Mr. Hartley (Alternate Places Book 1)

by P. S. Power

  “Can you teach me how to do that? I don't read well yet, not in English. In Alfric I read well, I don't want people thinking I wasn't schooled or anything... I had good tutors until I was twenty-three. But I can't make out all the words in there.” If she felt embarrassed about asking she didn't show it, on any level. Her Shadow handled the whole thing in a matter-of-fact way. If this kind of thing is what Humans did and she'd married a Human, she'd learn it.

  Patty didn't need more prompting, she pulled out some appropriate anatomical models and showed her how to do it.

  He asked, in a small lull when Merri had one of the models in her mouth that he hadn't thought would fit, especially not as deeply as that, if Patty planned to go to the club that night with everyone else.

  “Am I invited?” Her eyebrow raised.

  “Well, I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds, but I'm inviting you, so yes. It may be important.” The look he gave tried to convey that it may be really important, not just 'come out with us' important.

  “Okay. I didn't have anything planned that can't be canceled, or better yet done quickly before I go. What time?”

  He told her.

  Merri kept practicing. It was slightly distracting.

  Chapter thirty-four

  The doorman hesitated when Hilda walked up to him. Zack, watching with the others from a distance, knew that he wondered if Hilda could be a man in drag. After a moment he waved her through anyway, his Shadow deciding that if she did turn out to be a man in drag, looking like that, most people wouldn't care. Hot is hot, the man at the door figured. His orders said that the attractive ones got in, male or female.

  The guy turned out to be the same one that had stood there the last time Zack had come. This time he put out his hand to shake and said good evening, very politely. Zack shook his hand in return and walked on with the others.

  Patty had come with all of her crew. As the first song hit them, everyone danced, except Patty, Claire, and Zack, who they held in place. Merri went to dance excitedly with Hilda. They both looked stunning, and in a club that prized itself on only letting in good looking and interesting people, they definitely became the center of attention fast. Neither knew how Humans danced, so they did a rather interesting parody of what they thought everyone else had been doing. Instead of looking awkward, it flowed, both of them almost too smooth for the room. It looked sensuous, even though Zack could see the moves they mimicked. Then every ten seconds or so, Merri would just jump straight up in the air about three feet, waving her head side to side, squirming in the air in a manner that even a professional dancer might find hard to copy.

  Everyone had turned out. Lisa danced with Norris, Libby, and a girl Zack hadn't seen before, but who seemed very interested in the Incubus. Sarah and Val had gone off with two young men and another girl. They said they'd be back in about half an hour or so.

  Even Blake got to come. Claire had a different Vampire in the shop watching things. Someone apparently well suited to guarding things, like a store with no window across the way. Claire also kept her phone near her at all times though. Apparently if things went south she wanted to be there as soon as possible, fearing her guard might accidentally kill someone, if things got rough, though he had orders to try not to.

  The club looked great. A little spooky, with light mostly coming from oil lamps with colored glass covers set in small alcoves. They lit the whole room in an almost Gothic style, you could still actually see though, so they hadn't gone with the full Gothic set up, Zack realized. The tones were muted, except a light which flickered, alive, swaying with the music. A metal pipe with small holes in it was lit, about ten feet up. High enough to keep even the stupid drunks out of it. A gas was pumped through and then lit. It danced when the membrane at one end vibrated, hooked, Zack had been told, to a speaker. Blue flames climbing and dancing in time with the beat. Keane had seen something like it on YouTube and insisted they build one. He'd done most of the work himself.

  He observed that Claire and Patty were talking, their inner selves repeating what they said for him, as they spoke too low for anyone there except perhaps Libby to hear. How she managed in there he did not know, any regular person faced permanent hearing damage.

  Claire's beast spoke first.

  Strange things are afoot. We've seen a large increase in violent events that seem random, starting about three months ago. I checked my records. They seem unrelated, but I've seen such things used to soften up an enemy before the hostilities start before. I've been part of such things.

  Patty replied her lips not moving enough to be read.

  Do you suspect attack then? Why? More importantly, from who? This predates Zack coming, so you don't think it directly relates to him, do you?

  Shaking her head slightly Claire answered the other woman.

  I really don't know. I do know that he's been near many of the events since he came, but then he knows half the people in our consortium. Is there any wonder that he's involved in some of these things? He's clearly been targeted, but I think that others have been too. It may be that Zack has been targeted specifically because he's stopped or thwarted so many other negative things. The truth is, I don't know yet.

  He let them talk for about ten more minutes, when Patty started to answer questions about his lessons, he interrupted.

  “I'd like both of you to come with me, to my house. The whole thing should take about twenty minutes, maybe less. We need a distraction, just in case someone's watching though, then we'll take a shortcut. Is that all right with both of you?” He whispered this, as they were doing, trying not to move his lips.

  Patty provided the distraction, by simply asking for one out loud in a language or code he'd never heard before. Val and Sarah instantly shimmied out of their tops Neither wore a bra. Looking at Nikki and Libby who could hear them, they said, go topless. Both girls shrugged and complied quickly.

  They didn't ask why.

