Living Proof (Tyler G Book 2) (9 page)

Ty cleared his throat.

"Well, I suppose, if you
really
want one. None of the hot girls are here right now though, and I'm a five at
best, maybe a seven if I dress up, but if you
want
to..." He
laughed, but wasn't mean about it. "Or, you know, they should all be back
in tomorrow?"

"I guess. I've never done
guys. I
am
kind of desperate... I'll wait, but no offense?" Then he
chuckled, and hung up.

Then there was a lot more
cleaning, with things being moved, dusted and scrubbed, the papers behind the
desk being tidied too. By midnight, it was all done. The whole thing looked
good. He even managed to get into the back and scrub the showers. It was
all
done. That meant he was kind of just standing in the front after that. For the
first time since he'd started their Tyler wondered if it would be all right to
just sit down and read something.

At midnight almost on the dot, a
man walked in, and for a second he wondered if it was the fellow looking to
have that blowjob, having changed his mind. If so, as bored as he was, Tyler
was kind of game. When he spoke the voice was different, sounding more
youthful, even though his face was seamed and wrinkled. He was
also
a
Catholic Priest, and Ty wasn't a ten year old, so that one probably wasn't
happening.

The man gave him a bemused look
and shook his head.

"That was a rather
unfortunate part of their history. People, even those of the Church, have free
will however." Gesturing at the front counter, as if suggesting Ty go
behind it, the older man put a slim case on it. It was tan colored, and made of
hemp, rather than leather. The work on it was fine, but it seemed handmade
somehow. If so it was really high quality work, however.

Heading behind the counter, Tyler
smiled at the other guy.

"If you've come to rob us
you've picked the wrong time. As you can see, we haven't made anything all
night."

That got a simple stare that
wasn't even mean. Just blank. Opening the case, a single sheet of paper was
pulled out. It looked to be heavy, and the words on it were handwritten. They
were still very clear however. So much so that it might have as well been typed
or printed professionally.

Without preamble, or even a
hello, the Priest started speaking.

"I need three people
collected. They won't be harmed, but they might not wish to see me in
particular. Two of them might actually be difficult to gather, and the other
one needs to be done with care. They're all Greater Demons."

Tyler let his eyebrows go up,
since he didn't have a clue what the guy was saying.

"You can't just call them
yourself? Or send a letter?"

"Not and be heard. You
however, might be able to work this out, Clerk. It was suggested to me by a
friend that heard of you from The Rotted. Here, look at the list first."

The thing was turned, and the
names came into view suddenly.

"Lyn Hartley, who's The
Changling. I've met her. She was nice, but I don't know if I can do anything
about setting up anything. I can ask? Then Keeley Thomson, The Mistress of
Souls and..." He froze, going very still, since the last name wasn't who
he'd figured it would have been. "Eve Benson? The Snowflake."

The man nodded.

"Indeed. Not that Eve is a
Greater Demon, strictly speaking. Close enough however to not wish to annoy her
if I have another option. I have no particular problem with her, myself, by the
way. Her power is
interesting
, but not a threat to me. You should use
caution there, however. I think you would be hard pressed, if she turned on you
at this point in your existence. Can you do this?"

"Possibly. Who's setting
this up? Can you prove that to me? I'm betting it's going to be asked
about."

"I'm Tarsus, The Librarian. I'm
in the guise of Gregor, the Cleric, at the moment. He's in great trouble, with
me. Which is why I need to connect with them all." He left the paper, and
started to turn away, as if it was finished.

"Excuse me, but while I'm
willing
to do this, or at least try, what do
I
get out of it?"

The man smiled, as if those words
pleased him for some reason.

"Ah! Excellent. What would
you like? Power? Money? Love?"

He stopped and shook his head.

"Three large favors, that I
get to pick, but that you can suggest. That way you can steer me toward things
that won't be too hard for you, or annoying."

"I can say no, however, and
let you pick again?"

