by P. S. Power
"Balthias, please attend us." It sounded regal and phony enough that a few people seemed amused, until the giant red brown form came to them, a hand on the shoulder of two Manthori Vampires, their white skin and red eyes giving them away instantly, a Hsreth standing behind each of them, also touching the giant beast man's arms. The four of them each holding a gift for the party. The Hsreth had large baskets of food and the Vampires held coolers packed with ice, which had almost fresh blood in it. Human, but gotten from a blood bank, just for the occasion.
That was a real trick though, since Keeley had gotten a part time job in the local plasma center to make it all happen. It was surprisingly easy to get the blood, writing it off as waste, taking just a little from each person donating, before it was separated. The hard part had been finding an anti-coagulant that had no particular flavor to the Vampires. The normal kind had a bitter and unpleasant taste to it, so Vampires didn't care for it in the main. Otherwise most would never bother hunting humans at all. No more than people bothered going after cows for dinner, when the store was so handy.
There was a table on the right side of the space with bits of food and drink, so she sent her people to handle that for them. They weren't there to have fun really. Well, Rebekah was, but she wasn't a slave. No, she was an employee, with full benefits. Including time off when she wanted it. To that end, when the cooler was settled, she walked back to them, looking nervous and out of place. The others just worked. They were props after all, and knew their jobs for the evening.
Reminding everyone that she took slaves that no one else could manage. As Darla had pointed out, most, knowing her reputation, wouldn't have bothered trying to challenge her at all. Not alone. Unless they were morons at least. She hoped that wouldn't happen though, since she didn't need more slaves at the moment. It was that or kick their butts the old fashioned way, and really, she was just passable in a fight. Darla had pointed that out by beating her regularly over the last few months, by way of teaching her.
This was a much smaller party than the one Finias gave for Halloween, with only about fifty beings in the room. It kind of explained why Darla had gotten her to wear matching tramp gear instead of the very fine gown that Bente had sent for the thing. That and the fact that people might think she was under the fashion Demon's control or influence if she did. It was a bit of a shame, since the thing was incredible. Keeley had never been all that in to dressing up, but it was so nice she was kind of searching for someplace to wear it, to tell the truth. It would probably end up being a school dance, but that was nearly a crime, since only two or three people would understand what they were even looking at.
It was a Vampire that came up to them first, a decently tall and thin Manthori, who seemed remarkably friendly for one of his kind. He strained to smile with his mouth closed and approached them, his hand reaching out to shake politely. With Zack.
"Mr. Hartley! So wonderful to see you. I was unaware that you were friends with The Mind Drinker." There was a sidelong turn toward a thirty odd year old man across the room, who had on a stylish black suit that wasn't a tuxedo at all. It was interesting, but not that impressive really.
Keeley smiled and explained, since the memory Zack had of the man was him as an older gentleman.
"Finias. He reads minds, hence the name." It was a bit of shorthand, but no one disagreed with her over it. The Greater Demon was known to be one of the strongest telepaths in the world. If you had a secret, you had to lock it up pretty tight if you didn't want him to find out about it. Keeley could do it, at least if he wasn't prying too hard. She didn't know if that would work if he were actually trying, of course. Probably not, if she were going to be realistic about it. Her implanted memories told her that he could be pretty impressive that way, when he wanted to be.
Zack let his head turn to look at the man, and managed not to seem confused, for some reason.
"We've met. I don't know if we're friends yet." Then he managed to stop talking, which was impressive. He didn't think of it that way, but the new Line Walker was a constant security risk. He said what he thought, for the most part, struggling to keep the worst of things inside and failing about a third of the time. Luckily he wasn't as evil as most people. However he'd broken to make that happen.
Instead he turned to her and then waved at Darla.
"This is Harland of the Vampire Council. You know Bey, don't you?" He seemed to be ready to try and introduce everyone, but Rebekah had to be a complete cipher to him and that was who the new Manthori clearly wanted to talk to. Same kind of being and all that, causing her to seem friendlier than the rest of them or something.
Bowing the tiny Vampire man stepped forward. It was a thing amongst many of the older people it seemed, constant bowing like that.
"You know my daughter, Lenore Hawthorn as well, do you not Harland? This Manthori woman is Rebekah, who is in thrall to the Mistress of Souls." He was going to go on, but Keeley smiled and stepped closer to them slowly.
"That isn't correct, Bey Transmorguir. Rebekah works with me, as a hired employee, with full freedom and rights. The four over there, by the table, are slaves of mine. Sorry to interrupt, but I didn't want such an important being as Harland of the Manthori to think she wasn't a free agent in her own right." Then going silent, she backed away a half step. She'd been rude, but the tiny Bey just smiled at the girl Vampire and patted her arm gently.
"Oh! A very risky and daring occupation indeed. You must be very brave. I apologize if I gave offense, it was a simple misunderstanding, please don't think that I wronged you?" It sounded so polite and sweet that Rebekah smiled, almost as if the man was flirting with her.