  Hilda and Merri followed suit, though both of them expressed relief on the deeper level that this would be allowed, as it had gotten very hot. Everyone moved together and started dancing.

  Lisa had just started removing her own top, looking shy, when they hit the front door. The doorman looked at them questioningly, wondering why this normal looking, skinny guy got to leave with two of the hottest women in the club. His mind started spinning up reasons, most of them nefarious, so Zack provided him with an answer.

  “They lost a bet, so I get to take pictures of them making out.” Patty promptly kissed Claire on the mouth, acting a little drunk She received a shy kiss and a giggle from the Vampire in return.

  “Lucky man. Coming back?”

  “Yeah, about twenty minutes unless they're drunker than I think. I can but dream...”

  The man laughed, his Shadow communicating with Zack clearly.

  You and me both...

  They walked around the building, the women with arms around each other, Zack following behind. When they got to the shortcut, he moved in front of them had them hold hands and walked them through, reminding them of the high step they needed so they wouldn't trip.

  Inside, he suggested they go to the basement.

  “Patty, I need your help. Maybe. You know about my father, his body being used by a demon that raped me, sold me into the sex trade, and doubtless many other things that make it worthy of death?” His tone deadly serious and oddly flat.

  She just nodded.

  “Long story short; I've learned how to kill Demons. The trouble is I can only do it in the void, in the lines, so I have to be there at the same time with the Demon in order to kill it. Short of waiting for months or years in there though – our time months and years – the only way to really ensure that the right one is there is to be with it when it translates.”

  She waited, not interrupting but clearly not understanding what he needed yet.

  “So, since I doubt any Demon is going to willingly hop in a line with me, I'm going to have to look like someone else, someone
that wouldn't be suspected, but still has my abilities and skills...”

  Patty's face lit up then. Claire still didn't get it though.

  “I'll need to build a second identity. Ideally as someone that the demons would accept, at least on the surface. Someone that can go into the lines, to explain my being around in various locations. I think I have part of the disguise, but I don't know how to test it.” He looked at them both closely. “Can either of you sense Demons?”

  Patty shook her head, but Claire nodded.

  “All right. One moment.” It was going to take some focus, and a few seconds, so Zack held up a single finger.

  Then closed his eyes, compacting his Shadow, not into a ball, but a small tube about the size of a large soup can, then oriented it correctly and held it there.

  Opening his eyes, Claire hissed and recoiled.

  “How? You seem like a Demon, you even smell like one...”

  He released this odd, uncomfortable shape and became his normal self again. Claire looked relieved.

  “So, that's half of it, Patty, what do you think about the rest of it?”

  She nodded.

  “I can do it. How often do you think you'll have to change though? I can manage once, maybe twice a day. More than that and someone else will have to know too. I'd say Val, but she's a little too young yet, and has been under-feeding. You two need to get more Humans around for that you know. Say once a day? Maybe more if I can feed enough.”

  Then she quickly went over specifics. Each time he changed he'd need to do hair, make-up if needed and change clothes, so that had to be accounted for in his timing. He wouldn't have to shave or wax body hair each time, but if he spent more than a few days in that shape, he'd have to redo everything, just like normal and of course, it would have to be done the first time. Plus he'd need more lessons if he wanted to pass as a female. Even if he didn't intend to have sex in that form, there were habits he had to break or it would be obvious something was wrong.

  The next obstacle was that they didn't know what he'd look like as a girl. Generally people had one good looking gender and one less so within them. If this happened to be his good looking form, then it would be a hard, though not impossible, sell that a Demon would take that body. They seemed to prefer pretty women and distinguished looking men for the people they possessed. Some exceptions had been noted though.

  “Do you think it will affect my abilities? The difference in brain structure and such?”

  She nodded. “There are differences. Your thinking will be different for one thing. You may be more emotional, or less, or, being you, your control may make that a moot point. The only thing that will really tell us is trying it. I think for best effect, you and I should become lovers. Anyone watching will believe it. I already have about a half dozen, one more won't matter. I'll take you to my place for it. It should be secure in my safe room. Yes, that seems like the best plan.”

  Then Patty took a big, almost shuddering breath.

  “Do you think you can do it, though? I mean, really kill a Demon?”

  “Yes. In fact, I already have...”

  She gasped and looked around as if waiting for a horde of that kind to come rushing at them for battle.

  They got back to the club within fifteen minutes.

  On the way past the doorman, he threw out “They didn't even get to second base. I feel a little gypped to tell the truth.” Then shrugged almost comically. The large man laughed.

  Inside half the women in the club were topless. They got back to their table and found it still empty. Looking around, Claire whispered to the other woman. Zack heard it though.

  Well that worked. I wonder if we should do something like this every few weeks to shake things up?

  Patty figured out then that this club belonged to Claire personally and wondered if she may have been cheated a little in that deal about Charli, since Claire had been obligated to act at the time both as a signatory and proprietor.

  Claire smiled and whispered to her again, hidden in the din, possibly even from Libby's sharp ears.

  All's fair they say... Would you do anything differently with Zack now though? I can give you the five thousand gold if you want. For that matter, you should get it from your new 'secret lover,' he can afford it, pick a number that will look realistic and soak him for it. It's practically a tradition after all, with kept women.

