Dragon's Eye (Avery Rome Book 2)

by P. S. Power

  Everyone else was just standing there, waiting for something to happen. Probably a fight, which was close to being the only idea that Avery had at the moment. Instead of doing that, she stopped as a very refined hand came between them.

  “Ah! My new apprentice. I see that you’ve met some of your fellows? Young Zackery was just contracting me to be your mentor. I can see why, now.” She moved in, giving Avery a small hug. “You’re lovely. True, there is room for improvement, but that is everyone, so don’t feel poorly about that. Now, you were about to thrash The Mistress of Souls? It would be a bit rude, at a party like this. Perhaps you could do something to make it up for her, Keeley? As friends, it would be… Perhaps better than the alternatives.”

  That got Allison to giggle, looking at her sister, and The Mistress of Souls to roll her eyes, making herself seem a lot younger than she probably was.

  “All right, all right. What would work for you, Avery? We could have a sleep over and do each other’s hair? Or… I know, you like dancing, don’t you?”

  Avery shook her head then.

  “I don’t know how to do that. It was kind of forbidden for my people. We could do the sleepover thing? If you really want to be friends.” As much as one of her kind could. “We could bring in my other friends for that as well? Allison, The Technician, Eve Benson, The Snowflake and Ann, The Rotted? Possibly Zack, but he’d have to be a girl for that or it wouldn’t be proper.” The idea was that she wanted to stack that particular party with people who wouldn’t be harmed, even if she was killed during the event.

  Keeley bowed, going low. When she stood up, moments later she seemed to be different. Kinder in many ways. Gentler than even a moment before.

  “That… Could actually be fun. I know all of them, after all. I notice that you didn’t include Rebekah or Steve?”

  “Steve’s a boy. Plus, he’s becoming a Vampire, which might make it hard for him to be around people for a bit. Not long, I’m sure, but regardless, he can’t change shape yet. Rebekah is my friend, but I won’t take her into a nest of Greater Demons to make myself feel better.”

  The extra-lovely Greater Demon who’d said Avery was her new apprentice smiled then, hiding it behind a delicate hand. It looked made up, but wasn’t. She’d simply reformed herself to seem like she had makeup on. That was clear to Avery. It was the lack of the flavor of paint or cosmetic in the air. There was perfume, but it kept subtly shifting all the time, so that it was always right there, on the tip of the nose if you were close enough.

  “I’m known as The Pristine. Bente, if we’re to be working together. That will be so much fun. May I call on you in the coming days? The Line Walker mentioned several things we should look into. Your family, the new schooling situation and some pesky Greater Demons that are hanging around? We can manage a few of these situations, if we work together. Could we meet to talk about that, do you think?”

  Avery wanted to blink and stammer, but nodded then.

  “That sounds nice. Would Monday, at four be all right? I can go to you, or we could meet…” She didn't know, but Zack waved a bit, getting their attention. All of them at once.

  “Meet at my store? Avery, you should be out of school then. I should probably be there for the first meeting, if I want to influence both of you to do what I want.” There was a charming grin then, as if he were being clever.

  Bente laughed toward him.

  “Wonderful. Yes, thank you, Zackary. What fee would you ask for the use of space there?”

  That got a wave toward Avery then.

  “I owe Avery several favors. That’s a small one, but I can throw in food for you both, to be taken out of the fee you get from her work?”

  That sounded different, but for some reason several other Greater Demons came then. One of them was very different seeming, only pretending to drink the world in, releasing it moments later. One of the men was very attractive and wearing a white robe. The others looked older and less refined, but all of them smiled at her. The last fellow of them reached out and took her hand. It wasn’t about shaking or anything, but rather about taking the appendage and not letting go. Energy tickled across her skin for a long while, then there was a nod.

  “I see… Here then. If we’re to treat you as one of us, even though you’re clearly a Dragon, then have the whole thing, or what you can take of it.”

