On the Line (Alternate Places Book 3) (37 page)

As she headed into the line, trying to remember where
Australia was, even though Zack had shown them a few hours before while they
practiced, she thought about the cost of these things. How many of them had to
learn how to do this Line-Walking trick before the cost of each trip could come
down to something reasonable? Sure, Zack kept busy at the current rates, but a
lot
of his business, even if he didn't realize it, tended to be with huge
companies and governments, rather than individuals.

All he knew about were the people that showed up to go
places. He didn't realize how wealthy or connected most of them had to be just
to get in to
see
him. Lisa turned down a hundred pleas from people a
day, begging to go to one place or another at a reduced rate. A few got
through, to keep Zack happy, but most, no matter how hard luck their case
sounded, got shut down.

That, she knew, was probably why Lisa let herself fall into
addiction and dependency so easily in the first place. It was
hard
to
tell people that clearly needed help no all the time. It wore on a person after
a while. Kate knew this first hand, having done that part of the job more than
once herself.

On top of that, the woman held a lot of power in her own
right. She'd dropped her and Jelly through the shield that the other girl had
put up, just by pointing at her. Jelly had mentioned later how rare that kind
of power was. Most Mages needed hours or days to get a spell set and ready and
needed a focus for it, like the crystals they all seemed to carry. Lisa had
just whipped an attack out and when it was blocked,
changed
what she was
doing on the fly. Not a person you'd want to see get overly stressed out as a
rule.

In the Australian Central node she decided to walk from the
Mage node, the one she'd been shown earlier, over to the apothecaries, since
odds were about fifty-fifty that she'd go to the wrong place if she tried to
get all fancy with it and show up in Master Dan's shop directly.

Here, due to the remote location, there was a lot more
variety of people. Reptiles and kinds of shape shifters she hadn't met at all
yet moved in the open there. It would be cool just to covertly look at all the
variety of individuals, she bet. As she walked from the back room the Mage at
the desk looked up at her, alarmed for a second, grasping for something on a
chain around his neck. She smiled and held up her hand, hoping this wouldn't
turn into a fight or something, since the guy looked kind of cute. Yes, most
people did to her, but that didn't mean this one wasn't.

“Hi! I'm Kate, one of the new Line-Walkers that Hartley's
been training?” She held out her hand, to shake, hoping it would be the right
thing to do. She knew that a lot of beings in the Nexus opted to bow, but Mages
tended to reflect the customs in the area they lived in, Lisa had told her
once. Kate just hoped people in Australia shook hands.

It seemed like an all right move, the man sticking his own
hand out and giving his name as Tom. He didn't give his last name, but he
did
mention that he was the Ambassador for Australia Central. He had a ring on his
finger, so she managed to keep herself from purring at him and coming on like a
total slut. But she
did
like his accent.

Trying to stay professional, she asked if he knew where the
new apothecary might be, since she had a delivery for the Master. He told her,
then got a slightly funny look on his face.

“I was under the impression that that fellow, er, Dan? That
he wasn't all that important. But if people are sending you lot to do simple
deliveries...” He looked a bit impressed.

Kaitlyn decided to play it up a bit, Dan being her friend and
having taught her more about fighting in the last
year
than she'd picked
up in the ten before, and
that
training had been solid. Better than most
military personnel got, she knew. She let her eyes go wide, a serious look in
them and nodded a little, trying to set the mood for her words.

“He acts very humble at times, but he's
very
important! He's a personal friend of
all
the Line-Walkers and the teacher
to two of us, so... definitely someone to invite to the local parties.
If
you can get him to come.”

She headed out then, giving Tom a somber look that she
followed up with a smile. Australia being so important, she'd be here again,
she knew, so no reason to alienate the guy. Plus, even if married, maybe he
still slept around? Most people did, with Alede at least. She wouldn't push it,
but if he offered...

It still took her a minute to find Dan's place, which had a
different feel than Wu-Li's had, with everything being in glass jars rather
than wooden drawers, the front counter being a flat slab of polished granite
held up by brightly polished wooden supports. The floor had been done in some
kind of red rock like tile that had to be a pain to sweep each day, but looked
great, giving the room a warm and textured feel. She stood at the front counter,
waiting, hearing Dan talking to a woman in the back. One with a strong local
accent. From her tone she hadn't come
just
for herbal medicines.

When they walked out the woman, a somewhat plain looking one
by her standards, but still cute enough in that long faced kind of way that
she'd seen on a lot of Australian and English women, kept touching Dan on the
arm and chest. Thanking him profusely for all his help. The woman stopped,
hesitating in mid-step when she saw Kate though, her eyes narrowing, as if
suspicious of what she was there for.

Not to ruin Dan's chances with her, just in case he turned
out to be interested, she hefted the package and called out, “delivery!”
allowing the woman to remember that she needed to finish the step she was
taking or fall down seemed like the high road in this case.

She kept a smile on her face the whole time just in case the
woman ended up being someone important. The fact that she was
here
at
all meant something. That she wasn't a regular Human at least, even if Kate
didn't know what she might turn out to be. She would have loved to ask, but
didn't want to be rude or anything.

After the woman left, Dan turned to her and smiled.

“I didn't expect to see anyone familiar here for a while!
Aren't you supposed to be in school?” He moved forward and gave her a small hug.
The warmest he'd ever been with her physically. Oh, he'd touched her a
lot
.
Mainly chokes and joint locks, some punches and kicks to demonstrate things to
her, but a simple hug seemed out of place. He was probably lonely since he was
new here still.

She told him everything quickly, noticing that he seemed only
mildly surprised when she told him that she could walk the lines on her own,
murmuring “of course” under his breath. She cocked her head and asked him to
explain why that would be, to her.

