The Gates of Troy (Lopez Time Book 3)

by Phillip S. Power

  Detective Tran shook her head.

  “Cash. American in this case, most likely. It would be different if we were in another country. Greater demons often trade with each other in very large sums like that. Just to clarify here, Troy is going to get you real powers, as part of your job. You should work out what you want that way. Use that human imagination of yours for it. Dream big. It might not be easy but Troy isn’t exactly a wimp that way. Don’t make it simple for him. He’s also going to set up a training course for us to pass out. That will be great for your career, since we can put our names all over it.”

  He nodded.

  “Right. As for cash… Well, if you need anything, let me know. I’m not a demon and don’t have to play by their rules. I mean, you and Jainy are practically my girlfriends, right?” He was flirting a little bit. That was fine, given that he didn’t work there any longer.

  It wasn’t like he meant it or anything. He was just riffing off of what Tran had suggested to get him to do more for Santos. That part wasn’t lost on him, either. The demon had set it up not just to push Troy into learning more, which would be needed to do the promised work but to also get some added benefits for their junior partner in the division. While pretending that she didn’t really care about the woman.

  It made sense to him. Being a vampire had saved his butt the entire time he’d had the job, so far. Not every single day but three times in two weeks was a lot. It might not be as intense for Maria. He had to hope that was the case. Otherwise she was dead.

  That was part of the job though. Police signed up, knowing they were putting their lives on the line for other people. Some tasks were more dangerous than others. A good officer was going to understand that. Troy assumed that Maria really did. On the positive side, she was a woman.

  A man would try to fight a lot of times, where a woman would talk or run. When the opposition could toss around cars, blow up large parts of a state or teleport your brain out of your head, being willing not to punch it out was a great starting point.

  Santos, seeming a little teary eyed, moved in and hugged him. As if he were walking right out the door. That wasn’t his plan, since there was paperwork to get done.

  “I’ll be in touch for that, then. This is screwed up, you know that, Lopez?”

  “Yup. Still, I’ll live. Now, stop molesting me on the clock and let me fill out my resignation and exit papers.” It was strange, doing that himself but when Maria moved, he did just that.

  Then he handed Tran his badge and identification.

  “I believe, that I am out of here. You both have my number? That isn’t changing yet. Let me get you my contact numbers and current case data, Santos.” He was stalling but it didn't hurt to have her up to speed on things. It really wasn’t that much.

  Two weeks of work for a new unit didn’t exactly take hours to get up to speed on. Most of it was going over picnic plans. That put the whole thing in focus for him. Sure, he was going to have to face off with some gods, personally. It wasn’t his job there, though. Not at all.

  He got patted by Tran on the way out, and another hug from Maria. It was the demon that spoke, however.

  “I’ll see you later then? Six or so, in Vancouver. Washington, though you need to get with your other people before that. Let me know if you’re going to be later than that. It’s important to keep up with things, so you know, it’s an assignment.”

  Troy sucked in air, trying to make it feel like his life was hard. He wasn’t feeling that but then, he wasn’t feeling much of anything, at the moment.

  “Yay. More homework. You know, I’d thought that kind of thing was over when I’d decided not to go to college.”

  The words earned a grin at least.

  “I know! Still, you either do it, or I’ll punish you. Do you know how I punish vampires that won’t behave, Troy?”

  It didn’t sound good but he shook his head.

  “I honestly don’t.” It probably wouldn’t be good. She was an insane greater demon, after all.

  “Neither do I. I bet it will be ever so much fun! Not that I’ll get to do it over little bits like this. You’re actually pretty good about getting things done. So, you have five hours to get with everyone important to you. I’ll let you pick who they should be. If I disagree, I can use it as an excuse to make your life hell, later.”

  She seemed far too pleased with that idea. Sure, he knew that she was putting that on as an act, to mess with him. Troy also got that she’d probably do things to him, if he didn’t toe the line. Why she hadn’t done that before, he didn’t get. Darla did that kind of thing to Zack, all the time.

  Waving, he left the building. A few of the uniformed officers saw him and waved, having heard at least something. At least about the attack and the fallout from it. Doing it back, he felt… A bit bland, to be honest.

  In the parking lot, he nearly opened a bridge to his house but decided to just leave the gear he had in the locker. It wasn’t important, if he didn’t have a job there anymore.

  After a moment, he considered who was supposed to be important to him. He had friends but also a few people that he’d made a point of helping out, over the last weeks. There were about ten people to get to. More than that, if he considered the council.

  He decided not to do that one first. That way he could use his meeting with Ann as a reason to get out of there in a timely fashion. That meant he thought for a bit, and called Morgan Bauer. He was a shifter, and not really his person but also related to Calley Hale, who was the President of her kind.

  Then, after about five minutes of making sure the kid knew he was important, Troy moved to his house in Vancouver. He exited the bridge he made in the front yard. No one noticed him doing it, naturally. He moved up the steps, which were made of painted cement, and realized that he needed to mow the lawn. It wasn’t horrible but it needed to be done, or else people would think he was messy. He didn’t have a key for the place with him, so knocked on the door, hearing that there were two people inside.

