Demon Bait (Keeley Thomson) (16 page)

"Right! I'd pop in and see
about that myself, since it sounds fun, but you know, I'm setting up my new
territory here." Which got her to look toward the front, as she felt Zack
suddenly appear. The others walked the lines, but he...
Flowed
in them.
It was different. Faster for one thing, as well as smoother and with less
damage to the world around him. He left minor disruptions as he passed, but
most of the others left rents and tears in different places. She did still,
though it was clear there was a better way.

She got up and moved a chair over
for him, even though it took a few minutes for him to get inside himself. He'd
been polite and landed in the parking lot. Probably since she was there, and
rushing another Greater Demon in her own territory was a bad plan.

The beings at the table were
nicely confused however, which meant that they all stood when Zack got there,
given that Vaughn did, and bowed. It was a bit awkward, since Zack just sort of
waved back, looking like a kid, and then took the seat next to her, on the far
side of Barb, between Keeley and Felecia. She recognized
him
, it seemed,
but that was because Zack was famous, amongst her kind. Like a rock star. A
teleporting celebrity that they owed a
whole
lot of favors.

She got a hug, which was only a
tiny bit restrained, given how close they were. She examined his mind, or tried
to, only to find it locked up behind a very nice set of shields. Hers was too,
so she couldn't
exactly
fault him on it. Of course, no one would be able
to fake what he did on the lines that easily, and it was her territory, so they
were pretty certain to both be them.

"Hey Zack! I didn't know you
were coming to visit. I hear that the Vampire Council has decided to hit my
little town here up for some summer camp help? You probably should have asked
me first, but I'll let it slide this once. Maybe you could explain that it's a
real thing to Felecia? With kids and kayaking, s'mores and singing? Before she
starts hiding all her people and pretending they ran off to join the circus? It
sounds like a pretty nice job, really. How will the Vampires there be
fed?" She said it like it was a sales pitch, which in a way it was.

Zack was insane, but also sweet,
unselfish and probably a better person than she was still. He got the idea
however, and took her hand, holding it below the edge of the table. That got
stares, since most of the people still hadn't worked out who she was. Or
what
.

"The place has ten cabins,
which will hold up to twelve campers each. We only have about half of that
coming in at any given time. Mainly Human, but also Shifters, and a few other
kinds of people. There's a lot of integration on the staff too. We do need to
keep the kids in the dark about some things, but the councilors and staff all
know about who's going to be there. Supernatural beings and situations that
might arise that way. They need to, in case the kids have any problems."
He smiled at Evan directly, since he looked to be a friendly person, smiling
instead of seeming panicked. "As for blood, I have an arrangement for the
new kind to be brought in every few days. I don't know if you've gotten to try
it yet? I can get some samples..."

None of the Sparks people
had
,
of course. It was hard to get in most areas still, but it made sense to put in
their own set-up for harvesting from the local area, given that they wouldn't
need all that much for the city there. They could sell the surplus and bring
cash in for the lower income people that had to sell their bodies to make extra
cash for the week. She'd have to get in touch with Rebekah on that topic. Not
that she could have her back yet. Not even as an employee. The Second Crucible
may be over for her, but the fact was, she was still in danger. More than was
acceptable, day to day.

Not that she got a choice about
things like that. For all their power, no Greater Demon should ever get to
feeling too comfortable that way. It was always risky, being one of them. More
at some points than others, but that didn't take away from the basic facts of
the matter.

The rather trendy looking Vampire
woman on the far side of Zack seemed to be a bit lost, as did the others.
Vaughn hadn't exactly been screaming about how the Line Walker had come to
visit them and they'd best pay heed, for one thing. Probably because he knew
that these people might just find that a bit too much to handle. They hadn't
hidden it either, however, it was a bit unfair of her to expect everyone to
have caught on already, but a quick reading of the others at the table told her
that only Barbara actually knew everything about the situation.

Keeley turned to her, still
holding her gently, as if she wanted to have sex with her. That was... Not
impossible. She hated to admit it, but something that Tarsus had told Zack once
seemed like it just might be true. Once she'd actually had sex, knowing that
she couldn't get pregnant or catch any diseases, it seemed like a lot more fun
to her. Even the idea of doing it with a decently attractive Vampire woman
wasn't that hard for her to get past. That was odd, really. It wasn't her
trying to fight the idea into being or shutting down her personal disgust at
the thought, it honestly just seemed like a good plan. Or, more correctly, it
felt
like one. Barb the Vampire wasn't one of her people. Still Felecia
was
,
and she was nearly as cute.

Turning to the girl under her
arm, she spoke softly. Even in the noisy club, she'd hear it all. They were
physically too close for her not to.

"You should capitalize on
your knowledge, Barb, before everyone else figures it out. I know, you can
negotiate with the Line Walker for use of Evan here, at his camp? I'm sure that
all present would feel better knowing that you're putting yourself in front of
a Greater Demon for them, so that
they
won't be at risk."

Felecia looked ready to grab her
man and run off, but the other man, Mark, seemed relieved by the idea, and Evan
only grimaced a little. It wasn't enough to be insulting even, just show minor
displeasure with having to go off and do a relatively boring task like that.

"Well, I
was
a Boy
Scout, once upon a time. I think I can dust off my old skills. I'm not good at
being up much before noon or so."

Zack tilted his head and nodded
at the man.

"You can work nights though?
We have a Lesser Demon coming in to help with security. I think he understands
that it's about keeping bad things out and not the kids in, but I really do
need to double check that. Still, if you can manage being up between, say five
and two in the morning? Lead the night time stuff, tell ghost stories and that
kind of thing?"

