Among the Living (Tyler G Book 1) (12 page)

"We'll meet you at your new
place in about half an hour?" Then as if waiting for him to nod, or mumble
that it would be good, the girl fled. It was still light out, which was
probably her idea at the moment. If the other Vampires, the bad ones, couldn't
go out during the day, then maybe it would be safer for her to do it right
then, as opposed to waiting for Tara to get up too.

Ang didn't speak again, just
nodding and smiling when they got to the house. This time he got out, and
started to help get the truck unloaded. Calley popped out too, hugging him
before starting to work. Now she was in jeans and a baggy black shirt, which
made her look a lot younger than she had before. The sun glinted from her
specs. Even as she worked she kept bopping around, though they all moved
quickly. It wasn't even a good
fraction
of what the Vampires had done
for the first part.

To his surprise, Ang came in with
them when it was finished, and while he let Ty shake his hand, he also settled
on the couch.

That got Calley to move in next
to him. It was cozy enough looking that he got the basic idea. These two were
more than just friends. At first it seemed like that, until the thin guy turned
and started pushing on his friend's head, moving her away.

"
Boundaries
, Cal.
Move it. Back." There was a gentleness to the whole thing, as if he meant
it, but was just correcting a person, and not trying to drive her from her own
living room. It worked too, after a few seconds, getting her to pull all the
way back to the other side of the thing.

One of the really nice things
here was that the furnishings all matched. The two soft looking chairs were
brown, and so was the sofa. There was a tasteful throw rug on the wooden floor
that was tan, but that matched the drapes. The walls were a light yellow color,
but that kind of off gold that didn't make him want to scratch his corneas out.
In short, it was a nice looking place. Adult, and not like a bunch of kids
lived there.

"You know, Calley, I don't
know much about you, do I? I mean basic stuff, like what you do for a living
and how old you are. I have the really
important
stuff, like you being
awesome, and a Bat when you want to, but other than that, not a clue." He
blushed, but the girl took his talking to her as an excuse to move in next to
him, in the chair that he'd settled into.

They both fit, given the fact
that they weren't huge and the chair was nice sized. Soft too. The house had
air conditioning, which was nice. It meant that he didn't have to move her away
too, since the side of her warm body was pressed against him solidly. She did
mention being a social animal though, so he wasn't going to read into it too
much.

"I'm thirty-four. I know, I
look younger than that. A lot of Shifters do. Ang here is what, a hundred and
twenty?"

The Asian looking guy nodded.

"Something like that, give
or take a few years. How about you Ty?"

"Um..." He felt like a
little kid now, but didn't mention that part. "Eighteen next week. On the
twenty-seventh, in case you want to come to the party?" Not that he had
anything planned. Calley held him close.

"Oohh! We should invite
everyone! Maybe have a barbeque? That would be cool. What kind of cake do you
want? Or... Never mind. I can get that one. Fruit cake. Am I right? I know, how
about strawberry short cake? That sounds good, actually." Then as if her
head was on a swivel, she changed the conversational direction without even
taking a breath. "I'm the Assistant Ambassador at Westfield for the
Shifter Nation. I'll need to invite my boss. She's a bit of a bigot.
Anti-Human? That means she won't come. Still, I need to ask, unless you don't
want her here? That would be awkward, right?"

"Anti-Human? That's a thing?
Why?"

It was the Dragon man that
answered, since Calley went dead silent.

"You can't change shape. A
lot of our people think that being able to do that is a sign of being better
than others. It's a crock, of course. The value of anyone is in what they do,
not what they are born. Which doesn't change how people feel at all. It's the
same basic idea as people disliking others based on color, or religion. Many
feel at greater ease in life if they have someone to blame their own failures
on." There was a very direct look, at Calley, then.

She nodded.

"Damned
straight
.
Anyway, we can get some of the Vamps, and Zack, I bet. I... don't think we
should invite the other Greater Demons yet. Not unless they become closer to
you? I mean, The Line Walker won't take you as a slave most likely, but the
others might, if you say the wrong thing. Especially The Mistress of Souls.
That bitch will jack you up, and there isn't a lot you can do about it if she
wants you to be her butt boy."

That
sounded a bit bigoted too, but
he didn't say anything, since even Ang was nodding a little bit, as if the
threat at least was real enough.

"What about Lars, from the
gym?" He didn't mention why, but Calley nodded, blurting it out.

"Right. He lent you his
truck to hide those bodies. We should get him to come. All of the
Trollienkeine. It will cost more that way. They eat a lot. So does Zack, for
that matter. Speaking of which, it's dinner time. I don't know what to make. I
can do some rice for you?"

It was actually a good thought,
since he was kind of hard to feed, eating all that fruit all the time.

"That sounds great. Thanks.
I can do it, if you want?"

It seemed like that wasn't going
to go over very well, but after a few moments Ang stood up, and headed toward
the door without speaking. As he opened it, the Vampire girls both walked in,
passing him.

Honestly, it was almost like he didn't
want to be around them. They seemed pretty nice to Ty however. Calley didn't
have a problem with them either, as far as he could tell.

Eve drifted over to the couch,
and sank into it, the soft thing holding her in a gentle embrace. Ginger
however moved to her room and dropped a bag in it. Then she walked out smiling.

"Lucy, I'm home!"

It was cute. That also had Calley
running out to give her a hug and a kiss that was probably warm enough that it
would have been awkward if the girl had a sex drive.

"Hi honey! Now, I'm making
dinner, and didn't get anything for you. I can pick some up, for the
fridge?"

