by P. S. Power
Then something hit him. She'd been hitting on Troy earlier, or at least being nicer than she had to be... But that was the fake one.
And the only Greater Demon that Troy was all that close to was actually... Xenses. He blinked and then shook his head a bit. It made sense, but wasn't certain. The trick there was that, whoever it had been, that Keeley had set up plans to deal with Stocky the Bunny Boiler, hadn't she? If it was him, Xenses, then the poor girl was probably going to be in for a hard time, shortly. Because she'd be needed out of the way, if the act had been going to last. What that meant for her was anyone's guess, if it was actually The Defiler that had taken her.
He winced a bit, which pulled at Keeley's arm, getting her to lean in again.
"Is everything all right?"
It took effort, but he separated a strand, a single thought, and routed it around the halo of time that was catching them all. It was just a repeat of what he'd been thinking, but she cuddled into him, her left breast pushing against his arm.
Then a single thought came back at him.
'I'm so sorry. There's nothing we can do about that now. The poor girl. I hope he just killed her.'
That sounded harsh and horrible, but Zack knew what Xenses thought of as a good idea to do to friends and family, so he got that it was probably just correct. The best case here was that she was simply dead already and that it had been fast and painless.
Though, most likely, it hadn't been.
He locked that down and didn't speak, since the room lights dimmed and the band walked onto the stage. There was no curtain, but people cheered anyway, and the first song started seconds later. It was eerie, but good, and had people swaying and tapping along after the first chorus.
The people in the back danced, since they were standing anyway.
The Vampires all had different reactions. Harland seemed to be pleased, smiling up at the stage, since there was also another Manthori represented, on bass. A man that wasn't all that tall, but who was very good at his job. On electric guitar was a woman that looked to be about thirty, had silver hair and eyes that were violet in color. She had fangs, but the presentation was more like Lenore or Edom. A classic. Just one that was so unique she stood out. The last person, who was on drums...
Zack had to search out what kind of Vampire they were, since the person looked pretty normal, but at the same time was split, carrying a shadow with them, like a shifter. A Bat shifter, except that the hair was short and brown and the man, while frenetic, was clearly a blood drinker.
He hadn't really known that any of them could do that. Change shape. In his memories he worked it out. It was what happened when a shifter made the transition. They became different than all the others, but also both things at once.
They also needed to eat a lot more than the regular kind did. Probably why this man had gotten a job with Rebekah. She owned and ran the new blood centers, which meant being her friend might well pay off, for a person like him.
The music wasn't just good, but had impact. It wasn't great for dancing, and people swayed more than anything, but they listened too, trying to make sense of all they heard, the bridges between things being simple and complex at the same time. After the first three songs, Rebekah bowed to the audience and then again, to the tables in the front.
"We have the Vampire Council here with us tonight, so why don't we all give them a big hand and warm Vancouver Washington welcome?"
People didn't just clap, they yelled too. Oh, they didn't think there was a real Vampire in the room, or at least most wouldn't, but they were entranced by the exotic bone white and red eyed woman that they were more than willing to assume it was all part of the show. Who wouldn't?
Then she leaned forward and blew a kiss to the back row.
Whispering, she said a single word.
"Homeward." That got screaming too, meaning it was something that people had probably heard before. It seemed that the novelty band had a following already? That was neat, but not that unexpected. Not if The Mistress of Souls was their manager.
If he ever decided to become a performer of some kind she was the one that he'd go to first for that, himself. Just like he'd get with Darla for business things. Of course that mainly had to do with the fact that really, when it came to high powered people in the world, he only knew about ten or twelve, really. At least to talk to. There was more than that, if he counted all the different leaders that he'd met, but they didn't really have a lot of pull if say, he wanted to start a modeling agency. Not that he did, but it was interesting to try and work out how he'd get that done.
Probably by talking to Bente, since she knew people in the fashion industry and then roping in a few Alede to work with him for a couple of years. As long as they didn't get too famous, they'd be fine, really. Judy Swan was actually going to be in trouble, in about twenty years, once it was clear she just didn't age like a Human would. Of course, all she had to do was live for a few decades, maybe three, as her male self, and then she could go back into the world as a woman that just looked like that old actress. Models though, especially the mainstream ones that didn't become too famous didn't seem to have very long careers and wouldn't be that memorable, no matter how good they looked.
From there, he had to imagine that women would come to him, as long as he started out strongly enough, and so would people that needed a pretty face to make their product line sell. It wasn't exactly what he wanted to do, but Zack found the idea oddly intriguing suddenly. After all, Darla was right, in that he needed to have more than one thing going on at any given time, and he'd have to learn more about business at some point anyway.
Shrugging to himself he decided to give it a try. It might not work, but everyone needed a hobby, right?
Rebekah kept singing and he stayed engaged the whole time, even standing to dance along with Darla, Keeley and Bey during one song near the end, which he guessed was the bands signature piece. It was good, but no better than some of the others.
Then the music stopped and the Vampire girl on the stage held up the mic.
"Thank you all so much for coming to listen to us tonight! We love you all!"
