Among the Living (Tyler G Book 1) (8 page)

She glanced over and smiled at
him, her mouth pushing out, even with her lips held tight. Her deep red eyes
were compelling, so he looked away not wanting to be spelled or compelled, at
the moment. Still, he could see how a person might get lost in those eyes. They
were deeper than most.

Bey didn't so much as nod, just
turning to look at him. Ty got the plan then. It was kind of like a police
report.

"Um... I heard her ask for
help, so told the Vampires there, there were five of them, two women and three
men, to leave her alone.
Then
I realized they were Vampires, and that I
was going to die, so I called out where we were, just in case anyone could hear
me. You know, so they could collect the bodies later. Then..." He
shrugged, "We fought. The men all had weapons, so it wasn't easy."

That wasn't good enough, it
seemed, so he had to go over the whole thing, blow by blow, explaining what he
was thinking the whole time, and then describing Eve's call to the Chief, the
shooting of Ginger, and the borrowing of Maggie's car.

"Thanks by the way. You got that
back, right?" He felt worried, but the Vampire woman gave him a very
polite nod.

"I did, thank you. Eve
brought it back almost instantly." She seemed familiar to him, and it
probably wasn't from her work place. Really, she looked a
lot
like the
woman that used to be one of the spokes people for the Vampires.

That didn't mesh with also being
a fast food worker. After all, who'd work that kind of job if they didn't need
to?

That got Eve to go next, since it
had been her on the phone. It was interesting, hearing her double back a bit.

"We got a call here, at the
front desk, at about four-twenty. I couldn't make out who it was, but we were
informed of an attack, and aid was requested. Barb was here at the time, to
cover the embassy, so Ginger and I ran over to give aid. It took about two
minutes. When we got there, we saw Tyler handing the Vamps their asses. One of
them asked who he was, and he answered that he was Batman. It was...
Incredible
.
He nailed the voice, you know, the deep gravelly thing from the movies? I swear
I fell in love a little. They tried to run then, but it was too late, and he
was able to hold them all until they failed at first light. It wasn't late, so
they were probably decently young. Ty had been stabbed, so I got a bandage on
him. A minor wound that didn't seem to bother him much. Then, he's
clearly
not a wimp, so it was hard to tell."

It turned out that Maggie wasn't
that hard to convince as far as vehicle lending, and the rest of the story was
about the same. When Ginger went she just clarified a few points, mentioned
borrowing a truck from Lars, and the death of the Vampires. Then the cleaning
and gassing up of the vehicle.

That was pretty much it, as far
as he could tell. Ginger even went over telling him it was legal, which had
everyone in the space nodding, as if that was really just a thing.

The Bey clapped his hands
together, one time.

"Ah! Very well done then,
all of you. Ginger, do you feel a need to harm the officers that shot
you?"

That got the Chief to look away,
her face stern, but slightly defeated. It was the set of her mouth that did it.
Like she didn't want her people harmed, but knew that she might not get a
choice in the matter.

"No. No need for that. They
could
be a little less jumpy, at least that time of day, but it was just a startle
reflex. It could happen to anyone really." There was no particular weight
to the words, but now the older lady smiled.

"Thank you for their lives,
Miss Harris."

Ginger gave a nod back, and
didn't even suggest they buy her new clothing. They had kind of ruined her outfit
earlier, so it seemed fair to him.

The bald man looked at him,
smiled, and then regarded Tara closely.

"Now, we still have the
issue of this Robs. He was
not
one of those executed for their
crimes?"

Tara shook her head, and then
spoke in a very low voice. The Vampires probably heard her just fine, but Ty
had to struggle to make it happen. It kind of worked.

"No, sir. He and better than
half his minions still live. They're one of the most powerful groups in the
area."

That got Edom to agree, his voice
much louder. Probably so that Tyler wouldn't feel left out.

"That's true. If I have it
right, the group removed already represents about a third of their power
however. The bottom third, but they weren't babes, fresh to death. The youngest
he had with him, at last check, would have been over fifty years old. The rest
are closer to a hundred to one-fifty. None of them walk the day though, so we
can take them out easily enough, if that's what you decide to do."

Rather than leap up to rush out,
or command the others to do it, the smaller fellow sat for a bit, thinking.
That, or he really just thought the sofa was comfy. Tyler could get behind that
one, since he was ready to put his own behind in a chair for a while. Better, a
bed.

It was kind of clear that he wasn't
needed for the rest of this now. Well, not as long as the other Vampires
weren't going to come for him personally. That might happen given how he'd
executed their friends, so he waited, trying not to shift around too much.
After what seemed like a long time, the little guy in his dark suit smiled
gently.

"I believe it would be best
if I paid them a visit this night? Miss Benson, you could go along as well.
Miss Harris, too. I think perhaps it's time for some of our people to realize
what exactly angering the council means." The guy stood, and then bowed to
Tara. "Would it be suiting your needs and desires for us to do this? We
will of course stand to the side, if you feel you need to extract revenge on
your own, or with your champion?"

The words got the very light
colored lady to smile, which seemed real enough, but The Bey didn't. No one
else did.

"Well, I
suppose
I
could call on the Line Walker, or The Associate, Tyler, but I don't know either
of them that well, and am already in debt for earlier. If it isn't any trouble,
perhaps going with your plan would be best, sir?"

Maggie spoke up, her words
chipper enough that she got his attention.

"I'm with you, if you need,
Tara. You have friends. A
lot
of people will help you."

