The Living and the Dead (Tyler G Book 3) (4 page)

There was a slow bow toward the
woman.

"I will, within reason. I'm
not planning to leave my music career at this time, but do stand with the
current Council. I can't speak as to how I'll feel in the future."

Scotty murmured something
similar. There was a sense of a real conversation going on that Ty was barely
aware of, but after a few moments Ginger smiled.

"Cool. Thanks E. I think you
can stay here. I need to have a chat with Evan. I'm sure he'll be thrilled and
excited to hear about what he'll be doing. It will probably mean he ends up
moving." There was a shrug then, but she said goodbye and turned to the
room as soon as her phone was back in her bag.

"There! She needs to get the
time off, but Edom is willing to help out, even if it means working almost
twenty-four hours a day for two weeks, himself. You should send him a blood
basket." There was a happiness to her though, as if the whole thing wasn't
just good, but a big deal.

In fact, it seemed almost like
she was happy to have gotten it set up on a level that was a bit
self-important. Finally, Ty just looked at her and wrinkled his nose.

"What?" It wasn't very
exacting, but she got it and looked a little sheepish.

"Technically no one can set
this kind of thing up without the Council signing off on it. I mean, Eve is allowed
to teach anyone she wants, but there are still rules, you know? So for me to
set this up and not be called on it means that everyone just accepted that I'm
important."

Rebekah nodded, and then looked
away, speaking softly.

"I don't suppose that you
could get that cleared with the higher ups though? I'd really hate to look up
one day to see Bey's fist vaporizing my head."

"Aahhh..."

Tyler tilted his head as the
others went silent.

"Why not call and ask about
it? I mean, people trying to set things up like this that are willing to do it
openly like that at least probably aren't going to be a big threat to anyone in
power, right? Even if you run for office, or however they do it, later."

No one seemed to think that was a
good idea, but Ginger, a bit slowly for a girl that could move so fast you
couldn't see her, went to her phone and made the call. For some reason that
Scotty didn't get in particular she tried to get in touch with Bey. She
got
someone named Gene.

"Hello? Sir? This is Ginger
Harris, you don't know me... Oh? I didn't know that. Well, it isn't a big
thing, but I have some people, Vampires, that want to try the daylight
training, and... Um, Rebekah and Scotty? Also Evan, he's a local guy. No, he
works for us directly. I mean the Council. Yep! I asked and everything. They
both agreed. Okay..." She stopped, and didn't do anything for a while,
just looking wide eyed and like her world was about to end, but then she
smiled. "
Really
? Thanks. I'll let everyone know that. Bye,
sir."

Rebekah and Scotty both beamed,
looking happy, so Ty was able to work out that no one was being put to death or
anything. Other than that he didn't have a clue as to what was going on.

Ginger included him, after a bit.

"He got several of the
others to sign off on it. In fact they're going to let five of us do the
training. I get to pick. These two, Evan and two others. They'll probably be
sent off after they learn to do it, but it's still really huge. I need to go
and... I should probably visit. I..." She looked at him, and then took a
forced seeming breath. "No, I'll do it later. In a few days. Or on the
phone. Tyler needs me."

That got him to smile.

"To make me soup? I'll be
fine. These two will help out with food, so that my leg will grow faster, right
guys?" He didn't know if either of them could cook or anything, but both
of them still nodded, so he'd at least get crusts of bread or whatever was
under the kitchen counter. As long as it wasn't flesh, he'd be fine.

Rebekah smiled then, hugely,
which was impressive when she did it.

"We have him for now. You
can set things up with the others. This is great."

Ginger stood then, and moved over
to him, leading with a leaning kiss, avoiding his stumpy right leg.

"Yeah. Until you
do
it. After about five or six days though it really isn't that bad. I mean, it
will always hurt during the day, but you can both kind of manage that. It's not
getting tired that's the hard part. You do wake up at night, so it isn't that
bad. Doing it in the summer... Well, I'd pick the winter for it personally, if
you wanted to do it the
easy
way."

Scotty laughed.

"Right. Well, the not eating
part will both be nice and probably the hardest for me. That part of things is
really
intense. I'll get some Human style food going. You don't eat meat, right, Tyler?"

"Right. Thanks. Talk to you
later, Ginger?"

"Yep. I'll probably be back
in a few hours. Less than that, if Felicia has a short list as to who she wants
to fill the slots with."

Then, as she often did, the girl
vanished. It was just her moving fast, but in a way that was a lot more than
running. He'd traveled that way, being carried before. It wasn't just jogging
quickly, or even sprinting. It was a blur of colors, making a rainbow of the
world. The process also made it impossible to breathe while it happened. That,
as it turned out, wasn't a big issue for him, personally. A regular individual
might just have a problem that way.

Rebekah settled into Ginger's
chair, since it was directly across from him.

"This will really help, if
we can do it. Being asleep part of the day is a pain. Not that I can't do
better than I have been. I'm old enough that I could push it to about two
hours, right around noon. I probably should now. Anyway, we were on the One Legged
Boogie? We should practice everything once Steve get's home from work. That
Mage, Lisa... She's been working him so hard and often that I wonder if she has
designs on him? I've met her a few times. She seems a bit old for him, to be
honest, but some men like that these days." It was small talk, rather than
a demand for instant action on his part, it seemed.

"Lisa's cool. Lesbian. I
think that she just
really
needs the help." It was in a candle
shop. One that was also the Mage embassy. Steve was doing the sweeping and
shelf arranging part of things however, as far as Ty knew.

The words didn't get any kind of
reaction from the Vampires, but Scotty hopped up, moving quickly.

