by P. S. Power
Also like sex, which was probably what the woman meant at the moment.
“I’m Avery. I didn't know that Chris and I were dating? We can, of course, but the three times we’ve met haven’t really arranged for that one yet. I have a boyfriend, but he won’t mind that. Um, Phillip Hart? He’s a Human line walker. We finally have one of those in my world.”
“Neat! I’ll get you hooked up with Chris then? I’ve been trying for a bit, but Don keeps getting in the way. Not just for me, but all of us Alede and Vampires back home. Anyway, I need to get back to work. We should get together soon? Do something?”
She meant sex, but Avery nodded.
“Sure? Tell Chris I said hi? I’m busy right now, but we can make plans?”
That earned a special seeming smile, but also let her get away, back to work. She hadn’t been gone long, but there was noise from the book section next door when she went back. It wasn’t loud, meaning no one was being attacked. It also wasn’t tear filled crying.
Walking out, making her face seem slightly confused, Avery listened before speaking. The place wasn’t empty, but all of the Alede were out on the sales floor, with a few men and one woman standing behind them, not getting lucky at the moment.
Kaitlyn, hers this time, turned to look at her. There was no sense of it being a knowing thing at all.
“Someone took out the Alede Governing Body’s main headquarters. We just got the news. We… Our government is in lockdown. Mom is coming back here… We…” She wasn’t worried seeming, though several of the others there, Felicia and Roberta, both seemed that way.
Avery nodded.
“Right. I’ll stand by to move people around. I have a talisman to keep me awake. If I have to, I can call into work in the morning. I’m technically done for the week. Phillip will help, too. We won’t leave your people stuck in danger.” She looked at Roberta, who was the second in command for the Alede embassy.
The dark-haired woman moved in and hugged her, holding her closely for a long time.
“Thank you! I’ll see if anyone needs our help that way. We don’t even know if anyone was there at the time. I can’t… Who would do this?”
Avery took a deep breath and shook her head in return.
“Bad people. Terrorists… It doesn’t matter right now, does it? We need to set things up, that and get with other groups. I’ll call this in to the Shifters, that and the Vampires? The Trollienkeine…”
There was a rushing sound already, which was like thunder to Avery.
Several giant people dashed into the shop, each of them holding a large club in their hands. Lars, her friend, was in front. Mainly because he seemed to recognize her.
“We have come to protect you, hearing on the radio that your kind might be under attack. We, here, stand with you!”
That was really kind of them, since the Trollienkeine could barely stand to be around Alede at all. They didn’t hate them, as much as though they reeked, horribly. Of sex. Then, Avery noticed that Lars didn’t move in for a hug with her at the moment, either.
“Thank you. We’re running the line walking portions from here. Can you spread the word to your people, Lars? Just in case this isn’t an isolated attack. I need to warn people. Let me…” She had her phone with her, but in the other room. In her purse.
She dashed away, since she would in a real emergency. The heart of acting, for her, was making herself believe that she was dealing with the situation for real. So she did that right then, scrambling her cell phone out, and calling Calley Hale directly.
After one ring, it picked up.
“Hale here. How may I help you?”
“This is Rome. The Alede headquarters in Wellington was just hit. We don’t know the damage at this time. We also don’t know if this is part of something bigger. We need to collect up you and Jahn Samson and get you both to safety. In different locations. Where are you?”
“Um… Sparks? The embassy here. We should be safe.”
“Probably. I’m incoming there. Call it… Ten minutes? I need to call the Vampires first. Stand by.”
The correct number was in her phone, and the conversation was nearly the same.
Bey spoke to her, his voice going cold, partway through.
“Understood, Miss Rome. We shall deal with this. Thank you for your offer of assistance. Does that stand, if we need further aid that we cannot foresee at this time?”
“Yes. I’ll keep my phone with me. I’m securing Calley Hale first.”
She moved from the node directly to the front office of Ambassador Hale. Doing that nearly had her shot, by Merisy.
Avery put her hands up.
“It’s Rome! Here to move the personnel out. The President Elect first. Then you and the others here. Everyone, if needed.” It would be a lot of work, but it was what she’d do if it was needed.
“Avery?” The woman, who was darker skinned than she was, but similar in facial structure, went wide eyed. “We heard about the Alede, is there a credible threat?”
“No. Nothing that I know of. This is just a precaution. We’re moving you to Westfield for the time being. I know the location and we can secure it.”
“Got it. Let me send out the call? Just our people or everyone?”
“Everyone. Alede first, once we have our people here protected. They’re the only ones under attack so far.”
The Dragon Shifter moved fast then, heading toward a desk that had a phone on it. The placard, done in brass, said that she was Ambassador Fellows. There was no name on the door that had the new President behind it.
That opened though, the conversation having been heard, it was clear.
“Avery! I was just on with Jahn. He’s refusing to leave the HQ. He said that one of us needed to stay there for now and he was the expendable one. Can we get some guards in place?”
“Find me people and I’ll take them in. Do we have anyone that can protect the Alede? I should have…”
“Right. I’ll set that up. Good plan.”
