The Living and the Dead (Tyler G Book 3) (22 page)

That got nods from Keeley and
Allison, who seemed ready to kill them herself, much as she had when the other
Demon was playing the role. Apparently she'd hit just about how her sister was
going to feel on the matter correctly, which was interesting.

Funnily enough Zack shook his
head.

"You didn't know what was
going to happen. I mean, you
had
to guess that I was going to be
molested or even killed, but not what the real deal was for. Worse, you didn't
even manage to get that power you were looking for, and ended up tortured
yourselves for decades. Killing you now won't fix anything however. I... You
know, if we have the information you need, Keeley, we should get this done.
Then I can take you two where you want to go, and we can be done with
this." His words went hard, but the other Greater Demon didn't hesitate.

She also didn't make the two in
the middle of the room suffer.

"Die now. Stop your hearts
from beating, and fall asleep peacefully. Do it." The whole thing was
bland, and seemed almost like a game for a few seconds. Both of the people sat
on the floor, then toppled over. There was no breathing or movement, but Keeley
watched them, not moving in the slightest.

Finally after several minutes,
she nodded.

"There we go. The line is
broken. If you hurry we can have this done in time for dinner."

It really didn't take long. Zack
bent over, moved one of the gold bars on the top of a single can, and the
people inside reversed themselves and stood up rapidly enough that it seemed
like a digital effect. They were both alive again then. Just like that.

Allison nodded at them.

"No memory of what just
happened, since for them the time unwound totally. No slave bonds though, since
that was broken outside the field area. Now, if we aren't going to torture
them, we should get rid of them. Zack, you have a plan in mind for that? Why
don't you see to it now?"

It held a bit of an order to it,
but the guy nodded, and then looked at Tyler, of all people.

"I'll be back in a bit. At
this rate I might even have an evening left. Come on... Mom. Dad." He
moved toward the front door, and didn't look back, even as the two older
seeming people froze in place, just watching his back.

So was Ty, but
he
was
checking out his butt, which Skalla noticed. She smirked about it, but looked
herself as the guy walked by, which was pretty obvious. Then, it probably was
when he did it, too. Scotty didn't, since he was afraid of Greater Demons. Like
a sane person.

It was Keeley that spoke then,
her voice hard for her. She didn't have glasses on now, hers having been broken
in the fight. She pointed at where Zack went.

"Go. He's your only hope of
survival now. I don't know what he has in mind for you, but know this; if I
ever see you again in this life, for any reason other than Zack doing it, you
will have tortures brought upon you that no one Human can imagine, and you will
never escape them. If you think your time as pampered and coddled toys was bad,
then you truly don't want to know what I can do to you."

They still froze, though it
seemed to be in terror now. Right until Scotty waved at them, his voice
anxious.

"You don't remember it, but
she just, not two minutes ago, ordered you to die, and you
did
. Then The
Line Walker brought you back. You have to go with him, now. I don't know the
rest of this, but..." He sounded scared, which, Ty knew, was because he
was talking when a wise person would be silent by his own estimation.

Another thing came to him then,
which was that he needed to use a concept of increasing his ability to use
concepts, if he wanted to stay among the living and the dead for a while. It
was a function that he could do, but that had to be increased greatly, if he
were to use magic without being a drain on his mother. It was a complex thing,
but he managed it after a fashion, before Tina and Darren worked up the courage
or abject terror, to get out of the room.

Then Allison started to pack her
time device up.

"I make
so
much money
off this thing. It's much easier than doing the same thing with magic."
That was said to him, but her gaze lingered on his face, and she nodded as the
work continued. The whole thing was packed up into its case again, which was
the nice wooden thing it had come in. Polished and pretty on the outside. There
was a light etching all over it too, which when he let himself pay attention to
the concept was, most likely, a lock.

The girl locked eyes with him and
nodded.

"So. And just so. If you
keep that up, you'll be able to do a lot with very little. Anyway. I'm out of
here. We're going on a date on Friday. Don't worry, I'll look older. Not too
much. It will help you to have sex with me looking like this when it isn't
being forced on you. Not that you have to let that bother you now." She
smiled and shook her head. "If you were
my
mentee I'd tell you that
when a baby Demon has his widdle feeling hurt he changes them. You aren't, so
it isn't my place, but if you can't take that as a hint, you probably won't
make it very long anyway. Friday at nine. Here. Dress nice."

Then she picked up the case and
walked out.

That left him standing there with
The Mistress of Souls, Skalla and Scotty. The Bat shifting Vampire finally took
the tall woman by the hand and moved toward the kitchen.

"You like food, don't
you?" His accent was much thicker than Tyler had ever heard it before.
Scottish, which was, no doubt, why he was called that. That, or he was a huge
Star Trek fan.

Or, just possibly, both.

The giantess went with him, and
Tyler turned, trying to add the idea of a concept that made it easier to hold a
concept to a total suppression of emotion. There was no magic to it, but it was
still work. The effects were powerful though, and as Allison had told him, he
could pick to feel as he chose, with only a little effort.

Keeley sighed, and shook her
head.

"I should have handled
things differently with you. I can see that now. You weren't wrong, by Human
rules I've been stringing poor Steve along for years, without mercy. That isn't
really the kind of thing that I have to worry about. Not with slaves. He has to
do what I tell him, and it's best that way. Still all I did was tell him that
we were dating and had sex. It will let him be happy, so there's that. I just
can't let you give me orders. This is
my
territory, and you aren't even one
of my kind. There are rules. You challenged me, and if I'd done nothing about
it, that would have made me seem weak to the others."

