Living Proof (Tyler G Book 2) (31 page)

Everyone got that bit, except
Scotty, who looked at them like they were being strange.

It was Rebekah who clued him in
then.

"The Line Walker. Zack
Hartley. Hartley and Co. Books. The Mage Ambassador is his girlfriend, or
lover. Something like that. So I can see you getting in there with trips back
and forth, just to keep her happy. Good thinking, Ty. Ask first, since you
don't need to be in debt to a Greater Demon."

Scotty sputtered, and looked
panicked then.

"No, you fucking don't! Bad
enough The Mistress of Souls is tangentially related to this group. If we were
smart we'd all kill ourselves to get away from her. Having Two Greater Demons
around is a death sentence." He seemed to mean it, from his tone, which
was dark and suddenly rough.

There was a knock from the front
door then, even though it was late by that time. Midnight, at the very least.
Getting up he jogged to the other room, with Rebekah right there with him.

When they opened the door it was
a girl. One in thick glasses, who looked cute enough, but also about thirteen.
She was in a little schoolgirl outfit, even though it was out of season for
that kind of thing.

Her hair was dark, and long.
Brown rather than black, but it was hard to tell that late at night. When she
saw him her face lit up.

"Tyler! I came to visit. I
hope it's not too late?"

He shrugged, getting it. She
looked different, but the feeling was that of his mom. Lucy. He'd know her
anywhere now, he bet. There was a link between them, that never went away. That
he hadn't noticed it before was, probably, due to him being a moron.

"Come on in? This is my
friend Rebekah. Rebekah, this is my mother. Lucy. The Rotted?"

The Vampire nodded then, and
smiled, rather than trying to pull a gun.

"Well, any mother of Ty's.
Come on in? I'm sure everyone but Scotty will want to meet you."

It was humorous, but not
that
much.

Dangerous
also came to mind. In fact, it
filled his perception as they walked in.

"Finally, a groupie!"
Steve was far too pleased to see the girl that was Ty's mom for his comfort.
Instead of instantly telling him he was wrong, Lucy, or Anne, if that was what
she was called in this particular form, clapped like a little kid.

"Steve York!" Then she
shrieked like Elvis
and
The Beatles had both entered the building. There
was even jumping up and down, as well as her throwing herself at the guy.
Literally enough that he said "oof" softly.

Rebekah smiled at the scene, and
for some reason so did Scotty. He spoke first, looking at Tyler, like the new
girl being there was all his fault. Luckily it was tolerably amusing to him, it
seemed. Even when he got a hug too.

Greater Demon data collection, no
doubt.

Ty didn't leave them hanging. Not
for long.

"This is my mother. Lucy.
Um, the Greater Demon known as The Rotted. Don't freak out Scotty, I'm pretty
sure she's just here to check up on me. Because, you know, she loves me."

That got him hugged too, a bit
less enthusiastically, which he was good with. There had been far too much
grinding in the last two sets of hugs for him to put up with. Then, Steve had
set the boundaries of that relationship, so it was all on him if he didn't like
it.

The Bat Vampire went very still,
and stopped breathing even a little bit.

Rebekah however waved to the
sitting room.

"Please, have a seat? We
were just running some tunes. Do you need to speak with Ty alone? We can-"
She didn't get to finish her words.

"Nope. I just came to make
sure you're all doing all right. I see that things have gotten interesting
around here? You saw Gregor this morning?" That was spoken to Tyler
directly, her face almost expressionless. "The Librarian is going for him.
He thinks that he's The Void? Both The Line Walker and The Mistress of Souls
swear that isn't the case. They have the Mind Taker and The Technician with
them, since they're connected mouth to ass. It's pretty clear that those last
two think that Gregor really is this Void, however. Are we throwing in against
The Librarian then, Ty?"

He shook his head, wondering what
she'd picked up from him.

"Nope. The Cleric
isn't
The Void. That's, um, the Archangel Michael? I met him earlier. He seemed nice.
I was just delivering a letter."

Rather than call him a liar she
touched him again, and then, after a full minute with her warm pale hand on his
pale cold arm, she tilted her head.

"Tell me only the truth,
son. Go over it all."

He did, and it didn't take long.
The story was a tiny bit different he realized, since he could have been fooled
at any point. He just didn't think he was. That was enough, for the moment.

"My job was just passing
that letter, so it probably doesn't matter, one way or the other."