"That sounds about right.
I'm not trying to enslave anyone, or getting anyone killed or anything. To you
these will probably be pretty medium favors, but I want to be able to tell my
mom that I went big on it." It was the truth, and for some reason got a
cool smile.

"See to setting those
meetings up, and I'll do it. This is actually large enough that for the first
time in history, at least the modern portion of it, I won't even haggle over
the idea.
That
should drive you to greater effort. After all, I invented
haggling. Back in ancient Babylon."

Then the Greater Demon walked
out, saying nothing more.

He grinned and shook his head.

"Right, like you can't pick
up a
phone
? I'm not buying it, Mister Demon. Not even the tiniest bit.
Can you say
trick
?" No one did, but he was still probably right.

Palma came in first, through the
back door, having a key for it, since she was a trusted and hard working
employee. Ty noticed that
he
didn't have anything like that. Then again,
he'd worked there less than a month, so it might just be that Zack wasn't that
into trusting him so far. Plus, they were open almost all the time, twenty-four
hours a day. If they really did close the doors, it was only in emergencies.

The Hsreth woman was blocky,
dressed in white and seemed to be of nebulous age. Her hair was medium colored and
curly. Other than that Ty couldn't have really recognized her as not being
Human. There were probably perks to being one of her people, but it seemed rude
to just walk up and ask about things like that. Especially if you didn't know
them very well.

"Hi Palma! I'm off to see
about getting Vivian, the Bear Shifter that got in trouble a few weeks ago? At
six. I... I don't want to bug you." It was a bit lame, but he really
didn't.

The woman beamed at him, and then
shook her head warmly. It seemed that way to him. Like a mother or grandmother
might have done with a child.

"What do you need? Help
controlling her? That kind is strong and hard to hurt, but between us we should
be able to do it. Or... Is she to be put to death? I can see that, but I'm not
certain I would be the best for that sort of task. Perhaps one of the Vampires?
You're close to that Ginger, aren't you? A powerful master of her kind."

He needed to be very careful
saying things to people there, he realized. Not for the first time, but that
was a very strange place to jump to. That he'd go to Palma to wrangle a Bear...
She didn't seem to think that part was outside of what was polite to request
however, which was
interesting
.

"I was thinking of snacks?
She's been on that rock for two weeks, and might want something sweet, or with
meat in it? I need to make sure she has clothes too, in case she's in a prison
jumpsuit or whatever. I
should
go and just buy some donuts, but, you know,
I don't have money really yet."

The woman, who hadn't seemed
upset before, perked up anyway. She even brought her hands together.

"Ah! That's far more like
it. Fine treatment for her, isn't it? She attacked one of our people here, and
was given no more than a swat for her troubles. Now you seek to ply her with
fine foods and raiment's? Either that is a show of great faith that she will
not do it again, or you have a plan to do more to her?"

It did sound a bit light, when
put that way.

"I don't have anything
planned. I
should
try to come up with a bit more, shouldn't I? Well, if
I think of anything I guess I'll bring it up? We're supposed to leave at
six."

The woman nodded, and spoke as
she started to walk away.

"How many are going?"

He had to count that out on his
fingers, but wasn't certain that it was right, which he told her. That got him
waved at as she almost flew from the front of the darkened cafe.

There wasn't much time left, so
he figured that she'd come up with a few things that were on hand. Maybe not.
Instead, at ten till it was time to leave, just as Zack walked in, looking like
he'd been in a fight, his hair messed up, and half his face swollen, she came
out with a stack of boxes.

Ty ignored her, running to his
friend instead.

"Are you all right?
I..." He didn't know what to say, to be honest. The man was a Greater
Demon, so anything that could hurt him would probably just kill Tyler.

Zack smiled at him, not even
wincing.

"Nothing broken. I'll be
healed before people start coming in. Sorry I'm so late. The place looks
perfect. You even did the walls in the node space." He moved in to pat Ty
on the shoulder, only to have him move back a few steps.