That got waved away as the short
woman hugged her back.

"I get it at work and only
need to eat once or twice a week or so."

Calley nodded, "right, I
forgot, you're all hard core over there. It's impressive really. I know that if
I was that Robs guy I wouldn't want to fuck with you.
Any
of you. So,
how about some tunes?" She ran off, and after a moment there was a very
low sound, that he could barely make out coming from the other room.

It
was
rhythmic, and
probably music, but he couldn't make out what it was supposed to be. The only
one that got it was Ginger though, who at least explained it to him.

"Bat's have really good
hearing. So do Vampires. This is just about right, really. Can you hear
it?" She seemed curious, rather than like she was just making
conversation.

"Kind of? It's really low.
So, is that how you know everything about me Calley? You just heard it?"

"Yup. That's half of my job.
Well, not really to spy on
you
, just everyone else. So far you and Ben
aren't really on the list. Not officially. That will probably change soon. I
mean, what with you working for The Rotted and getting unsolicited advice from
The Technician."

Eve looked over at him, and shook
her head slowly.

"Dangerous games to play,
before you know what the situation is like on the ground. Darla is a buddy of
mine, but I wouldn't cross her. Anne... She's insane. Not totally unmanageable,
but be careful with all of them. Not that you get a choice about it. We never
really do. That's kind of what that sort does, isn't it?" She kept looking
at him, as if trying to communicate a secret message with her eyes.

He thought he understood it. He
was, in her estimation, being a moron. Worse, he was too stupid to recognize it
yet. It pissed him off a bit, but not that much. She knew more than he did and
was probably right.

Calley looked at her and nodded
though, her eyes going wide.

"Yeah. Plus he's getting in
tight with all those Vampire a-holes, too. That
can't
end well."
Then she bobbed back into the kitchen. Smiling.

The very good looking Vampire
woman nodded however, her face so serious it was compelling for a moment.

"
Not
a small factor
either. Vampires aren't
as
bad as Greater Demons, but we aren't exactly
the happy go lucky crew we've been telling everyone. I should know, since I
made up half of the lies that have been coming from the council in the last
half year. Still, Ty here can probably handle the younger ones well enough for
now. You should have seen him move, Calley. I mean, it was hard core. Different
as well. We need to get together and practice."

By which she meant doing that
right
then
. Out in the front yard. Eve was actually really good, even
working at the same speed he was as they sparred. Ginger wasn't as talented,
but sped up so much that he couldn't match her after a while. Very carefully however,
which didn't leave him broken or bruised. Just standing there as she very
lightly tapped him in different locations, over and over again, even as he
tried to cover and block.

Standing back and watching, Eve
finally nodded.

"A bit weak on grappling.
Good on hands and kicks. Throws too, but you could use more ground work against
someone strong. More strength and speed too. I like the technique. What's it
called?"

That was an awkward thing, since
it didn't have one, really.

"Um, it's just something I've
been working on. A high guard, with some moves to try and make up for the fact
that I
don't
have that kind of speed or strength. Preemptive strikes and
trying to target as well as possible."

"Neat!" Ginger came for
him again, and while he didn't stop her, he did work out a bit about how to
keep her back a little. Mainly by kicking at her knees, or where he thought
they might be in a bit. She was just so much quicker than he was that she kept
flickering out of reality as far as he could tell.

The other Vampire was worse than
that, just not being visible when she chose not to be. Plus, she was actually good.
It
was
hard for him to tell if she was better than he was, which was
surprising. He never thought that he was all that good at fighting really,
since he'd only ever been in one fight before. With those Vampires, the day
before. All the rest had been practice, normally done alone. That he was doing
it at all was kind of cool, and he did find some gaps in his style, working
with the girls.

One of those was that he really
was painfully slow.

Thankfully Calley called him in
to dinner. Rescuing him in time. The others went in with him, even though they
didn't really eat anything other than blood.

His Vamp roommate grinned at him
when they got to the table.

"It's one of the things I
miss most, not being Human anymore. No candy. I mean, I
could
eat it now,
if I wanted to spend a long time being
very
uncomfortable. No cake for
me. Or pie. Or roast beef. Well, I
could
have a bit of that, but no more
than a bite or two. It's sad, really. No sex, no food. It's all just about
blood and doing paperwork. That, and cleaning."

Tyler raised his hand, and
settled in front of a large plate that was filled with rice. It was plain,
though that was fine. That way he knew what was in it. In this case, when he
took a single bite it seemed to be salted. Not too much.

"Thanks Calley. Anyway, I
was just going to say that I clean too, if that makes you feel any better?
Mainly um..." He covered with another bite, trying to figure out how to
say he was a jizz mopper.

Calley, who had a hamburger on
her plate, smiled.

"You tidy up after
succubi?"

Pointing he nodded.

"That one! I bet it's not
any better than what you do, most days."

There was a giggle from next to
Calley, where Ginger had settled, near enough to the bat girl that their legs
had to be touching under the table.

Which, the woman had very plainly
explained as her reason for wanting them there in the first place. She needed
people around, and that probably meant being cuddly with her. Which would be
hard for him. After all, the girl was cute. If she was going to be right next
to him all the time, he was going to want to have sex with her, sooner or
later. Which would probably be in about ten minutes, considering he was eighteen
and not a moron.

Which might well have him kicked
out on the first day, if he wasn't careful.

The conversation shifted then, to
being about the most disgusting things they'd ever cleaned up. The aftermath of
a fight that Eve had had with a Greater Demon being the winner. Apparently that
had been so horrible that she threw up.