"So, you wanted soup? Or I
could do up some sandwiches for you? Nothing special, but I won't let you
starve. Just remember this though, if
I
ever need help getting something
to eat."

Tyler got the joke about feeding
him, but it wouldn't work, personally. He was as dead as the Vampire was. They
just fed in different ways, and had slightly different abilities, with Scotty
being cooler.

"Sound good, actually. Mom
said I should eat more, earlier. At least until I finish healing. Maybe
something with protein? Milk or soy?" He didn't want the man to get
confused and bring him a steak or anything.

"Right. Let me see what I
can get for you?"

Then he moved away, flapping his
arms a bit, like he wanted to take off and fly. Since that was, with a bit of
shape shifting, a thing he could manage for real, that made sense.

Then, as if it weren't a joke,
Rebekah and Ty played with the "One Legged Boogie" for a while. It
was a fun enough thing to do, even though it didn't go with their current sound
in the slightest. Just as Scotty was coming with a tray of food that seemed a
bit ambitious for one person, the front door opened.

They were in a room that was a bit
down the hall, but a voice called out, letting them know who was there. It
wasn't Steve.

"Hey everyone! It's me,
Zack. Steve is here. I'm just returning him."

When the two men got there the
other man, who looked a little younger than the Greater Demon and who had
coppery red hair ran at him. It was a happy thing, he thought. It ended with a
careful hug, so he took it that way.

"Ha! I told them you weren't
going down that easy. Zack said the leg will be back? That's pretty special. If
I get
my
leg eaten off like that it just stays gone." He winced and
shook his head. "Too soon?"

Ty made a face, but it was a
considering one. Then he actually thought about how he felt on the matter.

"Nope? I was dead at the
time, and it kept a little kid alive, so even if I remembered it I wouldn't be
whining about it. I mean, I
told
him to do it. There comes a point where
you have to take responsibility for what you do and say, right?" That was
a bit too deep it seemed, since he just got pounded on the back a few more
times and let go of again.

Steve looked at all the food.

"Oooh. Dinner. Good plan. Great
plan... I didn't eat all day. Lisa had to go off somewhere, so I just ran the
place. By myself. Yeah, I know, you all have to be thinking... Did he burn the
mall down? But no, I kind of ruled the whole thing. Not the mall, just the
sweeping and shelf straightening parts."

Tyler took a sandwich, which was
mainly cheese, mustard and mayo, with a single lettuce leaf for color. It was
oddly good, for all of that.

"That's impressive. Being in
charge like that. I don't get to be in charge of anything hardly. Just the
Coalition of Nations. Speaking of which, I should call and check in with
everyone. Tomorrow though, so I can do it early. People love being woken up at
dawn to answer questions about things they don't really care about, don't they?"

That got an eye role from Zack,
who stole a sandwich and ate a bite before saying anything. It was on white
bread, but he didn't seem to mind.

"That's a bit bitter
sounding for someone so young. Yeah, people aren't lining up to kiss your
behind yet, but they do tend to form in a sort of collection around you
already. Keep up the good work and in a decade or so your behind will be
chapped on a regular basis."

That got a snort in return, as Ty
looked at the Greater Demon.

"On the good side you won't
have to cut my arm off and eat it to get me to not trust Demons. I get that one
on a nice deep level now." He really did. Not that it would help him in
the end.

After all, as much as he loved
his adopted mother, he couldn't be free of her. Ever. Not without eating people
to keep going, which was a thing that he wasn't going to allow. Everyone should
have figured that one out at least. God got it, he bet.

It felt weird thinking of the
deity as being real. Worse when he considered that the poor fellow, if he was a
guy, had watched every bowel movement he'd ever had. Also seen what he did in
the shower. He decided to treat it like he was his boyfriend, rather than a
creepy stalker.

For which, no doubt, he was going
to burn in hell for a long, long time.

Or he would, if dying was an
option. That didn't seem likely for him. He wouldn't let Lucy die, and other
than doing that, the only way he was going to end was if she let him go. No
doubt she'd order him to not feel sad or suicidal, and then he'd simply go on,
until she was done with him.

Not that he wanted to die yet.
One day it would be time. In a hundred years, or five hundred. It would,
eventually, happen. On that day, what would be said, he didn't know.

For now though it was probably
enough to eat sandwiches and not let the Greater Demon in front of him touch
him, or figure out that he wasn't totally happy with life. It might not be
perfect, but it was how he felt, and that was worth something. To him. It wasn't
perfect and glowing all the time, but there was an honesty to it.

Zack smiled, like he was reading
his mind, and finished his food.

"Well, all and sundry, I
need to be getting on now. Try not to be eaten up like this, next time? I know
that Lucy was very upset when we found you. She nearly killed Henry. The boy?
For eating your leg. Thank god you
told
him to do it. That was the only
thing that saved him. That was..." He looked ready to take him to task for
it, for being stupid or too slow to save them in that situation, but then shook
his head. "That was incredible, Tyler. Good thing that crack opened up
like that, and let in some water. It shouldn't have happened, you know that
right?"

Tyler did, but didn't know if the
Greater Demon in front of him would be able to work out what had really
happened.

"Yeah. I prayed. It
worked."

The man tilted his head, and
nodded.

"The thing there is that I
don't think God answers prayers. Not like that. My guess is that
you
made that happen. Henry didn't." He glanced around the room, and shrugged.
"Yeah, God is real. Also very different than what you think. I wouldn't
count on him, or his Angels for anything in particular. Or talk to the other
Greater Demons about it.
They
can't remember that it's real, being sane
like they are. So, score one for being a wack-job, right? I seem to be the only
one of us that can do it without major problems. Go figure."