Hell, In a Troy (Lopez Time Book 2)

by Phillip S. Power

  The danger was that Ann was his master. She could, literally, order him to do anything and he wouldn’t have a choice in the matter at all. He might not even know that he was doing it at the time, if The Rotted didn’t want him to.

  The demon on the phone didn’t drag things out at all.

  “Talk to you soon… Mr. Lopez.”

  “Later, Librarian. Take care.” The last words just popped out for some reason.

  “You as well. Thank you.” Then the phone clicked, as if they were friends but not that close. Half of that was even correct.

  He searched his brain hard but couldn’t work out when he might have met the man. Not more than once. The first time, if it was the first at all, was at his house in Vancouver. Tarsus and Keeley had fought in his living room, both looking like a sixteen-year-old girl. A very pretty one. Given that nothing else was coming at the moment, he got back to work.

  Having the numbers wasn’t enough, it seemed. At least he got to put in calls and leave messages. Six of them, before his phone lost power and died.

  “Now, I need electricity. Where to go, where to go…”

  It was tempting to head to Vancouver, and check on his new mages but they didn’t know that he’d collected them yet. That could be a bit hard for them to take, and while they might not be able to do a lot, the idea that they could, if they wanted to bother, was suddenly in the front of his mind. It wasn’t a huge threat, he guessed but it was a real one.

  For instance, not long before, he’d had to stop three mages from blowing up a big part of the state, using nothing more than their minds. It had taken a human sacrifice to stop it. That got him to think, and finally nod. There was going to be a funeral, after a while. No one would be expecting him and Detective Tran to show up, since it would probably be in Wyoming.

  Which, if it didn’t start a fight, would be a great excuse to go there. How he was going to find out about that, he didn't know. It may have already happened, if it was going to take place at all.

  For a moment, he sat there, not knowing what to do. Which way to jump. His phone needed to drink energy though, which was a thing he could understand. Getting up, he started working, setting up to… Then he stopped. Finally, almost perversely, he moved from his living room to the vampire council house. It had no official name, so everyone just called it that, even if it was a stone castle. One that had power though, and plug ins that were in each room.

  Still, not wanting to die, or even piss anyone off, Troy aimed for the front space. It was an open hall, about a hundred feet on a side. Made of polished stone. There were no busts, statues, paintings or fountains. Off to the right there was a large sitting area, where people, mainly vampires, could wait, if they wanted an audience. The floor had a giant throw rug on it that looked old. So much so he wasn’t going to guess at how aged it really was. It was clean, since the place had servants for things like that.

  They were all asleep for the day, most likely.

  The council was all made of very strong, older vamps, though. They didn’t sleep.

  It was part of why they were in charge. That and the fact that most of them didn’t present as evil assholes all the time. It sounded odd, given that the other vampires could be a bit like that, if they didn't think you were going to kick their butts for them but it was the metric used. The more personal control you had, the faster you rose in the ranks. No one would listen to an angry jerk for long, unless they killed their own people in numbers that scared the rest into compliance with their wishes.

  That was the standard way that vampires took power, in the lower ranks. Just beating the others until they admitted you were the boss. At the council level, they did it differently. Mainly due to the fact that working together worked better than growling and gnashing your teeth, over the long haul.

  Moving to that area, where the leather chairs were, set in a square, with four on each side. The things were comfortable enough, he realized. He’d seen them before but only as he moved through, for other work. Against the back wall, near the floor, there was a plug in. The wires ran the length of the wall, since whoever had made the giant stone thing had failed to make an allowance for that kind of thing to run through the walls. The water pipes were the same way.

  They had them but the pipes were exposed, being an afterthought, by at least a hundred years.

  From the sound of it, there was rain outside that day. It sounded hard enough to be interesting, with wind whistling inside the vast structure.

  It worked though, so he settled in, with a line running from the wall to his phone. No one else came, for a long time. When someone finally did, Troy had to smile. After all, it was a familiar face. Coming in, as well, through the front door.

  Bey. His maker.

  “Bey!” Troy shot to his feet, though did it at human speeds, so that he didn’t end up flying through the wall. That would be fatal, even for someone already dead. The thing was at least a foot thick. Most people, looking at him, and the thin, slightly older looking bald man, would have bet on Troy in a fight. They would have been wrong.

  One of them was a cop but the other was the Killer of the Council. Troy didn’t give anyone nightmares, he didn’t think. If he was lucky a few people might think of him as generally intimidating, thanks to his normally fancy clothing choices.

  The other man, dressed in a slightly threadbare, rather old, black suit, smiled at him. It was a big thing that seemed human and real. A lot of people couldn’t tell that Bey wasn’t alive, even if there were some signals, if you knew to look for them. Things like his skin not changing color, or him giving off heat most of the time.

  “Troy! You came to visit? Is there something amiss?” His eyes searched Troy, noting his clothing and the charred state of parts of it.

