Finally Dead (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 1) (8 page)

Looking
up he waved with one hand and stood, setting half a burger down in a Styrofoam
container, she didn’t count, but he had a lot of the things. The burger was
resting on a small mountain of fries.

In looks
he was a bit geeky seeming, to tell the truth. A good looking and slightly
muscular one, but nerdy, somehow. Delicate, around the edges. It was all part
of an act, but he played it so well it was easy to forget that, sometimes.

“Bey!
Eve! How are you both doing?”

She
spoke first, since it was her plan.

“Not too
bad. I’m in my second whole night as a Vampire, and could already use your
help?”

He
looked at her, and didn’t seem shocked at all. Not about her being dead. Hiram
kind of had, but not Zack. Then, Lenore was his girlfriend and she’d probably
mentioned everything to him already, if some other source hadn’t. Still she got
a hug, which was nice. Demon or not, he smelled delicious. She could hold back
though, so did, just making a point of holding him for a bit. It was
comfortable, and she knew that he, at least, could protect himself from her.

Without
asking any questions, almost as if he’d been reading her mind, he spoke.

“You
aren’t doing too bad, really. I’d guess you at nearly twenty years into things,
from your internal landscape and control. You won’t slip up. Now, Marissa…” He
looked at Bey and bowed. “She’s actually a pretty decent person. A
hermaphrodite. Kind of cute, too. About a thousand years old, or a little
older. Great with numbers. She
won’t
cheat you however. Present this
business as being for the greater good of your kind and she’ll probably bend
over to help you with it, to be honest.”

Then
surprisingly, he kissed her. On the mouth. That wasn’t a thing that she thought
would be happening for her. Not for at
least
a decade. It took work to
keep her fangs back, but she managed it and used a bit of tongue in return.

Zack
looked over at the ancient Vampire though, who smiled at them, as if they were
being cute, and not improper at all.

“See? No
nibbling even. I thought that training program would work. You know, she
starved herself four days a week for years, trying to make certain she was
ready for this. Martial arts lessons and meditation, too. Now, shall we get to
the hard part? You want a transfer for Richard Swerlin? I can do that of
course, but it will cost you.”

That was
the way it went with Greater Demons. Even the
nice
ones charged you,
didn’t they? Both Darla and Keeley had made sure all their friends were up on
that before they left to see to their own lives.

She
looked at him and shrugged.

“Five
percent of the new business. Just the animal blood thing. Gross, not net, so
there’s that. But if we need Node transfer help, you have to do that too. I
mean, I’ll do the lifting stuff, using my new Vampire muscles, but this offer
isn’t just for a bit of Dick shifting.” She grinned and tilted her head,
“Swerlintwerlin?”

Zack
rolled his eyes at her, but didn’t slap her into a wall or start suggesting she
get ready for the hard anal rape.

“
Ten
percent, but I’ll back up the rest,
if
it fits with my schedule at the
time, plus a trip for Richard to his destination and back.”

She
thought for a bit and then made a face.

“Fifteen
percent… but you’ll need to put in the starting capital. Call it two hundred
million?”

Bey
looked at her as if she were insane, so she modified that part. “Um, three
hundred million? I don’t know how much it will really cost, but we might as
well go big. Oh, also the blood will be cheap, so you’ll probably never make
that back. That sounds like a good deal, doesn’t it?” It wasn’t like they’d be
serving three hundred million people, after all. If there were fifty thousand
Vampires in the world, she would have been highly shocked.

To her
surprise, he stuck his tongue out at her. Not like a little kid, but more like
a person thinking.

“A
hundred million, and fifteen percent, gross. Also you have to sleep with me,
whenever I want.”

Bey made
a face, and looked away. She couldn’t tell what it was about though. It might
have been anything from disgust to anger, or even just a desire to do that to
her himself. Not that he wouldn’t get the chance if he wanted.

“That,
but sex only if it fits into
my
schedule. Five years on the sex part
too, and then you have to renegotiate. Also that means we’re dating, not just a
booty call type thing. So dinner and a movie, or at least a concert, now and
then.” She shrugged, and smiled. “Well, the
occasional
booty call. Just
normal sex though. No freaky demon stuff. Unless I okay it first. I mean, it’s
not like I’m a
prude
.”

They
shook hands on it, and he very carefully didn’t say it was a deal. What he did
was get it all down in writing, and had her sign it, which he did himself. It
was cute, but even the sex stuff was in there. Like he had to bargain for that?
A little geeky, perhaps, but he was still hot. More so now than when they’d
first met and he could have gotten some off of her back then, too. Not that
he’d ever tried.

She used
the phone there to get in touch with Richard again.

“Hey,
it’s Eve. I have you down with Zack for one round trip. You’ll have to schedule
it all out with him, in advance, but it’s already taken care of. I just have to
let him take me up the behind for the next five years. Well, other ways too,
but that stuff is all fun. You’re ready to back your part in this? Full support
for the new blood, provided I can show you it doesn’t suck ass?”

“That
is
the bargain. I… Really didn’t expect that much, to tell the truth. Did you
truly offer yourself to him, just to arrange this for me? I don’t know if
that’s of equal value, but thank you.”

She
shrugged.

“He’s
cute, and I also gave him part of the business. That way he’ll have to back us
up in it, you know, with Line Travel and all that? Here would you like to talk
to him? Set that trip up?”

Zack had
gone back to shoving food into his face, which he did efficiently, but he
swallowed fast enough to take the phone and speak smoothly. The first thing out
of his mouth though was a lot different than she expected.

“Don’t
worry Richard, I won’t abuse her. She’s friends with both The Mistress of Souls,
and
The Technician, so she knows how to bargain correctly, I assure you.
Say, are you and your family coming for Christmas this year? I’m thinking we
could all get together. Macy’s what, eleven now?”

