Other Places 3: Detours by P. S. Power Page A

his emotions go away. It would take time to deal with things and a lot
of them he simply wasn't really going to be able to. If he'd been a Human, he
would have gone mad, right then, without stopping to consider any alternatives.
Nothing anyone could say would fix the damage.
    Zack
wasn't Human though. He was himself. A Greater Demon, but also the Line Walker.
Also a book seller and a businessman. That meant, unlike most of the people
he'd ever known, he had real options as to how to deal with things. At the
moment, he decided to control himself, and tried for absolute calm. It burned
magic at an incredible rate, his mind struggling against what his will insisted
had to be done, so he kept eating, one thing after another, even as people
stared at him. Keeley touched his arm, but pulled back, even though he didn't
lash out at her.
    She
understood.
    Zack...
Smiled.
    It
wasn't a sinister thing, but as the memories came back, he felt Mirror Him slide
back into place. Into the spot he belonged, as part of himself. The survivor.
The fighter that had, in his most desperate hour, separated from the whole, in
order to save them from the darkest things. The stuff that existed inside. He
would, Zack thought, actually miss MH.
    For
a long time he'd been his best friend, after all. True, a slightly abrasive and
abusive friend, but someone that was always there for him. Now, they were one.
It had to happen, but it was going to be a little lonely for a time. There was
no void however, inside, since Mirror Him was still there, just not separate.
    He
looked around at Keeley, and then moved back.
    "Did
you want to order something?"
    "Certainly,
a banana fudge swirl please?" She was watching him closely, but he didn't
let that bother him, the world actually popping into focus suddenly. It was, he
thought, the way it would have been, if he hadn't been shattered so early in
life. He could tell so many different things now.
    For
instance, Barb was hanging back, and afraid of him, but actually liked him at the same time. She was a little jealous that he'd slept with Rebekah,
but mainly just wanted him as a friend. A real one. Not that sex was out of the
picture, since he could just toss her down and do that if he wanted, but she
sort of hoped it wouldn't happen that way. She'd told him all of that,
he realized. More than once. Just in code, asking for dates and flowers,
instead of being made to have sex.
    Edom
realized that something had happened, and was readying himself to die. Fighting
Keeley. Possibly Rebekah. He didn't know who'd kill him, but the moment felt
right for it. It showed in how he squared his shoulders, even as he made the
treat for the other Demon. The girl that looked so pretty and young and was
something more terrifying than even he was.
    It
was a strange picture, since he was muscular and black and in a fight almost no
one in the world would have bet on the stick thin white girl for the win, but
he knew what would happen even given that. Out of all of them, the only one
that was actually relaxed was Lenore. She knew that there wasn't going to be a
battle, though she wondered...
    Why
Zack wasn't getting his own food. She gestured at the cup.
    "Taste
testing? How is the base product then?"
    He
actually understood what she was doing, which had to do with distraction. She
couldn't eat her own things, so she needed others to do that for her, which had
caused an obsession with getting it perfect, over the years. It very nearly
was. Tastes varied though.
    "Up
the fat content, or add something that will mimic that, a thickener or
something? We should work on that. Really, it's good. If we can do that though,
it will be really high end." He smiled as Keeley took a bite of what she
had, and then shook her head, ever so slightly.
    "I
disagree. It's perfect right now. That would make it too cloying. You should
try it with the fudge, Zack, I think that will show a difference."
    He
did, and she was, naturally, correct. It wasn't about the