Dragon's Eye (Avery Rome Book 2)

by P. S. Power

  As they walked away, Eve came up behind her and patted her on the shoulder.

  “Fine. Send my honey away with some strange man…” There was a slow grin then. “Not a bad plan. Anyway, Becky… I mean Krista Hall… She changed her name… She asked me to get you to sign up for her new show. I told her to get with you herself. After all, you went from a cool possible hook for the new program to something amazing, inside an hour. Plus, you’re willing to work nude in public. That… Well, technically you’re too young. Except that you aren’t. I mean, you’re over five hundred, but not everyone will get that, even if you told them about it.”

  That earned a grin, which was a way of buying time. Tarsus, the memory of the Greater Demon, was pretty much just sitting there in her head, helping her. Which was strange, but worked for the time being.

  “That was hard. I get the idea of adapting to things, but… Hey! We should get some candy. That’s a thing, right?”

  Eve didn’t eat anything except blood, which she didn’t really need now. Still, Avery did and her friend was incredible, so waved for her to follow, across the room. There was real food, as well, not just treats for children.

  “Darn straight. Eat away. You had to have earned it and more out there tonight.”

  Eve was waved away, from across the room, as Avery stood there, trying to work out how to hold the food she needed. Tarsus, the one in her head, led her around then, showing her where the plates would most likely be, since that kind of thing fell into a pattern. There was also a list of optimal calorie foods to eat first.

  She passed a thanks along to him, trying to be polite.

  Nothing came back, since it was just a memory of the being, not an actual person standing in her mind. Hiding behind the food table, as well as a half-naked woman could at a party, she fed herself quickly, since Tarsus indicated that she’d only be left alone for about four minutes. Thankfully, the person that found her was Terra, her hair a bit disheveled seeming.

  Because, naturally, she’d gone off with Scotty earlier. Given that the Vampire was also a Bat Shifter and she was a star stuck teen, that meant they’d had sex. On the great side, Tarsus felt that was fine. There would be no children or disease from it, since Vampires and Shifters both were immune to such things as sexually transmitted diseases. Vampires being dead, lacked the energy needed to create life, as well.

  So her school chum was safe that way. The next biggest issue would be if Terra thought that having hooked up with Scotty meant she owned him. That was a danger with Human women. On the good side, it would fade, barring mental disorder. There were things that Avery could do in order to short circuit that, as well.

  So she tried, doing what the memories said might work best.

  “Hey! So, you and Scotty? Fun.” She meant it, but didn’t, at the same time. “You know he’s a Bat-Shifter, right?”

  That got her nodded at, since it was clear that Terra was up on a lot of information about the Vampire. The whole band, most likely.

  “Yeah. He told me. That his people, you know, like everyone, pretty much all the time.”

  Avery nodded, smiling.

  “It’s a good thing then. He wasn’t trying to trick you into bed or anything. We should check in with everyone else. Also, find you a hair brush.” Some new black lipstick as well.

  Both of those were things that most girls going to a party would have on them, which Terra probably did in her small velvet sack. It wasn’t strictly a purse at all, being of an older fashion, but if she was paying attention, Avery could see the faint outline of the hairbrush. It altered the color of the black fabric.

  Terra smiled at her, a bit dreamily, but she wasn’t gushing about how she loved the small Vampire now, which was a good sign. They found a bathroom, which interestingly enough had Leslie in it, alone with Calley Hale. Both of them were naked, and Leslie was doing things to the Bat-Shifting Ambassador.

  Her eyes were closed, hidden behind her thick glasses, so Tarsus had them walk in, pretending they weren’t there. After all, that wouldn’t bother Calley at all. Leslie would be embarrassed about it, but not for being caught. She was, Tarsus explained, the voice nearly physical, probably fond of Avery already. The room also had a mirror, and the door hadn’t been locked, meaning it was fair game.

  It was very large however, done in gold and several shades of cream. Terra didn’t need her help to fix things, but kept staring over her shoulder at what was going on there. From the scent, she was becoming interested in it, sexually. That was normal enough for Human women. A defense mechanism, actually.

