On the Line (Alternate Places Book 3)

by P. S. Power

  Rebeca was about the same height, but looked distinctly familiar to the people that knew the Mall, almost too familiar.

  Looking in the mirror she hesitated for a second then turned to Kate.

  “I'm Ang? The Were-dragon? How's that possible?”

  Kate winced at her mistake. She'd tried to direct the change of each of them and it worked, but she'd run out of ideas after Nikki, so tried to use Ang as a model. It had worked too, but a little too well, obviously. She explained this and waited for the inevitable outburst. Instead Rebeca just smiled and told them she'd bleach her hair out.

  “I really doubt that anyone looking for me is going to bother seeing past this face or even think about it, as long as there's something different enough to distract them. I could also get a tattoo on my face or something...” The Asian looking man drew a cross on his cheek with a finger. “What do you think?”

  Kate hugged him without thinking, then realized that this might be hard for the Vampire. He turned and kissed her on the cheek instead of shying away, causing the big black man to stare. After a bit he nodded at the smaller man, but didn't say anything. If the new version of Rebeca could bear to touch people without flinching, it might just make up for the fact that she looked too much like someone everyone in their circle already knew. Anyone looking for her would know she couldn't handle the close contact by now. If she could in this form, it was a godsend.

  Kate looked at her work. Even though they looked different, they were both certainly Vampires. The lines of energy coming out of them made that clear enough. The shock of red threads around the head like a crown on each remained identical to what it had been before.

  How to explain them showing up suddenly was a problem, but Don thought about it for a minute and came up with an answer that sounded good to her.

  “Why don't we just say that, since the school here was closed suddenly, all the embassies at Underwood opened up unpaid internship positions, and that these two heard about it and jumped at the chance to fill those slots for the Vampires there? Then we can take Jelly with us, if she wants to go. That explains bringing Blaine and Britney, if your mom can use them, I mean. Then all we have to do is come up with some reason why I'm not going home for this. A job maybe? Even my dad can't complain about me being lazy if I'm working every day through this thing, right? Well, OK he could complain, but at least I won't have to be there for it.”

  Everyone but the Vampires thought this was a little iffy, but a single call to Claire had her, Patricia, Libby, Hilda, Zack and Lisa standing in front of them in Kate's dorm room.

  Claire sized up the two new Vampire men and gave them each a hug.

  “Such fine volunteers! Yes, I think this could work very nicely Kaitlyn. I doubt that Mr. Penbroke will guess their identities. Lisa? You know what he's liable to think better than any of us, do you think it can work?”

  The pretty thirty something woman looked at them carefully before nodding. She had them turn around carefully first, looking at them from all sides. After a while she started chuckling.

  “Yes. George is nothing if not a homophobe. The idea of hiding as another person might occur to him. Especially an illusion of another person, that being a Mage talent. Actually becoming a different person of the opposite gender? I don't think he'd even consider it, to tell the truth. It's just outside of what he'd do, so he'll assume it's outside of what anyone else would do either.”

  Claire moved to Kate and gave her a hug, putting an arm around her waist and leaving it there while they all talked. It took her a minute to realize that the Vampire was laying claim to her like an Alede would, which got a raised eyebrow from Patricia and open stares from Britney, though Blaine didn't seem to notice overly, just standing next to Jelly protectively, since the girl seemed worried for some reason.

  Patricia walked over then and kissed both Britney and Blaine, then did the same to Kate, adding a hug which included Claire, since she stood right there. As an afterthought she hugged Don and Jelly too, though she tactfully didn't kiss them the same way. Kate thought about it and realized that her mother actually had some real diplomatic skills. She'd included the Mage and the Human, but not in a way that would push their sensibilities too far.

