The Living and the Dead (Tyler G Book 3)

by P. S. Power

  There was a pat on his back, and then the girl moved, a flare of movement, now familiar to him, coming just before she vanished.

  He grinned.

  "Food time." Thanks to Zack he had a lot now, though for some reason the guy thought that he should spend big parts of his day cooking from scratch. It was an interesting idea, so he tried to hold the concept of a time distortion field around him, pushing it as hard as he could, without adding anything to it magically speaking. It wasn't that helpful, but he did seem to be moving a little faster than he normally would have. About twice as fast. It wasn't even close to being enough.

  Firing up the waffle iron that had shown up a week before, he made some batter, melted some butter and heated up a small pot of strawberry jam. It was tasty that way. He had to pour butter over the whole thing, since twenty-thousand calories was hard to eat, even if he didn't feel full at any point. The food pretty much vanished from inside him. Like magic, actually.

  Ty wasn't really sure, but it probably was that kind of thing. Really, he didn't think he was capable of digesting it normally, so it had to be turning to energy directly in some way. How that worked, he didn't understand, but he was pretty certain that Zack had to do things the same way, more or less. The man was thin, but ate all the time. Like Tyler was at the moment, only every few hours.

  Neither of them was running to the bathroom all the time either, so it was different than what a Human would have going on.

  The food was eaten, but it got hard after the first half of it was down. He wasn't full. He also wasn't hungry. Not for waffles. There was a desire to eat, but only Human flesh, which was both disgusting to him, and sounded so good. Boredom set in. Ty loved the taste of food, of course, but the amount just hit him as being too much.

  Fighting through it, he managed to get the stuff inside him, but didn't know how Zack managed it all the time. It was boring. That surprised him, but it was the truth.

  He could eat all he wanted, and more, and that was too much of a good thing.

  Still he got through it, since starving Lucy was the last thing he wanted to do in life. She was letting him, her animated corpse slave, the one she treated like a son, learn to use powerful magic. The only thing she'd asked was that he didn't use too much energy doing it. Giving something back was worth the extra effort. She shouldn't have to suffer for that.

  It was very early in the day, and a Thursday, so he called Zack about getting to Toronto that night. The cute guy picked up on the second ring, since it was his cell phone.

  "Zack Hartley."

  "Hey Zack. Ty here." He didn't know what to say, but Zack had some things it seemed.

  "I guess it's time for you to get rid of my parents? I have things ready for them. We can do that later. Call it seven tonight? Here?"

  Tyler stopped for a second, taken by surprise.

  "Okay. I can be there. Can you drop me off in Toronto after that? Eve wants my help with some feminists there. Apparently they decided to take on the Vampire patriarchy, and that is not the world's most sensible idea?" He chuckled a bit. "I really don't know what's going on. I don't want to put them down. I mean, most of them aren't like the ones that we had here." They couldn't be.

  If that was the case, they probably wouldn't be allowed to be a group. You could only kidnap so many people before that kind of thing got you a bad reputation.

  Zack made a sound that seemed pleasant enough.

  "That's true enough. Hating people based on things they can't help is always wrong. You can't work with people that start out with derision. No one will listen to you. So, you'll bring Tina and Darren? I can trade getting you to Toronto. Round trip for that?"

  "Nope. I have to run back, I guess. That should be interesting. I should get with Lucy first, though the point is to do it without using much magic. I'm not ready yet. I guess I get until we need to come back to learn that trick?"

  Zack laughed, but his words were supportive.

  "Awe inspiring Ty. If Eve says you can do it, then you can. I agree, get with Lucy, in case she needs to make arrangements for extra power. I hear camp is over in a few days. From what she's told me it seems that she has a plan coming together as to getting The Storm taken care of. That will go well, no doubt. Things like that always do." Even Ty heard the thick sarcasm in the words.