  There was a rather complicated lesson then, from several sources, about Human biological systems. Things that most Human beings didn’t even understand about themselves. It seemed obvious enough, but part of their being involved ignoring what outsiders might see as obvious signals. That was just what they were however, so not a failing.

  Just like she wasn’t all that creative.

  There were, the memories assured her, ways to fake that.

  When she turned around, Calley smiled at her, watching the girls closely. Leslie was still working away, a bit sloppily. That meant she’d been drinking. Enough to be very focused, and not cognizant that her school friends were right there.

  She just waved back, and took Terra by the hand, so the busty gothic girl would leave the room, now that her makeup was fixed. Avery probably needed that as well, since it wouldn’t have come back when she changed shape. She, unlike Terra, hadn’t thought to provide for that kind of thing. That showed a lack of skill on her part. Improper planning.

  Back out in the front room, Tyler came over and put an arm over her shoulder.

  “Are you having fun? I noticed that Marissa went off with Vincent? Um… She’s…”

  Tarsus filled that part in, doing complicated work for her that she might have missed. There were charts, graphs and likelihoods mapped out. Interestingly, the Greater Demon had run this before as to how a regular Human man who was bi-sexual would react to a hermaphroditic Vampire. For the same person, as it turned out. Marissa Constantine.

  “That should be fine. Vince is a Mage, and bi, so he should handle things well enough. Especially if he’s told first.” If not, his most likely reaction would be initial shock, then acceptance. Mages, as a group, weren’t that judgmental, when it came to sex.

  Tyler took a deep breath he didn’t need and let it out then. It was all to send a message to her, and Terra.

  “Good! I was worried. I don’t want people feeling abused here. Speaking of which, Donald Holmstrum… He was being a bit, erm, aggressive with you earlier. Do you feel a need to, you know, do something about that?”

  Terra looked over at her, not getting that part, having been busy at the time.

  Avery shook her head.

  “I had a similar thing happen with Kaitlyn, so introduced them to each other. They aren’t here again yet, so it seems to have worked. That should be enough.”

  That got nods from both people. Terra seemed a bit annoyed though.

  “What were they doing?”

  “You know, I’m dressed like this, so they took it as an invitation. Mainly because it is, even if it isn’t from me, directly. I let Alede pick my clothing, so… Yeah. They did it pretty well. Meaning I’m kind of blasting signals out that I can’t back up very well, being me.”

  There was a soft growl from Terra, but Tyler nodded.

  “As long as it isn’t bothering you too much. Anyway, it’s coming up on eleven, which means that the first of the blow ups will be starting soon. You should collect up your people, Avery, in case things get too out of hand. I was thinking it would be someone beating up Donald, but you already handled that for us, so now… I’m going to guess that we have a Greater Demon show up and try to kidnap someone. It’s always something…” He was grinning, as if that kind of thing were actually fun.

  The memories of Tarsus thought that husbanding her assets there was a good idea at the moment. To convince her, there was a chart
of possible negative things that could happen. Most of them weren’t a big deal, but a few scenarios ended in death. Mainly for Mark and Link. Alan was actually pretty safe, being a Rubber Man. They weren’t strong, but their bones couldn’t break, and their organs could distort over ten times their original size without taking damage. So a beating, even from a powerful being, might be no more than annoying to them. Dropping them from thousands of feet up wouldn’t kill them, either.

  Enough force could do it, so could burning or drowning, but they were a lot hardier than Humans, being just as clever. That made sense, given that they were, like Greater Demons and Durgs, clearly of Human ancestry. That part was interesting, since it had never occurred to her that they’d be linked. Shifters were in the same category as well.

  It took a bit to find them all, since Vincent was busily doing things with Marissa. They’d gone to an upper room and were being vigorous enough that the low frequency sound painted a clear picture of what was going on. The others were being a bit better behaved for the moment, more or less. Mark was in a corner, sitting and sipping on a fruit punch, instead of mingling. Link was trying to talk Krista Hall out of her mermaid costume, which wasn’t going to work at all, since the woman was cold sober and he was, while cute enough, still a school boy.