It seemed like a ridiculous
topic, but the rest of the table was riveted by the idea. Even Keeley, who'd
never gotten to go to camp, herself. Her mother had always wanted to keep her
too close for that kind of thing. Plus, honestly enough, it had never really
been offered and her parents hadn't tried to actively get rid of her that way.
It still had always sounded like fun.

Next to her Barbara, who looked a
little less than perfectly happy about being cuddled by her, moved her arm off
with a shrug. It wasn't too over done, and sweetly enough she leaned into her a
little after it fell from her shoulders, letting everyone know that it wasn't
about rejecting her. Or fear. Mainly that last one, no doubt.

She was scared, but held it in
pretty well, her face smiling, at first Evan and then Zack.

"Negotiations do sound like
a good idea then. So, Zack. My client will need at least one good feeding per
day. Human blood, like you offered. The good, expensive kind, too. Unless
there's an emergency, in which case animal can be substituted for up to three
days. If it's going to happen more than once however, we need to discuss
further compensation for the lack." She paused and looked at Evan hard,
thinking something dark and a bit broody, which Keeley didn't bother to read
from her mind. Luckily, she didn't need to, since the lady wasn't finished yet.
"As for sex, no rough stuff. No anal rape or ripping his teeth out for
oral, that kind of thing. Unless he does something wrong... but that should be
saved for a real punishment, not burning a hotdog over the fire. Not that
anyone normally uses that kind of thing for punishment anymore, but Greater
Demon... So, you get the theory here? I need to make sure that's off the
table."

Evan turned and looked at Zack,
still clearly not getting that the Line Walker was a thin slightly Japanese
seeming man. A young one, too. He was picking up on the idea that this was
about business however, and not a game. Something real, for all that it might
not make total sense to him.

"That would be good, if it
can be arranged? Maybe for... everyone?" He glanced at Vaughn, who frowned
back at him, not wanting to tick Zack off, but the man himself nodded.

"I don't do anything like
that anyway, so I can get behind it without any problem. Is three hundred a
week enough? I don't want anyone to lose their home or apartment because I'm
taking them away from their normal work. It's what I'm offering the kids, but
an adult has more responsibilities."

They went back and forth on that
one, with Barbara finally working him to five hundred per week, daily feeding
and, if it was needed,
only
beatings or being locked in a coffin as
punishment. She didn't take that off the table, Keeley noticed, which was
interesting. It was for Evan and the others that would be going however, not
Zack. She
knew
that he wouldn't harm anyone. Possibly to his own
detriment, if he had young Vampires around all the tasty kids. They needed to
know that he not only could, but would, make sure his charges were protected.

Since harming one of them would
have whoever did it killed instantly, that was a good thing to remind everyone
of.

When it got to the end of the
negotiation, which were pretty in-depth for what was essentially a camp
councilors position, Keeley leaned into Barb again, which got her to go silent.

"Remember to pad things, so
that you can take your twenty percent fee for this."

That got the Vampire to look at
her as if she were insane, which was followed by the rest of them, except
Vaughn, who merely chuckled at the idea. Right until Zack waved at her.

"
Fifteen
percent, but
I'll cover it. For each of your people that are coming? A similar deal, but you
can renegotiate for any special needs?" They didn't shake on it, but it
had that sort of feel to the whole thing.

Everyone went silent as the
waitress came, to give Keels her Seven-Up. It had too much ice in it, but she
wasn't paying for it, as far as she knew. Not that it would be a problem if she
were, or anything. When she walked away, Felecia reached over and touched Zack
on the arm, which was just to get his attention. She spoke to him directly, so
that he could read her lips, over the loud music.

"Will The Line Walker hold
to an agreement you negotiated like this?" She yelled a little, as if he
couldn't hear her. Which would be true if he were simply a Human.

He nodded back, smiling.

"Yes. Um, I
am
the
Line Walker? I know you haven't been getting that, but...
Hello
! That's
why it was such a big deal that Barbara here was doing that for you, since I
know her from work. We've even dated a few times, so she has an in." It
seemed pretty sensible sounding to her, but Felecia acted like it wasn't real,
and laughed a bit. Evan didn't, just going wide eyed. Then, after a moment he
relaxed and smiled himself.

"So, no beatings unless I
really screw up, eating a child for dinner, or that kind of thing?"

That got Barb to wink at him.

"Yep. I'm pretty good, don't
you think? Since we worked this part out, we should get on to the next one.
Evan, why don't you come with us? Zack can get us to your house, so you can
pack?" It was a question and seemed a lot more deferential than her last
words had, but Vaughn stood and that got them all to do the same thing.

Even Keeley, since it never paid
to be the surly one that refused to go along with the group. Even if you really
were that person, you didn't want everyone else to know it, since that would
damage your ability to influence them later.

They all traipsed along to the
front of the club, where the line was still really long, as people waited for a
chance to come in themselves. It didn't seem like a fun way to spend a Friday
night, but it did show that the place was popular. That was good to know, since
it was in her territory. The more business they had, the better off she'd be.

Zack waved to her, not explaining
either how or why he'd come to her new town for a Vampire, and got the others
to follow him around the edge of the building. The ones going with him, which
left her with Mark and Felecia, who started breathing hard as soon as they
left.

"Can you believe that? A
Greater Demon at
my
club? It's bad enough that Vaughn came. I nearly
passed out when I heard that. The Line Walker...
Here
? If I were a few
hundred years older I'd write a dirty letter to the council in protest! They
know better than to bring this kind of shit down on me."

Then, taking Keeley's hand, she
walked back into her place of business. Still not aware of what she really was.

It was very nearly funny.

On the good side it wasn't that
Felecia was a moron or anything. She'd gotten that Keeley knew both Barb and
Zack, and had dealt with them awfully comfortably. In fact, she'd even figured
out a reason for that. It was wrong, but fit what made sense to her, so she ran
with it, even as they moved back into the club, for questioning.