Living Proof (Tyler G Book 2) (29 page)

The woman nodded at him, and then
looked around.

"I'm good with that. You
don't get to be my age and still have a lot of prejudices that way. Really
tough, you can be the bad boy of the group. Go and get into some fights, or get
a girl pregnant?"

He nearly said that he couldn't
do that last one, but it really wouldn't be that hard to find a girl to claim
her baby was his for some cash, he bet. That, and some sunglasses at the wrong
time of day would be a start.

"I
do
end up in a lot
of fights. Mainly me being attacked. Probably because I keep putting my nose in
the wrong place. Bad boy. That fits. I can go around trying to act all
tough." He looked at Scotty and squared his shoulders, then lowered his
voice.

"Hey, you... Get off my
lawn."

It got a laugh, anyway. It also
showed that he wasn't a very good negative influence, he bet. Still, they
worked out what their roles would be, which mainly came down to letting the
press agent make stuff up about them, Rebekah assured them all. Scotty agreed
with that part, having lived that kind of thing before too.

Steve just sighed though, and
looked at Tyler.

"Our press person is my
sister, Hally. So guess who's going to end up looking extra bad all the
time?"

They all chatted until Steve
needed to go off to bed. Ty didn't need sleep, for his part, and while Scotty
went to lay down when sunrise came the other Vampire stayed up for a bit.

"So, a band, if we can sell
the world on the idea. Those songs are good. The hard part will be cutting some
of them. At least four are potential chart toppers. All we have to do is make
it happen, and then have nearly impossible luck. Are you ready for
stardom?"

The funny thing there, he
realized, was that he really was.

He hadn't been before, but now
that he knew his mom was good with it, everything felt just right that way.

At about ten in the morning there
was a knock on the front door. Steve was awake, but eating in the kitchen,
having a bowl of cereal. The Vampires were down for the day, so Ty jogged over,
wondering who it was. He kind of expected Keeley would be showing up. Possibly
that Hally woman, since she was attached to them in some kind of nebulous
fashion, and might just check on her little brother, just because.

He'd never had a sibling, but
liked to think that if he did he would have done that kind of thing. Checking
up on them, and making sure the world was treating them well. Not that he knew
what kind of relationship the York's had as a family.

For all he knew Steve hadn't been
kidding about how his sister would treat him in the press.

It wasn't either of those two,
but it
was
a person he kind of recognized.

"Cleric?" The man
looked almost the same as before, but that had been Tarsus, The Librarian. Ty
nearly changed that one up, in case it was the same man again. He had on the
Catholic priest outfit. The collar, the black shirt and everything. Also the
same wire rimmed glasses. Very similar ones, he realized, since the lenses in
these distorted the eyes more. They were real, it seemed.

"You would be The Clerk? It
was suggested to me by The Mistress of Souls that I enlist your aid. May I come
in? I'm... Rather being hunted at the moment."

He moved to the side, and looked
past the guy. He looked like he was in his late fifties or possibly his early
sixties. His hair was thin on the top and silver all over. That didn't mean he
dawdled though, moving lightly, getting inside and closing the door behind
himself.

"I won't be able to stay too
long. It seems that my time in my current position has, finally, come to an
end." He looked around the place, at the odd furnishings, but didn't
comment on them. Instead he locked eyes with Ty. "It's a rather long
story, but I think the important portion is this; I'm not a Greater Demon, and
have merely been pretending to be for some time, to further my own work. I'm an
Angel."

Then the man stopped, and stared
at him. Waiting no doubt for the denial to come.

It made sense to him. They had
Greater and Lesser Demons, so Angels almost
had
to be a thing.

"Okay. What do you need me
to do for you? I mean, I guess I'm on the other side of things, but no one ever
told me
not
to help the good guys, so..."

The older man just started to chuckle,
and then shook his head.

"That's the
easiest
time I've ever had convincing someone of that fact in all my years. My lines of
communication have been cut off to my brothers, by Tarsus. He fears that I'm a
Greater Demon he calls The Void. It's ridiculous, of course. That would be the Archangel
Michael, not
me
. Which he should be able to work out, even if he can't
remember Michael after they speak. If I give you a missive, can you pass it to
him? Mike, I mean."

It sounded reasonable, really.

"Sure, do you have an
address for him?"

