Demon Bait (Keeley Thomson) (20 page)

Because, simply enough, she was
going to order them to think of it that way. For each of them it would be a
formative and enlightening event, that made them better people.

True, over half the runaways were
probably on milk cartons somewhere, and the rest would have lives to miss them
from, but they were, like it or not, straightening up. People would put up with
a lot, if someone did that. Being the jerk that sent someone back down the road
to drug use wasn't a thing that most halfway decent people wanted for
themselves. That meant, after they were clean and renewed, the ones that had a
home that was decent, could go back to them. The others would be better off
with her.

It was a sad thought really. Some
people had lives so bad that the best place for them was being the slave to a
Greater Demon? She knew it was only the truth, but for a brief moment she
nearly cried. That, thankfully, didn't last long.

In a few hours, she'd need to get
back there, and take care of that, then... She didn't wait, just starting right
in on baking cookies for the police department there in town. It was going to
take a while too, but she'd had practice doing it before and could manage a
better than average job, if she tried hard enough.

One thing that had always been
nice, living with her mother, was that she had a home office filled with
flowers, ribbons and boxes to put things in. Being on her own, Keeley hadn't
bothered to pick anything like that up yet, which was an oversight.
Presentation
counted
. In fact, it was more important than almost
anything else, to some people.

Fixing that wasn't too hard
however, since what she lacked in raw materials, she could make up for in
teleportation. After she finished getting things ready. They'd need to cool
before boxing, and while it was late, or very early now, being about three in
the morning, she had friends that would help her out. Later, when they woke up.

So she buried her head and made
ten different kinds of cookies, which given the likely size of her new police
force, should be about right for each of them to have one. At least on the day
shift. Some would be watching their weight, and others would be greedy, but it
should even out.

Being careful to time everything
properly, she stepped into the silver world of the inroads at just about six in
the morning, knowing that her old Hsreth friend, Clara, would be opening her
catering company for the day about then. She had employees, but Hsreth didn't
actually sleep, which meant they got a lot of work done, most days. It took a
few minutes to find the right location, which wasn't far at all, and being
daring, as well as wanting to be a bit dramatic, she stepped in, right behind
the woman as she worked at a large stainless steel counter, her hands and
fingers moving in a blur that indicated time was being manipulated, if on a
subconscious level.

Hsreth could do that, but
only
in regards to cooking and homemaking. They kept things meticulous at all times,
but it didn't really help them protect themselves, if it came to a fight. They
tended to try and run away, if they couldn't placate whoever was bothering
them.

"
Ah
!" The curly
haired and slightly square formed woman yelled, more in surprise than
at
her in particular. "
What
?"

Then, instead of fleeing for her
life, she grasped her chest, acting like she was going to have a heart attack. Since
that wasn't possible, Keeley winked at her, and then moved in to give the lady,
a former slave of hers, a small hug.

"Clara! How are things
going? Is everyone treating you well?" Because, as Darla had taught her,
you always made certain that everyone you dealt with felt special. So, even on
this trip to selfishly get things from her, she needed to present it as
primarily
being about her friend. So she needed to add that part in, or it would seem a
bit strange. "I wanted to make certain that you're doing well, since you
were always my favorite."

The woman didn't look skeptical,
but she also didn't seem too happy to see her.

"Mistress of Souls. We're
doing well here. The whole city is. No more crime than normal, and no strange
deaths in the last week. Your mother dropped a line to me the other day, asking
if I'd heard from you. I... It's not my place to say." They were friends, Sherry
and Clara. Business partners, or at least they had been. So it didn't take a
Greater Demon to figure that one out.

"I should get in touch with
her soon. The Second Crucible was passed. Well,
I
did. I haven't heard
about Darla yet. She better, or that's going to be pretty embarrassing for her
at the next Halloween party, don't you think? Being shown up like that by me,
her former apprentice."

That got a small smile, and a
nod. "That it would, I do think. She is a formidable Greater Demon
however, so I like her odds. Now, what did you really come for? Baking lessons?
You could use a bit of work... Not that..."

She smiled and looked around, the
whole place just getting ready to actually come alive, with preheating ovens
and white walls making it very bright, given the time of day.

"Not this time, but if you
have a free day soon, I should get with you on that. I made some cookies for
the police force in Sparks, my new territory. I'm planning to go in and grab a
bunch of them up today. So, I thought that I'd take treats, to soften the blow.
I was thinking pink pastry boxes?" That got Clara to scowl, and then run
to the back, calling out questions about how many cookies there were, and if
anyone had nut allergies. She didn't know that last one yet, and just said so,
because it wasn't a minor point. It would be bad form to grab someone and then
let them still suffer from those. They could be fatal to some and she could end
them in an instant with a few well placed commands. If she did it right, they'd
never even know that she'd done it.

What she got instead of generic
pink boxes were shining silver trays. They were made of plastic, but had clear
covers on them and along with some real lace were turned into very refined, and
not
that
girly looking, food transport devices. Clara demonstrated how
to plate the cookies too, since her thoughts about Keeley's baking were not all
that high. She was better than most, but
not
better than even an average
Hsreth that way. Not on presentation either, it seemed.

Still, she accepted the trays,
and offered to pay for them, which Clara declined, not wanting to be made into
a slave again, for being rude.

"At least market rates for
them, plus a bit for showing me what to do? Call it a hundred?"

"Oh, no... That... If we do
that, well let's see... Forty-two and change? I'd need to look at the receipts
to get closer than that, but somewhere around that mark."