That was
right, it seemed. Nearly twelve, from what Rich said, his voice smooth when
talking about it.

“Good!
Make sure that goes in your schedule. I’ll reconfirm that in a month or so. Now
I just have to get with everyone else on it.”

They
chatted for a bit, and then Zack hung up, not offering the phone back. Without
waiting, or looking anything up, he dialed a different number from memory, and
handed her the phone.

“Marissa.”
He said it softly, just as it picked up. Because cold calls always worked,
didn’t they?

“Good
evening?”

“Um,
hello. This is Eve Benson, I’m kind of starting a new business, and it was
suggested to me that you might be a good person to get to come in on it with
me?”

“Oh?
That sounds different then. Most
don’t
recommend me highly in those
circles. The opposite, in fact. May I enquire as to whom suggested such?” The
voice was a nice tenor, and could either be that of a young man, or a slightly
older woman. In other words, probably perfect for the Vampire on the phone.

Eve took
a breath, and then just told the truth.

“Um,
Lenore Hawthorn mentioned the idea first. Then Bey Transmorguire? It’s a new
blood concern.” She went into the details, making a point of letting her know
that she had access to the recipe that the Mistress of Souls had developed, and
the right to use it.

“I see,
so you need me for what? Operating capital?”

“Nope.
We have that. Or at least part of it. A hundred million? I already have a
partner in it. He gets fifteen percent of the gross, but also has to provide
Line Transport if we need it, which could end up being a lot of work,
especially at first. Zack Hartley? He also recommended you. No, I really just
don’t have a clue how to run a business, and I’m sort of new to the whole Vampire
thing, so having you on board would be really useful. I hear that you’re good
with numbers too? So, what do you say?”

That
started another round of negotiations, which took out only ten percent, of the
net. Marissa was a bit miffed that Zack was getting a cut of the gross, but she
didn’t complain too much.

“He’s a
Greater Demon after all. That he didn’t insist on us being enslaved for life is
a blessing. He never does that however, which is why I’m willing to work with
him. I’m not certain I’d trust any of the others of his kind. That you managed
to pry a secret from the Mistress of Souls and
aren’t
her creature…
Wait, you aren’t her creature, are you? She can take Vampires, I know that.”

“Nothing
like that. She’s just a buddy of mine. The Technician too, just so you don’t
make a mistake and talk smack about them in front of me.”

“Like
I’d be so foolish? Well, good enough. We’ll need to set this up soon then. I
have… It looks like my schedule is clear in four days time, would that work for
you?”

She let
her head play back and forth, thinking. It sounded reasonable to her, but she
didn’t know what Edom was going to have her doing, did she? It sounded a bit
too youthful, but she just admitted that portion of things.

“So,
I
don’t have control over that part of things really. Like I said, I’m a bit new
to all this Vampire stuff. I still need to hop to my maker’s whims. So far that
hasn’t been hard, but there are floors to scrub and who knows what else to do?”

“Ah!
Well, do a good job, and I’ll clear that with him.”

Bey
cleared his throat, and did a credible job of it.

“Edom,
at the Westfield Embassy. A most understanding being.”

“We’ve
met. I’ll see to setting that up directly.”

Eve felt
a bit nervous, but really, all she had to do was get some blood and the right
chemicals. They weren’t even illegal, so she just had to order them. That would
take some cash, but new Vampire or not, she had some savings. A few thousand,
but it would be enough to run up samples. She even had a butcher set up to sell
her cows’ blood. It had been hard to make sure she got it from living animals,
but the man just thought she was a freak. One willing to pay well for a product
that his farmer pal was more than willing to collect. Really, she was nearly
certain that they both thought it was about some kind of genetics work.

She’d
claimed it was for Vampires to drink, but that had just gotten laughed at.

It was
too late to do that part that night, but she could use the computer at Troy’s
to order the chemicals she’d need and have them sent next day delivery.

Zack
laughed at her as she turned to walk out, but called out as she got to the
wooden door.

“Oh,
hey, can you cover a few shifts next week at night? I can get you home at about
six, but we have some shipments coming in and I could use the help stocking
shelves.”

She
looked back at him, and nodded.

“I can
ask? What days, Wednesday and Thursday?” Those were the normal shipping days
for most orders.

The
Greater Demon, who looked like a twenty-something store manager, nodded.

“That’s
right. Set that up if you can? Otherwise Hiram won’t be getting any sleep at
all.”

She
waved, since it was something to do. Plus, making sure she was on Zack’s good
side really wouldn’t hurt anything, would it? Now all she had to do was make a
list and make sure she didn’t drop any of her commitments. Hopefully Lenore
would lend her some paper for that. A pen too.

Bey took
her hand again on the way back, but didn’t say anything to her at all, as they
headed back to the shop. It wasn’t until they were inside that he smiled, which
got everyone else to seem unusually relieved. Even Lenore.

Zack’s
Vampire girlfriend. Eve tensed, and let her shoulders slump a bit.

“Oh…
hey… I kind of just promised Zack that I’d have sex with him whenever he
wanted. Schedule permitting, I mean. Is that going to be an issue for you? I
could try to renegotiate, if it is…” That would be hard though, and Bey
clapped, happily.

“Nonsense!
It was
brilliant
negotiation! A part of her new business, which means
that he’ll back the plan with both funds and effort, which will lend safety to
the project. Marissa is in as well, so it will be low enough work for young Eve
here. If Lenore was worried about competition in the bedroom, she wouldn’t be
connected to a Greater Demon.”

Thankfully,
the woman, who was attractive, but no more so than Eve was really, smiled, and
seemed to mean it.