  At first nothing happened, but then her lips buzzed. It was a mild feeling, and nearly electric, but not unpleasant. Suddenly, not understanding what was happening, she had information floating around her, millions of lives, that didn’t seem to end. It probably should have drove her mad, but she was used to riding the void. That let her separate the ocean of knowledge from her inner self, then start to look at it. It took some minutes for her to understand how it was set up. All she had to do was focus on what she wanted, and things that were similar to that would come to the front of her mind. Just outside of it, dipping in.

  “This is amazing! Thank you…” She had to focus to find the information, but it was all right there. The being in front of her was Tarsus. Once known as Shem. Also as Enlil.

  “Librarian.” She bowed, both hands going back behind her, as was once the custom in ancient Babylon. That was done back, instantly.

  Then the Greater Demon held her in his arms and kissed her cheek on the right-hand side.

  “Finally! After all this time one of you bothered to look me up first thing. Half of the others can’t even find me in the data flow, do you know that? As if I hide that from them…”

  He did, of course. What he hadn’t done was bother to do that with her. The reasoning behind that was simple enough. He didn’t think of her as a threat. At least he hadn’t, the information didn’t update or anything, since she wasn’t telepathic enough for that, but she could tell that, at least five minutes before that point, her finding him first thing would make her seem more dangerous.

  Also that Tarsus The Librarian was both the most powerful of all the Greater Demons and wouldn’t engage with her unless she attacked him. As in actually trying to take him on in a real fight. Not just a joke or a hug taken the wrong way. A big part of that was down to the man not caring about her that much. What little bit she mattered in his world would come down in how they interacted over the next centuries, not anything that happened that day.

  Still, she was supposed to, by those most ancient of rules from a long dead culture, bow again. When that happened, Tarsus gave her a sly look.

  “So, Avery Rome. I’ll be watching you. Bente… That is perhaps a more clever choice than most will understand for you. The Pristine is perhaps one of the best Greater Demons to press you past the barriers of your youth. Don’t allow feelings to dislodge your efforts. Bente, if it pleases you, I’d love regular reports on her progress? That is, of course, up to you. Both of you.” Then the man, who had a long nose and a lean, but ordinary face, stepped back.

  Allison just nodded.

  “This makes sense. Very good. Now, you have Tyler Gartner’s event to attend this evening? I hear it’s one to be seen at. I might show up myself, just to see if any of our school chums believe that I’m me.” She glanced at The Mistress of Souls and shook her head a bit. “Both Ann and I have told the new crop all about things, but so far they’re resisting that knowledge. It’s heartening, to tell the truth. It seems that our kind won’t be hunted down too easily. That might be briefly annoying.”

  Avery nodded, since it was about the truth, as far as she could tell.

  “That would be good.” She didn’t really get all of what had gone on, but thinking about it she was able to bring up that type of information, then work out what it probably meant. Which was, in short, that she was being treated as a Greater Demon. Even though she wasn’t one at all. It was basically these beings there, in the middle of a grand party, claiming that she, Avery Rome, was nearly their equal. Close enough that they worried she might be a danger to them if not schooled properly.

  Which was why Bente, The Pris
tine, who was known as the Fashion Demon, was the best of their kind to teach her. She was both kind, for a Demon and known as one of the calmest of them.

  The danger was a simple one, since they’d also sort of named her one of them, or so close to being one that others would try to kill her. The Tarsus in her head didn’t like their chances. After all, even the insane Greater Demons wouldn’t try for her, unless she went for them first. The rest wouldn’t care at all. The Vampires were, now, her friends. As were the Trollienkeine. That didn’t mean they’d fight her battles for her, but they probably wouldn’t come at her, seeking her death.

  The Shifters wouldn’t either, of course.

  “I should go, since I have a costume to arrange for.”

  That got Allison to move in and hug her then.

  “Be careful. Tyler isn’t a threat to you, but some at that party represent a non-physical problem for you, or might. Remember, you’re a powerful being. You can say no, if you wish. To anyone, unless they can force you to their will.” She glanced at Keeley then, who bowed a bit, filling in the next line almost as if it were scripted.

