Living Proof (Tyler G Book 2)

by P. S. Power

  Though it did occur to him that Calley and Ang had pushed Vivian into being his assistant or whatever. Probably so she could do some of that spying that they'd talked about earlier. Since he was running the whole thing as being perfectly open so far, she could probably do a really good job at it. Now he only needed about ten more and they'd be set.

  By the time they were back in Vancouver it was nearly five in the afternoon. They hadn't dawdled a lot, but had stopped at the same little shop, and talked with the Swan that ran it. She was about sixty, had snow white hair and eyebrows and looked both tiny and delicate. Like the bird she was. She'd also been very sweet to them all. That meant they'd stayed longer than they should have to talk to her about things.

  Then once they got back, being an asshole, he took Vivian by the hand, as soon as they got into the back of Brand Village. Pulling her along a little not asking if she needed anything first, like a shower, he delivered her to Lisa.

  It took a moment for the tired looking blonde woman to come from the back. Today she was in a sweater that was also a dress somehow, with a silver and turquoise belt, with white hose peeking out at the bottom.

  "Hey Lisa. This is Vivian. Your new front person here. Also my assistant, from the Coalition, so if anything comes up you can get her to handle that part of things. Mainly by calling me so you don't have to. Now, if this is good for you both, I need to head in to work and bother a Demon."

  Lisa wrinkled her nose at him.

  "You're pushy, aren't you?" It wasn't unfriendly.

  Nodding he started to walk out.

  "Kind of. Still, if you don't like it, you can just say no. You just shouldn't."

  She glared at him a bit and then looked over at Vivian.

  "Greater Demons. So, Zack is in for it now? At least there's that."

  Ty stopped, getting what she meant, and then rolling his eyes.

  "Right, like I would have said it that way if Zack was the one on tap? I have to call up Tarsus, who's basically the Greater Demon boss. I'm sure it will go over wonderfully. Wish me luck?"

  He wasn't certain, but as he got out the front door, he thought, possibly imagined, that two voices actually did.

  Chapter six

  Zack wasn't in when Tyler got in to work. It wasn't a day off for him, but he didn't need to be there until a bit later, since it was a Sunday. Ben was there, and working away like someone was going to beat him if he didn't. That wasn't really on the table for him, just being a regular Human and no one caring that much, but it was nice to see someone else trying that hard for once.

  Tyler smiled, waved at the slightly heavy guy, who was on the plush side of normal, but not bad at all, and moved to see to things himself. On the good side Kait wasn't there, working the side rooms. After all, Ben was her boyfriend, and unless he liked to see his lady doing all comers, that had to be hard for him. Even if he was all right with her nature. It wasn't like she could change it. Plus, last he'd seen her, the woman had been a dude.

  It wasn't a stock night, and the store didn't look bad at all, so he was able to get to work, and take turns with Ben making sure the reading rooms were tidy and smelled like something other than sex parlors. It wasn't that easy to get done, since they were in close to constant use. At about seven it got really bad that way, so he started a list again, with paying book buyers getting on it first. Then he called for help from Pretty Plus across the way. It got three new helpers coming over quickly, looking like it was another holiday. Sally was one of them, too.

  The strange Alede that didn't even work at the other place.

  She waved at him.

  "Hi! I was going to ask if I could work in over here. I'm new to the area, so I haven't really set up a lot of friends yet. I have a couple, but they are all off with their families for the weekend." She spoke boldly about it and looked at Ben with a big smile. "Is your friend on the menu? I know you aren't. Kaitlyn is being all territorial there, which isn't fair. It isn't like we can't share. She's getting all that energy every single day, while I starve."

  Ty looked at the extra hot woman and shook his head, not even bothering to crack a smile.

  "It isn't perfect for you that way. Ben is her boyfriend, as in an actual thing. I'm... Kind of a zombie. You know, undead?" He didn't want to go into the whole thing, but instead of playing twenty questions the woman just nodded at him.

  "I'd heard about that. Well, that's less than fun. You can have sex though? We could still have a good time... After I gather some energy for the day. I'm a little tapped right now."

  "Nope. I don't have sex with Alede. You're a bit too intense for a young guy like me. That said, I bet we can find you some friends." He didn't mean it in a bad way but the young looking woman, nearly a girl, frowned at him like he was horrible in some ineffable fashion that no one had ever noticed before.

  "So, you're a racist?" Her face was almost mean when the words came out.

  As a knee jerk reaction he nearly denied it, but it was kind of true. Thinking about it for a moment, he had to start nodding then. That didn't make her seem happier.

  "I suppose so. I mean, I like most of you, except that I keep thinking of you all as being lazy, as a group, which is racism. I'm not budging on the sex thing, because that one is about avoiding your super powers, to stay mentally free, but the rest I need to work on. Thanks for pointing that out. I'll try to fix it." Then he wrote her name on the list, and started finding people for her. It meant the back room would be busy for a while, but that was the cost of having all those extra succubi around.

  Sally glared for a bit, and finally sighed and looked away.

  "That's actually probably smart. Not the racist parts, but the one where you don't have sex with us. It can ruin men. We're addictive. All women are, but most don't really know it. We do, and are a higher powered version of a good thing for men. Women too. Not that I love not having that control over you. How am I supposed to get you to do things for me?"