  The phone was hung up, but he got the idea, he needed to have everything ready at seven. First he had to go and see if anyone really wanted to chat with him at the new embassy complex. His Vampy mentor had suggested that, and while it hadn't been an order, it probably wasn't a huge mistake. He was willing to bet it wouldn't be a lot of people really. Especially if they didn't know he was there.

  A quick change, and a comb, got him as ready as he was going to be, looks-wise. Then he walked to the right place, trying to bend time around him without using any power. It was hard to tell if it was really working. It felt like it was, but there was nothing to measure it by. A few cars passed him, going fifty or so on the road beside him. Slower as he got closer to town.

  They seemed to be moving slower than that. A lot, actually, which got him to block out most of the world, and try to hold the right concept harder. Until it became the only thing he was thinking about. That worked demonstrably. The cars held in place nearly, passing him as he walked, but he was able to nearly keep up with a red Civic. He knew that was what the make was, having a lot of time to read the name on the back.

  Sure it wasn't Eve-like Vampire speed, but he wasn't using anything other than mental power to do it, he didn't think. He'd been going a lot faster with her earlier, on their walk, but this was a bit different. He was replacing clarity for power and making it work. Right until he got distracted and lost his train of thought, being impressed with himself as he was.

  Snorting, he started again, and got himself to the front door of the right building. Today the guards were different, since it wasn't his big white Trollienkeine friend, and her blue lizard buddy. On the good side, the one on the left was a Vampire. One of Eve's crew. The youngest of them, who was a guy named Sylvester, of all things. In life he'd been of mixed race, and that gave him a bit of color now, if probably not as much as he'd once had.

  He'd also clearly been a body builder. He was about six-four and weighed about twice what Tyler did himself. All of it lean and hard. It was a good look, given everything.

  The other guard was a mushroom. At least that was the impression the being gave. If it had a gender, he couldn't guess at it. The head was like the top of a red mushroom that had white spots, fins on the underside, and no eyes that could be discerned. Its body was smooth, but had arms and legs. It nearly didn't seem real to him, but he bowed to them both, not wanting to risk insulting the creature by touching it with a hand shake.

  "Hello!"

  Sylvester smiled at him.

  "Mr. Gartner. So good to see you." Then the door was opened. Just as easy as that. Like he was expected.

  Of course he could have been anyone, but there was nearly no way to tell that. Then again, who in the world would bother faking being him?

  Smiling back he went inside.

  Chapter ten

  Tyler found several things that day. The first one was that a lot of people apparently had jobs at the embassy that pretty much worked out to being visiting. Those people were called Ambassadors. He learned this when something like ten of them called his secretary to try and see about getting an appointment with him.

  Also, he had a secretary, who turned out to be a man that he'd never met before, hadn't hired, and who, he reflected, was almost certainly a Greater Demon. No one else would just walk in one day and start working like that. Besides, he didn't want to eat him. Well, there was a bit of an urge to do it the way most people would have meant it, but only the low tickle that the Demons all gave off that way.

  The guy was called Ricard, according to his name plate, which didn't sound like a real name. Not that it was a bad one. He was light skinned, and had very soft looking short blon
de hair. It went with his nice tan. The eyes were a perfectly standard blue, and shone a bit, brightly, when he saw Tyler walk in.

  The giveaway was that the man knew who he was, instantly. Normal people needed to meet each other first.

  "Mr. Gartner! I have several messages for you. Should I call back to let them know that you're in finally? I've been holding them off for a while, but they've been pestering me a bit." The name plate on the desk, was a shiny and expensive etched brass thing. It only had his first name however. That was off, if only a little.

  His own was on the door behind the fellow, etched nicely into a second brass piece of metal. Ty noticed that he got two names, and a title. It was just Mr. but still, it made him sound older than he really was. That probably meant that Ricard here had set it up, in order to do just that.

  Glancing at the man he just stood there, watching for a few seconds, trying to feel the concepts coming from him. The man wasn't food, so not Human, but did stir his hunger a little bit, meaning that he wasn't dead. There was energy there. Power.

