The Living and the Dead (Tyler G Book 3) (38 page)

"Agh! No. Mom cooties.
Gross." It was bad enough that Fram was his uncle.

As if reading his mind, Lucy
winked at him.

"Don't worry, he isn't
related by blood. None of us are. Not with you."

That was a thing that he could
tell now, for certain.

He was, and always had been, Human.

A dead one, but there were worse
things to be.

Together they went to his house
then. Walking in silence.

The party was bigger than the
last one, and Tyler knew for certain that no one was going to kidnap him into
the lines. At least he was fairly certain he could stop that. It occurred to
him that Zack could have gotten away from him that way, if they were fighting.
Plus, he was so fast that just starving him might not have been enough to make
him fail at destroying someone.

That was a thing to keep in mind.
To that end Tyler decided to buy his good will by working in his bookstore.
Order night was order night, and Zack hadn't even pretended to be shocked when
Tyler had been ready to work that week.

Living Proof played again, and
added a few new tunes, including the One Legged Boogie, as a joke. It was good
enough that people clapped for it, but the thing was a good ninety years out of
date, for radio play. Lenore oddly seemed to enjoy it however, and came over to
him when he finished playing.

"So, Mr. Gartner. I was
wondering if I could get an alliance with you? In case anyone ever takes me as
a slave? I don't know what I can offer in return, but that kind of thing has
come up before, in my life. I'd love to have options in place."

He nodded, and then thought about
it for a few seconds.

"I'll put your name on a
list, and if it happens, and I get you free, then you owe me half of what you
own, and six decently large favors, or the equivalent. The Greater Demons that
have similar deals will know that it won't be worth taking you, so that's a bit
of insurance that way too."

She started to nod and then
smiled at him. It was charming enough really.

"Considering that, as a
slave, all my goods and possessions would be forfeit, that seems reasonable.
Most fair. Would you be open to adding a few others to that list? Vampires, I
mean? Perhaps... Lisa Weise? I know that she's been very worried about that
happening to her. Perhaps knowing that you are there to stand for her in that
event would allow her to feel at peace again?"

Tyler, looked at the Vampire, and
then nodded.

"All right. If she's taken,
half of what you own will save her. The same for the other Vampires you sign
up." He waited, but instead of balking, or telling him that she wasn't
responsible for her people, she smiled at him.

"That is most generous. So,
if twenty are taken, then you still wouldn't have more than what I own
however."

He nodded.

"Yeah, but really, most of
the Council Vampires are close to immune to a lot of the Greater Demons. Lisa
is protected on a level that I doubt any of her kind ever has been before, and
really, if anyone went after you, it would probably be Keeley, by accident. So,
it isn't that big of a risk, for either of us. This way you get to look good
for your own people, so I
do
expect you to go to bat for me, if the
Coalition ever needs your help. Besides, I wanted to see if you'd go for that.
No one else has. That kind of makes you look
good
." True, the
others he'd asked had all been Greater Demons, but still, it was a real point.

He waved at Ginger, who was
physically guarding the list for him. Even across the crowded room she'd heard
what he'd said. All the Vampires had. Most of the Shifters too.

That got Jahn Samson and his son
to work their way over.

Tim spoke first.

"So, can I get that deal,
too? Half of what I own to get myself, or those I write down free?"

Ty snorted, but smiled too.

"You have what right now,
two hundred dollars in your sock drawer?" He'd never had that much himself
growing up, and the boy was smart enough to know what he was saying.

"About that. A little
more."

Tyler tilted his head, and then
shrugged.

"Eventually you'll be
wealthy, you know that right? If I have to do the work in fifty years, then it
will still be half, of what you have then. Are you still in? Call it ten names,
max."

A hand came out to shake on it.

Tyler didn't have to point out
where Ginger was then.

The night went about like that.
Oh, he also got to fight off fifteen attempts to take him as a slave, three of
them coming from Keeley. The last one was so powerfully done that six people
standing near him were taken as slaves, even as he took down the main line. He
freed them all, instantly, even though one of them was a Vampire council
member.

Waving at Keeley he rolled his
eyes. That still took work for him to manage he noticed.

"
That
doesn't
count."

Bey, along with Zack moved into
place, and smiled at him.

"You are a most fair man,
Mr. Gartner. I do think that our arrangement with the Coalition will work most
well. Have you heard of the trial, to come in Arizona?"

There hadn't been a lot of news
on the whole thing. It was going to start in about three months, which was
speedy, for that kind of thing he'd been assured. The date had been moved up,
after the footage of him fighting three Greater Demons was on the news. And the
internet. Also worldwide in several different locations.

Greater Demons were a known thing
for Humans now, but, much like Shifters, Mages and Vampires, most weren't able
to take them very seriously.

In the end, it was a good thing,
most likely.

He walked out the back door,
feeling that at least one person, a Vampire, was behind him. A powerful one
too. When he turned, it was Eve, wearing a nice dress, that was made of
sparkles, and shone all in silver. A man that Ty recognized as a famous actor
had followed her out. She turned and shook her head at him.

"We can talk later? This is
important. Business."

The man muttered something,
smiled and walked away, back into the bustle of the party. It was a bit loud,
and seemed a little frenetic.

Looking back at the thing, Eve
shook her head.

"They all feel it. What's
coming. Most of them don't get it yet. It really will be years, but... Yeah. I
don't know what to do." She seemed sad about that fact.

"Me either. But in the end
it will be all right. We either live, or we stop existing."

"Cheery thought."

It didn't seem like she got it,
but he tilted his head a little, then leaned in to kiss her on the cheek.

"Isn't it though? We don't
know what death is, really. None of us do, not for certain. We always think of
it as the end. We delude ourselves into imagining that we'll find heaven, or
some other splendid afterlife, but what if the reward we get for having lived
is nothing at all? What if that blankness, the rest of not being,
is
what we earn by living?" His voice wasn't nearly as dark as it could have
been. "Besides, right up until we stop being, we can fight, plan, love and
on occasion, play. There are worse things to do while waiting for this vast...
Whatever it is, to come."

Then, gently, he took her hand,
and returned her to the party.

After all, they had some existing
to get to. All of them did.

The living and the dead.