  "Ask? I'll generally trade for things. Work is a good one, too. What is it you need?"

  "Just sex right now. Which you're already helping with. Okay. Well, if I think of anything else I'll let you know."

  Then she found the man that had signed in under her name, and even though she was dressed in tight yoga pants, had sandals on and a tight white shirt that made her look a little common place, the guy, who was about fifty or so, seemed pretty pleased when she called his name.

  For the second time since he'd been there things suddenly and without reason, got very intense. This time they had to actually tell people to go away for a few hours, to let the girls there rest. It was so bad that women and men walked right up to Ben and him, more than once and asked if they'd be available to do something.

  They weren't. It kept going, with random Alede being called in from the area, including a person that looked about seventeen, and came in as a boy named Ken. Roberta winced, but didn't send the kid away.

  "Shift form if you're going to be here, and be careful. If you go rogue on us, then Tyler here will kill you. Understood? He's the head of the Coalition of Nations, so it's his job in part to protect regular Humans from us. That's a real thing." It wasn't a great seeming threat, and really he kind of expected Ken to laugh about it, but the kid eyed him for a few seconds, then gave a single, sexy nod.

  "I hear you. I can do it. Thanks for letting me try, sir."

  It wasn't until the boy walked away, to change it looked like, though his clothing was no worse than some of them there, that Roberta explained it for Ben and Ty.

  "He's going to shift form. To Kendra. A little cutie, but really too young to be here. Twelve, I think. Illegal for a Human, but right at the age where Alede need to start feeding on their own. It's been hard for him, since he's an orphan, and kind of gets bounced around. For years he's mainly been feeding off of a stable of pedophiles. He's starting to look to old for that now, so someone has to teach him the ropes." The woman, who was familiar, dark haired and alluring enough to be distracting,
even if he had been a man earlier, or possibly because of that, sighed. "This isn't about foolish Human laws. Kids that age, the Alede ones, aren't Human. They have to eat, and trying to play by your rules that way is insane. It's dangerous though, too. They have to eat, but can go rogue and start orgy cycles. Those can be deadly to regular people. If it starts to happen, you really will need to end it. Just knock her out, if you can? It can be hard to resist taking part, but if anyone can do it, you can. I've never met a Human male that had as much will power as you do when it comes to resisting my kind."

  Tyler felt really uneasy, but then shrugged. That one was a cultural difference that he couldn't afford to allow to influence him. Alede were good people, and had their own biological needs. Telling them that his Human way was the only one they were allowed was basically saying they had to starve and die. That wasn't a thing he was willing to do.

  Especially right after his conversation with Sally. She hadn't been wrong, even if the reason she'd spoken up had to do with sex and not being willing, at first, to let him be himself. In a way it was the reverse idea really. She was being racist against Human men, thinking they should all be her virtual, or not so make believe, slave.

  At about two in the morning things died down, the Alede all left, which was a first as far as he knew, other than the holiday, and people dried up totally. Ben shrugged, stretching, and moved to slap him on the back.

  "Good sales night. We made a bundle. Well, the store did. If this keeps up we'll have to ask for raises."

  It was just idle talk, but Ty nodded, since it had been pretty good work.

  Then because it was time for both of them to leave, the other man took off. The problem there was that whoever was supposed to be there to take over just wasn't. There had been a name on the schedule, but nothing happened. After straitening things up, redoing the floors, the back room and the side spaces, as well as the front of the cafe, he had to wonder what was going on. Jogging into the back again he glanced at the schedule, and saw that the person that was supposed to be there was Zack.

  Which could have made him mad, being left there like that again, but he didn't let that happen, just moving behind the front desk. He didn't need sleep, and while it was kind of boring, it still paid.

  That was what he was doing, lounging, when Eve walked in, her face a bit sarcastic, even before she spoke.

  "Heavy looking counter there. Do you need help holding it up?"

  Instead of letting that get to him, he nodded.

  "Yep. I was supposed to be done here an hour and a half ago. Zack isn't in yet. I could just leave, but that feels like a cop out. Still, everything is done, so if he wants me to guard his place for him, he can handle a bit of leaning, don't you think?" It didn't sound right, as soon as he said it, seeming whiny and lazy.

  The attractive Vampire woman tilted her head at him.

  "Sounds fair to me. It sounded like things were busy earlier. Anyway, Ginger asked me to come and see if you were ever getting off shift. Do you need something to eat? I can get something from the food court, or a yogurt?" It seemed nice of her to say, but it was a little fishy. She wasn't mean, but she'd never volunteered to do things for him before either. Other than practice fighting.

  Not getting him food, or acting nice like this. It was suspicious.

  "I see. So, what do you want, Eve? A discount on books? I think I can do that. I bet Zack would let you read them for free even, if you're careful?" It was an actual rule, and the girl worked there part time. Mainly on stocking nights, doing the hard work no one wanted to.