His mom made a face, which was
angry, upset and annoyed all at once. It wasn't the kind of thing that he was
used to seeing there.

"I see. Well, you can't lie
to me, so either you're being used to fool me, or my take on reality has been
skewed for thousands of years. I can't say that I'm happy about that, as you
all might imagine. Pardon me for a moment? I need to make some
connections."

She started by pulling a cell
phone, and dialing a number from memory. After a few rings, the room quiet
enough to hear it happening, a female voice answered.

"Mistress of Souls? This is Anne,
The Rotted."

There was speech then, which he
couldn't make out. It was just too soft for him.

"I was just talking to
Tyler, and he mentioned that Gregor is an Angel. Also a Michael came up in
conversation. Do you know anything about this?" She didn't seem impressed
by what was said. Frowning the whole time.

Then, after a long time, she
cleared her throat, and pushed her thick glasses up.

"I understand. We're unable
to keep such things in mind? So much for your type being the sane ones then,
don't you think?" She laughed, but not for long. "I'll endeavor to
keep this all in my head, if I can. You might wish to tell The Librarian all of
this. Otherwise I think your boyfriend The Cleric isn't going to be long for
this world."

They chatted a bit then, about
the party that was being held the next night, there at the mansion. He hadn't
mentioned it, but his mom had it from all of them. That got Keeley invited, so
he was going to need to get Zack too. Also his girlfriends, so they didn't feel
left out. Maybe even Eve and Edom, as well as Lisa.

He just knew too many people
suddenly, he decided. It was a good thing. They were all so alive. Even the
dead ones were. Without thinking about it, he whispered to Rebekah. Everyone
could hear him though, including Keeley.

"We should have a little
concert. Just to test things out. Are we ready for that?"

The ivory Vamp seemed happy at
the idea.

"I think so. We should go
over things again a few times, and work out the order. It will be good practice
for later. When we go on tour." She looked like she wanted to do that
right then, but didn't want to be rude to Ty's mom. Not just because she was a
Greater Demon either.

Scotty still looked strained. It
was an incredible tension around the eyes and mouth. His lips were white, and
his eyes so wide it wasn't really funny. Ty could see that. To him the
situation was just different. Lucy was his mom. To Scott she was a dangerous
being that was scarier than a great white shark in the water. Maybe even worse
than a herd of them. Though that might be a
school
. He wasn't really
certain on that one. Dangerous and fear inducing, even to a supernatural
creature with powers that would make most smart Humans feel about the same way.

Lucy however, just wasn't that to
him. Even if it was the wise way to feel about her, Ty just couldn't make
himself do it. On some level, even though he kind of wanted to have Zack go
down on him, he knew that the man would actually cut off his arm and eat it too,
just to make a point. The Mistress of Souls was clearly willing to use them all
for her own ends. Seeming like she wasn't would just be a trick for her and
most of the other Greater Demons, no doubt.

Probably his mom, too. The
problem was that no amount of mental gymnastics got him to that point in his
head. Even seeing her show up in a variety of shapes and sizes didn't do that
for him. She was just... His mother. Even the part where she was keeping him
alive using her own energy was part of that to his inner self. Sacrificing a
part of herself for him, as if it were the most natural thing in the universe.

Impulsively he moved in beside
her and gave her a one armed hug. The girl looked up at him, then smiled
sweetly after a bit.

"I see that I should head
out now, so you can all practice. I have really high hopes for you all. Until
we meet again?" Then, very gracefully, she gave a small bow and headed for
the front door. Ty went with her, in case something else was going on. Like she
wanted to berate him for trafficking with Angels, but she just hugged him
lightly, her glasses distorting her slightly oval face at the eyes.

"Be careful. Make sure you
eat enough. That and wear warm socks, when appropriate. Otherwise it will look
wrong. If you need me I'm only a phone call away, honey." There was a
motherly pat to go with the words.

It was sweet, and exactly like
what Lucy would have done with him. Perfectly, even if the body was different
now.

"I will. Don't worry. I
should be back in Vancouver in a few days. Working for Zack? Bookstore stuff.
So far this is..." He looked back at the door, and smiled. "It's
really fun. Rebekah is
nice
. Steve and Scotty are great guys, too.
They're all really talented. I keep waiting for them to realize I'm not good
enough to be in a band with them, but so far they haven't kicked me out, so
fingers crossed."

That got a chuckle, and a last
pat.

