The Gates of Troy (Lopez Time Book 3)

by Phillip S. Power

  “Sure thing, Honey. You folks get settled and I’ll be right back with those.” She hurried off but having called out his name had alerted all the vampires there. Two of them, interestingly enough, seemed to be headed toward the door. Slowly, as if that would prevent them from being noticed doing it.

  Harriet, the local vamp leader, moved in. She was dressed like a bar manager, not a hidden politician. Then, Troy had to agree, most days running the tavern was probably the more important part of things. She didn’t ask if they wanted company, just sitting, right next to the human. Probably since he’d be the easiest to take out, if it came to a fight.

  The black woman looked nice enough. Not lovely but no one would have thought anything about her, if she were out in public. Nothing bad at all. She looked about right for her place in the world. About fifty but well-kept at the same time. She smelled, very lightly, of a floral perfume.

  “Mr. Lopez… To what do we owe this visit tonight?”

  Troy smiled, and waved at the others so that she’d get who he was talking about.

  “Roger here was attacked earlier tonight. Three morons. Humans. They didn't like his looks. He does this thing with fake fangs and make-up. It’s cute. Anyway, Mable here noticed it happening, so stepped up to back her fellow vampire. It was close enough to legal that there won’t be any fallout from it. Roger is getting a job with her, as a day man. Five dollars, plus expenses in advance. That’s per hour but also per person, so we figured that we’d get the word out about his services. One trip to the store might take a few hours, with the deliveries but if he goes for ten people at once…”

  Harriet got the idea. It was a traditional job, if not normally done that openly.

  “I… See. There might be some use for that, in the area. Are you willing to cover other towns in the area? Say, a twenty-mile circle? That would… Well, there’s a real need, if you can travel a bit. Other tasks, not just standard shopping? Blood pick up and that kind of thing?”

  Roger nodded, looking as if he were only slightly nervous.

  “Anything legal. If it’s too hard, I might have to charge more but only for individual things. The base rate will stay the same. I might need more for gas, if it’s too far away. I can travel a bit. The point is to help people, right?”

  The older woman smiled then.

  “I do like that attitude. I can put the word out for you? Would I be allowed to have a number for that? It will mean knowing where to deliver things, which is protected information for some of our people. You can keep a secret?” She leaned in a bit, her hand moving upward, near her face. “We’re all out but not all of us are exactly… Out.”

  That got the boy, looking a lot more serious than before, his face still lumpy in places, with a bit of bruising going on, to nod and touch his left eye. The swollen ridge right below it, actually.

  “I know why. But yes. I can keep that kind of thing to myself.”

  That was the right answer, it seemed. Harriet smiled anyway, to indicate she was happy enough with the new kid. He’d need to prove out, of course. For one thing, she probably figured that Troy was setting him on them as a spy. It wasn’t the truth but it would take years for them to work that part out.

  Harriet turned her attention to the other vampire then, looking politely interested.

  “Mable, you said your name was?”

  The other woman, looking cute enough that about a quarter of the men in the place had turned to look at her at least once or twice, let her own face curl up then.

  “Right, I nearly forgot about that part. I mentioned my age problem to Mr. Lopez, and he fixed it. I don’t know if it’s an illusion or not but I have to admit that I like it.”

  She stroked her right cheek, smiling enough to show she had a dimple on her chin.

  Troy shrugged.

  “It should be permanent. I was thinking that we could do the hair as well, if you want? Something purple maybe?” He was kidding, since that was a horrible color for hair. At least if it was going to grow that way naturally.

  Which the local vamp leader understood instantly.

  “That’s an incredible power. Can you regrow limbs that way? We have two vampires in the area that…” She stopped then shook her head. “Forgive me. I have no right to ask about that kind of thing. I hope you don’t take offense.”

  That got Troy to make a face, thinking.