  Patricia looked back at the twins, “You're very cute! The embassy can use you, as long as you're willing to work. The front of the operation is a clothing store for plus sized women. Our clients are mainly women that want extra attention. Not always sex, but as long as your friend Donald is taking care of you that way, that shouldn't be too great a hardship, yes? This way we'll be able to send people on vacation while you're there without a large negative impact to operations. Norris, Val and Sarah haven't had a real vacation in nearly two years. The work isn't hard, but we have to stay staffed in case of emergencies at all times. At least during working hours.” She dimpled at them.

  Don didn't bother whispering to Kate, since he knew everyone would hear him anyway, though he did walk closer to her.

  “So, um, Patricia's your mom?” He asked, his voice holding a little bit of both humor and awe.

  Kate got his meaning instantly.

  “Yeah, I know, she looks like she could be my sister, but she's actually a lot younger than I am.” This got a smile from Zack and Don, though it caused Patty to look at her for a second in shock, then the stately Alede, who could have been a playboy centerfold after the air brushing, stuck her tongue out at them and putting her thumbs in her ears wiggled her fingers. This got a laugh from everyone, especially Libby, who literally doubled over.

  Lisa asked Jelly if she wanted to try the internship at the Mage embassy, which made the girl cringe slightly.

  “I do... But, um, you may not want me...” The girl looked down at the floor not making eye contact with the older Mage. “My family, we don't have a very good reputation in certain circles. Bad enough that I doubt the council would let me have the position...”

  Lisa smiled at her and shook her head, “I know who you are, and even talked to your relatives about this. They all promised, even your uncle Willet, to be good for the next two weeks. As for the council, Eloise put your name forward for the position herself, she's pretty fond of Kaitlyn you know and once she found out you were her friend she put the whole thing through instantly. I didn't even ask her to do it. Even my dad didn't say anything about it, except making a speech about how your taking this position looks promising for your future. He does love making speeches...” She put out a hand which the girl shook formally.

  “Welcome aboard Jenifer. You'll be working with Kaitlyn, so you won't be alone there, she knows the ropes...”

  Kate was surprised a bit later when Zack mentioned that they'd gotten Don a job at the apothecary with Wu-Li.

  “Really? I thought that Libby had come to tell him he'd gotten a job at Something Wonderful. Wow, a job with Wu-Li? That's... like a real job! Very cool!” She glanced over at Don, who seemed pleased enough. She knew from past discussions that Don really admired the apothecary and his assistant, both of whom had worked with him on learning to control his internal energy for at least a few hours.

  Libby moved over to Don and held his hand, “I hope you don't mind, but everyone thought it would be a little tacky for me to be sleeping with an employee...Like I don't sleep with the ones I have already...” A grin covered her face when Lisa stared at her and said “Eeewww!”

  “Not Maryl silly! Besides, she's not working for me anymore. Bat Street is a full time gig now, which you know, thank you very much.”

  The college required them to take all their belongings with them every time they left for more than three days, so the rest of the day had them all emptying their rooms. Zack made it simpler for them though, by setting up direct rifts into each room, except for Britney's because her Human roommate hadn't left yet and had to physically load up her personal vehicle. Everyone helped Karen load her car, the girl's friends having already left except for Britney, and carried all of Britney's things to her brother's room for tr
ansfer. This was made easier thanks to Hilda and Claire, who carried the few heavy items the Alede girl had. The big problem was Troy's bed again, which had to be carried out of the living room into Kaitlyn's bedroom, since her bed had gone to Troy, who actually needed it to sleep.

  “Besides,” Dwayne, the large black man Nikki had become said. “I doubt Troy would be as enthused about a man sleeping under his bed all day as he was a girl. Go figure, but to each their own.”

  It took about two hours to move everything into the mansion, thanks to various super powers, making Kate feel a little sorry for the kids that had to do all this by car.

  When they got settled Blaine and Britney decided they should call their mom and let her know what the situation was, since she followed the news closely enough, the Human news, that she'd worry soon if she didn't hear from them.

  Kate listened in, just because she happened to be in the room at the time. Don was too, but he only heard half of the conversation. Blaine spoke first, with Britney sitting back and talking to the room, knowing that her mom could hear her just fine and vice-versa.