  Avery just collected them both up, along with Leslie, Bey, Maggie and Marissa. Vince was with her, which left him feeling embarrassed, at a guess. She added in Calley and Ginger Harris, since they were, after a fashion, her people.

  Almost as if Tyler were psychic, there was a crash from out front, as Avery moved to keep everyone in her group behind her. The only problem then was that a similar sound came from behind them. Micha and Kait, along with Donald, wisely ran toward their group then. For protection.

  Avery nodded.

  “We had a bit of a warning. Tyler suggested we be careful. Let’s see… It’s…” She really expected Greater Demons, but it was just Human teens, in pickup trucks. They had armed themselves with eggs, and driven on the lawn to throw the things at the house.

  There was toilet paper as well, but that didn’t really do much to anything, except the nice topiary in the front drive as a center piece. That was a hippo. She knew that now, as well as how to trim bushes in that fashion. It didn’t seem hard, if you started with a plan.

  The problem was solved, interestingly, by a combination of forces. Vince and Krista, as it turned out. The Mage boy made a low sound, then started muttering and casting bright white and silver light toward the vehicles. There was a little hand waving to go along with it. Most of the Humans missed it happening, however. So to them it seemed like the trucks, both of them, just stopped working. Sputtering to a stop in the lawn.

  Then, without seeming upset at all, the mermaid moved toward them, walking out the front door, since they were both on that side. A volley of eggs tried for her, but didn’t land. Instead they ended up in a pile on the ground, with a smear of color showing that Eve and Ginger had caught them out of the air and settled them on the lawn, then moved so quickly back behind her that it seemed like they hadn’t moved.

  Still, if Krista was going to confront the attackers, Avery was going with her. She waved for the others to stay back, but found that there were two people with her, as Krista started to speak. One of them was Eve the Manthori-Squirrel. The other was Cleopatra. Only too pale, tall and thin to be the historical woman herself. The real ruler had been about four-ten and weighed in at about two hundred and ten pounds.

  This one was about one twenty and five-six.

  Hally York, though it was hard to tell due to the makeup.

  Krista put her hands on her hips.

  “Seriously? You’re going to throw eggs at a party filled with supernatural beings? I don’t think so. Get out of the vehicles. Now. Do it or we’ll call the cops and have you arrested for terrorism.”

  That sounded a bit over the top, but it worked, getting the nine boys, and all of them were male, to come forward. They looked young, being under twenty. One of them, interestingly enough, was a Vampire. He was filled with pink energy, which gave him away pretty handily. Eve smiled and picked him up with one hand, by the neck.

  “The rest of you get to scrubbing. I want the walls and windows clean before this dries. You, however, need to come with me.”

  One of the other boys, who was probably brave, rather than stupid, moved forward then.

  “Your killing him! He can’t breathe…” He tried to pull on Eve’s arm, which didn't do anything much.

  Interestingly, it was Bey who moved forward then.

  “Ah. You do not know that your friend is one of us? A Vampire? One old enough to know better than to allow you to attempt a violation of such a kind. Tisk. Don’t worry, your friend will, likely, survive this. The punishment for an attack on Council members is normally death, naturally.”

  Avery searched that one out, which showed it was almost always true.

  “But, most of the time that isn’t a prank with eggs… Perhaps we could find something alternative to death in this one case?” She didn’t know what that would be, but Tyler clapped.

  “That’s a really good point. I know, we can get The Mistress of Souls to enslave him for us. We’re in her territory, after all. I can break that, when he learns his lesson.”

  Everyone seemed to think that was going to be fine, except that meant finding Keeley, who was probably still at the big party Finias was holding. That didn’t stop Tyler from making a phone call anyway, which had a white robed Mistress of Souls there ten minutes later. The boys were just starting to scrub the large windows on the front of the mansion.