He wasn't, of course. It was simple fear. Anyone who would willingly work with a Greater Demon had to be either insane or so powerful that even a being such as himself would be wise not to anger them. She didn't say anything, but it was pretty clear that there were no hard feelings. That was good actually, since Rebekah would last about ten seconds in a fight with the former man.
Then after a slow bow toward her, he continued, Keeley spreading her mind a bit to pick up errant thoughts from those around her, just in case things started to get tense. It took work, but she locked her own thoughts behind a shield at the same time.
"This, as you will have guessed, is The Mistress of Souls, the one that can capture our own kind, as you have seen. The lovely being next to her is The Technician. Her sister, if I have that right?"
Darla smiled and took the bone white man's hand, but he managed to move away pretty quickly after that, which got them to work into smaller, less intimidating, groups. Keeley got Zack, of course, which meant Lenore glared at her until Bey pulled her away carefully.
"She likes you." Keeley could pick that up easily enough. "She also thinks that you're her property now. This isn't just a jealous girlfriend thing either. I suggest you go carefully there. Lots of women will sleep with you, and many will be willing to love a person with the looks and power you possess, but a Vampire is a dangerous mistress even at the best of times." Lenore could hear her, but actually just nodded, looking away. It was a subtle thing, but Zack saw her doing it and managed not to chatter about the fact, which was helpful, given that they were being approached by three beings at the same time.
The first one there was a rather plain looking man, who had a sheet of paper and a thick accent. he was white, nearly matching her in skin color, but portly, with a fine blue jacket covering his stomach, making him look a little like a cylinder. The watch chain and large eighteen-eighties mustache finished the look.
His words came quickly, in a strange, clipped accent, it sounded slightly Arabic, but wasn't a thing that she could trace. It was probably in her memories however.
She was about to try to touch him when the man turned to Zack and simply explained who he was. It was the truth even, if slightly skewed. He didn't lie at least.
"I am Morved Strump. I have need of passage to the Ting-et lands. This is possible for you?" The lilt was plea
sant enough to listen to at least.
Zack shrugged and didn't say anything for a long time, just staring at the man. When the words finally came they didn't sound very certain at all.
"Possibly. I work from a node though, so it would be hard to get there from here. Do you need to leave tonight?"
Morved actually took a step away from them, as if slightly scared suddenly. It made sense to Keeley at least, that kind of thing would be so expensive that the man simply couldn't afford it at all.
"No, no. I can set an appointment? There is time for this. My wife, she has littles... How say, childrens? They too will need to travel, as her, also. How much expense?" It was a bit more broken now and created a problem, since it was clear that Zack didn't really have set rates at all. It made sense, given the variety of what he did, but made it hard to bargain in the moment. Worse, it was starting to make him anxious. That was going to ruin her fun if it kept on.
"Well... I usually work in favors for now. Is that something you can do? I don't really need much." He sounded a bit worried about it and was kind of searching for Lenore, probably hoping to be bailed out.
For her part the Vampire was watching, but from across the room.
Keeley moved a bit and patted the Ting-et man on the shoulder, the near contact showing her an awful lot about what he could afford. It was a decent amount, plus, the trip he wanted to take was very important to him. A rite of passage for one of his sons that had to be completed in the next few weeks, or the boy would be left a child forever, due to the failure of his parents. Short of claiming the man's wife for himself, Zack could pretty much ask for anything.
"You have rich platinum deposits in your land?" She knew the answer, but the man nodded slowly.
"Much, and much." His tone was so confused that it was apparent he couldn't see the point of her asking. It was worth no more to him than copper was in North America.
"Zack will take your weight in that metal, to be delivered one week after your arrival at your home. You wish a trip back as well?"
The man seemed excited, and a little scared suddenly. It wouldn't be hard for him to get the stuff at all, but the price was so cheap he couldn't believe it wasn't a put on or a joke.
Keeley smiled.
"Then double the amount. Twice your weight, in platinum, pure metal, to be delivered at the time of pick up. It needs to be in small blocks that one man can pick up however." It would take extra work for him to get it all, but Zack needed a nest egg. That would about do it. She could sell it for him even and turn a big enough profit from the deal that no one would think twice about why it was happening.
The man went across the room and started to talk to his wife, who was actually taller than he was, and thin. No children were in the room, because it was a den of strange beings that were possibly dangerous. That just made sense. Also, it was a bit boring. Keeley tamped that down inside herself, along with everything but a mildly pleased sensation, which meant she was perfectly gentle and kind when Zack leaned in to whisper to her.
"I can't take that, it's too much. I mean, it will take me what? Half an hour, tops. That must be millions of dollars worth of precious metal." He glanced guiltily across the space at Strump.
"Don't worry, where he's from it's a bit like granite is here. You get millions, minus my twenty percent, and he gets travel that would cost at least that much or more, plus a lot of death, for almost anyone else to arrange. On his side though that's only a few thousand dollars worth of metal. It would cost more for him to fly to Miami." It would too, at least with the whole family going along.
