Living Proof (Tyler G Book 2) (33 page)

On the good part that meant he
was able to explain the whole thing to the radio audience, so Tyler didn't have
to. The only thing there was that he called out The Mistress of Souls by name.
Title at least. It meant that, for the first time Tyler had ever heard about,
Greater Demons were being openly discussed.

That
might
not go over so
well, he knew.

Then again, it wasn't his problem.
Most people probably wouldn't get who they meant anyway. They'd seen a few
Lesser Demons on Television after all, and a ten feet high giant with horns and
red skin was kind of
Greater
seeming. Even if they got that it wasn't
the case most people would probably imagine a bigger version of that basic
template. They'd be wrong, of course, but it was the way people's minds worked,
and
he
didn't explain the difference.

No, the talk show guest did
that
part.

His part in getting things ready
after that was minimal. Mainly sweeping, which Ty was nearly certain had more
with getting him out of the way than it did cleaning the floor. There was a
tiny bit of dust however, so he kept after the project like it was real, doing
all the rooms that didn't need to be vacuumed. Then he did that, finding a
machine in a back room.

At about three Steve was up for
the day, followed after a few hours by Rebekah and Scotty. After they had their
nightly blood, made up for them by Clara, the Vampires were ready for the
night. Steve got a small snack tray, and two of the three got hugs from people.
Scotty was the one left out, but he didn't complain about it, happy that the
blood was finally the correct temperature. That's what he said anyway.

"I never really get it
right. It's always a bit too hot.
This
is perfect." He beamed at
the Hsreth man Glen, who'd done that for them. There was clear flirting in the
words, but the other man didn't seem to get it. It was more than just not
noticing. Almost like the idea of sexual impulses just weren't a thing for him.

A Human guy might have not wanted
the attention, but he would have
noticed
it. Mainly so he could be
creeped out, but it would have been there. Glen just seemed complimented, and
moved on. That was probably part of what made him other than Human.

It was okay, too. They were all
different, and it was part of his job to accept them. Even the ones he didn't
always like as much as he should. That part was hard, but hey, no one said it
would be simple. Not even Mike had mentioned that. In fact, he'd seemed to
think it was kind of a difficult thing from time to time. Probably to be nice
to him about it.

Tyler was good with that if it
was the case.

At about seven, people started
coming. A man was assigned to the front door, and people were, for the most
part, simply let in. They were isolated enough that no one was coming by
accident. If the neighbors wanted to sneak in...

Well, he was good with that.

Snapping his fingers he winced.

"We should have invited
people from the neighborhood. Well, next time, maybe?"

Rebekah gave him a very funny
look, her blood red eyes focused on him, he thought. It was a little hard to
tell, but she was oriented his way and there was nothing else around if she
wasn't.

"I... Can see that. Not that
we have a lot of people around us out here, but if you want to make friends you
have to be the one to reach out, as often as not. We really should do
that."

Steve didn't seem to care about
that, since he was busy looking at the people come in across the room. Several
of them nodded in their direction, but both he and Rebekah suddenly started
waving, which got a pretty woman to come over. She was sort of familiar, from a
movie that he'd seen, but it was the people with her that got his attention.

Eve, Barb, and Zack, followed by
Ginger and Calley, along with the bigoted Catherine. Not that it was fair of
him to think of her that way. He'd been told she wasn't really that bad, after
all.

"Hey!" He started
passing out hugs, and just to be a pill made sure that the Washington State
Ambassador got one too. It wasn't as good of one as all that, but she didn't
sniff at him or act like he smelled, which was better than it might have been.

She didn't get to speak though,
since Eve moved in and wrapped him up in her own room temperature arms.

"Krista? This is Tyler
Gartner. He's in the band we came to see, but is
also
the head of the
Coalition of Nations. I told you about that?"

The pretty actress smiled at him,
and moved forward, her face looking alert, rather than like she wanted
something from him. Given that he didn't have anything for her, that was
probably a good thing.

Even given that perception, her
words kind of gave the lie to that.

"I was wondering if I could
pick your brain? The director of the series I'm in wants to get some different
perspectives. It's mainly a Vampire show, but we're adding some of the other
groups in, and... There are a lot of them. Eve thought I should talk to you,
about who to talk to?" She seemed hopeful about the idea.

"Really, well, a lot of them
will be here tonight. After that we can get you in with different groups once
the new embassy here is up and going. Or, you know, your director, or whoever
is doing that. Though you should talk to Scotty right now. He's got a unique
perspective. He was born a Bat Shifter and became a Vampire. It's really
rare." Plus the man had been staring, so it was a good way to introduce
the two.

Ginger moved over to him again,
and held his hand. That got Barb to wrinkle her nose at them.

"That's a little bit
too
territorial, for a party. I mean, if I can't make out with your boyfriend in
the coat closet, what's the point of coming at all?" She was teasing,
Tyler could tell.

Ginger didn't challenge her to a
fight, just shaking her head a bit.

"I'm not worried about
you
.
You'd just have sex with him, which is fine. Or even you, Krista. No, I have to
guard him from
Eve
." She glared a bit, and it seemed a little too
real for the situation.

The other girl didn't even bother
to deny it, just nodding.

"Yeah. I'd totally steal him
from you if I could. I don't see it working. So far he almost totally ignores
me, unless I try to hit him."

He nodded, since it was kind of
true. She was too good looking, if he was going to be honest. Ty still felt shy
around a lot of women that looked too good. He could talk to them, now, but the
feeling was still there, inside.

"Speaking of hitting, we
should get together and practice soon. I don't want to get rusty."

That got Barb and Krista to look
at him like he was being silly, and Scotty to wince. Rebekah regarded him with
interest.

"She's pretty good. The
Bey's apprentice, I hear. You can survive working with her?"