  Keeley saw that and grinned.

  “All right. This is my territory and property you defiled. So all of you boys are my slaves now. Including you… What’s your name?” She was speaking to the Vampire, who looked down then.

  “I’m Chris, Mistress. Sorry. It was just a lark. Not… You know, an insult.”

  She nodded, then waved him toward the place, where the others were busily working.

  “Yet it was still taken that way. Amazing how that happens. You’ll all serve for a time of at least one year as my slave for this. Be glad that we don’t need to kill you to break the link now. Tyler, you can do that, or leave them, as you see fit. When the time comes.”

  “Sounds good. Okay, let’s get back to the party? I hate to break the flow too much. This wasn’t nearly as interesting as Avery’s trick.”

  That actually happened, since there were hundreds of people there. It wasn’t the last interruption of course, but Tyler and Rebekah handled the rest of the things. At about three in the morning, the Manthori came to find her, placing an arm over her shoulder.

  “I think, as boring as it sounds, that it’s time for all good school kids to get back home. Probably past that. I bet some of them are going to be grounded for a while.” She grinned, showing lots of sharp teeth in her pale face. Her solid red eyes gleamed. “Thanks for coming. That Shifting you did… It made the party for me. I’ve never seen that before. You do know that’s going to be on the news tomorrow, right? If it isn’t already.”

  Avery hadn’t known that, but it was very likely. The Tarsus in her head thought so at least.

  Then, the other Greater Demon memories were torn on that idea. Most thought it could be used to further her personal goals, since it would, for a brief period of time, make her the most famous of all the Shifters. That would probably last a few weeks, but could be extended if she wished.

  The others felt that it would make her a target. The first ones agreed, more or less, but also figured that she could handle that kind of thing, if an attack came at all. Which it wouldn’t all that soon, most likely. If she were high profile, going for her would, or could, be seen as an attack on her based on hate. So that could, potentially, add a layer of protection to her. It was confused, but seemed promising as a plan.

  It took more than an hour to get the gang together. Interestingly enough, that included Bey the Sc
arecrow and Maggie the fast food manager. She had to work the next day, after all. The killer of the Council had actually been doing that all night. Mingling and making contacts for his people.

  The kids were all getting tired, which wasn’t the case for her, since she’d spent a lot of the party eating all the free food. More kept coming and no one looked at her all that strangely. Except for Krista, who was feeling slightly envious.

  As she herded the group of beings toward the front lawn, the mer-woman jogged up to her, awkwardly. One of her sea-shells slowing her down, since the foam thing kept trying to slip off as she moved.

  “Avery! Here… My card. Call me in the next few days? If you don’t I’ll have to come and just show up at your house, until you agree to work with us. That could get awkward, so, better you just go along with me and call?”

  “Okay. I’ll do that, if I can. Um, Monday?” She didn’t know when sleep would be happening, but Dragons needed some of that each day, normally. If there was enough food, she should be able to do with a few hours, instead of her normal ten to twelve. That would mean shopping, but she had the money for that kind of thing.

  Interestingly enough, Eve came out then, along with Hally York, and gave the other woman a hug.

  “Call soon? We shouldn’t fall away from each other.”

  “I’ll do that. I just get so busy anymore. It’s like I’m an adult or something, having to run three businesses and all that.”

  Avery could see that happening. It felt like that for her and she was just a school girl. Except, of course, she wasn’t really one of those at all. That was her side project, and no one in the world cared if she did well or not. Except for her. Possibly her instructors, though she wasn’t certain on that score.

  In the end she had to take almost everyone directly back to their own homes. Not Eve, who went to Edom’s office to change. Not out of her squirrel outfit, but her altered face. Maggie actually had a car there at the mall, as did Leslie, but the cheerleader was too drunk to be allowed to drive. That meant Avery doing it for her. Thankfully she had a license, and enough stealth skills to dump the girl in her own bed, without being seen by her parents. There didn’t seem to be anyone inside the small place, thankfully.