They had to stop talking then, as a very angry woman stepped up, her face set and unkind, a large knife in her right hand. No one else even bothered to look too hard, except Bey and Lenore, who started across the room, but stopped when the women tried to stab Keeley with a move that was so fast it took slowing down time for it to be tracked at all. She barely stepped back in time, but reached out and took the knife carefully, her muscles straining in the air, the whole action calm and relaxed seeming to anyone watching that could track the move. As she did it, her hand brushed the woman's at the bare wrist. That wasn't an accident of course.
She was a Wen'pth. Whatever the heck that was. Keeley actually knew, as soon as she got the name, having the lives of several of her people in the record that The Librarian, Tarsus, had given her some months back. They were an angry and warlike people, but the women were considered to be the more peaceful tribal members. It was one of those hidden population deals too, so even though she looked a bit bluish gray and had very large eyes and fast reflexes, the lady came from New York. Upstate though, not in the city.
It wasn't a personal thing however, she just wanted to try and kill Keeley, since that would make her look very good among her own kind. She'd heard a rumor that she wasn't all that old, and was possibly easy prey.
There were several options she could have gone with, since the woman was clearly gearing up for another attack, even as she stood there thinking about it all. Keeley could take her as a slave of course, but Wen'pth were notoriously easy that way, so it wouldn't be much of a challenge, or show off her skills particularly at all. On the other hand, killing her physically, would make her look a good bit older than she was. The woman was slower than her, and by using magic that difference in absolute speed could be increased to a level that would make it far less than a fair fight.
That would ruin the party though. Blood all over the place, and all that.
So instead she stepped in and kissed the woman on the mouth, hard enough that she jerked back and kept going, taking a half dozen steps. Her lips tasted of fish, and dead things, but Keeley let that go and smiled.
Then she pointed upward at the small bit of blue-green with white berries hanging on the streaming banner above them all.
"Mistletoe. That's the tradition here. Anyone standing under it gets a kiss." She was playing fast and loose with the rules of that, but the lady actually just bustled out of the room, toward the front door.
Zack moved in and took her arm gently, almost as if he were going to pull her away, but Bente came up and kissed her too. Then after a second, laughing a bit, she did the same to Zack.
"So good to see you both. Zachery, may I say, you look incredible tonight? I really should do all your clothing. Come visit in a few weeks and we'll see about doing a proper fitting. As soon as that thing comes off your arm." The turn to Keeley was fast, but not so much so that she'd lash out. "Is there a problem with your gown dear? I'd hoped to see you in it tonight."
This was the part of the night that Keeley had been dreading, but she decided to simply go with Zack's trick and just tell the truth.
"I couldn't risk it. People might think I was in your debt, not realizing that I'd paid for the gown with work already. I'm very sad about it, especially since I have nowhere else to wear something that incredible any time soon. Politics though, so what can we do?" It had all the right words, she thought, and sounded almost a bit bored with it all.
The fashion Demon just gave her a skeptical look then.
"Well, to get started you could at least make more effort than this. What's this look called?" A hand was held up. "No, never mind, I know what it's called, Club Chic. It's not suited to one with your fine features however. Best leave it to those with courser look about them." It was about as close to mean and catty as Bente ever got, as far as Keeley could tell.
She smoothed it over with another kiss, though just one on the cheek.
The voice from behind her sounded strange though, and for a few moments, Keeley didn't recognize it at all. In part because it was at least a little off.
"Oh, do I get to kiss her too?" It had a sweet, little girl voice behind it, but the face, when she turned, was familiar enough to be shocking.
It was Barb.
More to the point, it was the form she'd last seen her insane brother in, before she tried to make him kill himself.
Chapter three
Keel
ey nearly started fighting the instant she saw the girl, but realized that it wasn't Xenses before she really started to move. There were a lot of signs to show that. The face, for instance, was close to being right, but the nose was actually a little too well fitted to the face. Her brother had made Barb into a pretty girl, but one that had clearly had a nose job. This person didn't bother with that detail, leaving out the bit of overly regular flesh along the sides.
Also, they were wearing a dark brown tunic and trousers, which in Greater Demon society meant that the person was establishing dominance over another. It was true that Xenses might have done that, but Keeley really didn't think that he'd bother with it. He was more of an ambush kind of guy that really couldn't care what anyone else thought of him. This being was different than that.
This person was clearly trying to social climb.
She smiled, getting the basic idea before the words even stopped coming out of his mouth.
"Ah, the Greater Demon Fram I take it? So nice to meet you. So, decided to join me?" It was a blunt statement, and one that most of the people in the room didn't really get. Darla did though, and stalked across the room without hesitation, Finias following along with her, his face in a gentle smile.
"Fram, you idiot! How did you reassemble yourself and... Of course. Someone helped you." The blonde and blue eyed Greater Demon stared at the dark haired girl in front of her and sighed. "Come to try and challenge me then? I hope you realize that I was trying to protect you the last time we met."
Barb shuddered a bit and made an ugly face at Darla, then at Finias, but addressed Keeley directly.
"I, Fram The Bold, challenge this unknown to a battle of wills..." He said it as if he weren't about to be killed by Finias for breaking protocol. That was probably a mistake, Keeley realized, but shrugged. It would be annoying, but she wasn't going to leave him a chance to beat her for half an hour before taking action this time.