The Living and the Dead (Tyler G Book 3) (25 page)

Of course, for him that had been
a temporary lapse in judgment, not a lifestyle choice.

Yeah, he'd been an asshole with
the wrong Demon, and that had cost him a bit of peace of mind. Some of these
people had paid a greater price for being wrong. There was nothing he could do
to fix that either. Not unless he could borrow that time machine of Allison's.

Sighing he made a call on his
cell phone. Keeley was paying the bill on it, after all, so long distance
charges could be damned.

Not that he had anything near the
value of the device's use. It meant waving for the bodies not to vanish. After
the call, while they waited for the girl and her magic machine to get there, he
shook his head.

"So, Zack. You hate all
women? I notice a few died here."

That got a shrug.

"Nope. I
love
women.
They barbeque up so nicely. Men are too stringy. Are you sure you want to do
this? Owing a Greater Demon favors won't be fun, I'm willing to bet."

The thing there was that Ty kind
of knew that already. He just didn't have anything else to offer.

The event itself was simple
enough. Allison The Technician, Darla as Zack called her, came about ten
minutes later, and with a bit of work brought back the dead. Not like he was.
She undid time itself, and returned them to true life.

How that worked, he didn't know.
There had to be some trick to it. After all,
he
wasn't allowed to just
come back like that. Still, there was a trick in there. Somewhere.

"I just need to learn how to
be alive again."

He spoke out loud, which got the
girl to smile at him, in an unpleasant way.

"That... Might be the
answer, I think. Tarsus was asking if I could do that for you the other day.
Come up with a device to feed you life energy. I
could
of course. You'd
just have to slave for me for all of eternity to pay for it."

That didn't sound much better
than being tied to his mom. At least she hadn't wanted him to do anything too
bad yet. It would, eventually, come. He didn't enjoy the idea, but his
interactions with her people had, over the last days and months instructed him
in a few simple facts. The prime one was that Greater Demons, no matter what
they looked like, or what they did, weren't people. Not Human ones anyway.

If it became needful, Lucy would
make him do evil on a level that few could even imagine. Then eating the flesh
of the living would be the least of his worries.

Focusing on The Technician, he
noticed several things suddenly.

She'd said that coming back to
life might be the answer for him. Also that she could build a device to feed
him energy. It just would be too expensive for him.

"So, I can learn to get that
energy via magic? Generate it, or collect it myself?" That hadn't been
said, and it was clearly going to be easier to talk about than do, but the girl
stopped repacking the time device and stared at him, meaningfully.

"Did I say that? I don't
think I did." It was sly sounding though, like a little girl half
admitting that she'd stolen the candy from the jar, by not really denying it.

Zack, clearly being a better
friend than The Technician was, tilted his head and added his own two cents.

"I can see that. If he can
learn to absorb energy from the world around him... Well, that normally takes
one of us about fifty to a hundred years to learn how to do. I'll admit that
he's good with magic, but no better than most of us are really. Still, fifty
years... That could be worth it."

Allison snorted at him, as Eve
glanced up from the red haired woman she was brainwashing with her eyes. The
boss feminist. The idea made it sound like a video game, which was a lot more
interesting than what had really been going on. At least in a game he could
have left the enemies dead and been done with this scene by now. Not that he
played games like that. A few over the years.

Then his self-styled mentor
nodded.

"I can see that one, too. It
would have to be constant, but as long as he doesn't use too much energy, that
should work. Or we could teach him to link to other sources. Animals, or
Humans? It's what I do." The other Vampires nodded, or at least a few of
them did. Most of them didn't acknowledge that anything was happening.

People came back from the dead?
Ho-hum.

Then, after a fashion, all of
them had already mastered that trick for themselves. It was still kind of
impressive to Ty. A lot of that was trying to guess what he'd be doing to pay
for it all. He was hoping to work out some kind of Coalition discount for it,
but what were the odds of The Technician going for that kind of thing?

The Technician, looking a bit
slutty, if in a cute way, went back to her work of packing the wooden box back
up. After a bit she smiled, not looking in his direction, even if it was
clearly about him.

