Other Places 3: Detours

by P. S. Power

  "Well, you could get a restraining order. It won't do much, but then you can call the police in to remove her. It won't really protect you. Have you considered a gun? You should arm yourself anyway, given the life you lead. All those undead, I mean, and shape shifters, just hanging around." There was an almost subliminal shudder along with the words.

  She was leading him, it was clear, away from the thought of her in particular, being a Greater Demon. Like anyone would ever forget that?

  Zack blinked, but worked it out well enough. Troy, while not a ten, was a nice solid seven and a half and paid a lot of attention to her. She actually liked him. As in, wanted to date the man, eventually. Maybe at least. That meant not being associated with Xenses, who was about five seconds away from being a traumatic movie moment shower scene for his friend. Crying as he tried to scrub the stain away.

  Keeley wanted to prove that she, at least, was a real girl.

  He kept eating and burning magic so he wouldn't freak out. Bun after iced bun went into his face, so fast he barely tasted anything at all.

  When the last of it was done, he just got more and pushed a filled tray in front of the girl. She'd taken very little compared to what she really needed, trying to fool Troy, on a subconscious level. That wouldn't do at all.

  He looked at his buddy and then waved at her, explaining it all.

  "Little miss Greater Demon has the hots for you. She's trying to work you around to not thinking of her as what she really is, at least. She's a girl, so, you know, as soon as she turns eighteen or so, you should totally look into that. Or if you just decide to say screw it and forget the law. For right now, Keeley, why don't you get on his good side by taking care of his stalker problem for him? It's why I called you over, as you no doubt have already worked out. I don't care how you do it." Because, he realized, as cold as it sounded, he really didn't.

  The crazy chick wasn't his problem. He just didn't want her to work out where he lived, and firebomb the place, because that was an actual possibility. Someone had done that to the Tarran 2 LA about three months before, which meant the idea was still out there. That had been Vampires, but you could look up how to make a Molotov cocktail online, even if you were a nut job.

  His Aunt made a face and then sighed.

  "So, you aren't going to just forgive me?" She tried to make it sound cute.

  Zack shook his head.

  "No. As it stands, I'm working very hard right now not to kill you, Keeley. If you ever try anything like that again with me, ever, I'll have to destroy you, if I can. I actually like you, so you get a second chance. There won't be a third."

  He waited, since the words could start a fight to the death, right there. Instead she nodded.

  "I see." Then she turned to Troy. "What would you like done with this situation then?"

  It changed the topic at least, even if that didn't fix what was wrong with him.

  Chapter eight

  It was tempting to try and micro-manage things with Keeley, but that would be a waste of time and effort, Zack realized. She wasn't going to just kill the crazy girl, and that was probably all he needed to know about it. As long as the whole thing didn't come back to bother him later, it was no longer his concern. So, after he cleaned up, he left Troy and the girl to chat about things, which was mainly about the man feeling that something was really going to happen.

  If it wasn't finished by noon, he'd be surprised.

  Zack went into the mall the slow way, which meant walking across the street, when there was a lull in traffic. It was only eight when he left, so, on a Saturday, that meant he didn't have to wait too long for a window to open up. He used the rift that was right next to his neighbor's slippery elm, the broken and slightly raised sidewalk showing where the gap was nicely. It took no time at all for him to twist a bit and slip through. Anyone could do it, if they hit the direction right. He'd seen it happen, a few times.

  Westfield mall was a mess, of course, from his rather unique perspective. From the outside it was a little out of place, but anyone that could sense what was going on could make out all the problems instantly. It had nine nodes in it, but some of them were on the second level, and one could only be reached underground. There was no room there either, since he was pretty certain that no one else had ever done anything with it. The place had a basement, of sorts, but not in that area.

  The structure itself warped a bit in places too. It wasn't old, but it also wouldn't last long, not without constant attention from the building management. It wasn't his problem, as long as things were seen to. They also had a bit of a police problem it seemed, since there was a bald and rather surly looking Detective sitting in an old American model car, glaring at the back door of Candles and More. McKenzie. The man used to come in and try to get Zack to sell him drugs, but now he seemed to have shifted to Lisa as his target. That, or he just really had a hard on for candles this morning. Or seedy looking lesbians?

  Zack didn't let the man notice him, just walking to the side door and going directly into the mall, using the building as cover. The place was dead inside, like it should be at this time of day, and no one stopped him as he headed to the book store. The problem, he noticed, when he got in, was that the back room had two young Vampires in it. Roland and Rowan. This was the book store back room too, which meant they were in the way of the other employees. Not that anyone was there yet. Well, Palma, but she was doing prep for her section, not watching things up front.

  Rolling his eyes, Zack picked the Vampires up and used the node to open directly into his bedroom. They had to share his bed, but they'd live, he decided. It was better than the floor, at any rate.

  Then he grabbed a snack from his Hsreth employee, who was pleased that he'd enjoyed the food she'd left him, not put out at all, apparently liking the fact that her work was being appreciated and needed. After he finished, Zack went to straighten the store. Clearly, either he needed to stay there more himself, or they were going to have to fix the schedule a bit. It had to be poor form to leave it unattended, but open, like that.