She opened up a warp into the void, and held it open while the others worked. It took her a while, but Calley was still shocked when she took her arm and they walked out into the back of Brand Village. The Westfield branch. They were met by Mr. Keeber, who was a Bear Shifter.
“Calley? Avery? What’s up?”
Hale looked slightly fierce then.
“Attack on the Alede in New Zealand. We don’t have particulars yet. I’ll go and find that out now. We’re setting up a protection detail. Get volunteers. Rome is doing transport for it. We aren’t being paid for this, but…”
The Bear didn’t wait, rushing to the phone, since that was how calling trees worked.
Calley, stopping in place for a moment, groaned.
“Fuuuu. We need to see to our people first. Then the Alede, and Mages. They’re vulnerable to physical attacks if they don’t know anything is coming.” She started pacing then, as Avery nodded and ran out.
“I’m on the Mages directly. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Use my cell if any emergencies take place.”
When she got to Candles and More it was empty, which made sense, given it was nearly one in the morning when she checked her watch. Instead of calling directly, she spun and ran over to Yoghurt World. Everyone was there, including her boyfriend. Barb as well. Standing near the back was Troy, who she hadn’t seen in a while. He waved when she came in.
“Are you running transport from here for your people?”
Eve smiled, and gestured at the others.
“For anyone who needs it. You and Kait?”
“Yes. Down at the bookstore. Good. I’m calling Eric Weise, now. Can someone get with Lisa?”
That didn’t take long, Eve doing the calling for their side of things. Lenore and Edom were both working phones already, in the back.
She ended up moving about three hundred people before morning came. Nothing else happened, of course, since it was a terror attack, not a full out thing of some kind of government. Thank g
oodness. As things wound down, at about six in the morning, Avery used her magical amulet, sticking the metal into her mouth and turning it on with her tongue.
It worked pretty well.
When she got back to the bookstore, finally, Kaitlyn hugged her. Closely.
“The whole Governing Body is dead. All of them, Avery…”
Going wide eyed, she tried to seem tense.
“You have friends. Who’s set up to step in for your people? Is there anyone left in command?”
That got a head shake.
“Not really. Everyone is in hiding, fearing that they might be next. Someone has to… I think that my mom needs to do it. At least so that we have a face on television right now. I’ll go and see to that. Judy…”
“I have that. I might as well go into work, if things are calming down already. I’m so sorry that all of those people died. We need to get a guard for Valerie… Get with Mr. Keeber, at the Shifter Embassy here? He knows how to do that kind of thing.”
It was part of the plan.
“Thank you, Avery. I can’t…” She wiped a tear, or pretended to. Nothing changed at all. No tracks of wetness were falling down her friend’s cheek.
Hers either, of course.
The Alede line walker ran then, going across the mall to where her mother worked. Roberta was over there as well. Zack…
Well, he was busily putting out stock. As Avery walked past, he cleared his throat.
“Not bad, Avery. Not bad at all. I almost didn’t figure it out, you know that?”
“Figure what out? Oh… Um, our man in Noram managed to track down the people who attacked his world? The clone assassins? They’re from here. He has a specific location. It might be linked to… Well, everything else.”
She was changing the topic, naturally.
They both understood that, but the Greater Demon didn’t push her into making any kind of admission of guilt.
“That sounds… Likely. Do we have more data than that?”
“We do. In fact, after I do some other things, I can have him come here for a meeting on the topic. Right now, I need to make sure that Judy Swan is doing all right. She’s a friend of mine.”
That got a nod.
“Mine too, after a fashion. Make sure she knows that we won’t let anything happen to her?”
“I will. Thanks.”
Then, moving carefully, Avery went to work for the day. Even if she had to leave part way through, it made sense. The team working on Red Rain were her people, after all. She just had a lot of them now.
Once again, she was the first person there that day. Krista was about number twenty, since the camera people and the ones working on supplies, food and sets always got there early. Judy came in looking relatively happy, a cup of expensive coffee in her hand.
“Avery girl! You look bright and chipper. Are you… You don’t have any scenes left, do you?” The woman winced then, as if saying that was rude.
“No. I’m here as your bodyguard today. After the attacks last night…”
“What?” It was hard to tell, but Avery kind of thought that she really hadn’t heard anything at all.
“The Alede… Your Governing Body, they were all killed last night. In a bombing. All the top people… I’m so sorry. I thought you’d know.”
“No… I…” She looked away, tears in her eyes. “That’s horrible of course. What do we do now? All of those people they enslaved. If we can’t help them, they’ll probably die in the next few days.”
Avery felt shocked, not having known that before. It was there, in the demon library, but that didn’t mean she’d bothered to check on it. Once it was mentioned she got the idea, fast.
If the Humans that were enslaved didn’t have the pleasure they craved now, which they were fully addicted to, they’d probably kill themselves. That or turn to drugs, which wouldn’t last long at all, since they couldn’t replace what they needed that way. Other Alede would be able to help them taper off though.
“We need to call this in… I think… I think that your daughter, Val, is taking over?”