  “It could take time to make things regrow like that. It’s a mass issue. I had to redo my own hand and it took a lot of energy to make happen. Just restructuring skin and bone a bit isn’t that difficult though. I can try it, if anyone is willing to risk having me fail the first ten times? It should work on almost anyone.” He stopped then. “Not dragons but most other people.”

  No one asked why that was, at first. Finally, Roger did, not getting that, as the human new hire, he was supposed to keep his mouth shut. Troy didn't care about that though, so the others, who winced, had to let it go as well.

  “You won’t help dragons? That one from Red Rain seems pretty sweet. Bethany?”

  He nodded, not agreeing with the whole thing but the heart of the issue there.

  “Avery Rome. She is very sweet. We’re thinking about getting married. It isn’t about bigotry, just that dragons are resistant to magic. That’s how I got the work on Mable done, so it won’t really work on her people. We could work something up for you though, if you want? Maybe a tail? That could be fun.” His face stayed still, as Mable looked a bit troubled.

  “Wouldn’t that be as hard as regrowing a limb? You’d need to increase the mass, somehow. That’s harder to do with only energy, isn’t it?”

  That was insightful but not beyond what a regular vampire might come up with. If they bothered to consider things closely at all.

  “It really would be. Different hair, or eyes, that can be done. Maybe glittery skin?” That was a Twilight dig but only the kid got it.

  Roger smiled though.

  “I could use being better looking? That wouldn’t hurt my feelings at all.”

  Before Troy could answer, saying that it would be possible to do that, if they made an appointment, a vampire across the room shook his head.

  “Not if he’s going to run for us. We need someone bland, who won’t be noticed too closely. Glowing eyes would be too much. Besides, he looks fine. He’s a man, it isn’t like he needs to attract a husband, right?”

  There was a soft cough, from a different point of the noisy room then.

  Another vampire, this one a lady, sitting in the far corner, chuckled.

  “Well, I think he’s cute enough. I suppose that I can’t drink from our shared message man, can I?” Troy turned to look at the dark space with the woman in it. She wasn’t that old looking but managed to be kind of plain through the face. Normal but cute enough that she could score with Roger. Or Troy, if it had been ten years before. Especially if she had a nice personality. She sounded fine enough so far.

  He nodded.

  “Yes, to dating, no to drinking from him. At least… You’re single, right Roger? We’re having a conversation about you.” Dating one of the vamps wouldn’t be a horrible plan. Especially if they were strong enough to protect their human friend. It honestly didn’t come up that much but if Roger was making deliveries to a lot of people, then anger might come up. Vampires could be assholes, after all. Including the ones in the room. Over half of them were busily glowering, instead of chatting with them.

  Part of that was due to him being there. Really, it was surprising that no one had tried to challenge him yet. Harriet seemed too smart for that. For one thing, Troy was working with the council. As Mable had suggested, they didn’t work with weak vampires very often. Plus, he was a local police officer. That could be a problem, even if one of them managed to kick his behind.

  That didn’t mean that no one would go for it. One of the traits of young vampires was that they always felt like they, and they alone, could take on the world. It was why they used to be beaten by their
makers for the first twenty years or so. To stop that idea before it had a chance to lead to things that would be bad for everyone in the world.

  Or could be, if Bey and Eve didn’t just go in and kill all the baby vamps that were getting out of hand. Harriet seemed fine though and Mable, for all she glared about half the time, was managing not to snap at anyone in his presence. So far.

  Roger might not have been a vampire but he wasn’t dumb enough not to get the basic idea that powers were being used to chat about him. He smiled, and didn't react in any other way, until he spoke. Then it was polite enough to show he sort of got the basic danger he was in.

  “I’m not seeing anyone right now.”

  That got a soft laugh, from the man near the bar. Troy thought he was one of the bouncers there. The dark haired one that looked a little rough. Like his face had been beaten into a rough shape that approximated a human being, before he’d died and it stuck, forever. Still he was working at a bar, and hadn’t been stalking around glowering the whole time as far as Troy knew. That meant he was fairly old.

