Other Places 3: Detours (7 page)

The
ancient Chinese man looked at him, and then her, and nodded.

"Perhaps
you could aid me in collecting a few things in return?"

Zack
sighed, but agreed. It wasn't as if the man wasn't a friend of his, after all.
Still, he'd have to work out some kind of trade with the family, or else people
would eventually try to take advantage of him. What that would be he didn't
know. She needed his help, but had absolutely nothing that he wanted. Not at
all.

Worse,
even though he left them all in China, two hours later, he'd have to retrieve
them in a few weeks. That would compound the cost, but they couldn't get out of
China on their own, he didn't think.

It
was a bit of a mess. On the good side he'd collected up a lot more herbs,
including some expensive ones, than he needed. Enough to make that part worth
while he thought.

Maddy
Morse had three people with her, which he actually expected. He hadn't known
that he
would
, but the instant he saw the two men and the woman she was
with, he understood that it was her staff. Almost all the high officials,
regardless of the group, tried to add extra people and luggage to their
transports. Since he was doing this one for free, for the Summit, as part of a
deal with Keeley, a lot of people had been doing that. At first he nearly
balked at it, early on, but now he realized that it was letting people get used
to working with him, as much as not. He'd rather have ten thousand people like
that family from earlier, that couldn't pay really, than to have everyone
refusing to work with him.

He'd
just have to be a bit clever to justify things. That was all.

"Maddy!
Are you all ready to go?" He was in the back of the Idaho Mage embassy,
which meant, as it turned out, that the woman there was actually the
Ambassador. She looked older, so probably wasn't a healing Mage. From the way
the space rippled around her, he was going to bet some kind of combat
specialty. She had several weapons on her, with one pointed directly at him,
ready to fight.

Like
that would work?

 She
attacked, almost instantly, as the others jumped out of the way, screaming. At
least
Maddy
yelled
no
, which was nice of her. Zack moved out of
the way and simply walked in places the energy wasn't and slapped the woman.
Hard, and right along the jaw, which knocked her out.

He
actually had to hold back a lot, so the move wouldn't kill her. Then, without
asking, he pulled the rest of the magics from her, as the two men stared at
him. Like he was going to pull the woman's clothing off and rape her or
something? Because that made sense. Clearly if he were going to do that, it
would make more sense to rape one of them, so that no one would be willing to
accidently back up their stupid friends again. Not even by mistake. He didn't
say anything, until he had it all, then he stood up.

"Should
we go? She's about to wake up. I trust that you'll have a handle on this before
the next pick-up? Because I've got to tell you, this was annoying, and wasted
time. A whole
minute
. Not that I'm actually that busy yet, but it could
happen and really, you don't
know
that I'm not, or didn't, right?"

Maddy
made a hard face, and seemed a little bitter, but one of the men, the younger
one swallowed hard.

"I'm
so sorry about that Line Walker. She... her family had a bad experience with a
Greater Demon that plagued them for generations. One called The Reckoned? It's
left her a bit... leery?"

He
seemed upset, so Zack decided to let it go.

"Ah.
That's not someone I know, yet. Well, let's go?"

That
didn't take long, even with the three bags they had. They had to wait then, for
Jen and Hiram to show up, if they were going to. Really, they needed chairs in
the node room, for things like that. On the good side, he could easily get some
snacks, and there was no reason they couldn't go and sit in the cafe. He
suggested that, since it would have to be more comfortable.

That
meant he was able to get to his new people, as they walked in the door, and on
a whim, added Kait to the group.

"Kaitlyn
will be training you on register and the computer system. She set it up, so
that's efficient sounding. Jen, you, Kaitlyn, and I, have a meeting first.
Important people, so remember to breathe and act professional. Don't let
yourselves get flustered." Marissa walked in the front door, looking
cleaned up, and wearing fresh clothing. It was a dress, along with tight
looking boots. It was all in tan and a thing that was a bit short on her,
because it belonged to Lenore. He'd seen her in it before. It was cuter on his
girlfriend, but worked well enough on the Vampire elder.

