Finally Dead (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 1) (26 page)

All the
Demons looked at her, and nodded at that, letting her know that Lyn wasn’t
out
at least. In a good way that meant things were probably less dangerous for the
boys, too. Oh, they might
still
die, and probably deserved to, but if
the Greater Demon wanted to stay a fake Mage, that meant the whole thing could
be handled in house. Making it a mage thing, and not a Vampire one. Really, her
best bet was probably to keep her mouth shut for most of it.

She felt
like celebrating.

“Great.
Let’s call Bob Millhouse in then.” She looked at the three collected idiots,
and tried not to kill them herself. It
wasn’t
her problem, really. That
was a very important thing to keep in mind. Only an idiot went around getting
into other people’s business, when they didn’t need to. Still, Zack was her
friend, one of her best friends in the whole world in fact, and Lyn was his
family. The kind that he actually
liked
. That meant she was, Demon or
not, under Eve’s protection. At least from these miniature Gandalfs. “You
couldn’t have
planned
this out to end worse for yourselves, you know
that? Zack, can you arrange for them to be left in a place they can’t get back
from? We might have to send them there, to protect them from Bob. He is
going
to be pissed.”

Darla,
looking like someone who probably would have been the target of the boys if
she’d been the one walking alone in the mall herself, being blonde and perfect,
stepped forward slightly.

“That’s
simply the unmitigated truth. This is Lyn
Hartley
. The wife of the
previous leader of your people? Brad Hartley? Adopted grandmother of The Line
Walker? Does
any
of that ring a bell, or do they not teach you that kind
of thing in school these days? Way to start an international incident, creeps.”
There was no joking in her tone at all, even if she also managed to sound like
a sexy cheerleader at the same time. Then, she was a demon, and they were all
good at faking things like that, weren’t they? It was a big part of what they
had to do in order to survive. That she didn’t know all of the threats they
faced was probably about protecting her from harm, as often as not.

Marcus
looked a bit troubled though, and shook his head, but didn’t beg for their
lives. That probably meant he either didn’t get how close to dead the kids
were, or was learning, and didn’t want to die himself, along with them.

“Darryl,
Tim… I don’t know what the hell you were thinking. You both
know
what I
did… Everyone in the community does.You were all told not to pull stuff like
this right now. That wasn’t even a
week
ago. What were you thinking?”

The one
in the center of the clutch of now scared looking boys, who was staring at Zack
rather directly, was the one that spoke. Tim, she thought, though she couldn’t
be certain. They needed those little sticky name tags for them. Still, it could
be hard to tell who was whom, what with them all saying
Hello, my name is
Stupid A-hole
.

“
She
isn’t a Vampire. They shouldn’t have a problem with us having fun with a Human,
right? That’s fair game still. We didn’t know that you were a Mage, lady. You
didn’t have the aura around you, so it’s hardly fair to blame us for…”

Eve felt
her teeth pop out in rage. The kid was about to die, and she started to move
toward him, knowing that it would be easier for her to do it than for anyone
else there to explain youngsters dying like they pretty much had to. She was
young herself, and while it would probably mean that she ended up locked in a
box for a month as punishment, to teach her self-discipline, she might just
need to suck that up. There were things she wasn’t willing to put up with, and
this kind of casual rape thinking was one of them. These twerps really didn’t
think that the Vampires would mind someone being abused by Mages right in front
of them? After what had happened with Maggie Sims?

Mark
saved the boy’s life though.

By
shaking his head.

“That’s
the
dumbest
thing I’ve ever heard. Yeah,
I
fucked up, trying to
make someone
love
me when I should have let her go instead. I admit it,
I’m a dumb-ass. I shouldn’t have done it, and nearly died over the whole thing.
Maggie Sims saved my life. The woman that I spelled? I probably
should
be dead, you know. Any other Vampire would have killed me flat out. See the
bruises all over my face? She kicked my ass first,
then
saved me from
the Vampire Council. You doing this now…
Here
… This woman
isn’t
a
Vampire, true, but she’s not someone for you to play around with like it
doesn’t matter, either. There are rules to magic, and you
all
know them!
I…Freaking hell, Tim. The Mage Council will
have
to throw the book at
you now. Otherwise it will look like they’re endorsing this kind of thing.
We’re probably
all
dead. We deserve to be, for being so stupid.” He
seemed genuinely remorseful, so at least there was that.

Eve nodded,
smiling.

“Good,
so we’re agreed on that one? Let’s call Bob. I’m sure this is how he wanted to
end his day. I bet he’s gone home already, too. That will
not
put him in
a good mood.” She nearly added in another threat about dumping them in some far
off realm, but the boys seemed to get that they were actually in trouble.
Finally.

That
they didn’t think of that part first…

Well,
that was probably due to them being so young. It was easy to think with your
hormones at that age. She suddenly felt old, but she’d done worse than trying
to cast a few spells at the same point in her own life, hadn’t she? Eve had
actually killed people.

Ones
that deserved it, maybe, but it was still pretty bad in most people’s books.

Zack was
the one to make the call, and they all stood there until Bob came in, wearing
an old jacket and carrying a leather case.

As she’d
imagined, he looked
pissed
. Worse than she’d ever seen him before. It
occurred to her that what she’d thought of as his rage face was more like mild
annoyance, now that she got a look at the real thing.

“What’s
the situation again? I
must
have misheard. After the word went out a few
days ago, that we all needed to be careful about spell use right now... Also
that compulsion was strictly
forbidden
for the time being in the western
states, without written permission? I
must
have misunderstood. None of
my people would be that suicidal.”