  “Hi mom! I don't know if you heard, but they're closing the school down for a few weeks... Yeah, another murder.”

  Kate eavesdropped as the women, whose name she hadn't been told yet, sounded worried for her children. Blaine listened for a bit and explained how they'd gotten internships at the Alede embassy at Underwood, which took the woman by surprise. She asked who they were sleeping with to make that happen. Kate smiled, knowing that the woman really meant it.

  “Well, we're sleeping with a lot of people, of course, but really, we got the job because we're friends with the Ambassador's daughter Kate. Say hi, Kate...”

  “Hi, Kate!” Kaitlyn intoned, trying to sound happy. No need to make the woman think this was some kind of dismal situation, especially since it wasn't, if you could get past the fact that someone had been killing innocent college students for some reason.

  The next hurdle came when they tried to explain where they were staying for the two weeks they'd be away from school. Blaine hesitated, knowing it would sound strange, maybe insane, but Britney just blurted the answer out.

  “Mom, we get to stay at Hartley's house!”

  The woman clearly thought her daughter lied to her until she asked if she was sleeping with the man. Britney answered that she hadn't even gotten to give him a hug yet, even though he was young looking and cute enough, which oddly seem to convince the woman that her daughter must be giving her the facts. If she'd been telling tales the story would have included her getting some off of the man, after all.

  Blaine laughed and seconded all of his sister's information.

  “He's actually pretty cool mom, but he has enough women around here for sex and it seems like there's a bit of a waiting list. I doubt that Brit's going to make the cut in the next two weeks.”

  After talking for a while the woman seemed reassured. Kate got on the phone and gave her the numbers for both Beautiful Plus and Candles and More, since she knew those off the top of her head and told the woman she'd take care of her children.

  After Blaine hung up, he sighed loudly.

  “Now all we have to do is get Don squared away. It's still early enough... no reason to put it off Don...”

  This call didn't go as smoothly, since Don's father seemed convinced his son was on drugs and turning to gay prostitution or something, at least from what the angry sounding man said. Loudly enough for the whole room to have heard, even if they'd been Humans. After a while Don just started laughing and told him that he'd just gotten a job, working at a Chinese apothecary, but he'd keep the drug and gay prostitution ideas in mind in case that fell through. The man yelled at him some more for a while, then put his mother on the phone, who sounded comparatively normal to Kate.

  The woman seemed concerned about her son, but a little relieved he wouldn't have to come home right away. “Things aren't going well here right now. Your father might find himself sleeping on the sofa tonight if he doesn't learn to treat his children a little better...”

  This got a laugh from Don for some reason, though it wasn't a happy sound. He hung up without talking to his dad again. No one in the room mentioned the interplay on the phone at all.

  They all just sat for a while, it being late for them with the time difference, Don and Jelly would both need sleep, but they were both used to keeping late hours and wouldn't need to find a bed for a bit.

  Betty walked into the living room looking for Zack about nine-fifteen.

  “Kaitlyn!” She ran and gave the girl a hug, but pulled back suddenly. “Sorry, Zack said he'd feed me, but then he's been gone all evening. I'm starving, so getting too close isn't a good idea right now...” She looked at Don with particular interest, a hint of fang showing.

  “Hey, you're a Human, could I trade you something for some blood? Just a bit, honest...”

  Kate shook her head, but explained that Don could feed her like Zack did, if she wanted.

  “Seriously? Not a joke? Oohh, please?” She lifted her shirt, but only enough to bare her stomach instead of up around her neck like Nikki always did.

  Hopping up, Don placed the flat of his right hand on the girl's stomach and started breathing heavily like he always did when he collected energy. Zack did exactly the same thing, taking deep, long, slow breaths that seemed to fill the entire body each time. Betty stood there for about four minutes and finally stepped back, looking at the man in shock.

