Hell, In a Troy (Lopez Time Book 2)

by Phillip S. Power

  Shoot a stick wielding soldier and no one really threw a big fit about it. Kneecap a sixteen-year-old chess club member, and there would be hell to pay.

  The parking lot had cars in it when they got there. Six of them, which was impressive for an authentic Mexican place that early in the day. It was just off downtown but had a real parking area. The whole place was relatively clean on the outside. Green and yellow was the color scheme. It was a Mexican style theme but seemed well cared for. Not all of them did, in the area. There was a lunch counter, as well as a real sit-down restaurant, so that you could go in.

  Looking around, as they moved toward the door, was different than Troy would have expected. He’d figured that there would have been someplace nearby where a large group of mages could have done some kind of ceremony or complex magical thing to enslave all those people’s minds, in secret. Honestly, he’d figured that the news station would be across the street. He knew that it wasn’t the case, since he understood the city of Lincoln pretty well but what was there didn't make any sense. Not for what had happened the day before.

  They had a few small businesses. An appliance repair shop with no windows, was directly across the way. Next to them was the freaking PUD. Anyone hanging out there in the front would stick out like a sore thumb. There wasn’t even a park or a gas station where traveling men and women could have watched the soldiers and plotted against them. So far, the mages had been a bit showy, when they’d done things. Even The Children of Baphomet had been. Especially them.

  They waved their hands a lot, and muttered like insane people, when they were making things take place. Things that might be overlooked, even for a minute or two of wacky antics. The several hours that it would take three or four people to get the work done would be too much for anyone to ignore.

  From his understanding of the whole thing, ten people had been hit with magical compulsion at nearly the same time. Even if one person had the power to do that, they wouldn’t have the skill needed. Troy, who had lived in the void between worlds, meditating the whole time, for seven hundred years couldn’t have pulled it off. Not yet, at least.

  A greater demon might do that. So could a coven of mages, or whatever they called it. That would take hand waving though, as far as he knew. The magic he used didn’t need that kind of thing but all of the mages had so far. That, chanting and even written spells and sigils. It was mainly about keeping their minds on the topic at hand, he thought. That meant it was possible for them to be a bit quieter than that. Still, it sounded like it would take at least five people, to him. Maybe more than that, in order to score the news crew like they had.

  The whole thing felt off to him. As if there was no way that mages could have done it at all. Not there. Unless they had been dining at the time, happened upon the news crew and the soldiers at the same place and capitalized on their luck. Then, whoever had been there, whatever the numbers, would have had to… Well, do their thing. If it meant dancing, singing or juggling, that would be noticed.

  Inside, the place was cool. It wasn’t burning hot yet, for the regular people. Troy was tempted to cause the discomfort to stay away but instead concentrated on being receptive. Pain seared his very soul, even inside the place. If there was any magic there, it was all in the food. Even that didn't glow with power, from the few samples he could see. It smelled good though, for that kind of thing.

  A memory tried to wake up inside of him at it. From a very long time ago. There was an image in it, with a long log house and a man wearing antlers on his head. His father sat in the back, at a big table, drinking out of a horn, of all things. His dad had the patch on his eye, in sharp looking black, over his bushy gray beard.

  It was disturbing for a moment. Not real either. Troy hadn’t gone to a lot of theme restaurants when he was a kid or anything. Not that he recalled.

  Detective Tran moved to the front counter, where she was met by an older lady who was dressed in nice but very normal seeming clothing. It was white and red, which looked wonderfully festive with her long gray hair. She was ethnically Hispanic but so was about half the population of the area. Her smile was very polite though. She was also fully human. Filled with nice red energy. It matched her top.

  “How are you folks doing today?”

  Denise smiled, seeming to mean it.

  “Great, thanks. Say, there was a group of men here yesterday. Eating lunch? Military types. Short hair, tight behinds?”

  The woman let her eyes pop open then.

  “I know who you mean! They were… Nice, to start with. Then, before they finished, they all got up and left. The money was on the table but they hurried out in a line. It was bizarre. A few of them were cute enough to notice. Why?”

  Troy waved his right hand a bit, trying to seem like it wasn’t a big deal.

  “You know, we’re the police.” He had a badge, which he got out. Tran did the same with her detective’s shield. It wasn’t nicer really. A bit different though. Rosa, the hostess, just nodded, blankly. There was nothing else from her.

  A lot of people clammed up when faced with people in suits. Some of them, maybe most, didn’t even mean anything by it. They just didn’t want to get in trouble. Most people did something illegal, most days. They double parked, or jaywalked when they jogged. Some smoked questionable things or paid someone to do interesting things with their naughty bits. Whatever it was, when faced with the cops, all of that ran through their minds.

  Which was a thing he didn't care about at all. The quickest way past that was to simply tell the truth. He glanced around as he did it. Trying to feel for anything magical in the area.

  “They were spelled by some mages. By magic, I should say. We don’t know who did it. They were instructed to attack a young boy, about five miles from here. A news crew was tasked with watching it, also compelled the same way, so it was something planned.”

  That got a big nod and a slightly sour look.