"Um, so, you're going to
kill me now?"

"What? No, we have an
agreement.
That
isn't weakness on my part. You're clearly powerful
enough to require me to back up my word. If you would have made a bargain in
the first place it would have been fine. You broke the rules. Oh,
sure
,
no one ever told them to you, but that isn't the problem. If I didn't do
something, then I would have been open to being abused by a lot of beings. So I
confused you a little. Let's not pretend you didn't like it. At least the first
part, when you thought I was Darla. You were eager enough. That isn't... It
isn't really wrong. I mean, sure, if she were a real little girl then you'd
hold back and tell her to get the fuck off of you, but that's because you're a
good person with self-control, not anything else." She shook her head
then. "You know, Human morality is confusing at times, for people like
you. Biology tells you that a cute girl is cute, and therefore a potential
mate, but in order to get you to wait, society reinforces that very thought as
being high evil. Can you see that?"

It was clear enough, thanks to
the mind set he was holding.

"Yes. Still, those are the
rules of the world I live in. I'd rather follow them than not. It doesn't
matter what you feel about the social structure, as long as you can follow it
closely enough."

There was a laugh then and a
stuck out tongue.

"
Or
if you can tell
the world that their rules don't count. Greater Demon morality at its finest. Anyway,
I wanted to talk to you about something. I... I found a message, a lot of them,
actually, in my own writing, sealed with my magic. Some in my own
head
.
Are, Angels real? I know that nothing in particular precludes God, really, but
that's an abstract thing..."

That got him to blink.

"Yes. Totally real things.
You've even met a bunch of them. Well, at least one or two. Gregor is one. Also
the Archangel Michael mentioned you to me the one time we met? I think that
Tarsus had something done to him so he can remember things like that, now. Your
kind can't easily hold the idea, I hear. Why ask me about it though?" That
part was a little strange.

"It was in the notes in my
head. One of the reasons that I'm not supposed to kill you for kicking my ass.
And yes, it
does
say that Mike told me that. So he knew, whoever he is.
Interesting. Well, we should try to be friends then? There's a note in here
that says that you, for some reason, will end up being far more important than
you seem right now. Not that you aren't important to
me
. I always liked
you. Even when I was messing with your head like I did. Sorry about that."
She giggled then, and shook her head a little. Probably to influence what he'd
think about what she said next. That was as clear to him suddenly as if she'd
spoken about it out loud. "Do you want to have make-up sex? I can turn
into a little girl for you, if you want?"

He looked at her, and nearly told
her to go fuck herself, since it was clear she was screwing with him on
purpose, saying that. So he changed tactics, altering the rules. It really
helped not feeling much. There was a little bit of annoyance though, so he
increased the concept of emotional blankness inside of himself.

"Sure. Not too young.
Cultural taboos and all that. How about what you looked like at fourteen or so?
Or a little older?" Then as if he actually expected her to do it right
then he started working at the front of his trousers. He knew she was bluffing
though, and after a few seconds she rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm not that fast at shape
changing yet. So, I can't play with you that way? What would you have done if
I'd morphed into a six year old and offered to suck you off?"

"Said no. Obviously. There
are limits. I'm not one of your people, so I don't have to pretend that I love
everything you get up to, do I?"

"That's true. Well, later
maybe? I actually need to get off to dinner soon, if we aren't going to get all
kinky for everyone walking by. That would be easier on Steve anyway. He'll be
down in a bit. Just to keep you in the loop, he's totally been sleeping with
Rebekah, even though she made a rule about no sex among the band. People can be
such morons. Isn't it wonderful?" She leaned in and kissed him, which got
him to wonder if she were really Keeley or not.

Then he tilted his head a bit and
squinted, trying to focus on the concepts he needed. None of them gave him the
needed insight however.

Finally he just asked.

"You... Don't seem right,
exactly. Are you really you?"

She nodded, "
that
is
silly question. Rephrase it."

"Are you really Keeley
Thomson, The Mistress of Souls?"

That got a shrug.

"Right now? Of course I am.
That says nothing for who I might be later, or who I was before though, does
it? To answer the question properly, yes. I'm really me. I am still making fun
of you, but there's a reason behind it. I'm trying to push you to use your full
abilities. It's working too, so keep that up. I know that you can only do so
much, essentially being a Human, but you also don't feel pain, and heal
wonderfully fast. Those traits mean you can do a lot more than you think, as
long as you keep trying."

Then she nodded at him, and
sighed.

"Angels? That is so hard to
believe. There's a lot of evidence here, in my mind, however. I think I must be
doing this every few days or so, now. Sorry if I get repetitive with the
question. Anyway, for now, let's be friends? I promise not to rape you anymore,
or force you to have sex with threats of violence. That does leave bribes, and
light mind control, on the table. That goes both ways, if that works for you?"

"All right. Know this
though, next time, win or lose, I'll just fight if you try. If you want
something from me, we bargain for it. I'll do that same, and not just give
orders, but if I mess that up, or whatever, just freaking call me on it next
time, will you? You could have just told me no, or even explained things to
me."

The woman, who was a bit too
young to think of that way really, given their shared western culture, smiled
at him, with mock sweetness.

"But you see, Tyler, things
had to go like they did. I'm trying to shape you into something new. A thing
that the world has never seen before. So I did what I had to in order to get you
to become what you need to be."

Then she left, so that he was
finally alone.