That got him laughed at, but The
Cleric pulled out a sealed letter from inside his shirt, where it had been
hidden.

"All you need to do is pray,
and if it is the will of God, he'll send him along. I admit, I'm rather
grasping at straws here, but as you stated, you weren't told
not
to help
me, were you? I should be gone soon, before I draw the hunters to your door.
That would be poor repayment. I can't pay you for the service. Not unless I
find some way to survive this. It isn't very likely."

"Good luck? I'll, um, do
that praying for you?" He'd never even considered that God was a real
thing, actually. Church hadn't been a big deal growing up, Lucy not being a
believer.

Here was a guy claiming to be an
Angel however, so there it was. Either it was real, or a trick, and really, who
would bother doing that kind of thing to him? The Librarian wouldn't. It was
too much work for a prank.

So, real, most likely.

That, or a thing that Zack had
put together to show him not to trust Demons.

The man darted, actually
hurrying, out the front door and vanished. The only thing that proved he'd been
there at all was the letter in Ty's right hand. It was sealed, with a large
blob of wax on the back, that had a seal impressed into it. Not that he was tempted
to open the thing. After all, it was probably just a goodbye, from the way
things sounded.

Tyler didn't know what to do,
however. The idea that you were supposed to kneel and say heartfelt words came
to mind, from a few television programs over the years, but that was all he
had. To that end, and not wanting to call down any hunters either, he walked
outside, and started to jog away from the mansion.

After an hour at about half
speed, he stopped. There was nothing around for a long way, which meant it was
probably about as good a place as any to get rid of the letter. It was still in
his hand, and bone dry, since he didn't sweat. One of the good things about
being dead.

Then he looked around, to make
sure he was alone. Sinking to his knees, in case that was important, he
started, feeling like he was addressing a letter, more than anything else.

"Um, Dear Lord. I'm
contacting you today about your, er, servant, The Cleric. He's being tracked and
hunted and thinks he's going to be killed or destroyed. He, ah, gave me this
letter, for the Archangel Michael? I was told that you could send him along, if
you wanted?" Then, because feeling stupid or not, he was the head of the
Coalition of Nations, he tried to put a word in for the guy. "If it works
for you, maybe you could help your guy out? He seemed okay to me. Not that I'm
telling you what to do. If you get a chance though, maybe you could think about
it? Thanks."

Then he waited, wondering what
would happen, if anything. For a long time nothing did, so he got up and
brushed off his knees, which were very dusty. It was a fine and powdery thing
there, he noticed. After a while, wondering if he'd messed it up, he saw a man
walking down the side of the road. He looked like a farmer. Complete with dusty
brown boots, short hair and overalls. As he closed with him, it was clear the
guy had a large flesh colored mole on his chin, just under his mouth. His eyes
were ice blue, but he had lines, and seemed pretty normal.

Ty waved, and got one back, along
with a charming smile.

"Hey! You have a letter for
me?" The man gestured at the thing in his hand.

It seemed a little unlikely that
this was the right person. He seemed too normal. Average really.

"Are you Michael?"

"Yep, that's me. I was told
you were waiting here. Good place for it. Quiet. Thank you, for your effort. I
know that it can't be easy, being asked to do this kind of thing with no
notice." He stopped about three feet away and started to reach for the
envelope, but stopped dead.

Ty finished the move, passing the
thing off.

"No problem. I... Do you
need any help with things?"

That got a slow head shake, but
the Angel seemed pleased to have him ask.

"Thank you, no. I... Do have
a message for you. From Him?" There was weight to the word, and meaning.
Depth and breadth in a single syllable that normally couldn't exist. It
impacted Ty like a physical force.

Him
.

"Um, all right?" It
could be anything, he knew. Probably that his kind of gay ways, or having sex
with Shifters and Vampires, was evil.

Mike the Angel just looked away.

"He wants you to know that
all His children are as He made them. Even those that vex you, or who have done
you harm, are what they must be. Accept them."

"Okay,
that's
different than I figured on. I'll give that a shot?" It was, clearly, an
order, but he didn't really get to do whatever he wanted all the time.

"That's all that is asked of
you. Do your best, in all things. The rest... Well, the plan is harder than
most understand. Those like us, you and I, we're not important, even while we
clearly are. All beings are like that, from the greatest to the smallest.
Accepting them... It can be the task of a lifetime, learning to do that. I'm
not certain that I have, truly. Not yet. I work on it each day, however."