"You'll do fine, Tyler.
Almost everyone feels like that, from time to time. Like, no matter how good they
are, they can't possibly be measuring up. Well, not me, or my kind, but the
rest of you do that, unless you're mentally ill. Just keep doing your best and
it will be enough."

Then she pulled a Zack, and
stepped to the right, vanishing without a trace.

Right on the doorstep.

Going back in, feeling a little
unsettled by what had happened, he was surprised to see that everyone else was
in the exact same position in the living room, where they'd been working the
whole time.

He looked at the Bat Shifter, and
gave the brown haired man a single nod.

"See, and here I'd figured
you'd be driving off into the sunrise by now, trying to get away."

Instead of claiming that hadn't
occurred to him, Scotty made a hard, nearly mean, face.

"And go where? Greater
Demons at every turn. Angels too now? Or was that just code for something? I've
never heard of that, outside of the old tales."

The very pale female Vamp closed
one eye then, and gave a nod.

"I...
Have
. Keeley
mentioned them. That there were some around, and that her people couldn't
handle them, mentally. There was more to it than that, but I guess it keeps
leaving
my
head, too. Like how Humans have to work to really understand
that I exist? Steve, you have that, right?"

The red headed younger looking
kid gave a lazy smile, and a shrug her way.

"Kind of. I mean, I know, on
some level, that it's all true. There are Demons and Vampires and Shifters and
all that. More things  than I know about. Hsreth too. I mean, I've hung out
with all those, more than once. Clara the Hsreth used to
babysit
me.
Even if I was too old to need that kind of thing. Twelve or so. Anyway, I still
feel the effect. If I go too long not being around some of you, I start to let
go of the idea. I mean, I
know
that Rebekah is a Manthori. Even that it
means more than just the looks, coming with extra mental abilities as often as
not. Compulsion especially. But it can fade to the point where it really feels
like a story, not something real." Picking up his guitar, which was
plugged in, being electric, he turned the amp on, and strummed a few chords
almost randomly. "So to me Rebekah is just some funny looking girl that I
still kind of want to have sex with, who
pretends
to be a Vampire.
Scotty is just a drummer with pretentions to being a Bat and Ty..."

That got a laugh, and more music,
this time played a bit more certainly.

"Well, clearly you're a
freaking
wizard
. Musically if nothing else. Those songs..."

That got a clap from their
personal school marm, the Vampire lady. Then she waved them into place.

"Let's start with Living
Proof? It can act as our introduction. We can go out with Among the Living. The
rest... Well, any thoughts?"

They all had some, and spent the
rest of the night working on it. Steve faded first, and Rebekah last, except
for him. That probably meant that it was up to him to get things set up for the
party. Or so he figured. At nine though, the sun up high, several efficient
looking people knocked on the front door. One of them, a woman who looked very
familiar to Tyler, stood on the front stoop.

At first, after opening the door,
he actually thought that it was Palma. What clued him in was that next to the
woman that was there, and a little behind her, was a man that seemed almost
identical to her. A slightly heavier face, and no breasts, but both had curly
hair, with the fellow having his in a ponytail. In the circular driveway there
was a van, with a large truck behind it. The kind you shipped things in. A
Ryder.

The woman, who wasn't Palma,
smiled at him.

"Hello! I'm Clara, and this
is Glen. Taggard. From Clara's Catering? Our friend Keeley asked us to come and
help set up for the party later. Is this the right place, sir?" She was
very polite, acting like he was in charge, rather than at her disposal for
work. Which was both nice and a good idea. Not that he wouldn't help, but he
knew from working with Palma that her kind didn't need his help in the kitchen.
That was kind of their thing. As in, a power they had. Anything related to the
house was.

"Hello! See,
I
was
just about to go and get some chips and punch myself. This will work much
better. I'm Tyler. Gartner. Call me Ty. I didn't know that we'd have Hsreth in
on this. I'm at your disposal then, to clean, or run errands? I don't have a
car here, but I can drive legally. Sweep or whatever you need? I know not to
get in the way."

That got a motherly smile from
the woman, who looked about fifty, but moved with a smooth sense of energy at
the same time.

"Thank you Ty. This is a bit
last minute, but it won't be the first time that we've had to set up with a
time limit. Would it be all right for us to come in and see what we're dealing
with? Keeley is a dear, but kind of suggested that
we
just throw those
chips you mentioned out. That
won't
do however. We have a reputation to
maintain, if nothing else."