That got a lot of cheering, and the band left, but wasn't called back for an encore, since the chairs were taken to the side as soon as people stood up, and the regular music started. The lights dimmed and colored ones started moving on the walls, and the large gas flames were lit. Those were, thankfully, out of reach for most people.
Inside ten minutes the club went from music hall to dance place, and the doors were opened to the rest of the public. Not everyone got in, but it was free enough that way that people bothered trying to come from time to time, just on the off chance that they'd be allowed to rub shoulders with the pretty and popular.
It was actually amazing, but Zack had always been let in, he realized. Even before, when he'd only been Troy's roommate. Back then his friend had only been a regular bartender too, not the assistant bar manager. It probably meant that the policies there were too loose that way, if someone like him could just walk in off the street. It worked for them anyway, and the place was almost oppressively bouncy after a few minutes.
Rebekah came out, along with her band, and was set upon almost instantly by people wanting autographs, even as they all tried to get to the council members. While not trying to simply bat their fans out of the way. It was a bit funny, if you realized what was going on. Keeley squeezed his arm, drunkenly, and then stood up.
"Here I go! Back to the trenches. We should get together later? I'll bring Rebekah..." It wasn't slurred, but still didn't sound like the girl he knew. Not much at least.
That probably meant she wanted to talk, but that could have been done without the attempted cloak and dagger thing, simply by calling, or even just showing up. Which meant...
She was selling her act for other people. He glanced around, and saw a nicely dressed, but out of place, man and his entourage moving toward the band, who Keels joined instantly, her drunken form bobbing
just slightly in the sea of people.
Next to him, Darla smiled.
"She wants something from you. The only problem there is that she doesn't have anything you want. I wonder what she'll pull out of her sleeve to get your help?"
He didn't know, and frankly, didn't really care.
Zack sort of wanted to get home, take care of the cakes he'd made and then go and see to his workers at the store. They were all new, after all, and who knew what work might have come in for him? It wasn't that he didn't want to be helpful, especially if it would smooth things over between them, but most of what needed fixing was inside himself, not her at all.
Being a jerk wasn't going to work, so Zack smiled and tried to mean it.
After all, he could always say no.
Or try to, at least.
Chapter thirteen
There was no getting out of decorating the cakes he'd made, because he had a Greater Demon attached to his hip, and she clearly had a hankering for some chocolate goodness. With raspberry filling. Zack could eat that, with about the same gusto that he'd have consumed Brussels sprouts. They were food, after a fashion, and on the mentally approved list in his head, not being made of Human flesh or anything sentient at all, but that was about all it had to recommend itself. Still, he had more than one kind made up, and the others all had different flavors, so at least there was that.
That meant, when three o'clock came around and he was safely neglecting his real work, being stuck on baby demon cooking class time at home, that Keeley, Rebekah and Darla were all in his living room chatting away merrily, just as he finished up. It was a bit annoying, since, fair or not, he wasn't up to having guests at the moment. Or, rather, he was, but the people that presented themselves weren't who he really needed to see.
Not at all.
That wasn't their fault at all, but to his mind, true or not, he was sort of dating, or at least sleeping with, Rebekah, and Keeley was likely to try and make a grab for his freedom at any moment. It was probably what whoever had done that had originally intended. Still, it meant that he had to stay ready to strike out at Keels, just in case this wasn't really her.
Without waiting, suppressing how he really felt, and all the memories and thoughts of Mirror Him front and center in his mind, he walked out and grinned.
"Hey, Keeley. If I give you some cake, do I get anal off of you finally?" He winced and shook his head. "I'm sorry. We haven't even done anything yet. I meant oral. Anything else would be pushing things to fast, wouldn't it?"
That was the kind of thing that Mirror Him would have said, but apparently, when he got annoyed, that part came on just a bit stronger than was strictly needed. The reactions from the women didn't help a lot at all. Two were old and worldly enough not to be shocked by some mildly creepy speech and Keeley was able to lock her emotions down enough that she didn't blush or seem upset, at any rate. Still, he could tell, somehow, that she wasn't all that pleased for him to be saying that.
Maybe she didn't like cake? Or had heard about the raspberry filled chocolate monster that Darla had wanted? He looked at her directly, which would have made anyone normal uneasy, but she just sighed.
"So, what they did to you has turned you into a sleazy asshole? I was afraid that might happen." She actually seemed sad as she shook her head. Rebekah just covered a smile with her left hand.
Zack snorted himself.
"Probably. Mirror Him was never all that PC, so that's working into my system now, too. Still..." He was planning to add something nice then, about how he'd only been kidding, but even though true, he stopped himself and changed the topic. "I do have cake. You two can pay for it. Then, after you say what you want, you can go. I can't really trust you right now. I'm barely able to believe that Darla is actually herself and that this isn't just another trick, so... yeah."
That got a fake wince from Keeley. It looked real, but he wasn't all that fooled.