  "Sorry, I don't know which Greater Demon you are? The Storm?" It would make sense, given everything. At least if he was going to be egotistical about it. That idea, the one that said she might be after him at all personally was a bit over the top. Oh, she might get him, in the end, or try to take him again to punish Lucy, but it wasn't him she wanted really. No matter what she said.

  Ricard gave him a long look, and then smiled slowly.

  "Fram. Called The Bold. Not that I love that name. I was asked to come here and watch out for you by The Rotted. I'm getting fifty million for it, in gold. Good catch, by the way. I'd been told you were a bit clueless. By the Mistress of Souls, not your mother. She actually seems to like you." There was a sense that he was trying to dig at Ty with the words.

  He shrugged.

  "Yep. Pretty much. I have no delusions there. So, I don't suppose there's any way I can check your story out right now. I'll look into it, however. So, messages? Also, fifty million? Man, I grew up poor, and mom had that kind of money lying around?" He shook his head, feeling a little bit sad, but not too much.

  Ricard waved at him then.

  "It was for the best. People raised without any hardships don't come out very well in the end. That was too much of a risk with an investment like you. You're the first being like you that I ever heard of. What do you call yourself, other than Tyler." There was a close look, and the man straightened his shirt a bit as he sat behind the desk.

  "I haven't put a label on it. I don't know if I can. I guess I tend to think of myself as undead or sometimes a zombie."

  That got an eye roll. A bit of a sniff went with it.

  "Doofus. You are so much more than that. I've only known you for two minutes, and I can tell that. What you are is... Well, my guess is that you'll have to write that story for yourself. I've seen zombies, mainly made by The Rotted. They're a lot different."

  A sheet of paper came out at him then, and there was a smile to go along with it. It was, he could see, a bunch of messages. Just like he'd been promised.

  "Thanks. I'll call people back myself. I guess I should actually come in and do my job? I have to say, I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

  "It is. Let me know when you plan to be in, and I'll set up real appointments for you. Do you need anything? Coffee? Sex?" The Greater Demon batted his eyelashes at him, his face flirtatious.

  "Hmmm. Food? Lots of it? I need to eat more now, I guess. We could have an early lunch? Can we get food in?"

  "We can! Well, if my cover is blown, I'm going to pull out the stops. I'll have that handled. So, no sex? I could call in a girl for you? Or some guys? Whatever you want. Even a Pickatyrn, if you want? Sexy skunk women. The scent is a bit ripe, but if you can handle that it's more than worth the trip. Always in season too, so they're pretty much good to go for anything." It was teasing, but also a bit of a test, he thought.

  Why that was, Ty didn't know.

  "Not right now, thanks. There are social rules that I need to follow, so best I go a bit slow that way. Besides, I have several girlfriends, and they're really sweet." That sounded very sexist of him, he realized. Like he just excluded men like that. It was kind of true too. Not that he didn't like men, but it was much easier to find women.

  Also a big distraction. Sure he was eighteen, but could he afford to let himself be that distracted at the moment? Taking a deep breath, he went into his office, which was nice inside. Rich looking. There were books on shelves that covered both of the side walls, all the way to the ceiling, and a big wooden desk that looked to be made of cherry wood. How he knew that he didn't know.

  It was nice, however.

  Thinking for a moment, he tried to clear his mind and hold the concept of being very aware of what was going on. What he, in particular, was doing. It was harder than it sounded like, and he lost it after the first calls started. It was a fight then, for the rest of the day to hold the right concepts while he worked, since there were some surprises. Most of them nicer than he would have thought, since people showed up to give him gifts.

  All of them were strange, and reflected the people doing the giving, which was nice really. He didn't need a lot, and the feeling was more about introducing a culture to him, rather than being a bribe. Thankfully. He didn't know what he could have given in return if they were meant to pay him off.