  The place was big, and even though it had only been a single day, needed to be tidied. The crew hadn't done a great job, the day before, as far as that went. He grabbed a dust mop from the supply closet and did the entire floor, then started arranging the book shelves. He was only about halfway through when the first of the customers started in. It was a man, who looked to be in his thirties and from the round glasses and slightly pockmarked face, was either really there for books, or had heard that the women there were so easy that even someone like him should give it a shot.

  Of course it was only Zack there at the moment, and he wasn't going to do the guy.

  Especially since, he realized, the man was a Greater Demon, not a Human at all. He looked at books, but the distortion he left in space was telling. He had hundreds of tiny bubbles that boiled and distorted things around him constantly.

  Zack waved, when he looked up.

  "Mind Taker. To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit?" Finias waved back, picking up a book, as if he were really there shopping. He walked over almost instantly, his face smiling.

  "Line Walker! I heard that you had a new concern and decided to look in. How are things going?" There was no weight to the words, but given that the man was probably the best Telepath on the planet, or at least close, Zack had no illusion that he didn't know all about the events of the prior day.

  "Well, Keeley still lives, but I'm not happy with her. I'm burning magic to hold things together right now, hence the flat affect. Business is decent, for the first days. I know, I need to charge more." He faked a smile and let his mind go blank. Little hints of what he was thinking would get out anyway, but he hadn't learned to shield his mind yet.

  He could. Most Greater Demons did, according to the memories. It was one of the things they used as a sign that someone was growing up.

  Finias nodded, not even bothering to pretend he wasn't up on things.

  "I understand. Well, I'
m glad that you're trying to be understanding. Keeley is very young still. Younger than you are, which is a thing to remember, even if she has passed the First Crucible already. She erred, and that's created a problem between the two of you. She... You know that Xenses killed her human father, don't you?"

  He did now. No one had mentioned that however, before.

  Zack shook his head, slowly.

  "I don't want to be mean, but that isn't my problem. I like Keeley, but it's pretty clear right now that my best option is to not go around starting fights with anyone, especially when I can just stand back and let others work it out. That's selfish of me, but everyone expects me to simply die soon. I'm not planning to do that. It's why I didn't try to kill Keeley last night, when she set off the reaction in me. But..." He looked at the man, who'd made himself entirely plain, for the moment, and not like a male model at all. "This might be crazy, but I think if I did it right, I might be able to do it. Probably not, but one time in ten? Maybe as much as half the time?" He meant kill his Aunt, naturally.

  The other Demon cleared his throat, but then nodded.

  "Or leave her someplace so far away that she might have trouble navigating back? You're a lot stronger than she is, Zachary. Physically. Magically speaking it goes the other way around. It's a bit of a shame that we're all pains in the ass, our kind. If you two could work together, you'd probably end up being unbeatable, if you live long enough. Well, that isn't off the table yet. I agree however, you should hold to your deal with Xenses. It has the highest chance of you living, and will let you deal with both sides of our conflict."

  It was what he'd been thinking. Of course, as MH had often said, he'd be best off running so far and fast that no one could catch him. That meant not really having a life, so he let the idea go. There was a cost for everything and no matter who you were, in the end, the cost of living was death.

  The man in front of him actually bought the book in his hands, which had to do with quantum reality, of all things, and turned to leave, stopping short, and then walking back.

  "I nearly forgot. Gregor, The Cleric, is having a small get together next week and asked if I'd pass along an invitation? It's in Rome, naturally. The Vatican. The girls aren't going to be there, but Xenses might. It would be a chance for you to show that you're a bit more open minded than your Aunts? If you want to, I mean." There was an amused expression to go with the words.

  "Sure. What time and day?"

  "Friday, at seven, Vatican time. In the evening, of course. Fancy dress, but these things normally have eclectic styles. You should get with Bente and see if she'll make something for you? Impeccable taste, that Demon."

  He nodded. It made sense, all the way around.

  Or nearly did. Finias had always seemed a bit more supportive of his daughters than his son, as far as Zack knew. Then, he'd gotten that mainly from what those two had said, didn't he? After the other Greater Demon left, going into the lines outside of the store, Zack got back to work, trying to hold things in and keep his mind still.

  Not to stop anyone from knowing anything about him, it wasn't that. No, he just didn't want to think for a while. It was... relaxing.

  That lasted until about nine-thirty, when Hiram powered into the store, looking a bit wide eyed. Looking around he managed to calm down a bit and then moved over to Zack.

  "I overslept. Out celebrating. Did I beat Kait in?"

  He had, but it wasn't much of an accomplishment, since she was both an Alede, who were known to work pretty much when they chose, if they felt like it, and right behind him. At least she got in no more than a minute later. Along with four large boxes of donuts.

  Hiram shook his head, but managed to grin.

  "Damn, you win. I should have thought of that one. Kiss up."

  The succubus shrugged, right after putting the pastel pink boxes down on the counter.

  "Hey, it would be easier if he'd sleep with me, but since he won't I have to do it the hard way. Quiet night?"