  “Okay. That makes some sense. That one woman. Not that old. Maybe… I don’t know. Forty? She had the look about her, though. That evil kind of thing that showed on her face. She was watching the guys. I figured, you know, she wasn’t that old. Some young men like that kind of thing now. Older women?”

  There were eyes made at Troy, so that he’d get the point and possibly the idea that she might be up for that kind of thing with a well-dressed public servant. It was nice of her, really. There was a time, when he’d been alive, when that might have even worked for her. Only for a night or two but still, if that had been her plan it really could have worked.

  Denise was on task, which was also a good thing.

  “Do you have video in here?”

  That got a head shake from Rosa.

  “No. People come in and eat. On occasion, they leave without paying. We don’t have a lot of problems that way. No one robs restaurants. Still, I can point out the woman from yesterday. She’s about to walk in.” They had menus shoved at them, which, interestingly, Denise took.

  The smile on her face was huge.

  “Thank you. We should be fine…”

  The woman behind them was at least familiar to Troy. From the Vatican files.

  Cheyenne Stodermier.

  Leader of The Children of Baphomet.

  Chapter eight

  Troy resisted the urge that came first. Which was pulling his side arm, for some reason. Then, accidently shooting the woman behind them. He didn’t stare at her but picked up a lot about her from the corner of his eye.

  Her clothing was casual. A mix of tan and brown, with an orange scarf. That was tied to her bag, which was made of uncolored hemp. The weave on it was solid looking, giving it a canvas-like feel. Her face was made up, and Troy could see how Rosa had figured the woman might be on the prowl for some nookie. She was covered up well enough but looked at him and actually licked her well painted lips. Slowly. It wasn’t done in a charming way though. It was predatory. Nearly wicked feeling.

  As if she wanted to lure him in but didn�
�t feel a need to bother with little things like having a personality or a good soul, first. She just hit body language cues, rather obviously, one after the other. She stood there, looking at his face, then checked out his clothing. After that she pushed her right hip forward, smiled a bit at him and tried to lock eyes.

  Her face was… Fine, really. She wasn’t an Alede or anything like that, of course. In the room they were standing in she was probably the cutest woman but other than her obvious announcement that she was available, there wasn’t anything that special about her.

  Given that she liked to kill her own kids, that bit was a lot less alluring. The fact that she’d get pregnant if you stuck it in her one time, then would off the kid later was a real turn off, for him. Not that it had worked on him at all. It wouldn’t have, even if Troy had been able to feel honest sexual attraction. Rosa had nailed that one perfectly. It didn’t show on the outside but it was clear that the mage lady was actually evil. The real kind. Like some of the most insane greater demons.

  More than that, she was blasting power around. Her aura was actually visible in the room they were standing in. Rosa looked at it and then away, as if the silver white glow was just an optical illusion. It wasn’t. The woman, not using any magic at all, was glowing. Like she was about to explode.

  It nearly got her killed.

  There was no information to the whole thing. The sense about her was that she was linked to something. To several others. It was all being transacted in magic but the format was similar to what Troy had going on himself. Deep down, under the mask he was wearing.

  A thing that he needed to hide, so tried to. The only way he knew to do that was by making himself vanish, from magical sight. It had kind of worked the day before on the others, meaning giving the idea of hiding a shot right then made sense.

  Then, before they moved to the table with Rosa, he hid Tran as well. As an afterthought, begrudging the power a tiny bit, he did the same thing for Rosa. It was all a bit rushed, meaning he had to hold the concept constantly over all three of them, as they settled. He added power but from inside himself. Very carefully. The idea was to not be noticed after all. It wouldn’t turn them invisible, or hide them from the cult leader’s mind but if she wanted to find them later. It would, hopefully, let them avoid that.

  This was a woman willing to use her magic after all, and as far as Troy knew, none of them there were able to beat that very easily. He might manage it, or not. Tran probably couldn’t, and Rosa… Well, he had no clue what she had going on inside. She wasn’t a mage though, or a vampire. He would have gotten that. Really, she looked and felt like a normal woman. So, she’d need what little protection he could give her.

  Rosa got them seated, promised water, and went to do the same with Cheyenne Stodermier. The woman was placed right next to them, with her back to their table. It didn’t stop the glowing at all but the woman had to turn around to try and make eyes at him. It was more than a little over the top. Then, she probably liked her chances, if he was the kind of guy who was there with Denise.

  Which wasn’t fair. Tran might have looked a bit older but she was cute, in her own way. The cult leader wasn’t doing so much better that she should figure she had a real shot of stealing him away at least. Then, the lady might have just been a bit on the narcissistic side.

  Some exotic flavor of insane that allowed her to think that she, and she alone, deserved power in the world and that no one else mattered more than her desires did. The kind that ended up thinking they were a god, or working for one, hoping that it would give them the power they desired over others. Troy had to think that was the case anyway. Then, he’d never actually gotten to talk to her. Her cult group either. Some people that had left it but that was all.

  Well, except that wasn’t true. He’d spoken to the ones who had, rather skillfully, faked a car accident, just as he and Tran were driving past. That had taken real mastery to pull off. Possibly even magic. It had felt like it at the time, even though Troy had let that part of things go, being distracted. Those two had fit their roles perfectly at the time. Heidi and Lars. Those weren’t their real names, of course. Not that it mattered now. Ryan, the man who was barely a boy, had been killed trying to escape from custody. By Troy.