"True." Eve glanced at
the others and then smiled, letting her fangs pop out. It was wickedly cool.
"Still, if they haven't run for it, it might be a good idea to go for them
now. Perhaps they'll listen to reason? After this Robs man dies, I mean."

That got everyone to roughly
agree, but before they left, the tiny man, who really only came to about his
shoulder and was even thinner than Tyler, reached out to touch his arm gently.

"Please, do not think we are
ungrateful for your earlier aid. That is not truth, indeed. We wish merely to
not stress your good will in this, if it is not needed. Few would doubt that
you are among the best of heart. Certainly not those in this space."

The others seemed to agree, which
got him to want to look away, but he tried to do the whole being polite thing.

"I know that I'd just be in
the way. If you need anything that I can help with, you know, without dying,
let me know? I have a job now, but I won't be working
all
the
time."

Maggie stood, and stretched a
bit, like a Human might, her hands going up over her head.

"Well, would you consider
guarding Tara tonight? It should be okay, but if you travel carefully, it would
be really hard to pick up her scent."

Zack tilted his head, and nodded.

"I can move you both there
directly. How does your mother feel about visitors?"

That was a good question.
Supposedly, he was allowed to have guests, and she'd even hinted that having a
girl,
or
a guy, over for things more advanced than movies and popcorn
wouldn't be an issue. That probably meant that Tara would be welcome.

"Should be fine? If it's not
she still won't kick us out until morning."

"I wouldn't want to be any
trouble." The words were low sounding again, and soft. Like she really
meant it, but also didn't have a better place to go.

"It will be good. Don't worry."
If not, well, then his plans for a new place had better hold up. Not that his
mother had ever threatened to toss him out. If anything she was
too
understanding and willing to cut him slack.

Zack moved a little and the air
in the center of the room started to glow. It was a nice purple color, but you
had to look at it just right to keep seeing it.

"Walk that way. Just through
the light. Go on. It won't hurt." He seemed ready to go on, but Tyler
could see that this was one of those nodes that he'd mentioned earlier. That
was like teleportation, more or less. So without making a big deal of it, he
stepped into the light, and got a tiny push just as he hit the edge of it.

Zack sounded normal.

"Hop. It's slightly safer,
and you need to develop good habits."

He did it, and was amazed when he
found himself in the small, but tidy living room of his home. The carpet was a Kool-Aid
friendly mash-up of twenty ugly colors and had been there for a long time.
Since he'd been a child. A half second later, Tara came through, and knocked
him out of the way, which got him to chuckle.

"So, that's a thing. Well,
um, welcome? I guess you can stay in my room, and I'll sleep on the couch out
here?" Which got him to roll his eyes at how stupid he was. "Except
that
you're
up all night. So, television. We have basic cable. It's
something. The problem there is that I'm not certain how my mom will react if
she comes in and finds a stranger here. Not just a Vampire, though that might
not help. I mean anyone. It isn't a thing that's happened before." She
might be fine, but Tara just smiled at him, her lumpy lips closed and pale.

"I can lay next to you? It
won't be the first time I've done that kind of thing in life. Probably not the
last either. I know you must be tired, or we could do something more fun. Go
out or play a board game."

"Both of which are off the
table for the night. First, going out would probably undo whatever Zack did. I
mean, if we went point to point, that's got to be a great way to hide your
scent. Board games, well, we don't have any, so that's not taking place. I'd
hate for you to be bored out of your mind. I guess I could sleep out here, if
you want? Then my mom will just think I was trying to get some off of you when
she gets in, but I can explain it all."

That got a laugh, with a hand
held over her mouth.

"I think you underestimate
how shocking that might be for her. Better I stay out of sight, until you can
explain."

That decided, he made up the sofa
for himself, and tucked the pale woman in his room. It wasn't perfectly clean,
but other than smelling a bit like him, it wasn't too bad, he hoped.

He drifted off pretty quickly,
which meant that he jumped when someone came to the door, near midnight. It
occurred to him that he should have armed himself. Even a bat or kitchen knife
was better than the nothing he had at the moment. Still, he stood up, still
fully dressed, as the door opened, and his mother's short brown haired head
came in. It was clear that she was tired, since the lines on her face were
deeper than normal. She was too young to look like that, but constant double
and even the occasional triple shift could do that to a person.

She glanced at the couch, and
smiled at him. It was a warm thing. Kind, and better than he deserved, most
likely. She was almost always like that.

"I didn't think you'd still
be up." She closed the door behind her and locked it. Then she waved at
the blanket and pillow, and looked at the turned off television. "What's
wrong?"

He was silent for a moment, then
decided to go with the truth, more or less. The parts that she might believe
anyway.

"Well, right now there's a
girl in my room. A Vampire. A Manthori, which, you know, like the woman in that
Vampire Band thing? Only shorter. I'm hiding her from other Vampires, while
some friends of hers go and make sure they aren't going to try and kill her
again." Then he winked. "Oh, I also got a job, a possible roommate or
two and maybe a place to move in to? That might fall through, but the job is
real. At Hartley and Co. Books?"

Then, as if the first half of
what he'd just said was him being silly, she set her things down, and moved
over to him, giving him a big hug.

"You got a job? Not just
something you were dreaming?"

He threw his hands up.

"Okay, that's actually a
good point. It's been a day. Wait here..." He jogged to his room, and
tapped on the door, only to have it open a few moments later. His mother went
wide eyed, but he turned and gave her a thumbs up.

"Yep. I really have a job.
Always good to check that kind of thing out."

It was, after all, kind of
unexpected.