"Sorry. A guy came in last
night. He
looked
like one at least. He claimed to be The Librarian, but
told me he was pretending to be Gregor, The Cleric? Anyway, he had a job for
me, but I don't know if I'm supposed to hide it from you or not? There might be
secrets involved. Other people's. I have no clue how to get it all done,
because what are the odds that it isn't a trap or trick? Probably for the other
people he wanted me to get in touch with, rather than me."

His boss touched the side of his
face as Palma looked on.

"That sounds about right.
The best idea is to actually get in touch with Tarsus and make sure he was himself
first. If he
was
, then you can probably do what he asked. He isn't
perfect, but he's sane, and no more evil than say, Darla or Keeley. Not that
you should pal around with
them
in particular. If you get the choice.
You probably won't, since you know too many people in common with them."
He shrugged, which was clearly playful, and designed to show off his body a
bit. "Remember, they would toss you to the wolves if it suited them.
They'd eat your corpse alive without even feeling bad about it, just to annoy Anne,
if it ever came up."

"And you wouldn't?"

That got the man to straighten a
bit, as a suddenly frightened looking Palma came over holding stuff for him
that smelled incredible. It was in large purple boxes, but not all of it was
sweetly scented. There was meat in there, as well as veggies. Maple too.

The Greater Demon did something
he'd never done before, and bowed. It was different, but seemed very formal.

"If it was required at the
moment, I
would
. I'd cheat you, steal from you, rape you, beat you past
what even you could take, which is a lot, if it was needed to do what I had to
at the moment. Then I'd go on my way, and never think about it again if I didn't
want to. It's probably going to be the hardest lesson you ever learn about
Greater Demons. We can be nice. Kind and even good, but only for as long as it
serves us. It's always, and only, about what we need to get done at the moment.
This won't be the last time I tell you that, Tyler. It's because I do like you,
but if you don't learn that lesson, I
will
cut off your arm and eat it
in front of you, just to help you internalize it all. Understood? Doing
anything less for you is to lose a resource. One that is only partially mine in
the first place. That means you might just be in for similar treatment from
some of the others, and as far as I know, I'm the nice one."

It was the kind of speech that
was important, and pressing, since he liked his limbs, but also didn't feel
real. That was probably the point.

"I'll do my best? I'd rather
avoid that kind of thing. I don't know if limbs would regrow, after all."
He got his teeth back, but that might be different.

"They will. Dying
isn't
a thing you can easily manage, but I'd rather avoid that one if we can? You
look kind of stringy and tough. Like you'd get stuck in my teeth? Don't forget,
Ty. If I have to teach you that lesson, I really
will
. You have to be
careful, of everyone.
All
the time." Then, as if the idea might not
sink in that he was serious, Zack heaved a great sigh and shook his head sadly.
It was a mock thing, but not the kind that anyone should have bought in
particular.

It was so clear to Tyler that he
was probably going to end up with his arm being lobbed off and eaten that he
wondered which one it would end up being for a moment. Probably his right,
since that was his masturbation hand. Not that he'd had time for anything like
that lately. No sex either, since he was just
that
busy.

Then the Demon waved over his
shoulder and walked away, into his office off to the side. The node room
anyway. Palma pushed the stack of boxes, which was four high, on him and huffed
a little bit.

"You play dangerous games
here, Tyler Gartner. I know I can't warn you away, since that was taken from
you before you had a choice in the matter, years past.
Don't
take that
warning lightly. Most who deal with Greater Demons, even the best of them,
which I assure you,
is
The Line Walker and his friends, do not survive.
If they do, it tends to be accomplished with only the best of luck or skill. I
have seen men, women and beings ten times more powerful than yourself die by
their own hand, before allowing one of Zack's people to close with them. More
than once. Take heed of that."

Then she scuttled off. It looked
like she was bustling at a normal enough pace, but it was, he realized, faster
than that. He just couldn't figure out how it was done.