  That or had learned to behave at a younger age than most bothered to do. It was possible, after all.

  Troy nodded then.

  “This is a great thing. Having a service like this. I might be using it myself. I work during the day but also have some new things coming up. With the new bridge program?” He didn't make anyone ask about it. “It’s basically teleportation between places here, on our planet. For roughly the price of an airline ticket. Keep that in mind when you book your next vacation. Everyone is allowed to use it, too. It’s been cleared with the council and The Line Walker. At least that’s the plan. It should start after the picnic, I think. We’re doing a soft roll out though, this weekend.”

  Roger went again, smiling.

  “That sounds awesome! So… I can get a trip to Egypt or something? I mean, if I had money?”

  That got the kid pointed at.

  “Right! Not for free but I bet I could score you a good discount. Ten percent, even. I know the man that builds the portals, so I have an in there.”

  “That is so cool. Well, even more of a reason to do a good job for everyone, so they’ll keep working with me. I… Don’t know if this will work but at least I get to meet people. That’s better than I’ve been doing. Things have been kind of hard for me. You know, getting out into the world and stuff?”

  That got a soft chuckle, even if it wasn’t a joke. Most of the vampires seemed to find it kind of funny. That was probably because, to them, a regular guy had it made, as far as meeting people went. There was no desire to drink their blood or anything, which made it simple.

  For them.

  After all, vampires didn’t really have to worry about being shy, as a rule. Rejection might make them angry but they wouldn’t really feel embarrassed over it, either. If you were far enough away from being human, it could be easy to forget that part of things. How cringy just asking a woman out could leave a guy feeling, if he wasn’t smooth and suave all the time.

  So, Troy didn't laugh at him over it, or even smile.

  “Good point.”

  He was going to say more but the drinks came, so he took his water, and settled the bill right then. It was a sign that they didn't plan to stay all night. No one was bold enough to act relieved over that point but there was a subtle change in the room. The main portion of that came from the right-hand side, where two vampire men had moved together.

  Neither of them spoke but there was some nudging that spoke of a plan being in place. Troy didn't worry about it, even though part of his mind pulled off in focus, to keep tabs on them. Using a small tendril of magic, he tried to feel what they were doing, so that he wasn’t starring at them the whole time. With a trickle of magic, added to it, a flood of things suddenly came at him. Poking up from behind his eyes, almost glowing.

  That they were going to attack him was clear. The reason behind it was a bit fuzzy, he noticed. At first, he figured that it was just about wanting to see how tough he was. To find out where he came out in the pecking order of the local vampire community.

  Until he noticed that one of the men, the shorter one, was talking to someone. In his head. That… It wasn’t a powerful thing happening but it felt familiar. A little bit. Like Baphomet had going on. Except that this was different. Less overwhelming but also kinder, in some ineffable fashion.

  As if it wanted to test him but wasn’t actually trying to get him killed while doing it. That was inside the information being passed but there were no words to the whole thing. Just a feeling.

  The plan coming from the men was more advanced, however. They were going to try for him in the back parking lot. That had been where Roger had parked his vehicle, so it made some sense. There were also three more people out there. All dead. All of them planning to prove that Troy wasn’t that powerful. Possibly with him being removed from the world that evening.

  So, five in all. Troy wasn’t up to searching for them all outside. Not without some practice. That he’d gotten as much as he had was shocking enough to him. Glancing over, he faked a sigh.

  “Well. This is going to be fun.” He glanced at Harriet, then sighed. “A few of your people are planning to die tonight. Attacking me. One of them at least is being influenced by a god. Um…” He was going to explain the idea but the vampire leader for the area winced.

  Then Harriet sat up a bit straighter.

  “We can stop them. These… It’s Hammer and Anvil over there, isn’t it? They’re powerful. Strong and good fighters. Maybe you should run. We’ll try to stop them.”