"Here
we go. Marissa! Over here!" It took a minute to get everyone around in the
same place and longer to work them into the next room, but cutely enough Hiram
and Madeline both came along too. He didn't mind, personally.

Zack
gestured at each person in turn, starting with Jennifer and Kaitlyn.

"These
are the people that I wanted you to meet. Particularly Jennifer. Maddy Morse is
the head of the Mage Guild. Marissa is on the Vampire Council. You should all
exchange numbers. Possibly with Hiram too, in case you ever need a good thief,
though you didn't hear that from me."

He
meant that last bit as a joke, but Maddy pulled the girls to the side and Marissa
smiled hugely enough that her fangs showed a bit, even though they were hidden
pretty well.

"Ah!
I could perhaps, use one with those skills. Particularly a Mage. We should
indeed exchange numbers."

That
required some pens and papers, but everyone did it, including with him. Even
the two men got all the numbers. The younger one seemed pretty interested in
Jen. It was a bit strange, since Kait was right there, and pretty hard to
ignore, but it was clear she was being ignored. Not as a game either. Some men
would do that, paying attention to the less pretty girl in order to get close
to the good looking one, but this man seemed very interested in Mage matters.

Maddy
pointed.

"Jennifer?
If you take a summer internship with my office, Bart will be your direct boss.
I didn't know that we'd be meeting a member from the Vampire Council today. Is Marissa
going with us to the summit?"

The
lady herself covered a laugh with her right hand.

"Oh,
my, no. I have some matters to see to here. I'm over-nighting with Zachery, and
then, in the morning, will be off to my next audit. I hope that you and your
people will support peace in this current issue? I didn't come to lobby you
today, but since I'm here..." She laughed again, and so did the others,
including Hiram.

Zack
just nodded, since it made sense to him.

"Good
plan. I'm fully supporting peace, if anyone asks."

Maddy
nodded.

"That's
our current plan as well. Peace is almost always the better option. It was nice
to meet with you, Marissa. Please feel free to be in touch? If you can't reach
me..." She smiled and winked at Jennifer. "Get with Miss Stone here?
She should be able to pass messages for us, if I'm out of cell range."

They
made pleasant sounding conversation, until he had to make the transfer to the Ettarian
lands. That was nice enough, since they were kind people, in the main, the
Ettarians, if tall and telepathic. The man that was waiting for them was young
and blond, standing at about seven-four. There was a lot of bowing, and
gesturing for the three he'd brought in to get on the funny looking shuttle. It
slid, on a very smooth pathway, rather than on wheels. The whole thing was a
pale cream color. Then, a lot of the Ettarian lands seemed to be that. It had
to do with their technology, he knew.

After
that, he let the others get to work, learning the ropes. He managed to sit down
for a bit, and even get a light supper, which consisted of enough food for a
family of four to gain about six pounds each. So light was a bit of a misnomer.
That thought got him to smile. Right up until the phone rang at his desk. He
was there, so answered on the first ring.

"Hartley
and Co. Books, Zack speaking, how may I help you?"

The
voice that came next, was both happy and familiar.

"Ah!
Mr. Hartley! It is I, Bey. I hope that your day is being a pleasant one?"

Zack
felt a bit surprised, since the man normally didn't call him. Not that he wasn't
allowed, but the being was ancient and didn't trust phones in the main. Not
enough to
own
one. That would mean that he was calling on business, not
just to pass the time or anything like that. Bey didn't do things like that
without a good reason.

"Not
too bad, for a first day. It's actually been a bit busier than I thought it
would be."

"Ah!
Yes, I heard that you went on a daring rescue of young Marissa? Going into the
place of her captivity and dueling with several of her captors to free her from
their clutches, most bravely?" There was no hint of the man trying to
tease him at all. So someone was telling him better stories than Zack knew
about at least.