He nodded, since he could do the
same, if he tried hard enough.

"Cool. Well, nice meeting
you. I don't know if you can help The Cleric out, but if you can?"

"Then know that your plea
has been heard, and if it can be arranged, it will be done." The man,
clearly different than a Greater Demon, turned and walked away, waving over his
shoulder when he was nearly out of view. Then he vanished.

It was a more organized thing
than he'd seen before. Ty was watching, but couldn't pinpoint the exact moment
that the man faded from view. Not that he was actually a man.

Then, as he jogged back toward
the funny looking mansion, he started to make up a new song. It was set to the
beat of his feet against the ground, and had to do with just what he'd been
told. Learning to accept people for what they were. It was kind of catchy.

The rest of the day was spent on
that, first writing out all the lyrics then coming up with the tune. Steve
helped with that part, since, as he said, it was do his work, practice chords,
or watching cartoons.

That got Tyler to think back into
his own life.

"I can't remember the last
time I watched any of those. It's been a while."

"Yeah. I like them, being
that I'm a child at heart, but most of the time I just practice. I don't know,
ever since I touched my first guitar, I've just done it. It's pretty much the
most important thing in my life. Is it like that for you, too?"

He didn't answer for a while,
since he was almost certain that Steve York didn't know he was a slave. It
wouldn't help him to find out, either. There was no escape for him, and he was
being treated pretty well, so far. Not that situations couldn't change.

"I think it's pretty much
the same for me, yeah. Anyway, what do you think of this?" He changed the
automated beat a bit, and played the whole thing through.

They made changes, and kept going
until Rebekah and Scotty both got up, and had some blood. Steve needed to eat,
and wanted to order some pizza, but looked at the others and shook his head.

"Ordering food for one
person sucks. You don't eat do you? I don't know all the rules there. Keeley
said you were like a Vampire?"

That she'd said that much about
him was amazing, really.

"I don't drink blood, and
don't have a lot of the cool powers. I don't feel pain, and heal from pretty
much anything. I don't get tired. So I'm kind of strong, for a regular guy, but
not like one of them. I could beat you in a footrace, probably, but maybe not,
if it was short enough. Over the course of an hour or ten, I'd win, since I
don't slow down. Like that. I can eat. I like it, but I don't need to. No meat
however. I, um, kind of crave Human flesh, so compensate by not eating anything
that was an animal once. It's a discipline thing." Plus not getting a
taste for it. Not that he'd never accidently had anything like that. He
had
.

Mainly people sneaking things
into his meals by pretending it was vegan when it wasn't.

Rebekah was watching him closely,
curious, but not judging him.

"You can eat? I wish I
could. I can have tiny bits of things, as long as they're mainly protein. Not a
lot. You can just have whatever though? Cake and pie?"

"Yeah. I can't get fat
either, so I could eat all day if I wanted. Or not eat. I also don't have to
breathe."

Scotty smiled then, nodding a
bit.

"Oh? That works for me, I
can think of some things you can do that will be nice then. I think there's a
hot tub out back. You can take turns servicing us all under water..."

The words were less playful than
they could have been.

"Um, sure. I guess. Steve
are you in?"

He didn't ask Rebekah, since he
meant in on the pizza.

"Half vegetarian? Extra
cheese?"

The red headed boy gave him a
really suspicious look then and nodded.

"Half a pie. Not the
other
thing. Me loves the women,
thanks
." Then he spread his hands his
face blank. "Besides, I think that sleeping with band members should be
against the rules. I can't see that ending well. Even if it means I don't get a
chance with Bekah, which
has
been a dream of mine for years, by the way.
It's not like I'm not sacrificing for the team here."

Their leader, Rebekah, tilted her
head and finally sighed.

"You aren't
wrong
.
Don't worry Scott, we'll have a party soon and get some people in for you.
Tomorrow night? Now, I heard a fresh tune earlier? Can you play that for me
Tyler? While Steven gets your meal set up?"

She didn't like the words really.
No, she seemed to hate them at first, when he sang them, even though it was
catchy. Melodic and a little sad. That was what he thought at first, until she
spoke.