Other Places 3: Detours (9 page)

Roland
looked around and then, covertly, made a face. It wasn't pleasant, but showed
that he didn't want to be beaten either.

"Goat.
Earlier, before they drove us here a few hours ago."

That
got him to wave to Barb, and without getting up, asked for two bloods to be
passed over. He was paying for it, but the two in front of him needed to
understand that coming to him was actually a
good
thing, not a
punishment. Then, slowly, over the next half hour, as he ate, he made sure they
knew that. Rowan at least, seemed to believe it.

"So...
We aren't the lowest on the totem pole here? I sort of thought we were going to
be killed."

"Nope.
Or at least no lower than any of the other new people, which is everyone. It's
a mixed group though, and I expect you all to get along, and be
very
polite. To
everyone
. They won't always deserve it either, so be ready
for that. If it gets too bad, I'll handle it. For now, it's pretty much a real
job. You stock books, make sales, and if you can earn a place there, work in
the Cafe. That... Is probably worth doing. We have a Hsreth running it, but
need a night shift. If you can make that cut, you're probably going to find
yourselves looking at a very bright future indeed."

They
didn't believe him, even after Chief Sims came out and visibly shied away from
him. Her head wasn't healed all the way yet, but her skin was, so he didn't think
the kids understood what had actually happened in there.

When
they got to the book store, he started to show them around, but was interrupted
the instant they got into the node room. A time distortion field slapped over
them all, and a wall of death came toward them. Two Greater Demons, a Lesser
Demon and a Manthori Vampire.

The
leader, his mentor, pointed a single delicate finger.

"Get
him!"

Then,
they did.

The
fight itself was fast, furious... and a lot more gentle than he would have
expected, if he'd been asked a few minutes before. Darla, who was dressed like
a business woman and looked completely different today, seeming to be in her
late sixties and having a different set to her shoulders and a slightly
different chin, held herself back totally, for one thing. Keeley looked like
herself, but was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, instead of her normal clothing,
which was generally dressier.

Balthias
wasn't even blasting fear into the room, which meant that Roland and Rowan
tackled him almost immediately. Or tried to, at least. They ended up being held
by the nine foot tall red and brown horned Lesser Demon, but not harmed at all,
even as they struggled. It was like an adult dealing with two slightly unruly
children. That just left Rebekah, the bone white, and blood red eyed, Manthori,
and Zack's Aunt, who looked like a sixteen year old runway model.

They
did hit each other, but Keeley held back a lot and just wasn't as strong as he
expected. Darla had mentioned that to him a few times, but then she'd also said
that the other Greater Demon wasn't as good as he was at fighting. That...
Wasn't exactly right.

Her
technical skill was decent, and at least as good as his was. She just didn't
have the speed and strength she needed to really hold her own with him. Not
without using magic for it, which she wasn't doing. Probably to be nice. At
first. About three minutes into things, as he hit her about six times in a row,
right in the face, with Rebekah holding onto his back, ruining his aim, or
trying to, she started to get faster. Zack could see the growing bulge in space
around her body, flares of distortion showing where she was going to be moving
next. It was pretty easy for him to match her though, since manipulating space
was, ultimately, part of what
he
did.

He
was also the Line Walker, and they were
right
next to a node. Smiling,
he waited for her to leap toward him, a rather tight and well thrown kick
coming around from his left, which he blocked with a knee. The female Demon's
leg snapped under the strain of her own blow, and his own leg was thrown out
from under him. Still, with a bit of pain control, focus and planning he
managed to sort of hop forward, tackling the thin girl, and picking her up in
one rather awkward movement. Then he dove, carrying both of them into the node.
It was simple enough to pick a destination, so on the other side he let go of
her and stepped, or rather hopped, backward.

Her
right leg was broken from her own kick, the shin pushing out against the blue
jean material, but he was pretty certain his left knee was too. As soon as he
got back, he started to heal, wondering if Rebekah, or Balthias would keep
fighting. If so, he was going to have to hit the Lesser Demon with the Vampire
woman, because there were no weapons in the place, and technically he couldn't
touch the creature at all. It was an effect that unreal things had, when
interacting with Greater Demons. Ghosts, Lesser Demons and a whole host of
other things simply couldn't stand contact with them. It was like a force
field, nearly.