  One of them, Leslie the mage, opened it slowly. There was no peep hole, after all. That one was a mistake, he realized.

  “Oh! Hi! Did you come to kick us out? We don’t really know what’s going on, with The Children? The feelers that I have out… Well, that dried up totally. No one is even answering the phone at the compound.”

  She was attractive enough but not really his type, he decided. That didn't mean she wasn’t a good enough person. A former cult member but that didn’t really mean evil. She and her great great aunt, Nevi Hampton, had kidnapped a boy from the cult, to prevent him from being used as a sacrifice to Baphomet. In the end that hadn’t worked. It had still been worth trying at the time.

  The place, once he went in, was nice looking. As sharp as his current place at the very least. The furnishings weren’t what he would have picked out for himself but it was all high-end stuff. The floors were hard wood and not polished. It was clear that the woman had been sweeping regularly though. It smelled of herbs and sage inside, with enough smoke having been left all over everything that he understood the idea of what had been done. A cleansing ritual.

  Possibly several of them.

  Nevi, the other mage woman, looked about fifty, and was in jeans and a nice button up. That was too big for her but wasn’t one of his that he’d left. Even if it was a man’s shirt. It was a light blue, which looked nice on her.

  He grinned at it and winked.

  “Ohhh. Sharing clothes with The Line Walker now? That’s living dangerously. Not that he’ll mind. Have you met?” He didn't know that one but the now wide-eyed mage women both shook their heads.

  Leslie looked scared about it though.

  “The demon? No. Thank goodness. That would be… Really scary.”

  Troy shook his head.

  “No, it really wouldn’t be. He’s really nice. We should all go over, in a bit and chat with him? Now, let’s get you up to speed? I have a lot of people to get with today. There’s news.”

/>   It took a bit to explain it all. More time than he would have thought.

  Chapter six

  The trip into Canada was a bit odd, since he’d never been there before. Not to the specific site he needed to find at any rate. Troy had spent a lot of time in Toronto, in the underground node complex there. This was different, being on the other side of the giant country. It was the set of a television program, which was a thing that he had no clue about, at all. Rather than look it up on a map, he moved from the house in Vancouver, Washington directly to the void. Then from there he found Avery, and moved to where she was, directly. He knew her, and she kind of called to him, on a personal level. That part was interesting to notice.

  It meant, that on some level, he’d claimed her as one of his people.

  When he stepped out, he had to smile.

  The dark-skinned girl was in a small trailer, which suddenly had him in the middle of it. She was sitting on a tiny sofa, reading something. It was probably the script. He was able to work that out, given his keen mind and the fact that it said script on the front. Along with the show and episode title. Red Rain: Momentary Lapse.

  Avery looked up, her face shocked at first.

  “Mr. Lopez! I didn’t know you were coming to visit. Um… Welcome!” She got up and held him well enough to show she was pleased enough for him to be there.

  “Hey! I came to visit everyone. I just had to quit my police job. I was attacked by some vampires last night. They were working with, or for, some god or another. Anyway, they’re dead and that kind of makes the local cops look bad in the area, so I figured I’d keep up with all the important people.”

  That Avery counted for that just made sense. So did Barbara. Even Eve did, though if he didn’t get with the other women first, he was a fool. Barb and Avery were both kind of in a relationship with him, more or less. Eve was just his friend. A good one but there was an order to things, if he wanted to get out alive.

  Really, he should have gotten with Barb first. Avery was just at the second location he needed to get to, so it was handy that way. That he’d picked her to focus on, instead of Krista Hall or Kathy Hoader… That just made sense.

  She was a lot closer to him than either of the other women were.

  He kissed her, which actually started a bit of a make out session. Avery might not have been into sex but she knew what to do, as far as being held and attentive. Her lips were very soft. She did just enough with her tongue to make it seem like she was interested but not so much it was an invitation to do much more. He got that part after a moment, when a knock came at the door.

  “Five-minute call.” The man speaking moved off then. His voice was a bit rough and a little older sounding. He was also a smoker. Even through a door, that part had carried. The scent lingered. Tobacco and coffee. Along with a donut of some kind mixed in. It had yeast in it but other than that Troy wasn’t getting what kind it was.

  Avery looked down a bit.

  “I have a scene… Would you like to come? I’m sure everyone would like to meet you.”

  “Sounds fun. I need to wave at Krista and her mom, anyway. They’re my people now, after a fashion. Kathy is anyway.” He’d done some work on her mind. That needed to be checked up on and probably reinforced.

  Instead of asking why the director’s mom was his person, she just smiled.

  “That’s kind of you. She’s had some hardships, from what I’ve heard.”

  That was true, though, like most people, Kathy Hoader had really created most of the tough situations she’d faced in life. She could have been a wife and mother. That or done almost any mid-level job in existence. The woman wasn’t brilliant but most of life didn't require that of people. Instead she’d partied her life away. Everything she’d done had more or less failed, except her daughter.

  Krista had worked out, despite Kathy, not because of her.

  The set was different than he would have thought. For some reason, his vision of that kind of thing was smaller than it actually was. With large decorated areas that shooting was done in, and almost nothing else. That wasn’t how it worked in real life it seemed. There were rows of trailers, all of them white with colored stripes on them. Only two rows, of three but they were big enough really. About forty feet long and ten wide.