He left through the front of the
store, so that he could get there a few minutes early. They were meeting at
Pretty Plus, if Valerie was there yet. That was a thing that he'd noticed. The
Alede had a very strange relationship with time. Part of the time they'd be
early, and ready for whatever was to come, and the rest they'd be up to several
hours late, and just play it off as if it weren't important in the slightest.

It was rare for one of them to be
on
time for anything, but this one came out with two others, all of them
dressed up like they were going mountaineering. Hiking boots on their feet,
lumberjack shirts, and suspicious bulges in their blue jeans. Being there when
she was supposed to be was probably part of why she was the Ambassador.

The bulges weren't in the
front
either, though the two good looking men had that going on too, he didn't doubt.
One of them had brown going on up top, the other had darker hair.
That
one was Robert. The one behind Valerie on the left looked a tiny bit familiar,
but wasn't a person that he'd met before. He was nice looking, and had decent
muscle, with a manly jaw line and a bit of a five o'clock shadow going on. He
was pretty, but not as good looking at Robert was that way.

Tilting his head, he hazarded a
guess.

"Um, Kaitlyn? Is that you?"
He was afraid for a moment that he was wrong, but the guy just reached out and
took the top two boxes.

"Kyle, obviously. This is my
guy form, which most wouldn't have gotten, so good job! I'm pulling guard duty
today, just in case that Bear isn't done with the attacks. So I decided on
getting some extra muscle going. Mom was
going
to go alone, with just
you, but this will look better. Like we
aren't
wimps all the time.
That's the theory anyway."

The young man said this as Rupert,
Calley, and Ang all came in, two of them smiling. Ang just looked stoic, but
not unfriendly. That's how he always was.

Calley moved in and gave Kyle a
hug.

"Ohhh... We should get
together later? You're my favorite Alede. Anyway, you
do
look more like
a pretty team of lumberjacks than a guard detail, but I bet that will be
enough. There's food too? Awesome! I was going to beg for a trip past a donut
shop. We should head out. Do you need anything first? Anyone?" She looked
around at all of them, but it was Val who snapped her fingers, and ran to get a
Pretty Plus bag.

"Clothes for Vivian. I
think
these will work. I hope I got the right colors for her." There was a
moment of indecision, like they should stop and discuss that kind of thing.

Ty nearly giggled over it.

"We should go. I'm sure they'll
be fine. You mentioned a van?" He glanced at Rupert, who brushed at his
beard, then scratched under his own chin, answering slowly.

"Yeah. We should get going.
Calley's driving."

The van was white, and new
seeming, or at least very well cared for. It had the air of something official,
though the plates were just regular ones. The kind that anyone might have, not
just government officials. The inside was sparkling however, as if it had been
spiffed up and polished that morning for them. It had a very slight scent of
something orange and clean. There was enough room inside for several more
people, even after he loaded three of the light purple boxes in there, next to
the bags of clothing that Valerie had brought along. That was all in the far
back, though thankfully there was also coffee and water up front.

It was, he didn't doubt, because
the Alede Ambassador was coming along with them. She was a VIP, so doing that
was the right thing to do. It was the kind of thing that pretty much had to be
done, if you didn't want to give insult in a case like that. Really, they
probably should have had one of the others driving so that the woman could be
cuddled and reassured by Calley while they rode. If they stopped anywhere Ty
decided to take her aside and see if that was possible.

Not that Val seemed that worked
up, or like she needed to get laid instantly. All three of the Alede seemed
really locked on and focused, actually. Sitting side by side in the front seat.
Close together, since it was really made for two people, but it had enough
belts for them to do it, so he hadn't insist on anything else happening that
way.

He ended up on the right hand
side, next to Rupert, since Ang was up front, holding a handgun in his lap. In
case they were attacked, obviously. Since, again, letting the Alede Ambassador
die was a poor plan for the day. Rupert had a weapon too, and looked at him
with a slow grin that made his large and bushy brown beard shift. It was kind
of cute, actually. He had really nice and warm eyes. Brown, and a bit
entrancing.