  So all day long he had a Greater Demon bringing him food, and forcing him to eat it using shaming tactics, in between people just showing up to shake his hand, bow, or in one case hug him. That one at least was Calley, in her position as the Shifter Ambassador.

  She seemed happy, thankfully.

  "Hey honey! I didn't know you were coming in to work. I heard from the Lentis Ambassador that you were in. She wants to meet you, but their opening present hasn't arrived yet, and won't for about a year. They're from a very long way off. I told her to just come in anyway. I see that the others have started with things already? I have something for you from my people. I'm keeping it in our room. Tonight?"

  He grinned, getting it, and returned the big hug, adding a gentle kiss to it.

  "I probably can't. Eve and Bey are meeting with me in Toronto. Something seems to be up there, with a Human group bugging some of the Vampires. I guess it's my job to sort it all out. It might not work."

  Calley murmured, and held him closer for a bit.

  "Too bad. For me I mean. Well, I'll tell the Lentis Ambassador to come in and say hi?"

  "Or I can go to them? That might be easier for people. Or not." He said that since there were three people in the doorway of his office space, each looking unique. One was a woman who was about seven feet tall, and was almost not wearing clothing. It wasn't exactly a great thing, because she wasn't that great looking. Too lean and muscular for that really. Hairy in places too, but just like a Human, if a tall one.

  The other two were men, and blue, if in slightly different colors. Each was clearly of the same species, and were standing up, but it was clear that they normally walked on all fours. So they were doing it to be polite. One of them had grabbed the door frame to steady himself.

  "Hi everyone! Come in, please." He looked at Calley, her rust colored short hair and freckles just as cute as ever. Really he would have loved to spend more time with her, but she moved in and kissed him again. On the cheek this time. There were people watching after all, and the tall woman with hairy under arms and legs, with her top barely covered and wearing what he could only describe as a loin cloth grunted. She looked Human, but not like anyone he'd ever seen before. Dark skinned, but in a tan way, rather than African. The features were intensely sharp, and nearly man like, even though she had nice enough hip bones. It added a lot to her look. She was staring at Calley and then him, interested in the scene.

  "Ho, Gartner of the Nations. I am Skalla. Of the people. Amazons, as you call us? I have come to ply you with gifts, so you will side with us against the Humans if war comes between us again. Should I
trade my body for that, like the Shifters? I did not know that was an option. I brought meat, instead. From the rarest of beasts of my homeland, far away." She grinned, and moved to get that. It was sitting outside of the office door, wrapped in leather hides.

  It was cured somehow, and a bit like jerky, but smelled incredible.

  "Come, we will eat, and then sign our bond in blood!" One of the two blue men sniffed at the package, only to have her swat at him playfully. She didn't make contact and seemed pleasant about the whole thing.

  Tyler smiled as Calley winked at him and left.

  Escaping before he had to make a fool of himself.

  "I... Can't eat that. I'm sorry." He searched for a way to explain, but nothing came to him. Not fast enough. Instead of seeming pissed off that her gift was being rejected, which he could have seen, she looked horrified.

  "Our gift... It is too humble. We have insulted you. I will atone for this, I swear it." She didn't move, but there was a feeling that atoning might involve something like ritual suicide. That was over the top. Plus it was for the wrong reason.

  "No, the gift is very fine. I... Well, the truth is that I'm not alive, and my type of being can feed on the living of our own kind. I don't eat meat, so I won't be as tempted to do that. Part of my job is to protect them, even from myself. That's all." He didn't know how to explain it, and she still seemed really upset.

  "I knew that you were not of the living kind, but had no thought what that might mean. We know of the dead that are restless. It happens among The People, from time to time. What may I do to redress this... Wrong that I have committed."

  The blue furry being stood very still, watching avidly. They hadn't spoken yet, but seemed to be picking it all up.

  Ty smiled and shook his head.