  Heidi, or whatever her name was, had killed herself. For her god. Baphomet.

  It was a bit difficult to hold the slippery idea of not being able to find them with magic over three people at one time. There was no energy put into it, which meant that it wasn’t sticking to the people at all. It was a bit like making it so any picture taken wouldn’t turn out later. If Stodermier came at them later, with intent, she’d work out where they were.

  They were sat first, and Rosa came over herself to take their order. They had a waitress but the younger woman, who looked a lot like the hostess, was waved back. A bit obviously. When she walked over, the older woman looked directly at Troy and smiled.

  “Are you ready to order?” She sounded very normal and had a pad in her hand, with a pen, ready to take down whatever he said.

  The problem there was that he hadn’t even looked at the thing in his hand. No restaurant anywhere had blood on the menu after all.

  “Well…” He was ready to fake it and push something around his plate for a bit, as a cover. Not that he had a clue what they were doing. Before he could open the menu, to pick the fifth thing down, a voice came from behind them.

  It wasn’t harsh or cackling. It just sounded like a woman speaking.

  “I doubt that Mr. Lopez eats food. The dead can eat but vampires tend to prefer juicier fare, I hear. I have that right, don’t I?” She turned to stare at him, in a rather well timed gotcha moment.

  He could have tried to fake not being him but it was clear she already had that part pretty well in hand. Troy was well and truly made.

  “You do have the right of it, Ms. Stodermier. Now, tell me… What’s wrong with the name Danica? It’s lovely. Cheyenne is nice enough but no better.”

  Everyone in the room stopped to look at him. The woman at the other table turned all the way around to look at them.

  “Sorry? You want to know why I changed my name? That’s… Truthfully, law enforcement tends to normally be a bit more hostile to me than that, in the first moments. Would you like to try again? Perhaps accuse me of crimes that I didn’t commit? That’s a very popular opening gambit these days.”

  “Hmmm. No. I’ll stick with that one to start, if it’s all the same? You don’t have to answer, of course. Danica is a pretty name, though.”

  She looked at him funny for a bit but the cloud of power around her didn’t shift at all. It was just her thinking. He hoped.

  “Fine… When I was introduced to Baphomet, she gave me a new name. As a sign of my rebirth. It, my name, is important.”

  That one seemed likely. Fishing had never been a sport that he’d taken part in but he decided to give it a try, in the moment. At least as far as seeking information.

  “So, the cage with your god in it is in Cheyenne? Interesting. May I ask why you’re here now? After that attack yesterday, I would have thought that leaving would make more sense. Why go after a child? Then, you do seem to burn through children, don’t you?” It was probably too big of a dig but his voice sounded nearly apathetic on the topic.

  The woman stared at him for a long time, then nodded a little bit.

  “Interesting guess, on the first part. As to the second... I’m here to mourn my son. Carlos. He died. By his own hand. That… It isn’t my wish but it is the will of my god that all my children act as a sacrifice, in the end. So far all of them have done so. By their own will. Carlos had been kidnapped by two of my… Old friends? Misguided, they thought that taking him from me would save his life. I tried to tell them it didn’t work that way. I’d been hoping that it would work, to tell the truth. It’s why we left them alone. Checking on them but not pursuing for nearly three years. They weren’t that hard to find.”

  The woman didn't look, or so
und, hard. Not flirtatious now, either.

  Tran sat very still, not moving much at all. Not even going for her side arm. Cheyenne ignored her almost totally. The only thing she looked at was Troy. Which made sense. If he moved on her, she would die. Even being a very powerful mage wouldn’t stop that. Not unless she had weapons ready to go at that moment. If that was the case, then the fight would still probably go to him.

  Vampires did well in fights. They were hunters of humans, by their very nature.

  He made his voice soft.

  “I’m sorry for your loss. Carlos was very noble, at the end. His sacrifice allowed us to stop an explosion that would have killed tens of thousands. Possibly more. Do you know what your friends were up to? They’d murdered a lot of people. Using kami. Genius Loci, I think the term is in English? The targets and some others, were consumed. They went after several people. The Technician. The Snowflake. Me, as well. As silly as it probably sounds. Twice in fact. Did you order that?” If so, he really wanted to know why.

  The woman closed her eyes suddenly, then shook her head.

  “No. I really don’t. It wasn’t to feed our god, or anything like that. Gods, the real ones don’t need such things. Our attention and adoration is enough, for most of them. It could have been an order. I’m not the only person who speaks to Baphomet. My gift is that of seeing the truth. I know a demon, or a god, when I see one, Mr. Lopez. I can call you that? Or should I use your other name? What was that, again?”

  Troy felt honestly baffled, and Denise smiled. Her voice was pleasant, for her.

  “I think that most are going with The Officer, for him now. I tried a few other things, but no one went for them, for some reason. Anyway, you were talking about how you aren’t the only one that speaks to this god of yours?”

  The would-be cougar looked back at the Detective. Her face seeming slightly wicked.