Before
he could stand up all the way, Darla waved at him, in a fashion that meant, at
least part of the time, that the exercise was done.

"Hmmm.
Sloppy and slow. You were being too nice to her, by far. I get that she looks
like a pretty girl, but all of us can do that, so don't let it influence you.
What did you do with her?" If there was concern for her little sister, it
didn't show in the steely voice of the iron haired woman. From the lines around
her mouth looked like she was prone to frowning a lot, and her eyes seemed to
be ready to squint at all times. Considering he'd never seen her as anything
except a hot blonde cheerleader before, it was a real change up. The
distortions she made in space looked the same, which was what clued him in as
to who she was.

Shape
shifting was so cool. He really needed to learn to do that, he decided.

Mirror
Him chuckled, even if there was another Greater Demon in the room.

'Oohhh,
right, then
you
can be the hot blonde and get
all
the boys. Good
thinking Zack-o. It will let you get in touch with your feminine side.'

Zack
shrugged and fired a single thought back, as he gingerly tried to put some
weight on his healing leg. It supported it. He really thought that he'd like to
try being a brunette. Maybe look a little like Keeley? That got a slight
choking sound from MH, at least, rather than a sarcastic comment.

He
smiled.

"Oh,
I dumped her off in the Elth lands? I'm sort of surprised she isn't back yet.
She had to heal her leg, but I figured she'd do that faster than I would
mine." He could heal pretty quickly now, but it wasn't instant or
anything. Keeley was simply better at magic, according to his mentor, who had
been hers, too.

Darla
cleared her throat.

"She
likely did. She'll also be a good ten hours getting back, and have to stop to
eat a few times. She's the Mistress of Souls, not the Line Walker. I guess
she's about to learn what that means? Very good, Zack. You really were being
too soft on her. If she'd been really trying, you'd be dead thrice right now,
and your little Vampire friends here would be servicing Balthias."

That
got the giant reddish creature to smile.

"Oh,
spoils of war? I
did
catch them? What do you say Line Walker? We can
teach them to defend you better next time?" He was kidding but Roland
started to struggle a
lot
harder then.

Zack
shook his head.

"Sorry,
not right now. They need to get to work. It's their first night, so cool and
nifty Demon sex is right out. We
do
have some well fed Alede around here
that might want a go, since you look pretty novel and all that. You should ask.
Normally I don't think they'd get anything from having sex with you, but if
they have that taken care of for the day, which they do, they might just want a
turn?"

It
wasn't up to him to tell the being what to do, but some of his employees were
kind of kinky. The Lesser Demon bowed a bit, and then, rather carefully and
politely, set the two Vampires he was holding down.

"That
would be fun. I take it that I should avoid being seen by the public?"

Zack
shrugged and looked at the clock on the wall, which showed that it was
nine-thirty. That meant that all the normal people, the real shoppers and
Humans that weren't supposed to be around, were locked out for the night. At least
in theory.

"Be
a bit careful, just in case? Otherwise, I think you're fine as you are. Still,
no matter how hard they beg, no sex in public. This is a reputable
establishment. Or, well, so far at least. It's only the first day." It
sounded funny, and like he was joking, but still had a ring of truth to it.

The
giant red form moved off then, clearly eager to see if those succubi really
wanted to spend some time with the likes of him.

Looking
down at his clothing, he realized that he was a bit disheveled, which meant he
needed to change, before midnight.

Darla
nodded, as if she knew what he was thinking already.

"Appearances
are important. So, how is your day going? Other than impromptu training
sessions?"

He
shrugged and spread his hands a bit, smiling.

"Busier
than I thought it would be, to be honest. Only one person has tried to kill me
so far. I'm still not making deals for line travel as hard as I should. I
managed to eat enough. I should get a snack, would you like something? We have
a real cafe, so, you know, you have to pay for it, but it's really high
quality." You didn't offer another Greater Demon food. That was claiming
you
owned
them.

In
a way, he realized, that's what he did with his two little Vampires earlier.
He'd fed them, so they'd know who the boss was. It made sense, at least that
way. Those two were just standing there, not knowing what to do, and probably
glad that they didn't have to service Balthias on their first day. They stared
a bit, at Rebekah, who was carefully ignoring it. They didn't seem hostile
about it, just curious.

