Living Proof (Tyler G Book 2) (22 page)

Still, she left the rest of them
working, which was going pretty well. By the time she was back, about an hour
later, holding bags of things to eat from a place that seemed to have Mexican
food, they were starting on the floors. The tile was a heavy ceramic, and had
two colors, though one of them was clearly just enough for a border around the
place. It was a rust red and deep black. Neither of them were shiny.

With five people doing the work
they had it down in a few hours, even having taken time off to eat.

In fact, by nine they had it
done, and were cleaning up from it. The walls weren't dried yet, so that left
assembling the new front counter area. It was precut, thankfully, which meant
there wouldn't be any sawdust to get on the walls. They did have to wipe
everything down however. Eve came back just in time for the thing to be all the
way up, at eleven, followed by the two men from the night before.

Julio glared at
him
, but
managed a polite smile for the others, including Keeley. Martinez just looked
scared the whole time. His words were polite however.

"Great job, everyone. I've
never seen this place look so fresh and clean. At this rate we might even fool
people into thinking it's an actual business." He seemed to think that was
a joke, but Eve smiled at him, and patted his arm. It was a friendly thing, but
given they were both Vampires it probably meant she was treating him like a dog.

He ate it. After all,
one
of them was a Master Vampire that had a real name, and the other was a guy that
had gotten his behind handed to him by a Human the night before. Ty had sparred
with Eve, and knew that she could kill the other Vampires if she wanted. It
wouldn't even be a question.

The others got that part, it
seemed.

"Nope. This place is going
to be a real shop. Starting tomorrow we're going to have machines in here and
everything will be made from scratch. There will be lessons on that. Who wants
to be in charge of that?"

She glanced at everyone, but he
was leaving, and Keeley didn't really have to stay either. Not past the next
day. That was the agreement they had. One of the men raised his hand, a bit
tentatively.

"I can do that? I was a cook,
in the Marines. A long time ago, but..." He was older. Probably too much
so to be working a fast food job, but the economy was what it was. You did what
you had to in order to survive.

"Perfect! I'd like you three
to work out a shift rotation, and to make sure we have twenty-four hour a day
coverage. We're also selling blood. You all get the whole Vampire thing,
right?" The other man, the Human that had been working all day, shook his
head.

"That isn't real. I mean
I've never met any." He laughed a bit, but it was strained and
uncomfortable.

Eve didn't really try to correct
him, which probably meant she didn't really care. In fact, she just looked at
the others then, dismissing the man that couldn't adapt.

"This is the Vampire embassy
for the area. In a few days Lenore Hawthorne, the Western States ruler for our
people will be here to examine things. We'll fail the inspection, of course,
because she's a bitch that way. I'd like to have this place up to specs by next
month however, which means we have... Twenty-three days to get that to happen.
For now, you three should get on home and rest. Tyler, you have the place
here?"

He nodded, "there isn't a
lot to do left, until the new machines get in tomorrow morning. About eleven, I
think."

Eve got the others to leave, and
headed to the back with her Vampire friends. That left him up front, just
sitting there with Keels.

She winked at him, and watched
the paint dry for a while.

"It's amazing what you can
get done when you don't need to sleep, isn't it? You don't have to stop.
Really, you need to get some hobbies going. You play music, right? Keyboard,
and singing?"

It was true and he was better
than decent at both. Not that he had a keyboard at the moment. His old one had
died a few months back, and hadn't been replaced yet. That could be fixed
though, as soon as he had the funds for it.

"Yep. Why, want to start a
band?"

To his surprise the girl nodded.

"In a manner of speaking. I
have a friend, a slave of mine, who's a gifted guitarist. Steve York. I was
thinking that it would be a good time for him to get into something like that.
If you want, I can set that up? I have a few other people too. Rebekah, from
the All Vampire Band needs something to do. Her group is taking a break for a
few years. Breaking up, probably. The gimmick was a great one before everyone
knew they were real, but now there are several of her kind making the rounds. I
do think we can get her old drummer too however. A Bat shifter who became a
Vampire. He needs too much blood not to align himself with her."

Tyler thought for a second, and
then nodded. He did love music.

"Can they come to Vancouver
for the first part? I have a job there."

She smiled and shook her head at
him.

"No. The Coalition is
important, and you should keep that work up, but you
don't
have to work
at a bookstore all the time. That's just a job, after all. Music is a calling
for you. It will be a few months, before the album can be produced and
delivered to the public, and I'll want you to meet the others first, but you're
all nice people. You'll get along. I'll host you all, in Nevada, at one of my
houses there. Near Sparks. That's my territory. You all still have to prove
out, as a group, but I own a record label, so that barrier to entry isn't too
high for you. Each of you is highly skilled, as well. You and Steve especially.
You're both slaves that weren't given a choice but to be good. I already
chatted with The Rotted about it. She's leaving the whole thing up to you.
Being a rock star isn't a sure thing, but I do know some tricks that might help
you make it."

She probably did. It was, he
realized, kind of a cool idea. Really he'd figured that his music career would
end up being him playing late at night, alone in his room. Actually getting to
make music, possibly being a star someday, or at least in a band that made it
big, was better than that.

"It won't work though, will
it? That kind of thing really doesn't, for most people."

She shrugged.

"You have some things going
for you that most don't. Like me on your side. Also, you'll get a fair hearing
if Rebekah and Scotty sign on. That's a given. Plus, if it doesn't work, then
in a few years you can go back to the bookstore. Really, if you keep the
Coalition going you should be able to move into that eventually. That you
haven't been making money off of it makes you look pretty good, so far, but I
doubt anyone would begrudge you a sensible salary for the work. You have Kait
and Vivian working for you already?"