"That could work. Perhaps a
combination of several things? I've never thought of siphoning from the living
for my own power before. It could be a very rich source of energy, if done
correctly. Hold a stable of a few thousand people at once, and they'd never
even know it was happening.
I
don't really need that kind of thing, but
for the young that might be a good idea. Don't you think, Zack?"

The good looking bookstore owner
laughed a bit and shook his head.

"It sounds like a good way
to have your energy stolen, if you aren't careful. Find the energy providers
and kill them all at once and you'd starve. Most couldn't do it, but we have
all those pesky Greater Demons around us. I wouldn't want to risk it. Even we
could be starved if our output was high enough. In a fight, say, or survival
situation."

"A point, Zachary. So what
do you think Tyler should try?"

That got a shrug.

"How would I know?
Tarsus
is working on it. Information is his gig. I'd talk to him and see if he had
anything."

Ty looked at the others and shook
his head.

"Would that help? He either
has the information and will come to me, or not."

That got vague nods, but Allison
picked up her large box, which seemed too big for her to handle, and winked at
him.

"Would he though? I can see
a few ways for you to do what you want. Some are harder than others to pull off,
but if I can do that, Tarsus, The Librarian, can do the same. You might need to
push at him a bit. He bargained with you for favors. It's up to him to pay that
back,
if
you can get him to. Since you can be enough of a problem for
him to be annoying, that seems reasonable. I wouldn't sit back and wait too
long for him to fix things for you. Data is his skill. He knows more than you
might assume. At this point he's probably entertaining six different things
that might work, and still looking for the one that would fit you best. That
kind of thing can be drawn out for decades however, and you aren't going to
die, so it doesn't mean he hasn't paid off if he does it that way. Unless you
set a time limit on when he had to finish by?"

That got him to smile, even
though it wasn't heartfelt, in particular. Calling to bug someone like The
Librarian seemed a poor plan to him. So much so that he nearly decided not to
bother. He just could live, or be un-living, like he was. It wasn't perfect,
but it was safer, in a way. Then again, what did he have to lose in particular?

Tarsus either played with him, or
did his part in the game. Tyler was already dead after all, and had been for
his entire life, even if he hadn't known it. That was both a gift, and a hollow
thing, he was starting to understand. There had been a time, not long ago, when
he hadn't even known what a Greater Demon was. Now, he knew several of them,
and kind of wished he didn't.

Sure,
Zack
had actually
been fine, and he loved his mother, but Keeley was a fucking rapist, and The
Storm had forced him to kill himself, so he wouldn't eat a little boy. For a
moment he remembered the feeling of his head coming off, after hours of
scraping at his neck with a sharp piece of stone. Worse, he'd kind of thought
that God had helped him out there, getting that, and a trickle of water, for
him.

To protect the innocent kid.

Instead that one had turned out
to just be him, after a fashion. Using magic subconsciously. True, he could
make up a story about how that was just how God rolled, using things like that
to get his will done, but that just wasn't true.

In a way, that was worse than not
knowing if the deity was real at all, knowing that he didn't particularly care
about his creations. If that was even how the whole thing had worked.
Did
God make it all happen?

In the end it probably wouldn't
matter for him anyway. Tyler was just him, not anyone important.

"Fine. I'll give him a call
and pester him about things. Just know, I'll tell him The Technician said I
should if he asks why I'm bothering him like that."

Eve gave a sound that was
suspiciously evil in tone. A snort, mixed with a wicked laugh. The bright red
haired chubby woman stood there, staring directly into the red Vampire eyes.

"If it were me, I'd
open
with that one.
'Hi, Mr. Librarian, sir. Darla The Technician told me to call
and bother you.'
We're done here." That part was spoken directly to
the feminist leader, not Ty. "From now on you'll only do things to
actually
fight for equality. For everyone. The real kind, not stupid first world
problems. Do you understand?"

"Yes. I love equality."