  “Which won’t be done easily. I’ll be in touch to arrange that sleepover?”

  That got a nod, and a hug from first Zack, then Bente. After that, the strange man, who clearly wasn’t a Greater Demon at all, but who was faking it decently well, bowed and took her hand. It was done very gently.

  “I’m Gregor. More or less, I’m in charge of North America for my people. May I also call on you soon? I will of course pay you for any time or tasks I ask for.”

  She nearly didn’t get the idea in time, since it was still taking her several moments to retrieve all the data in her head. She got to it, and managed to take his hand back, holding his as he did that to her. It was an old Catholic church hand signal, that meant she understood his message. He wanted a meeting with her, so had weakly taken her fingers, instead of shaking.

  That got him to smile.

  She did that back, not wanting to be the one making troubles.

  “I’d love that, of course. It was very nice meeting you all. If you need to contact me, any of you, please do so at Zack, The Line Walker’s book store? I know that some have been reticent to work with him, due to his heritage. If mine as a Dragon is not as bad to you, then I might be allowed to aid those who would resist such otherwise?”

  The words felt a bit out of place, but she noticed that there was a very fine bluish silver line between Gregor’s hand and her own. Unlike the others, that power didn’t dance off of her, but penetrated deeply, without seeming effort.

  She bowed then and walked out, stopping only for about five seconds to whisper to Harland.

  “If you need me, call either my number, or at Tyler Gartner’s. Do you have those?” She didn’t, off the top of her head. Except that she did, once she thought about it. The correct information swept in front of her eyes instantly. Along with a lot that rested behind it.

  Such as connections to different people. One of those was Harland the Manthori himself, who did indeed have Tyler’s numbers, all of them, committed to memory.

  “It will be done. Miss Rome.” He bowed, getting one back, which let her get out of there.

  It would have taken longer to get back to a node, except that Tarsus, in the vast memories that he’d gifted her with, had also left her the stories of her own people. Not all of them, but enough that she could find out how three other Queen Dragons had managed to open the lines between worlds. Two of them used the same trick, killing one of their own to raise that power each time.

  The last one however had worked out that there were small dimples in space, which, if concentrated on well enough, could be opened into a node that led to the void. Only while the focus was held, and that was going to be intense to make work, but Avery already had a lot of practice doing that kind of thing. Concentrating on a single thing, inside the void. So, right there on the doorstep she found a small ripple in space, from where the Demons came and went, and used that to slip away from the lines they normally traveled, to the void between worlds. It wasn’t simple, but also wasn’t really difficult.

  It meant that going back to the mall directly wasn’t hard enough to be worried over. When she walked out, into the Yoghurt World, Eve waved at her again. She wasn’t smiling however, her eyes a solid red color, her fangs down, even as she spoke calmly to the person in front of her.

  He was a decent looking fellow, who had dark hair that was neatly styled and cared for, as well as being nicely dressed. It wasn’t a costume, seeming more like he was getting ready to wait tables. Avery thought. There was no jacket, and the shirt had ruffles in the front, with a bow tie in place. That was red, rather than black. Uncertain she tried to bring the whole thing up, which got much more data than she would have figured on.

  “Ben Epstein. Vampire. Classical. Sired by Linda Springfield, here in Vancouver Washington, about eleven months ago now. A master. That means you can walk in the daylight, which explains being here now. It’s only what, about two?” She checked her watch, which showed that it was nearly two-forty. No matter what else had taken place with Tarsus, it hadn’t given her a sense of time. “Anyway, may I ask why you’ve come? It’s a holiday and I’m taking Eve away to a party in a bit. It would be best if I didn’t have to clean up Ben blood from the store here before that. Can we make that happen, do you think?” It wasn’t a threat, but if the Vampire didn’t get that it was about to happen to him, a major letting out of his blood, then he wasn’t half as bright as she knew him to be.

  It was in the memories she’d been gifted.