Those words had been said, but he
hadn't really done anything that way yet.

"That's the plan."

"So, you have a staff.
That's a good start. You should leave Kaitlyn at the bookstore. Zack is too
valuable to not use as a resource, and even if he won't admit it, she has him
wrapped around her little finger. That just leaves your girlfriends. Normally
I'd just tell you that there were plenty of other fish in the sea and that you
should cut them loose. You know that one, I mean, you've only been dating for a
few weeks. Normally that wouldn't be too big of a loss in time investment.
Calley and Ginger are, however, both rather special. You should see if you can
have them moved to Sparks, too. Calley should be in charge of a region by now.
Yes, she basically runs Washington for her people, but she isn't getting the
credit for it. Ginger is a Master Vampire, and we only have one of those so far
in Sparks. I wager she could get in as second in command there."

Tyler looked at her and then
rolled his eyes.

"Wait, is this whole thing
about getting me to set that up for you? Like a bribe?"

She smiled, and then shook her
head firmly.

"No. I just have multiple
plans, ones that tie together. The truth is that I need good people. Ones that
I can count on to do their jobs. Slaves are certain, but if anything ever
happens to me, say death, then they all fall by the wayside. Even if I survive.
That kind of thing isn't always permanent. It's happened before, so there's
actual risk to it. I need people that can get things done, regardless of what
happens with me, personally. Besides, I own a record label, and don't have a
starring act right now to get sales going. It makes sense to recycle Rebekah
and Scotty, but they need something fresh to showcase their talents. So, are
you in?" She didn't put a time limit on the whole thing, but then, it
wasn't really a hard choice.

"You know, I think I am. I'm
not just bailing on my current job, so I need at least two weeks. That way they
can replace me. I also want, you know, room and board on the ground there. I
can't promise anyone else will come. I guess I can run the idea past their
people though? The Shifters and Vampires. That won't mean they want to come.
We're dating, but... You know, that hasn't been a big thing yet and it's still
new, like you said. I wouldn't ask them to move for me or anything."

She shrugged.

"I truly do hear that one.
Still, even if they don't want you, which they both do, setting them up with
promotions is a good thing. Look, I can do it. I could just go and
order
it
done, for that matter. The part where
you
go and see about it is what
will make it real. On the good side, you know all the right people already for
this. Jahn Samson, and Lenore. Well, you could ask Bey, but Ginger is still
pretty young, and her mother putting her in someplace will make a lot more
sense to everyone than the Killer of the Council doing it. He
would
,
since he actually is very impressed with Ginger, but it will be easier to
explain to my people there this way. I'm glad to hear that you're in. I should
probably talk to the others too. Rebekah first. It will be harder to put together
if she doesn't want to do it."

That was probably just true. She
was famous enough that
he'd
heard of her, even if he didn't follow
popular culture that closely.

Eve walked out of the back
office, alone, as Keeley dialed her cell phone. It was a pretty thing, done in
pink, with shiny blue sparkles on it. Really, it looked too young for her, and
like a toy phone, not something to do the business of a Greater Demon on. That
was probably the point.

The Vampire woman, The Snowflake,
glared at Keeley, and then smiled at him.

"That's... Not a horrible
idea. Ginger is ready. Nearly. You can work with her on fighting? She's gotten
better, but should be practicing each day. She'll need to run up on Monday's
for the training sessions, but she can do that. Sparks isn't
that
far.
Enough so we can time her, and make sure she's keeping up with her speed work.
Use it or lose it." Looking at him, she reached out and touched his arm.
"She helps to train the Humans that want to cross over. It will be a few
years before the new batch is ready, but like I said, it won't be that big of a
deal. More work for her, but making sure she runs someplace at least twice a
week is just good for her."

In the background Keeley, The
Mistress of Souls, was setting up a new band the hard way. By just suggesting
it. When you could just make people into slaves with a word, if it even took
that for her, it was a lot for her to go through.

"Hey Rebekah. I know that
you're between projects, music wise. I have some people that I'd like you to
meet. You and Scotty. Steve York, you've met him. Hally's little brother?
Right, with the red hair. Also Ty Gartner. Keyboards and vocals. I can go into
that part later. Essentially Human. We can get you together... Next week?
Wonderful. Now I just have to get Scott on board. Oh? He's there? Smart of
him!"

It took her about ten minutes to
get everyone ready to meet, which would, it seemed, be happening at the place
they were supposed to share, if they like each other. Why they weren't getting
their own places, he didn't know, to be honest. Probably to save on costs.

Then, because it was late, Keeley
took off to get more food, and he ended up carefully sanding and wiping down
the underside of the front counter. It wouldn't help to have splinters in it.
There wasn't a lot to do, until the next morning, when the machines got there.
To his surprise, even though Keeley didn't show back up, all the Human workers
did, before eleven. Even if they hadn't been told to. Even the man that didn't
buy that Vampires were real.

He wasn't being asked to make
Vampires though, just frosty frozen yogurt dishes. It was a full day's work,
but by the time night came around, they were able to start getting food based
supplies in. Eve would have to work with them on that part, and teach them how
to make everything correctly. Because, at two-thirty, on the nose, Zack came to
take him back to the bookstore.

He had to grab his little bag,
but as soon as they were though the line, Zack taking his arm this time, even
though it was clear he didn't need to, except for the whole soul reading thing,
the Greater Demon shook his head.