"I don't want to make your life harder Zack, but I was hoping that we could trade some work? The Cleric was asked by The Librarian to arrange for a rather massive transport of goods from the Hireesie lands to Greece. Since we're known to be close, and going through Darla would have been an insult to you, Gregor asked me to arrange it? It's probably just grunt work, but could be important. It's so hard to know with Tarsus. I can't say that he's my favorite person of all time." She left it at that, and smiled, her face looking slightly... prim.
Zack clapped once, copying what Bey always did when he was most pleased.
"Ah! Good. Excellent. So we can trade that anal sex for the work?" Again, he was kidding, but Darla gave him a very dark look then and shook her head.
"No. The level of effort required sounds high. You should ask for more than that. Years of sexual service at least. Keeley is decent at shape changing, so she should be entertaining that way, if nothing else." There was a deathly seriousness to the tone, and the teen girl looked at him as if he were a monster. Since she was still pretty innocent, at least in that way. As hard as it was to believe, given the world they lived in.
She let her eyes narrow a bit, instead.
"I don't think so. Now stop teasing me and pick something real. Remember, I'm just brokering this for other people..."
Darla took over then, which was good, as far as joking went.
"He set a fair payment plan for it Keels. Not everyone is going to let you off that easily you know. He doesn't need cash, and you don't have much that will help him right now. You asked for his help and he offered you terms that don't even cost you anything. Not really. You have an unlimited supply of sex after all, so it's simply a bit of work time being spent. You should consider it."
That was down to Darla trying to get Keeley used to not being shocked by things like that. Even if she wasn't strictly speaking, her mentor anymore. Zack slowly nodded. He was supposed to be nice and all that too, wasn't he? That meant being helpful, and what Keeley needed was to let go of her hang ups. Fast. Before they got her into too much trouble. That got Keeley to wince at least, her face going hard.
She wasn't really trapped of course, but she probably didn't really have anything he needed, did she?
Not at the moment. Zack shrugged.
"Fine, one favor, of the same scope, to be addressed later. Only if you help with the project though. You can refuse what I ask of you when the time comes, but if you do you have to act as a sex slave for ten years, doing whatever I want without question. With whoever I want." Then he grinned, knowing that she wouldn't like what he was going to add next. It wasn't kind of him, but that bit that used to be MH almost glowed inside. "On top of that, regardless, I get a fair chance to nail your mom. Only if she agrees, but as often as she wants to do it."
The last time that issue had come up, Keeley had offered to rip his balls off. She'd meant it and Zack got the idea, since he was, clearly, a bit of a perv. Who hit on their own Aunt like that? It nearly made him feel all gross inside, but he fought that down. In the Greater Demon world, you couldn't afford to let anyone see you as weak.
She actually growled at him, which given her lovely face, and the fact that she didn't want to push him into a physical confrontation came out seeming both menacing and cute at the same time.
"Five million cash, three rather nice magical implements out of my collection, and I'll help you with this task, if you need it." She glared, but it was at Darla, not him.
The blonde girl just shrugged and laughed at her, but didn't add anything at all.
The reality was though, that he didn't care. About anything. His emotions were too tied up and while he did feel mild amusement, his inner self actually wanted to let her off the hook, more or less. It was only what Darla had said earlier, about her being left open in that area that got him to persist. Not that it was his job to fix things for her, but she had way too big of a gap in her Demon skills. If he could work that out, as insane as he clearly still was, then Xenses would.
The Defiler would probably take her off guard and rape her o
ver and again, given that, before she had defenses to handle that sort of thing at all. At least if he could work out a way around her ability to take slaves at will. Things were far too dangerous for her to be broken, even for a few decades.
"Ten million, a favor, and I get anal on alternating Tuesdays. Giving, not receiving. Though we can try that too, if you're feeling kinky?" He tried not to smile, teasing her or not, and Darla interjected again.
"Every Tuesday. Set a time frame though Keels, or you'll end up getting busy and forget, which will put you in breech. Then you'll have to fight him, or end up in an even more onerous position to make up for it. It's important to pay off your debts after all." There was a lesson in it for him, he knew, since she wasn't really Keeley's mentor. Not anymore.
Keeley glared, angrily this time.
"Stop it Darla, I know what you're doing. I don't have to make a deal like that. You aren't going to trick me into it either."
That got her sister to stop at least, and stare for a bit.
"I'm not trying to, Keels." She sounded almost sincere and everything. It wasn't that funny though. "You aren't really ready to be an adult, and I don't have the right to keep teaching you. This is something you need to fix. If you seem reluctant to do something simple like this, then every single payment you're asked for, for years, will be in this general area. You know it's true. It's a lot better for you to spend your first times with someone nice like Zack, rather than ending up stuck with one of the others. Do you think that Finias will be kinder to you that way? He... Might, but given everything that would be even harder for you."
Zack got that one, because yuck, her dad. Except that they were Greater Demons and even for the good ones, if you could call them that at all, things like family didn't matter in the same way as it did for Humans. Still, he'd grown up with the same rules that she had, and got the idea. They just couldn't afford to let that kind of thing influence them. Not with half the Greater Demon world gunning for them. Or at least her.