“Oh, just something Wu-Li and I've been wondering for a
while. It's been clear that Zack's been grooming you for something. He could
have easily sent you back to school, your people's school, about a month after
you came to him, but instead he subtly kept you around. Now that could have
been due solely to your Alede nature. After all, that's a hard thing for a man
to resist and your skills and control make you even more attractive to some. Most
people probably, including Zack. But he's refused to take you on as one of his
many... close female friends. Even calling you his daughter instead, if I have
that information right?” He looked at her, not judging at all, just seeing if
he had been told everything correctly. She just nodded and let him go on.

“So he must have had
some
plan, even if he didn't know
what it was consciously. Good. This way we can let the power base spread a
little over time. Things have been a little too focused on Underwood for a
while now.”

Feeling daring she kissed him on the cheek as she passed him
to use his node in the back and told him that the woman that had just been
there liked him.

“You can marry, right? She seems pretty nice to me. You
should ask her out.” She didn't wait for a reply, and knowing that he wouldn't
give her an external reaction anyway. She stepped into the node in the back and
went home, back to Underwood.

Since they were going to have dinner guests, Zack took Merri
home early, so she could prepare everything to
her
satisfaction. She
held a list of foods that Eloise liked particularly in her hand, carefully
blocked out in English with Alfric writing underneath, so that she could find
recipes if she needed them online. Kate grabbed Don and went with them, so that
she could change Nicole and Rebeca back when they woke up. This way everyone
could be fed first thing too, so that there wouldn't be a pack of hungry
Vampires roaming around the house when the dignitaries got there.

Kate winced at the idea, but smiled. She could just imagine
David asking Eloise if she'd like to trade a good fucking for a few small sips
of her blood. Now, if they
wanted
to do that, Kate had no problem with
it, it would probably be healthy for both of them, but when you invite someone to
dinner, the normal plan shouldn't be that the guests would be the main course.
Still, she'd have to check with the older Mage leader and see if she wanted to
have sex with anyone. After all, why have all those Alede around if they
weren't going to earn their keep. At that she grinned wickedly, but didn't say
anything about all this out loud.

She just changed Nikki back, which was infinitely easier than
turning her into Dwayne in the first place had been. When it came time for Rich
to move back into being Rebeca, she put a hand on the small Asian man's
shoulder and asked if she could try something new. It still amazed her that the
man didn't flinch away from the contact. Hopefully Rebeca could learn from the
experience and it would make her stronger. The mind could be funny that way,
with new experiences and conditions helping remove old patterns.

“I don't want to say
what
, because it may not work...
But if it
does
work and you don't like it, we can change it back, no
problem. So it's not risky or anything.”

Rebeca in the shape of the small Asian man just told her that
she should do it, whatever it was she needed to, and then steeled himself. As
if for pain. Like Kate did things that didn't feel
good
to people? This
change took longer, a lot longer than Nikki's had, with Don feeding her energy
the whole time. After half an hour, Rebeca sat up and looked at them
expectantly.

Nikki ran to her, Human speed movements, so as to not spook
her. Very slowly she put a hand up to the other Vampire's face and touched her
gently. She'd moved slow enough that Rebeca didn't shy away from her.

“Rebeca... the scars. At least the ones on your face, they're
gone...” Rebeca moved so fast then that she knocked Don to the ground bodily
trying to get to the mirror on the wall of the sitting room they were in. He
made a little “woof” sound and sat up gingerly, half on the blue throw rug,
half on the polished wood floor. He grinned at the Vampire's back and didn't
say anything about it as he got up. He smiled though, happily.

She touched her face, then pulled her shirt open, exposing
her breasts to the room. Don looked for a second, then realized that kind of
scrutiny
may
not be welcome later when the girl realized who all stood
in the room with her, so he looked away. Kate didn't though, watching in
fascination as the girl kept taking off more clothing, searching her flawless
skin. A creamy white that didn't even have a mole left on it, for any hint of a
scar or mark. She spun toward Kaitlyn so fast that it seemed like she might
attack for a second.

“They're gone? Everything?” She sounded... Happy.

Nikki searched her body, even going so far as to have her
bend over and spread her cheeks, to make sure no scarring got left hidden.
Rebeca did this, nervously asking “anything?” over and over again. In the end,
being told she was totally clear the Vampire jumped up and down, nearly hitting
the ceiling in her excitement. Since the room had twenty foot high vaulted
ceilings the moves seemed impressive to Kate, who knew that at her best she
could jump about two feet straight up.

It got loud enough that Merri came to see what had happened,
which got Rebeca to calm down a lot, explaining about the scars that had
covered her before and how Kate and Don had fixed them. Merri looked at her and
had her spin in place, like a little girl playing dress up, scrutinizing her
closely.

The tiny red-head bowed to the Vampire.

"You are without flaw, Rebeca. Not even a single hair
out of place or line of age shows on your flesh. Those wounds from before have
faded... No. That isn't right. To fade would mean there might be some mark
left. These are truly without existence. As if they never were there. Not on
you."

Then, assured that no one would be murdered while she baked
and cooked, she left to go back to her kitchen, smiling, but looking determined
too, holding a wooden stirring spoon in her hand like a weapon.

Don had turned away and actually covered his eyes during most
of this, laughing, but asking Rebeca to please put some clothing on, so that he
could look at the effects of what Kate had managed too, at least the public
parts. The Vampire grinned and looked down at herself again, but
did
put
her clothes back on. A pair of loose cotton pants and a button up the front
shirt, that she'd had on for the transformation, so she wouldn't have to be
nude for it. The clothes were loose enough to fit both her forms easily. Dwayne
had just stripped, carrying a small pile of Nikki's clothes in with him for
after.

Rebeca then tackled Don and picked him up spinning him around
for a turn. Setting him down carefully, she did the same with Kate.