"Good girl. Go do that now.
Go
."
Everyone else had already left the space, as far as the other side went. The
Vampires had captured three security guards, in yellow wind breakers that were
too warm for that time of year, who had come to liberate the college students.
They were nearly killed by the Vampires, but Bey had interceded for them, and
simply used mind powers on them so they'd forget, and sent them on their way
too. They were, after all, both just doing their jobs, and as he pointed out,
very brave. Unlike the feminists who had thought nothing would be able to harm
them due to their entitlement, the two men and one woman had known what they
were doing, and had fully expected to die trying. So much so they hadn't even
tried to call the police in, to save
them
from the same fate.

They were sent on their way
without issue. Totally unharmed.

The tiny man seemed pleased
enough by the whole thing. It showed in the way he clapped his hands together
softly. Just once, but his face was polite and serene at the same time.

"Ah, so, what is the plan
now? I should get back to Washington, since I have a meeting there in the
morning. Eve, your project in Nevada is nearly done? There is an operation
developing, I fear, that your skills would suit."

She nodded.

"The younger kids will need
a few more days, and I need to hang with Tyler here for a bit after that for
his lessons. I'll have time for anything that comes up anyway, if it's needed?
I think that Rebekah or Ginger could keep the younger ones going, and if need
be I can just get Tyler to tag along with me. Right now... Well, Tyler and I
are going to
run
back to Nevada. That was the deal, wasn't it?" She
deadpanned the whole thing, then grinned, as if it were a joke.

Zack however, nodded seriously.

"It will be slow, if he
doesn't use magic for it, but not that bad. I bet, with enough work, you can
get to about a tenth of Eve's normal speed that way, Ty. That thing with Keeley
was impressive enough, speed wise. It burned way too much power. You have
limits that way, so need to fix that first thing. Do better than that."

Bey, being polite, or possibly
nosy, looked directly at The Line Walker, and seemed curious.

"A thing with The Mistress
of Souls? Do tell?"

Before Zack could do that
however, Skalla slapped her chest.

"I, Skalla, saw this thing.
Gartner of the Nations fought with this Demon. The one that looks like one of
your weak and cowardly Human women, but was not. He moved like the wind itself,
and struck her down. If not for his good will, I think he would have ended her
at that moment, even if she is a monster, and he but a man. Then he aided her
in taking some spies placed upon the fiend, who were killed and brought back as
was done here this night. A most useful trick of magic." There was a bit
of a bow toward Allison, and the girl returned a small smile. The large, well
polished, wooden box gleamed under the auditorium lights.

The Technician smiled. It was a
bit creepy for her teen girl face.

"That's about what happened.
The spies were Zack's parents. His mother and his Human father. They were freed
and allowed to leave." She sounded bland about the idea, but Bey smiled
and clapped several times.

"Ah! That is joyous then.
Are we at war with The Mistress of Souls, Mr. Gartner? I would loath to incur
her wrath. None have managed to stand against her, but if we must risk such,
for honor or-"

Zack cleared his throat.

"Nope. They made up.
After
Ty won. The point is, that Ty here can actually make that run, if you have any
patience at all, Eve. My guess is that it will take you about a day. Maybe less
if you don't wimp out, Ty.
Focus
. I'll drop Skalla back at the new
embassy complex. Then I'm headed back to the mall. Want to come with, Bey? It's
free, since I'm headed there anyway."

That got a smile and more
clapping, as well as a happy nod, accepting the offer.

Eve didn't even wait for Allison
to leave, giving her a hug instead. Which was strange to him. Who hugged
Greater Demons? They didn't even do that with each other that he'd seen. Well,
he hugged his mother, but
that
was different.

The Vampire came at him, and
patted him on the shoulder.

"Start the process, Ty. I'll
walk with you. Do well though, since I really don't want to take a week on
this."

That was all the encouragement he
got as they headed out. Then, as tightly and well as he could, starting with a
time distortion concept mixed with one that would make it easier to think in
that idea based fashion, they marched. He wrapped the idea around the Vampire,
who walked with him at first, then smiled when she got it.