Zack
waved at her, and then, because she was very exotic, walked over and gave her a
hug. It was a bit of a shock, but she hugged him back, and didn't seem scared
or anything.

"Rebekah,
these two are Rowan and Roland. They work here and will be your night time
contacts, if you need rush deliveries arranged. Kids, this is Rebekah, she's a
Manthori Vampire, in case you've never met one, so one of your people. She also
runs the new blood collection concern. The stuff you had earlier? That's a big
deal for your kind, so I suggest you get on her good side. Right now however, I
need to get someone to show you the ropes here. Hopefully someone stayed on the
floor and they didn't all run off to take a turn with Balthias." Everyone
turned to look at him, as if what he said was important or something.

Then,
three of them actually meant it, so he waved to the younger Vampires.

"If
you two want to get with him for sex, you should make an appointment. Probably
with Keeley, when she gets back in. I'm really a bit surprised she isn't yet,
to tell the truth." He really was, but Darla moved forward and tapped the
time distortion field she was wearing off. Why she'd bothered at all he didn't
know, except, of course, he really did, when he thought about it.

She'd
been trying to lock him in. To keep him from just running off. It hadn't worked
at all, naturally, but probably would have with another Greater Demon, at least
for a bit. That was an interesting thing to realize, so he filed it away for
later.

His
mentor patted him on the shoulder, in a matronly fashion.

"I
can't stay. I have a meeting in a few minutes. Hence looking like this. The
place looks good, Zachary. Tell Keeley that I'll see her Monday?" It was
Friday, which meant Zack didn't have to feel bad about stranding his Aunt on a
school night, at least.

"Sure.
Is she staying with me this weekend?" It was a strange thing to say, but
he realized, belatedly, that he'd picked it up from the contact with Darla. Not
that Keeley needed a sitter, but that she actually wanted to spend time with
him, being family.

He...
Really he'd sort of thought that she didn't like him that much, and had simply
been using him to get at Xenses, since she wanted to kill him. Not that it
wasn't still part of the plan, but for some reason that he didn't understand,
Darla thought he might just manage to survive now. Not totally, and it could be
a trick, but it had definitely been part of what he picked up from her. He
thought.

"I
don't know? You should make the offer. Her mother is out of town, working, for
a few days, and she doesn't have any plans."

That,
he knew, was a lie. For one thing, Greater Demons always had plans. It was part
of why they were different.

"I'll
do that, if she drops back by here."

Then,
pretty slowly, Darla opened a node point, not using the one right next to her,
even though she could, which made an interesting bubble pattern in the air, to
him at least, and with a pale blue flash stepped into it, vanishing.

That
left Rebekah a little stranded for the time being, since he was willing to bet
her buddy Balthias was busy. She was standing about three feet away, so
reaching out a bit, he snagged her hand, holding it, like an old friend, or
possibly a lover.

"All
right, we have some fun things for you to do here tonight then. The
whole
Vampire Council is coming here in a few hours. Marissa, you know her?" He
waited, wondering if they'd met. It was possible, given everything, but the
bone white and slightly cool to the touch woman shook her head.

"Not
yet. I've met Harland and The Bey, but not her or The Wanderer. Is this an
official action? They don't normally meet for minor things, not the whole group
like you just said."

Zack
tilted his head, but didn't bother lying.

"Well,
it
could
be a trick to try and kill me, or possibly her. If so, then
things could go differently than I have planned. If not, we should make sure
you get introduced to everyone? Possibly with some samples of your new product
on hand, and some promises to get the price down? Marissa mentioned that Gene,
The Wanderer, has recently come over to your side in the new blood plan. She
isn't, but I think you can point out that you personally don't take offense at
that? She does the audits for your people, so you don't want to piss her
off." She might also be able to take Rebekah in a straight up fight.
Possibly without even really trying. The woman was only a few hundred years
old, after all. It made a difference for her kind.

"That
would be good. Nerve racking, but... I wish Keeley were here." She grinned
at the other two Vampires, who didn't seem to really get everything yet, from
their expressions. "I know, it's weird, since she's a Greater Demon, but
she's really very sweet. Like... Zack is." She looked at him, her face fixed
in a smile, since she'd called him by name, rather than using his title of Line
Walker. Like he'd told her to.