When it
was explained, he actually turned beet red, and a bit of spit flew from the
edge of his mouth as he sputtered at the kids. If it was an act, he was a much
better actor than Eve had realized, and she’d worked with him for years.

Not that
a politician couldn’t be a good performer, too, but Bob really seemed to be
about to
kill
the stupid kids. That probably
wasn’t
fair, since
it was mainly the one ring leader that had caused all the real trouble. Tim. At
first she wondered if he was related to Marcus, since the guy knew him.
Actually, two of the kids were called out by name, and the other was Todd, she
found out when he introduced himself. That guy was a
bit
of a moron, but
only for hanging around with Darryl and his other buddy.

Not that
poor Todd had a choice there, since Tim was his brother.

After
about three minutes the Greater Demons all closed in, looking ready to kill
some tiny Mage dorks. Marcus pulled back, very wisely, and Bob… He actually got
into his bag, and pulled a knife out. She got ready for him to use it in some
kind of spell, but he just moved forward, ready to stab Tim in the stomach. The
blade was big and silver, and had a nice point on it, but was meant to do
magic, not slice an idiot open. It wasn’t even meant for sacrifices, unless
Mages did their magic a lot differently than they’d told her. Some probably
did, but Bob had always seemed like a straight shooter.

It was
Darla who nudged her, covertly, pushing her on the back a little with an elbow.
It was gentle enough that she didn’t move forward really, but at first she kind
of figured that was her signal to end some lives so that Bob wouldn’t have to
live with being a murderer. That move got her waistband tugged however when she
moved in to do it, which meant…

Faking a
blink, Eve thought about it, feeling slow on the uptake. Darla wanted her to do
something to
save
these kids?

Why her?

She
nearly rolled her eyes then, getting it.

Why
her
?
Because Darla was trying to help her move up the political food chain. Saving
lives would play better with almost everyone than ending them, especially after
she’d kind of shown she was a killer earlier in the day. It was, clearly, a
brilliant idea. If she could help smooth any of this over, then it would prove
she wasn’t simply being another bratty baby Vamp. Not
just
that, at any
rate. She just didn’t really know how to do it, did she?

“Wait.
Bob. We can’t teach them not to be like that if they’re dead. Todd here isn’t
really involved at all, anyway, so we should get him out of the way first. In
fact… Um, Lyn, will you go and stand by him, back there? I really don’t want
you to be right here, in case the Greater Demons start throwing down. Maybe you
can cast some type of protection spell for the two of you?”

That got
a set of strange reactions from the rest. Bob actually made a hard face, and
gestured with the knife for it to happen, as if it just made sense. Zack nodded
then, his brown eyes hard and gleaming, and Lyn looked almost pleased to take
Todd, the good boy, comparatively speaking, off to the side.

The
other two kids both looked freaked suddenly. Mark did too, come to that.

Eve
shook her head.

“Really?
You didn’t realize that The Line Walker would be standing in his own workplace?
Or
that he might have a buddy along with him? This incredibly hot blonde
is
The Technician
. Yeah, let
that
soak in. Two Greater Demons,
both currently pissed at you.
Personally
. You insulted The Line Walker,
too. Screwing with his adopted grandmother… You would have had a better chance
of survival if you’d both just walked up and tried to punch him in the dick. I
mean that too. You still would have failed, but he could have paddled you, and
left you crippled for it. This, using magic like that…Worse than that even,
your own ambassador is about to kill you to try and stop an all out war, and
you deserve it. Especially you Timmy. Tell you what. If you volunteer to die,
right now, I’ll
beg
and see if we can save Darryl? You’re going to die
anyway, I bet. No need for
both
of you to go down.” It really sounded
like she meant it, and Darla moved in, her face suddenly sunny and happy.

“Oh.
That’s a good one. What do you think Timothy? Are you the kind of person that
dies screaming, alone? Or are you the sort that insists that innocent people
die with you? How big of an ego do you have, in the end?”

Eve
actually expected tears, or possibly a urine stain to spread across his blue
jeans, but the kid just shook, and finally whispered at him.

“Fine. I
guess. Kill me. I don’t really see what the big deal is, but… Darryl didn’t do
it. I did.”

Somehow
he actually managed to sap all the possible heroism from the action in just a
few words. While actually
doing
the right thing. That took skill, if a
warped kind that she nearly didn’t understand. She was about to try and turn it
into something less lethal for the kid, when Zack stepped in and punched the
boy in the head. Once. It was so fast she didn’t track it at all, and a fog of
blood formed in the air.

It was
probably pretty gross for the rest of them. Not her so much, since it was kind
of free blood. The trick looked incredibly cool though. Like Zack had just made
his head blow up without doing anything physical at all.

Todd and
Darryl screamed, but Darla waved for them to shut up, as Mark started to
hyperventilate.

“Did you
think you could touch one of The Line Walker’s people, in his own territory and
walk away unscathed? You boys need to go home and think about what happened
here today. How your friend sacrificed himself for you, Darryl, for one thing.
You owe a great debt to the Vampires, and your own people, for letting you live
this day. Few would have thought to protect even the innocent, in their effort
to stop the destruction and placate a Greater Demon. Now, I suggest you go and
consider moving out of this city, if at all possible. I know that I wouldn’t
want to be near here if The Line Walker decided to come for you. Not that you
can hide from him if he changes his mind. I recommend treading most gently, for
a very long time.”

Eve
nodded. It was true enough, but also designed to give the kids nightmares for
decades. Then again, they, and the rest of their people might well not try
taking over anyone’s mind for a few weeks. Probably not though. People, and
that included Mages, Eve didn’t doubt, were mainly morons. Power mad assholes
that would do whatever they thought they could get away with. The point here
then, was showing them that they really couldn’t.