  Then he didn't comment on it, being very polite that way. He always did the right thing, as far as making people comfortable. Most of the time. Sometimes he had to kill people, which wasn’t all that comfy but other than that…

  “Nothing too big. A djinn burned my apartment down. I just bought a house though. From Zack? It’s nice. All my clothing is gone, so, this.” He glanced at his sleeve and sighed. He didn't mention how he’d had to grow his hand back. “Um… The Technician and I caught it. She’s questioning it. Really, she probably already has. I should ask about that. I don’t really hang out with greater demons a lot.” He shook his head and grinned. “Except for Zack, and of course, Ann, The Rotted. She’s named herself my mentor. I blame The Technician for part of that one.”

  The old vampire, who was old enough that he couldn’t recall when he’d been alive as more than it being a very long time ago. It was before the time of Rome. That meant a lot.

  After a long wait, with no sense of the other man being mobile at all, he sagged a bit.

  “That is not good. I do not love these times, with its open ways and greater demons at every turn. Yes, there are wonders but also dangers that we must watch for, constantly. I cannot tell you to flee even, as once I would have told any child of mine, were a demon coming for them. Things are too different for me to guess what is the right thing to do.”

  Troy smiled then, a bit grimly.

  “I can’t love it either. Still, I’m still alive, so for now I’m going with that.” He didn’t cover that he was dead, of course.

  Bey knew that and understood turns of phrase.

  He clasped his hands in front of him, which looked a bit strange. Almost effeminate. A thing that no one was going to call him on. Troy certainly wasn’t. Not out of fear, either. It was adorable. It was also a good thing that Bey wasn’t insecure that way. Really, his noting it was probably a sign that he needed to grow up still.

  “I was coming to sit in on a meeting. About you, as it stands. You’ve developed a new ability? That of opening ways from one point to another?”

  “Heh. Zack made me open and hold nine of them, at once. Then suggested that I get faster at it. Do you want to see, before you go in to the council? It takes some
effort but I’m waiting for my phone to charge. I should have the power turned on at my new place tomorrow. I just have calls to make today, so came here.”

  It wasn’t a normal thing for a vampire to do at all. Rather than say that, the other vampire smiled again.

  “Would that be a thing you could allow? How much would such a service run?”

  Troy had that one.

  “We’re opening it to the public at the same price as airfare. The governments, all of them, can have limited travel for free, though. Not just ours but you have my phone number, so we can do things like that. The trick there is that it has to be by appointment. I have work during the day.” He stopped then, and saw that Bey looked strained. “Is that too mean seeming? Even Zack agreed that it’s enough. I’ll make more than enough for it to pay off.”

  Not that money was his big worry. Bey’s either.

  “Oh? The Line Walker is in agreement? I would have thought that he might claim it as too close to his own business and deny us the right to do this.”

  “Agree with it? He’s letting us use his node space for it. He isn’t even charging us rent for it. It should increase his business by a lot, so it’s worth it to him. Besides, he’s been trying to get this stuff done for free for nearly a decade now. You all just kept paying him, even as he gave you free services. This way I can do it, and claim that it’s just part of my council duties.”

  “Ah!” He clapped his hands together lightly then. It was a happy thing. The kind that showed real joy. “Then I would love to try this new thing. How does it work?”

  The explanation took longer than opening the bridge did. He set the far end into the underground node complex in China. That was very near to Bey’s home there. Troy had never been to the location, since it was a secret. Even from him. Which was smart, given that a lot of people really didn't love Bey, for some reason.

  The room on the far side had no one in it but was recognizable to the vampire. It didn’t take a lot of coaxing to get him to step through and then back. When he was done, doing it several times, including at much faster than human speeds, he grinned.

  “This is amazing, young Troy. You could send hundreds through, as fast as they could carry themselves. Can these openings be made larger?”

  He hadn’t done that yet but thought so.

  “I… Let’s try it? It feels like it should work. Let me…” He tried for something about ten time larger than what he’d done, being that much wider but more of a rectangle then the circle he’d been using. That opened up into central park, in Vancouver. He knew the place and didn’t think anyone would be scared by something like that happening.

  It took up most of the space along one wall, which let a bird fly into the council house. Bey laughed, then tracked the thing in flight, leaped into the air and snagged it. Gently. The bird wasn’t wild about that but didn’t get a choice in the matter. The giant two-legged beast moved until it could toss the bird softly into the open structure along the wall.

  Troy thought about what he’d done, then took the portals, both of them, down.

  “The big one took longer. I doubt I could hold two of them at once, at that size. I can do it, so if we needed to move vehicles around. I’d like to not use it for war, if at all possible. That kind of thing… Well, it could work but I don’t really want people getting hurt, just because we have a new option.”

  “Come, then, Troy. Let’s go and face the others over this. I think… Yes. This is a good thing, if we use it with wisdom.” He didn’t say come twice or anything.

  Instead he just led Troy into the council chamber. Without his phone, since it still needed to charge. It was a good walk, since the place wasn’t tiny at all. Troy actually knew the way, having been in the space before about half a dozen times. Mainly so he could get with people, in order to take them away to some far-off location through the node.

  An expensive and rarely used thing, that cost in the millions with each trip. This way, he could pop over, set things up and have the team going in out to handle things in minutes, compared to hours or days. As long as he was free to do that kind of thing.