  He nodded, that made sense, anything that made this look more realistic.

  “Nothing but the best for my lady! How much do you think would hold you over, I don't want you to have to work too hard to make ends meet.” It was said in a normal conversational tone. They looked at him startled. They kept forgetting he had other ways of gathering data, he noticed. Everyone thought of him in terms of the Nexus as far as extra abilities went, but only that. He might be able to use it later, somehow. It was better to be underestimated and dismissed than overestimated and thwarted he thought to himself.

  Patty's eyes showed genuine love it seemed, though he knew it for an act. Her smile looked radiant however, another talent of her kind.

  “Thank you, lover! Could you bring me a little something when you come over tomorrow? Rent's due soon and I just don't know how I can make it on my little salary... Please?” Wheedling must be in the advanced course of the Alede training, because even though he knew she didn't need the money, and even realized that her words were horribly obvious and gave any watcher an exact idea of what she pretended to do, he still really wanted to take her that money. That being the case, he decided to go with his feelings.

  “Don't worry. Money's easy, perfection is hard.” He looked at her, leaning in a bit to indicate that he thought she was that perfection. Claire actually seemed a little jealous.

  That part wasn't fake.

  Patty seemed to melt. Apparently his heartfelt, if corny line met the right general tone. Good. Making wild guesses wasn't exactly the easiest way to make your way through a novel situation, he'd learned over the years. If he had to keep doing it, he'd probably mess things up, so he decided to leave things at that and keep his mouth closed for a while.

  They kept this up, until the others came over to the table, most of them topless, except Norris, for some reason. Even Keane had taken his shirt off. Of course they all had the body to pull that off. People were still staring at them, and trying to pretend not to.

  Lisa seemed nicely appointed, breast wise. She appeared to be the only true medium-sized woman in the whole group, everyone else being either tiny or huge that way. They all seemed to be remarkably perky though, for whatever supernatural reason. It probably had to do with whatever kept them from aging at the same rate regular people did.

  More people were taking clothing off around the room, women and men both. As if the nudity was catching. It was pretty hot. Both kinds. Warm and sexy. A girl his own age looked at him from across the room, and licked her lips alluringly. At him. It caused a stirring in his pants that was a bit strange, considering everything. Not that she wasn't cute... She was. Just not in the league of the women with him. After a moment he realized that he'd felt this kind of thing before. It seemed similar to the night when Sarah had Troy and Betty down stairs and...

  "There's... An Alede leaking all over the room, isn't there?" Motioning to Patty Zack waited, hoping she could find the source of it.

  The feeling intensified suddenly. Everyone except Zack, who'd managed to block it out, mainly, seemed a little preoccupied and fidgety. Patty got up, her eyes going unfocused, and body language suddenly still. So he followed her, feeling the intensity going up as they moved.

  People were dancing more provocatively, groping and he thought, in a few cases, covertly having sex on the dance floor and around the room. Patty continued toward one of the bathrooms. Supposedly single person, they were actually designed to handle two people, in various positions. Mainly to get blood, but sometimes they found other uses. There were eight of them for that reason, so the patrons that actually wanted to use the faci
lities would have a chance without waiting for hours.

  A fight broke out when a guy found his girlfriend doing something naughty with the man right next to them at the bar. Three large men ran up, all wearing blue Tarantula shirts, marking them as security.

  The bathroom door turned out to be locked. Patty, gestured to Hilda who'd snuck up behind him. The giantess put her left hand forward in a natural looking movement, it was gentle almost. The door shattered at the locked side, and flew open.

  Inside a young girl, really too young for an adult club, sat on top of a man that wore a Tarantula staff shirt, this one red, marking him as a server of some sort, bar or wait staff. Zack looked and happily noticed that it wasn't Troy. He didn't need to be raped by an underage succubus really. Not that the man there did either. This man had darker skin, than his friend. The girl though had a soft rosy glow, like she was blushing all over.

  There was little doubt what she was, given the aspect of her Shadow and the lust pouring off of her without any filtering at all.

  “Kaitlyn! Young lady, control yourself! You're about to cause a situation here. Pull back now or the large woman behind me will render you unconscious!” Crossed arms and anger became the prime features of Patty in that moment. When the girl on the floor didn't instantly comply, she motioned to Hilda. “Do it. We have to stop her or this could turn ugly very fast.”

  Hilda raised her hand to strike, judging the distance, the size and strength of her target and how much force to use, she didn't want to kill the girl, just stop her.

  Covering her head, the girl started yelling, “Okay, okay, give me a second! Sorry! Like no one else has ever let go a little at a club. Breathe, breathe, focus now...” The lust, if anything grew stronger.

  “Oh crap, oh crap. I can do it, don't hurt me! Breathe! Breathe!” With her anxiety, her defensive sending got stronger and stronger.

  Hilda's arm came back, anger in her eyes.

  “Stop, Hilda. Wait.” Turning on the girl, not knowing if it would do anything at all, Zack focused his Shadow self letting it grow huge and intimidating, like he'd seem Vampires do, he spoke to her, on both levels, calmly and serenely.