Eve smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, he
can
. He
isn't very fast, but in actual skill he's one of the best I've ever seen. I saw
him take out a four hundred year old master Vampire once, unarmed... What, you
thought I wanted him for his musical ability?" She grinned, but the bone
white lady nodded at her.

"Um,
yeah
. Actually.
Speaking of which, we're planning to play later. Make sure you get a good
seat."

Not that there were bad ones
there.

Zack waved at him, from the back
of the crowd.

"We're still on for
Wednesday?"

Tyler nodded, since it was
important. Order night always was.

"Meet me here at five? Thursday,
too. Oh! That reminds me. Steve is looking for something part time, and I was
thinking that he'd fit in great at the Candles and More? He'd need a trip there
and back on his scheduled days. I doubt he has anything to trade that would
work for that."

He was
about
to offer the
kid's behind, as in Zack using him for sex, when Keels showed up, passed out
hugs and oddly enough gave him one, even if they weren't that close. Krista the
actress as well, since
that
made sense, no doubt. Then she addressed the
conversation like she'd been part of it the whole time.

"I can see to that. I'm not
Zack, but as long as it's all right for him to work in your area?" That
was addressed to the other Greater Demon, who gave a quick glance at the room
before agreeing.

"Sure. That should be fine.
Lisa needs the help. Call it three days a week to start with? I know that
you'll need to practice with the band. Living Proof? Good name. I like
it."

That it seemed, meant it was time
for them to start playing. Unlike a real concert, where someone might have cared,
everyone kept talking when they started to play. Halfway through the first song
that ended though, even if it
was
him singing, and not Rebekah. She and
Steve were doing backup vocals for it. Scotty could do that too, so they all
had a part backing up Rebekah later, in the last song.

They didn't have microphones set
up, but didn't need them for the room they were in, once people stopped
talking. On the third song several people started dancing, since they were good
for that. They had slower ones as well, like the first and the last, and one
that was so well designed for the Vampire woman that it was all he could do to
indicate how it was supposed to be sung when they were practicing. She nailed
it though, and got applause when that one ended.

When the set was finished, forty
minutes later, the whole room clapped for them, and a couple of the people came
over. Some of them were Hollywood types, who wisely hit up the Vampires first.
That made sense, being she was easy to spot, and famous in her own right.
Rebekah had been out before almost anyone else. Scotty too. That sort of made
them special twice.

One of the men, who looked to be
in his mid-forties and was both thin and bald, was clearly Krista's director.
For a second Tyler wondered if he was going to try and mount Rebekah's leg like
a puppy dog. Not that he would have blamed the guy totally, because it was a
great leg, but still, it seemed a bit unprofessional of him. The order was
supposed to be, sit, shake hands, pee in a shoe, then hump the leg.

The actual event was more boring
than that, being the man taking her hand firmly and then refusing to let go
while he spoke.

"I need you for my show.
Krista said that she'd try to sweet talk you, but we
need
you. You're
charming friend here, too."
That
was Scotty, by the look given. Not
that the man dared let go of the woman. Like she might get away if he did
something like that.

Rebekah smiled politely. No more
than that. There were no sudden stars in her eyes, or sense that she was going
to run off to Hollywood right then. Seriously there was a feeling that the
woman was a bit bored with the idea already, which was kind of strange. It was,
in potential, work. Exposure too.

Then, it occurred to Tyler for
the first time since they'd started the whole band thing, she'd
never
talked about making it big in particular. Not in a way that was anything more
than trying to get the rest of them ready, in case it happened. Honestly,
her
focus had been on the music the whole time.

Scotty, for his part, seemed to
want to make
her
happy more than anything else, too. Then it was clear
that he was in the whole thing for the blood, and the providers of that for the
United States, when you got down to it, were two people.

Rebekah, the Bat-Vamps boss at
the moment, and Eve. So while he looked at the Humans with interest, Ty was
willing to bet that it was mainly a combination of simple lust and hunger
pushing at him. Not a strong desire for fame, fortune or even to help these
particular sexy food objects to get anywhere, other than in to his bed.

For his part, Steve hadn't been
mentioned or looked at in the slightest, just being a regular person, with no
particular fame yet. He was talented, playing the guitar, but so were a lot of
people.

The grabby man kept a hold on
Rebekah's arm. It looked to not be very tight, and she didn't shake him off,
but there was a creeping sense of annoyance toward the fellow as they all stood
there, waiting for the next thing to happen. Nothing did, so Ty took over. It
was part of his job in life after all. Literally. This was Human-Other
interaction right there in front of him, happening in real time.

"Um, you
migh
t want
to remove your hand. Carefully. Remember, even for someone really cool like
Bekah, you're
kind
of food, on some level. That she doesn't
want
to think of you like that doesn't mean she can always help it." Not that
the Vampire was that bad in regards to things like that, but the man let go and
took a slow, slightly scared, step back.

"Crap. Sorry there Hun. Not
trying to be a prick."

For her part there was a subtle
relaxation.

"No problem. Anyway, I think
we can work something out. I'm trying to focus on my new project right
now..."

It had never occurred to him
really, but being famous just didn't seem to
matter
to her. Probably
because it was a fleeting thing. The work of the moment. Important only in that
it let her get her efforts out to more people. Just waving that under her nose,
a thing that might have worked really well for a lot of Humans, wasn't going to
call to her.

If
he was guessing right on the
matter.

The party was noisy, and the room
filled with bodies. There were Humans in the mix, as well as a lot of others,
including, he realized, Gregor, The Cleric. The man had subtly joined their
group, and was standing, dressed as a priest, with a drink in his hand. It
looked to be a soda however, not anything stronger. Something dark, with
bubbles that showed clearly through the side of the tumbler. There was a bit of
condensation on the outside of the thing, indicating it was cold.