  Past that there were people moving around. The actual place they were doing the work was inside a building. It was meant to look like the inside of a bar. Avery was just in fatigues, which didn’t have markings on them.

  She carried her script with her, reading as they moved.

  “It isn’t a hard scene for me. I just need to make sure I have my timing right, on the movements. It might be too boring for you…” She sounded worried about that.

  As if it were going to be a real thing.

  “Seems fun, actually.” Several people looked up at him then. One of them was a man, who was in the center of the actual shooting area.

  His face was concerned. He was good looking and familiar. Troy had met him before. Once, but it had only been a few weeks before.

  Avery saw the man looking and waved, which got him to walk over.

  “L. C. This is Troy Lopez… My fiancé. You’ve met.” There was a bit of hesitation to her voice. Not a lot though. They hadn’t really confirmed things to that level yet but the idea was a good one. She was acting like it was a done deal, to get him to think of things that way. Which was kind of going to work.

  He stuck his hand out and shook with the other man, who was dressed up like Avery was, except that he didn’t have a fatigue blouse on but rather a blue t-shirt that showed off his abs. Troy would have felt bad about that but his were at least as good.

  “Nice to meet you again.”

  The man furrowed his brow then. Hard.

  “You’re getting married? And this is the first I’m hearing about it? I didn’t even read about it in the tabloids first…”

  Krista walked over and gave him a hug, clearly having heard what was being said.

  “Oh, my, god! You two are getting married? When’s the wedding? Do us work people get an invite to it or is it only for special people?”

  Since Troy was there to visit her as well, he had an answer for that one at least.

  “As if you two don’t make the list of special people? We haven’t set a date yet. Now, I should pass out hugs, and get my dead behind out of the way. Is Kathy around?” He could feel her, once he said her name. She was there but back from where the shooting was happening.

  Krista hugged him. Then L. C. did the same thing. That was different, since they weren’t close as far as Troy knew. Still he thumped the man on the back a few times. If him being cold was a big issue, the guy didn’t let it show.

  Pointing toward where the Kathy sense was leading him anyway, Krista winked at him.

  “Over in the rear office? She’s been doing our travel arrangements for us. I swear, it’s nearly like she’s a different woman. I don’t know what happened to her.” She seemed baffled, not pleased.

  Troy just told the truth.

  “I used compulsion to try and help her get her life around. Just general things, like drinking less and being more interested in work. Is that doing anything? I was kind of… Well, you know, I wanted to help her, not give her orders that would take away her free will.” That was a lie, of course. He’d totally subverted her life.

  L. C. chuckled a bit then.

  “You can do that kind of thing? We should get a demonstration of it. Are you a magic user then? I wouldn’t normally credit that but Avery has to rate someone interesting, doesn’t she?”

  Krista turned to the other man.

  “Troy is a vampire, L. C. One of the important ones. Also, a line walker like Avery and a police officer.”

  He held up a single finger.

  “Ex-cop, as of a few hours ago. There was a thing last night and I had to kill enough people that it wasn’t going to work anymore. Which means I have Chief Benson planning to call both of you about the communi
ty picnic next Saturday, personally. You’re going to that, right L. C.?” That didn’t seem likely but Krista smiled about it.

  Avery looked a bit shy over the idea.

  “I was going to suggest it. Judy is coming, so it would be fun. Can we order in a bridge for that, Troy? We can move from here, if that’s all right?”

  He smiled about that, since it was probably good advertisement, if nothing else. These were famous people, anyway.

  “Sure! I suddenly have more time to get that done and no plans for that day, other than getting Lisa and her protégée, Vincent. We can leave from here at… Call it noon? Then I can return everyone after two in the morning? That’s when the thing is scheduled to end.” He made a face then, and chuckled. “I need to get with Tyler and his people. Today. I haven’t even been calling regularly. That’s annoying of me. Oops. Especially since Ann is meeting me later today, to see if I’m being attentive enough to all the important people in my life. Demon mentor.”

  Interestingly, they all nodded at the idea. Including L. C.

  “Avery is working with The Pristine on that kind of thing, right?”

  That was true enough.

  “I have The Rotted. Ty Gartner’s mother. She’s insane but not a horrible person, for a demon. If I mess up too much, I’ll probably die but other than that, no big deal.”

  People were showing up, and while not a thing he knew about from real life, him not being on set seemed like a good idea, suddenly. To that end he hugged Avery, then moved off, leaving her to do her real job. Playing make-believe. For money. It sounded like a sweet gig, he had to admit.

  The back office wasn’t that nice but it did have a desk in, as well as a computer console, a land line phone on the top of the brown surface that looked like wood but wasn’t and a woman behind it all. She looked up, seeming…

  Happy.

  Kathy smiled at him, her face showing she’d lost a bit of weight.

  “Troy! Hi!”

  Then he was half tackled, and held like they were the ones going out.

  “Kathy! Good to see you. I came to check up on you. You know, since you’re one of my people. Is everything going well for you? Other than your apartment burning down. I get that one pretty directly.”