  That was a good idea, except that, of course, Troy was still a vampire. He wasn’t running from these vamps. Instead he smiled, trying to make it seem realistic.

  “No need. I’ll go out first? Can you watch Roger and Mable here for a few moments?” He stood up, since he didn’t plan to fight inside, if he had a choice. He could do it, of course. That would just leave people in danger, who didn’t need to be. “Oh… Also, does someone have a truck? We’ll need to bury their bodies.”

  That was just him grandstanding, of course. Five vampires could be an actual threat to him. Especially if any of them had special skills. Like being able to talk to gods. That might change things a lot depending on what the current trick was. A fine line of anger trickled through Troy’s soul.

  For the first time in months, he didn’t fight against the feeling. People were going to attack him, and after the week that he’d had, that was not welcome or a thing that he felt like just letting go. Still, there were things he needed to do. One of them was getting out of the bar without fighting where there would be damage he needed to pay for.

  Standing, Mable and Harriet went still, Roger though panted and let his eyes go wide.

  “We… What do we do?” He spoke in hushed tones, as if that were going to keep the vampires from hearing what was said.”

  Troy took a breath, let half of it out and then nodded once.

  “Just stay here. I need to give them a chance to not do this, if I can.” Then, changing his pitch, he spoke to the people that were hovering around Roger’s car in the back. The men at the bar, with the unlikely and slightly stupid sounding names of Hammer and Anvil, got up, glared at him, then jogged toward the front door.

  To prevent him from escaping that way.

  There was a primitive plan there, which would have worked, if he were a high school nerd and they were the bullies. The exits were covered, which would force him to run into an ambush on the way out. Except that the ones in back weren’t hovering at the door. They were across the gravel lot, by Roger’s car. He could hear the silence in that area.

  It was a bit public but Troy decided that he didn't want to walk into an ambush that easily. Instead, he opened a bridge, taking about twenty seconds to do it. He could have gone faster but the light from inside the bar would be seen by anyone paying attention. That meant he needed to do it far enough away from the vampires outside that they wouldn’t notice
it. He could feel the space but didn't know it well enough to pick the ideal area. Instead of going for perfect, he used a bit of distance. Nearly a quarter of a mile. Then, with a happy wave, he stepped through the rip in space, coming out a good bit away.

  Running, moving into the pain caused by warping time by using his full speed, Troy dropped the bridge. It wouldn’t help him, he didn't think. He also killed off the pain of the whole thing, using magic. He felt nothing, as he moved faster than he’d ever managed before. So much so that neither Hammer or Anvil, two men dressed up in biker leathers, with winged Hell’s Angels patches all over themselves, even shifted a little as they stood in front of the door. Holding knives. Nice long ones.

  They were a matching set, he thought. Not that he pried them from the vampire’s hands to examine them. The smaller man, who was probably Anvil, given his face looked like it had been used for that purpose before, being rather squished seeming, died as Troy slapped at the back of his head. It didn’t make it explode or anything but it did take it off the neck well enough.

  There was rolling then, as Troy reached out and took the knife from the vamp’s hand. His body not even falling yet. The other vampire started to turn but did it in such slow motion that his head hadn’t even turned the whole way as Troy slashed at the neck. It didn’t come off easily but with a bit of sawing with the large, probably sharp, blade, he managed the action well enough.

  A mess ensued. Vampires didn’t really bleed but they had a black liquid that could get all over everything. In places it seemed slightly red, in the lights from the front of the shop.

  He spoke then, knowing it was going to be too fast for even others of his own kind to make out.

  “Too bad. Those were incredibly sweet jackets.” Not his style but expensive enough that he felt bad for ruining them. Others could have used them.

  Not that the local chapter of their biker club wasn’t about to reduce in numbers a lot. For a second, Troy considered feeling bad that way. Most bike clubs had about ten members. If this one was all vampire, then it was likely about to cease being.