  “That's... I think that was faster than Zack does it. Awesome! So, what do you want in return? I mean, I don't have a lot of money, but I can get you drugs, or we could have sex if you want... Actually, you're kind of cute, so we could have sex anyway, but if you want anal, at least get to know my name first... Sorry, but for some reason it seems like every guy I get blood from lately wants to do me in the rear for it! It doesn't hurt, but I just got the ability to enjoy sex back and now no one wants to do anything fun with me.”

  Don blushed, but didn't pass this off to Kate.

  “Um, well, I could use the sex, if you want to? I kind of need it every few hours or so now... I mean, I can survive without, of course, it's just easier to do it... But, well, as long as I get to come, I don't care that much what we do, so, I'd be happy to do things you can have fun with too. Right now, I think Libby called dibs on me though, but at around four? I'll probably have to get up and do something then. It's a pain. I haven't had a decent night's sleep in weeks.”

  Betty smiled and told him she thought she'd like him, and asked where his room was.

  Then she took him by the hand so that she could take him off to find Libby, making a point of squeezing his butt as they left the room.

  Kate managed to find Val who didn't have anything else to do either and had sex with her for about an hour. Since neither of them needed to harvest any energy right now, they could afford to spend the time just having fun and bonding. After they were finished they laid on Val's bed, lightly stroking each other and hugging as they talked. It hadn't been that long since they'd been together, about two months, so they still remembered what the other liked in bed and what their major concerns were.

  The only new thing in Valerie's life involved a woman that kept coming into the store recently, trying to pick her up.

  “She's a dear, but sooo slow off the mark! I mean, she could have had me a month ago just by asking, or any time now by making up some reason for us to get together. I've flat out told her I'd have sex with her if she wanted, but she seems to think I'm kidding. I know she likes girls, but, seriously, big time low self-esteem I think. I haven't been that active, since I get all the energy I need from Zack, well you know, so I can even afford to be picky... I can't get her to seem to understand that though. Humans! That's about all that's new with me though, you?”

  Kate gave her the run down on everything, and Val, being as cool as she was, acted interested, even at the boring parts, like school work. Val wanted to hang out with Don again though, which wo
uld be good, since they'd need to take turns with him like the others did with Zack now, Kate informed her.

  “Ooohhh! Got it bad then, huh? Well, there's enough of us to go around. Any one of us could service him enough really, though that could get a little boring for him after a while. As it is I think we're going to have to fight Libby for him half the time. We can throw your friend Blaine at her a few times. That should keep her busy enough.” The blonde ran her hand down Kate's stomach gently, running her fingers through her pubic hair as she finished the movement. Kate squirmed a little, trying to get the other woman's hand someplace just slightly more interesting for her. She rolled a little sideways and licked Val's nipples, which were sensitive, since they'd done this just a short time before.

  Then they made love again. Slowly, taking their time and making sure the other had as much fun as possible. They spent most of the night this way, alternating talking with love making. When morning came they both got up and showered together, taking their time and enjoying the hot water, since the mansion had an incredible hot water system. She didn't know how it worked really, but wanted to learn since the thing never let the water go cold at all. No matter how many people were using it at one time.

  The next morning when Zack took them to work, Don surprised everyone, including himself, by walking through the rift without Zack.

  “I did it! Wow... I can barely see it hanging there, but once I knew where it was and saw what Zack did, I could kind of follow along. Or at least thought I might be able to. Cool! I wonder if I can learn to do it again?” Zack sent everyone else ahead while he showed Don how to find the rifts and walk them. The interesting thing there was that no one seemed to think it was a huge deal except Don. Her too, but she hid it, getting the basic idea. If he could walk the rifts, the little shortcuts that Zack took, then it was almost certain that he could do the rest and open a node on his own too.

  That would mean there were two Line-Walkers in the world. It was the kind of thing that would have had her offering to screw someone just to be near, if she wasn't already doing it. Both of those things, being near all the time already.