They agreed on fifty then, which
was about right, considering it wasn't a retail store. Then, before leaving,
she asked for a pad and pen and wrote down her new number for the woman and her
son. Glen. He looked like a slightly younger version of her Hsreth friend. Both
seemed to be about forty, or possibly fifty, so they normally passed for
siblings. They looked too alike for anything else really. All Hsreth did, since
they reproduced asexually. It pretty much meant there was only one of them,
after a manner of speaking.

"There, if you need
anything, don't hesitate to call. I'll try to check in every few weeks, just to
make certain all is well. Oh, I don't have anything planned right now, but I'm
making some new friends, and might want to have a party in a few weeks? Do you
have any open time slots?"

They didn't of course, because it
was Clara's Catering and people often booked a year in advance or more just to
have them at their events.

"I can simply cancel someone
however, if it's needed. How many will the party be for?"

"Oh, I don't know, ten to
twenty, at a guess. I'll pay for extra and... You know, what I really want to
do is get my own house person. Do you know any Hsreth that would consider
working with me? I pay well, and I promise not to make employees into slaves.
We can negotiate that, if need be, so they'll know that it's a fact and not
just words." She had been planning to simply take one, but a lot of
Clara's kind were afraid of Greater Demons. For a reason, but it wouldn't hurt
to let Clara at least see her
try
not to be her greatest fear, first.

"You know, if you aren't
too
worried about skill level, I have a great niece that's looking for work. She's
not
seasoned
, mind, being only about fifty, but she did call the other
day, looking to get in here. I don't have the need right now, and working in a
private home is a fine first real job for her, not that she's out in the world.
Would you like me to set that up for you? I think that Zack will take her to
you, for free even. I... asked the other day, what the rates might be for
things like that, and he
hugged
me. At first I thought he was going to
require my body for it, since I can't possibly pay in cash, but then he just
chuckled and said that I could go wherever I wanted, at any time. Not that I
would
,
but for my family..."

Keeley didn't mention that Zack
shouldn't be that nice to her, unless he was going to get something out of it
himself. He might have been angling for that great niece even, if he were
smart, which he was, so Keeley asked if she could use the phone there, and made
a long distance call to his book store.

She didn't get him, but rather a
familiar and rather sultry sounding vixen that made it sound like Keeley could
be in for a
very
good time, if only she'd show up there that day. It was
probably true too, since it was a young Alede on the other end. A
succubus
.

"Hartley and Co. Books. This
is Kaitlyn, how may I... serve you today?" It was slutty sounding, more so
than the woman normally went with, as if she'd accidently called a phone sex
line, rather than a place that sold works of great literature.

"Hi Kait, this is Keeley. I
was wondering if Zack was in? I want to make sure that he wasn't angling for
the Hsreth that I'm planning to hire for my new place. Speaking of which, when
are you coming to visit? If you come I'll let you play with my posse of new
slaves...
Humans
, but all drug addicts. Or at least they were. I should
also have some police later today, so
that
could be promising."

"Oh? Well, that does sound
like a nice change. We can get together for a girls night... I'm free...
Tuesday and Wednesday this next week. Does that work for you?" There was
no asking about what would really be happening, just the instant assumption
that she was going to come. It would have been nicer if the girl was doing that
because they were pals, but they had a bargain worked out, and while Keeley
didn't really need for any of her new Humans to be serviced, she did kind of
want to see a friendly and familiar face or two.

"Perfect. Tuesday at seven
then? In the evening. Make sure to get a nap first. Now, is Zack around?"
It turned out that he wasn't, but she left a message, asking him to call her
about it, so that she wasn't sniping his people, if he had designs on the
Hsreth woman.

That would be pretty rude, and
while it wouldn't start a fight between them, it might just make him a bit
miffed at her. In general, that kind of thing needed to be avoided.

That done, she collected another
hug from Clara, since the woman was never going to trust her if she were too
stand-offish physically, and then gathered the gear she needed for the baked
goods. It took a bit of effort to drag the things through the lines with her,
but not more than she could handle. About halfway there though, she looked down
at the things, and really focused on them. They were plastic and not heavy, but
there was drag on the lines from them. She moved almost normally, which... When
she looked at the silver glow, didn't make sense. She was filled with bright
energy and
shone
, compared to the things in her hands, which kind of
drank
energy in this space.

Not a lot of it, and not forever,
the stuff making vortex ripples behind her as it moved. It tried to bump out of
the line however, as it passed each of the potential portals back to reality.
With a bit of focus, she did something a bit strange, and gathered energy from
the lines. Not just whatever was there, but the specific vortex ripples that
otherwise tried to escape behind her. Then... It was suddenly a
lot
easier to move. Faster by far.

Feeling, if not smug, then at
least kind of proud of herself for working that out on her own, she headed back
to Sparks and her new home. Then packed things up, doing it carefully in case
Clara ever asked about it, and moved to the front of her little, modest, but
now nicely appointed, home. Opening the door, the first load of cookies stacked
four high in her hands, she stopped, unable to see suddenly.

It was a large blue glowing
magical...
Thing
. Inside her head, too. At first she nearly threw down
the cookies and ran, but something stopped her. A sense of the whole thing
being... Right.

Even though the words were
completely phony.

They
had
to be.

Because right there, in front of
her, floating behind her eyes so brightly it wasn't easy to ignore, in her own
handwriting, was a message.

"Angels are real, and you
can't remember them. Get with Gregor... He
is
one."

Right, because
that
wasn't
going to end up being a trap? The scary part however, was wondering who in the
world was good enough to put something that complex in her mind? Worse, they'd
made it seem like
she'd
done it, perfectly. Even using her own magic for
it.