't great for business, as far as line walking and travel went, apparently. Not everyone hated them, but no one wanted to end up being in debt to both them and a Greater Demon, either. Not
that he was charging all that much.

  Mainly he was trading favors or goods that didn't cost the individual all that much, but would have value in other places. It was extra work, but let everyone feel good about it all.

  He clapped once, thinking about needing different sorts of people, and went to the front desk, sitting behind it, while the girls puttered around in the front, trying to lure in any men that might pass by. Some of the women too, naturally. Once there he had to concentrate for a few seconds, in order to bring up the memory he needed, then he dialed the phone, which was a nice and rather tiny black thing, considering it wasn't a cell, and waited.

  It picked up on the eighth ring, and the man on the other side of it sounded like he'd been sleeping. That was good, it would mean he was well rested for the day. Unless he'd just gotten into bed, of course.

  "Yeah?" It wasn't inspired phone answering technique at all.

  "Hiram! This is Zack. Zack Hartley? We just opened the new store, at the mall. You're scheduled for later today, along with Jen, for orientation. Four in the afternoon. I know she's at school right now, but set that part up with her, will you? I'm planning to send her and Kaitlyn around to all the embassies over the next few days, to build contacts. Really..." He stopped, thinking for a second then shrugged, even though the man wouldn't be able to see it. The tone would carry a bit though. "Well, I'll have more for both of you when you get in, I hope."

  There was a long pause and then a grunt.

  "Huh?" Then the sound of rustling, which, from the pattern it left in space, which he could feel, even over the phone, indicated there was another body in the bed with him. "I didn't know we were part of that. Is the Guild going to pitch a fit over it? I don't really want them kicking us out. They left Jelly with her membership for the work she did, which was nice of them. I figured that cunt Lisa would have us both stripped..."

  Zack stopped him.

  "Hey! Lisa isn't bad, Hiram. She's upset with me, not evil. Yes, she's wrong, but a lot of people don't like Greater Demons, so no need to call her names. I'm worried about her, which... probably means that I need to get with some people that I haven't been. Today. See, having you around is valuable already. So four o'clock for orientation? Bring Jen, if she'll come." It wasn't like he was going to order them to work for him. It would help with the diversity problem a bit though.