  There was a stillness then, a telling thing that was really out of place for the Vampire. He'd never seen it on her before, though a few times on Ginger, who wasn't any younger than she was, but for some reason was a bit less capable. Then again, even given that, she was a Master Vampire after six years of being undead. Able to stay up all day, and go out in the sun without screaming.

  Eve was younger than that, but more, somehow.

  A Greater Demon, or close enough to that for going on with.

  She was still taken aback for some reason. After about ten seconds she started breathing again, gasping a bit, which was just loud enough for him to notice. Focusing on her he smiled, but waited for her to speak. A denial was likely, but it didn't come.

  "Right. I kind of want you to spend your next days off working at a Yoghurt World. The place is a fucking disaster area right now. It was trashed in a gang fight about two weeks ago, and then I had to go in and... Well, they don't have a Vampire staff anymore. Only two of them survived. One is coming, but Bey asked me to go and act as their temporary Ambassador. The thing is, I don't get a real staff. I can do the work, but just having someone there to make some treats and do the scrubbing will help a lot. So, what do you say?"

  He nearly asked what she was going to pay him for it, then did. It was a big deal, and while it might be important, to her, it also was going to eat up his free time, doing what was essentially fast food work. It was one of the things that he personally tried to avoid. Not that it wasn't honest employment. That was silly. It was often hard, backbreaking and looked down on by the very people coming in for service. People might not exactly think highly of him working in a bookstore, but they didn't ridicule him for it, or make fun of him for being there all the time to make ends meet.

  He'd seen how people that worked in restaurants and fast food were treated. Mistreated, more often than not. That wasn't a fun way to spend his time off, was it?

  "So, what are you offering for it?"

  She gave him a look that was a little closer than he would have liked.

  "What do you want? I can blow you? Or do other things? Money? Flowers? I'm running out of things here. What's the going rate?"

  He shrugged, and smiled a little, acting like he was feeling sly. That wasn't the truth. He didn't really have anything he wanted at the moment. Cash was king, since it was useful for other things later, but it was only fast food work. It sounded like she was planning to be there the whole time too.

  "Well, I worked last night, and Zack gave me three free full node trips. Two ways for each, to anywhere I want. A computer, and backup for non-coalition work. It was a holiday, but still..."

  She grinned.

  "Yeah, but he's also a Greater Demon. That skews thing. They always charge each other vast sums like that."

  Taking a risk, he nodded, wondering just how hard to kill he really was.

  "And you aren't one? I heard from Tarsus that you were so close to being one that it was pretty much a real thing. Speaking of which, he also said that he'd like to meet with you, but doesn't care about that part of things. You just aren't a real threat to him, if I have that right. Still, he seems to hold you in pretty high esteem. I mean you made a list of people that only had Greater Demons on it, and he wasn't being ironic."

  The girl took a deep, obviously fake, breath, and then slowly nodded.

  "Fuck. When was this?"

  "Last night. He asked me to set that up. First I'm trying to check and make certain it was really him. He said it was something about Gregor, The Cleric? It sounded like he was having some problems, and needs help. So, I wouldn't jump in just yet. My guess is that it's The Storm, because who else would come to me for that? He also wants The Mistress of Souls, and Lyn Hartley there."

  "Ahhhh. Okay. That... I'm pretty sure I don't want to risk something like that. Not that he has it out for me. I can see that one. After all, I'd be dead already if that was the case. It could be a trick. He was in on a plan to try and kill Keels not too long ago, which would probably be the real point of this. Get me and Lyn in at the same time, so she feels better about it. I don't know if you can get her to trust that it isn't an attack." There was a sigh then, but she kept going. "So, I'll give you twenty-fives dollar an hour. You'll earn it, so don't think of it as a favor. Also, I can back you up on things. Like Zack said? Not against Greater Demons, but if you need help with muggers or something, I have your back, Batman."
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br />   That was harkening back to the first time they'd met, not long before. A Vampire had asked who he was, and he'd said that, in a gravely movie style voice. Now it was kind of obvious to him that the man had been asking what he was. Probably what kind of Vampire. Not that he could ask, because the guy was dead. Beheaded and in a hole in the forest. Buried by Ginger and him.

  "Okay. We can do that. I'll back you up too, to reasonable degrees. You have to help me get there. I need a plane ticket or a car. Also, we probably need to go and talk to the prosecutor, about that whole little thing we had with the cult the other day. Blythe's group. Plus the thing I have here, with the feminists that shot me."

  She nodded at that one, but didn't add anything, not knowing what the issue was really. He'd have to call. Later though, when it was daylight.

  "I can get you there. Back here too, if I lock up for a bit. Or... It's in California, so not that far. Ginger might be able to bring you in? It would take too long for you to run it yourself. You should really work on that. Get some super speed going?"

  "Sounds good. So, you aren't going to cover the Greater Demon thing are you?"

  That got a smile, and a leaning glare.

  "Nope. It would be best if you didn't think about it anymore. I can't kill you, but I could drop you into the ocean. How's your swimming?"

  He bluffed, not wanting that to happen. It really could keep him gone for a long time, if done right. Maybe longer than he could imagine.

  "Perfect. I'd be back in no more than a week. I can try not to give you away, but if Demons are going around telling store clerks things like that you might not have a very good secret going on."