  Along with the fact that he wasn’t in her league as a fighter, lacking the power for that. He had better than average speed, but if he was going to battle anyone in that space and live, it had to be her. Because Eve Benson would destroy him before he could blink.

  Rather than growl at her he just made a rather silly seeming face.

  “Well, I had come to try and make up with Eve. That isn’t going too well so far. We can be friends.”

  Eve made an annoyed sound, but Avery nodded at the man.

  “All right. Eve will tentatively accept that. For now, today, you should leave. Perhaps a present could be had, in a few weeks? Go slowly. You have time.” They all did.

  Though how she knew to say all of that, Avery didn’t have a clue. It didn’t sound like her at all.

  Then she got it. It wasn’t her really saying it. That was actually Eve. The one in her memories. More or less it was what she wanted to suggest, but couldn’t yet, being too angry at her old lover. The one who had spurned her.

  He, for his part, was wise enough to just smile and walk out of the space. Backwards, so he wasn’t attacked from behind.

  Eve didn’t rush him with murder in her eyes, so it was a start.

  Chapter six

  As soon as things were well and truly clear, Eve’s eyes moving back to a nice and calm seeming brown, she sneered at Avery. It seemed mean, petty, and as if she’d been personally wronged.

  “You aren’t the boss of me.” There was a fake little stomp to go with the words, but a cute grin followed along after that. “Thanks, though. That was a bit businesslike, but I was about to rip his head off. You’re right, that would have been messy. I might even feel bad about it, later. I guess I’m still a bit raw about the whole thing.”

  Her arms were crossed still, but after a moment she wrinkled her nose.

  “Say, since when are you the font of knowledge on all things Ben? I mean, I mentioned him a few times, but I didn’t give you all of that. At least I don’t remember doing that. So, fess up, you’re actually Sherlock Holmes in disguise, aren’t you?” There was a pseudo skeptical air to the words, as if meant to be both a joke and an actual question. It was a bit strained tasting, which came across as a slightly metallic flavor to the whole thing, like it was a piece of iron being twisted into a spring.

  That got a slight snort from Avery, as the reference came up for her, to the fron
t of her mind, as if it were a thing that she actually knew. Which it clearly wasn’t. She hadn’t grown up in the same world that Eve had, even if it had been largely inside the same country. Her life had lacked the media, television, computers and stories that her Vampire friend had been soaked in for decades.

  “A super detective from English magazine stories? No… Not that one.” Taking a deep breath, Avery didn’t really know how to explain that kind of thing. Except of course, she did on several levels. Both from her own mind, which wanted her to tell the truth, and a hundred copies of Greater Demons, who suggested the same thing, since it would cost her less in the long run to be honest, given it was already a known thing. Eve, being a near Demon as well, would figure it out, if she tried to hide it. Since they were on the same side, for the time being, sharing openly made more sense.

  Which was scary for a moment, since her first idea had been to do what a Demon would have. Then it came to her that most good beings would do the same, so it wasn’t exactly a condemnation of her as being unclean.

  That sent her mind chasing that idea, which interestingly led to the concept that most modern Humans thought that Dragons like her were cool. That they were, in the main, either fantasy, or good things that did no particular harm. That was very different from how she’d been raised. Which was, as it turned out, by a group that was a secretive cult. One that had more than a few problems, according to almost all the memories that were triggered by thinking of them.

  About a minute later, after just standing there, with Eve waiting for her to speak, she smiled.

  “Sorry. I… I met with some Greater Demons, taking the Council to Finias’ Halloween party. Allison, who you know as Darla. Her sister, The Mistress of Souls tried to take me as a slave, which didn’t work. Then The Pristine mentioned that Zack had contracted her to be my mentor. After that, Tarsus, who was once the ancient god Enlil, gave me a matrix of memories. A library. You’re in here, along with all the living Greater Demons and millions, possibly billions, of other beings. Their entire lives. So, when I saw Ben, I brought his information to the front. What to do in order to keep him alive came from what you wanted. At least at the last point you were entered into this thing.”