  There was a bit of a surprise, in the room, since most of the council was there. Not all of them, he didn’t think. Memes was there. She was a Nosferatu, meaning she had flesh tone skin, that was pale but not really white. Her nose was longer than a human would have thought comfortable, and her ears were long and pointed as well. She had a bit of hair on her head, and large eyes. Those were deep red, constantly.

  Harland the Manthori was in as well, his tall bone white form also having red eyes. His hair was white, and he was very thin. Also dressed in comfortable clothing that day. A loose brown shirt and trousers in a similar color. Interestingly, he was barefoot, under the table. Troy could see that from the door.

  Marissa looked nice enough.

  There were several others there, one of them being a large bat being. That one looked at him and smiled. At least that was how he was taking the wide mouthed move. So, he did it back and waved a little, trying to be polite.

  Bey clapped.

  “I met Troy here in the front room, waiting on our pleasure. He made several bridges from here to different locations. China and a park in the north and west of America. They are marvels. He has already gotten The Line Walker to agree to the fee rate suggested. Matching airline travel for a normal man or woman. Also… Free service for us, and others in the government, requesting only that we ask ahead of time, to prevent misuse?”

  The others didn’t speak. Finally, in a very high-pitched voice, the bat vampire did it. Troy could understand the words but only a bit, since he was speaking in Spanish. It had been a while since high school but he sort of followed what was being said.

  So he nodded.

  “Yes. Anyone.”

  Then Bey bowed a little, smiling at the strange being. Listening to it speaking far faster than Troy could understand the words. He got a few of them but his maker understood more.

  “Indeed. The free service for us, and the others, is to be his duty to the council.”

  Marissa smiled at him then.

  “Ah? You seek a seat here? That’s advanced, for your age. Do you think that your temperament is suited? You’re untested. Well, not untested, you have shown power and good will perhaps but not tested over time.”

  He could see her point.

  “I just meant it was me doing my part. I can… I don’t know, come in and sweep up occasionally and do the travel work. Maybe get a tax break?”

  There was laughing over the words but in the end, they all rather agreed that it was a good enough plan.

  Chapter nineteen

  The next morning, after a full night of entertaining the council with free trips to different places, just for fun, Troy felt a bit out of sorts. It wasn’t a huge thing, of course. In fact, before he got into the office at the police station, he focused for about ten seconds, added a little bit of power to the concept and washed his unease away. Replacing the feeling with peace, a lack of pain, and an increase in his ability to store energy.

  When he got into the space, he found Denise Tran already there. Feeling pretty good, after using magic for it, he waved at her.

  “Hey! Anything new happening?”

  “Nope. Not a single fucking thing. It looks like we’re going to get to finally have a restful day. That’s the best kind. Lots of coffee, no heart problems and I’m single. This is going to be a good day.” She punctuated the words with a sip from her large white mug.

  Moving to his own desk, Troy was tempted to call her on being a greater demon. Then he let it go. After all, she was doing the work, and frankly, was easier to put up with this way. Denise Tran wasn’t the perfect human but she was nice enough, in a slightly foul-mouthed way.

  “Oh… I was thinking that we should work out how to crash Forest’s funeral. Carlos Strobmier. That isn’t local. At least it makes sense it wouldn’t be. I can get us there, so that isn’t an issue. It’s not in our jurisdic
tion but we’re supposed to get with The Technician and get her to help us stall them for a bit. The Librarian is planning to look into it, since apparently a god getting loose is bad. Also, he might have mentioned that there are other things in that cage he made that we don’t really want to see out and about in the world.”

  Denise sipped for a bit, looking at him pretty directly. Her brown eyes didn’t dance or seem playful at all as she did it.

  “Aren’t greater demons on our shit list? At least the list of people to avoid, if we can?” The whole thing was dead panned, as if deflecting from the fact that she was one.

  That got him to smile, feeling comfortable with his partner at the moment. With the obvious trick she was playing, trying to make the world work, if only for herself at the moment. Reality fit, which meant that it was pretty darn close to what had to be happening at the moment. The unease he felt was coming from her. Not completely.

  “Yep. They can seriously be some screwed up a-holes. Especially The Technician and her little friends. Like The Rotted? Now there’s a moon bat if ever I’ve seen one. We just don’t really get a choice here. I mean, you and I aren’t really up to fighting gods like this. I’m not, anyway. We can go and see about getting in some mage’s way though. Make it harder for them to open up that cage. If it hasn’t happened already. I need to learn what mages do that way. To get things like that open?” He tried to think for a moment, about what to do toward that end.

  Then, interestingly, Tran picked up her phone, pretended to look at something on her computer, and waited for someone to pick up after dialing.

  When it did, Troy was surprised.

  “Cheyenne Strobmier? This is Denise Tran, from the Lincoln Police Department…”

  The voice on the other side sounded too calm and a little bit smooth, like she was acting, instead of talking to the police. That made almost everyone at least a little tense. Even over the phone. The cops only got with you when things were going wrong, after all. The best case scenario for most people was that they wanted to get someone close to you.