"Well,
I went and got her and she really seemed like she couldn't get out on her own.
There were no guards in the room, and no fighting, other than some blocking
when I first went in, so that she didn't take my head off. That worked though.
She's out and safe now. I don't suppose you know something about this? She was
pretty certain that someone on the Council was responsible? She has no proof,
just suspicions. I'd hate to have ruined a plan, but when the call came
in..."

 "There
was no such plan to my knowledge. I was asked to help assure our mutual friend,
Marissa, that we, her cohorts, were not behind this. To that end, would it be
possible for us, the others and myself, to set up a meeting with her, do you
think? We might need your assistance in this, to do it in a timely fashion. I
dislike abusing your good will. We should speak of terms first? I know that you
would do this for free, just to aid us, but we need to give something back."
The voice stopped coming then, since there was simply, to the best of the man's
knowledge, nothing that he needed.

It
was close to true.

He
had more money than he could count, but Darla had pointed out that it wasn't
nearly as much as it might sound like. If he needed to deal with any of the
others, he could need hundreds of millions even for simple things. As a token,
true, but it could come up. Gold, jewels, magics from different sources, and
sometimes people. If he wasn't going to do that last one, and included
any
sentient being as a person, which he did, it meant he needed to collect some of
these other things.

The
Vampires were wealthy, and strong, but short of demanding cash, they didn't
have a whole lot for him to work with. Asking for millions just to move from
place to place wasn't going to work either, was it? So that meant he'd need to
be clever about it all.

"I
could use a night crew for here. The employees will be paid for it, but need to
be able to work with a wide assortment of people. Also, do you have any
government contacts in China?" The man lived there after all, even if he
looked more Middle Eastern than not. So it was just possible that he might know
someone.

There
was a brief pause.

"I
do have some. To what end? Do you wish to meet with them?" There was a
guarded hesitancy to the last bit.

Zack
understood. He was willing to risk himself with Zack, and even some of his own
people, but not his Human friends. The Line Walker was a Greater Demon after
all. So that made it a good plan, really.

"That
won't be needed. There's a Taoist healer, a Mage, that has been cut off from
traveling, or getting stock, but won't leave his homeland. It would be good, if
he could be... forgotten about? He's near death as we speak and might well die
in the next days. I sent some medication along with his family, but it might be
too late. Still, if not, it would be nice if he had access to what he needs. If
his family could be allowed to visit normally, too?"

There
was a sharp sound, which he understood was Bey clapping. Happily, Zack hoped.

"I
will see to this, immediately, even if you cannot aid us in this effort. What
else would you seek done?"

That
was the hard part, since Bey
always
asked that, and Zack
always
ran out of things to ask for. Except, really, he had some things now, didn't
he?

"On
your next visit here, I'd like to formally introduce some of my people to you?
Possibly the others on the Council, if they're around?"

"Ah?"
That was all. Then the little being waited for him to respond. It was
infuriating. Zack grinned and let himself not feel it.

"Jennifer
Stone, and Kaitlyn Fargo. A Mage and an Alede. Both are going to be very
important, I think. Well worth meeting now, when you can more easily make
friends."

"I
recall young Jennifer, having met her at our embassy there. The other is
unknown to me, but if you recommend them to me, I shall hold them in the
highest of esteem, rest assured. Now, would it be possible to come there this
night? I know that seems rushed, but it is better in general to strike soon
after such events, rather than wait for wounds to fester and rot."

Which
was, no doubt, good advice. Also, most likely, a trap. Who it was meant for,
Zack couldn't tell. Marissa wasn't in on any plots to get him, which was a
thing he knew for a fact, but that didn't mean the others might not be. The
rest of the Vampire Council. It would be foolish for them to try it, but that
didn't mean, now that they knew he was a Greater Demon,
and
a very young
one, that they might not test him. The time honored tradition was killing his
kind, after all.

As
shown by that Mage earlier.