  He didn't go into it all, but mentioned the time gap, since the young Vampires were always going to fall asleep when light came. Maybe a bit earlier than that, depending on how they measured when dawn was. That meant getting someone in each day at about five or six. Earlier in the summer.

  Kaitlyn nodded.

  "You'll have Eve in for that though, right? She can take the early shift. I mean, I will too, as long as I can still..." She glanced at the back room and then, oddly, Hiram.

  Zack nearly said no, but then just didn't. He needed floor coverage and if that meant selling poor Hiram to the sex fiends, he would. It was hard to remember at times, but he was a Greater Demon.

  The thought made him feel like he should growl or something. Possibly roar. Mighty him, and all that.

  "Good, you two work that out, while I finish straightening the place up. Try to keep that done, at all times. Otherwise I'll whine and complain at you."

  They both nodded, as if he were actually serious about that, but, he realized, as far as they knew, he was. Zack always told the truth, after all, as far as they knew. He could have made some jokes, using that, at their expense, but being known as honest wasn't that bad of a thing, really, so he decided to try and run with it for a while. Lying was useful, but as long as he didn't have to shout out everything he knew now, he could manage, he thought. It left him feeling more comfortable anyway.

  With those two on the job, and more to the point, no one calling or coming in for hours, he managed to get the place pretty clean and tidy again. Then he had a quick meal, which was mainly breakfast again, and was even washed up when the morning rush started. Most of their customers were men, and to start with kept trying to vie for Kaitlyn's attention, naturally. Hiram worked the front desk, and was at least as good about suggesting to people that purchasing things was a good idea, on the way out, as Zack was. In fact, better. The man didn't care if what he was doing was a little too close to demanding payment, after all. He had a sales contest to win.

  At eleven they had four Alede, all looking like women, coming over to take a turn, since men really were coming just to see them, even after only one day of being open. Even Valerie took a few turns, since she was in charge of the women's clothing store across the way. Pretty Plus: Passions. The sign almost screamed that the place was run by her kind, now that he knew what to look for.

  She stopped by him on the way out, a young man that looked a bit too young to be getting lucky trailing after her. She wasn't human, but that would have to be watched. Zack didn't want the police to raid the place or anything.

  "Zack, thank you so much for letting us all come and play. May I call again?"

  "Sure. I may even have some friends for you, later in the day? Not that I have any plans, but if people are going to be coming for that kind of thing..."

  She laughed, and then kissed his cheek.

  "Oh, if it isn't a bother, my mother was thinking about coming in and seeing what damage that Demon did to her reputation? Is that acceptable?" The contact was enough for him to understand what she meant, which was her asking if he'd kill the woman or not for showing up, blaming her somehow for what Xenses had done.

  "She's still in Australia? I can pick her up when she's ready. Do you have the number for here?"

  That got a shocked, but pleased look. The Alede were actually pretty good about accepting that he'd just do things, since they often got nice gifts from people.

  "She is! What would you like as for payment?" Her chest was pushed toward him even more aggressively than normal, and managed to brush his arm this time. The undercurrent of fear, tinged with panic, didn't really help though. It left him feeling bad, or would have, if he hadn't already been locking all his negative emotions down.

  Smiling he shrugged, trying to let his narrow frame make it seem cute.

  "Well, you know... You already paid. I'm pretty sure that last bit didn't count as your mother being picked up, so you can use your Christmas present for it. Just have her call and we'll set that up
. Kaitlyn is on scheduling for that sort of thing. Hiram too. You know him, right?"

  She didn't, but the idea was, of course, that she should, so he introduced them and then ran to help an older woman who wanted a cookbook. She was just a regular person, it seemed, and her only desire was to get a book that was about fifteen years out of date, for a friend of hers.

  "This is too last minute, but she's hinted about wanting this thing for nearly twenty years and her husband just hasn't gotten the job done. I didn't think you'd have it either, but this was about the last place I could ask for it at." Being that they were new and all. Of course that also meant that they didn't have any books that were more than a few months old.

  The computer did let him know that there was a copy of the thing, unused, at a bookstore in Topeka, Kansas. It was cheating, but he used the node and more magic than the book would ever have been worth, to pick it up, pretending he was just checking the back room for it. He had to rush, and technically stole it from the other bookstore. He'd dropped cash by the register, but no one would understand what it was for, he didn't think.

  "Is this the one?" He hoped so, otherwise he was going to look pretty stupid, but it was a full color, and totally illustrated master's guide to making cupcakes. That couldn't have too many copycats in the world, Zack figured.

  "Oh! Oh! That's it! You found it!" She didn't jump up and down or grab him, which meant that Hiram was allowed to ring it up. They did charge full price for it though. After all, they were a business, not a charity.

  Then, after another snack, a tiny and twitchy Bat woman came into the store. This time it wasn't Madeline, though she was due in soon, but rather her niece, Calley. From the look on her face she wasn't coming to score with an Alede, either. Or him.

  "Line Walker... A word, if that's all right?" She was very serious sounding, which, given the fact that, even after finding out he wasn't Human she'd always called him Zack, at least to his face, probably meant she'd been asked to get him to do something that he wouldn't like.