That could have come as a shock, but it didn’t seem to.
Not from anyone.
Not that day.
Chapter twenty-five
When Avery finally got to sleep, after a full day of sitting and supporting Judy, as well as running around later in the evening to make certain that the several hundred Alede sex slaves that had been kept by the upper echelons of their power structure all got to where they needed to be in order to survive, she very nearly fell over. The next morning didn’t happen. Neither did her date with Phillip.
What did take place was her being woken up to a house full of people. She’d slept through the early portion of things, but for the very first time since she’d gone to live with Edom, his place had enough people in it to be loud.
She went to shower and clean up first, even though her stomach was screaming at her to eat. It wasn’t an emergency, she didn’t think, or the yelling would have gotten her up before then. When she looked at her clock it said that it was ten at night, meaning that she’d slept for over a day, for some reason.
Slipping into her best business outfit, one that she’d made herself in case she ever had to do grownup things, and putting on makeup, attempting to be efficient as well as skillful the whole time she worked, turned out to be a great plan. Because, right there in her living room, near a girl who seemed to be the Mistress of Souls, was her mentor. Bente. The Pristine. Tarsus was there as well, talking to Eve and an older man who had a long nose and stringy gray hair. She didn’t know his name or title, but could see that he was drinking in the world like the rest of them were. Zack and his Aunt, The Technician, stood talking to Lenore Hawthorn and Bey.
Sitting with Jahn Samson was Calley Hale, both of whom seemed tense, and watchful. Everyone who wanted something seemed to be drinking. It wasn’t just blood or fruit juice either, from the smell of it. Those things were being taken around by Phillip and Troy. Both of them looked at her and nodded. Hopefully that meant her boyfriend understood why she’d missed their date the day before. He looked serious, but so did everyone else.
The place was actually filled to the brim, for some reason. After a moment, she worked it all out. Aided by that Greater Demon in her head space. Helpfully. They’d come to plan out how to take down the rogue military people in the desert. For that they needed Willum, however. Which would be who they were waiting for.
Her stomach tried to rip into her for not eating first thing.
“I’ll be out for a bit, and bring back some people, if possible. Call it an hour? Just, remember that I don’t really do time like that.” She tried to look slightly pathetic, which worked a bit, several people waving to her.
It was her bookstore boss that walked over to her though, navigating the room as if there was nothing in his way at all. Not a press of important bodies or even obstacles to go around. It was so well done that it was nearly eerie, to tell the truth. Worse, or better, he wasn’t tossing magic around to make it happen. He could, apparently just see where to go so well that it was a kind of superior ability. A magic made up of skill, instead of strange energies or powers.
“Hey! That sounds good. I think there are some sandwiches in the kitchen? Carla at the café made them for us. You should eat first, before going off to alternate realities like that. Is it just to the one location, to get your boyfriend, Willum?”
She didn't make the correction that was needed. Will wasn’t her boyfriend or anything like that. The room would hear the words though, and give him more value when they came back, if he were attached to her that way.
“Two places. I have to report something to the IPB. I have a fourth job there, kind of.”
That got a small bow. Then her clever plan laid out to everyone with good enough hearing. It wasn’t a mistake, of course. Then, most of the room already knew her secrets, she didn’t doubt. The point was to show that she was capable of getting things done.
Then, it was a small enough space that he didn’t need to.
She shrugged, and then lied.
“I don’t know what you mean. Let me grab some food and then I’ll try to get things going? I didn’t know that everyone was going to be here like this or I would have gotten up earlier. Sorry everyone.” It probably sounded too weak, but she wasn’t a leader. The room was filled with that kind of person though, many of whom were intelligent enough to understand that not everyone could be that way.
The rest… Well, she wasn’t working for any of them, so it didn’t really matter.
There were three people and a large box filled with food in the kitchen. No one she knew, but they let her grab something off the top of the thing, moving as they spoke gently to one another. Then she ate quickly, standing right there in her black skirt and matching jacket. It had a little bow tie on it. The cut wasn’t the nicest thing ever, but it was sewn very well. Everything about it was nearly perfect, in fact.
She moved from the back yard, heading to find Willum first. She hated to think that way, but if finding him were an issue, then it would have to come first. It wasn’t hard, since he was in Soam, sitting outside the palace there. Holding something in his hand which appeared to glow. To her, anyway.
Walking over, being quiet, she didn’t know what to do. It could be an important project, but he was also needed for a military planning session. It might anger him to be interrupted however. Before she could work out what the best plan was, his eyes snapped open, then he jumped a bit, looking at her.
“Argh!” That was followed by a laugh and him speaking in slightly dreamy sounding Standard. Almost as if he were drugged. Holding up the rock in his hand, he waved it a bit. There were glowing bands of color on the outside, that shifted around as he held it. Inside the stone itself looked to be sigils of different kinds. “It’s a prototype for a magical river. I have to make one for the Capital in Noram. Tor is withholding anything from them until I do it, so it’s kind of pressing. Their current one just died, a week ago. Do we have time to test it out, do you think?”
