Troy Ounce (Lopez Time Book 1)

by Phillip S. Power

  Which was why the good mages were sitting inside, behind their shields, getting ready to fight. The mages might police their own but that didn’t protect them from direct attack. That normally just didn’t happen, thankfully. Not from any source. Even Vampires didn’t go out of their way to mess with the mages. It wasn’t worth the headaches in the long run.

  He’d been muttering a bit, out loud but to himself, mainly. Denise made a tight noise in her throat, and adjusted the gun holster under her left arm.

  “Are you thinking it might be a hit? They do… Call it three or four in New Mexico, then move on to the next job? I’d been thinking something more… I don’t know, magical, as for the reasoning. You know, they need sacrifices for the summer solstice or some shit like that. What if it’s just about following a plan? They wanted enough for three kills. It could be that the other missing people were just collateral damage. Do we know if they all vanished from the same spots?”

  Troy searched his memory before speaking, then shook his head.

  “I didn’t really get that. I doubt that Steve had that, either. It isn’t like we have people on the ground that can just do that sort of research. I kind of wish that the police on the ground there would actually get with us on it. I know it hasn’t been long yet, but that data might help.”

  That got his small partner to make her eyes go hard and seem disgusted for a moment. Then she relaxed.

  “We’ve got this. Let’s focus on this for now. The odds of anything happening aren’t big, but it’s better than just waiting for them to do whatever comes next.”

  There was that.

  The next four hours were spent sitting in the little white and blue vehicle. If anyone was paying even small amounts of attention, it was going to be pretty obvious that they were there. No one from inside the store was bothering to look out the window, trusting in their magic instead of their eyes. At nine, Denise shifting around like she was uncomfortable, Leslie and her family left. Moving out quickly, locking the doors on the place. Then they looked around, but didn’t bother searching all the way across the highway.

  “And that’s that. Unless we’re going to stay here and see if anyone tries to break in? They don’t have live chickens on site.” A lot of other things that would work for magic, but as far as he knew the only thing needed would be a living sacrifice or six.

  Tran puffed her cheeks out, blowing hard. It made a soft hissing noise in the small vehicle.

  “Nah. Let’s get out of here. Either nothing is going to happen here, or we missed it, if it did. I wish I could sense magic and that kind of stuff. I’ve just been sitting here looking at the most drab store in existence. I know that more is going on here but it might as well just be a photograph.”

  It was a bit more than that for Troy but he recalled having been human. It hadn’t been that long before, after all. Even regular, untrained, vampires might have been down to just listening and possibly sensing moving life energy. He’d had to learn to sense magic and other kinds of power.

  Turning the car on, the engine purring in a way that meant it wasn’t the beater that it looked like on the outside, he got on the road, taking his partner back toward the station. That was where her car was.

  They didn’t speak, not having anything to show for the night’s work. That was the job though. If you wanted to be a detective, you did a lot of watching and waiting.

  His partner smiled at him and patted the top of the car after she got out.

  “In the morning, then. We’ll do a review of everything, if nothing new comes in before then. See you at nine.”

  That was less than twelve hours away.

  “See you then. Be careful.” It was a throwaway line, but got a wicked grin anyway.

  “You bet. I don’t need some blood fiends making me go away or whatever they’re doing to people. You too.”

  He drove off, thinking about that. There probably wouldn’t be an attack incoming against him. Darla either. The Technician was simply too dangerous to go for directly. For mages, even he was kind of dangerous in a direct battle. Then, the blood fiends didn’t seem to need that kind of thing at the moment. They’d already set the trap in motion. From what they’d seen, so far, the circle of blood was made, the ceremony done, then a week later or so, people went away.

  Getting in a fist fight with him wasn’t the best plan, given that. In fact, if they’d already gotten to their third target, then leaving town made the most sense. Even if they failed to take out anyone, trying twice was going to have them caught. At least if they did it the same way, against the same targets.

  When he got home, not long later, there was nothing there of note. His things, but not even a sense of foreboding or impending doom. If there was magic building up, or some kind of trap in play, he was totally blind to it. Zack wasn’t, which meant that The Technician would be able to get it. Even if she looked like a cheerleader, the girl was good.

  Almost as if thinking of her had summoned her, his phone rang. It wasn’t that odd when the voice was familiar, since she’d told him that calling was in the plans.

  “Hello, Troy. I managed to find out a little. The spell cast is a summoning. One that is actually creative in nature. A kami, if I have it right. Which I do.”

  He blinked and searched his mind for that one. When he found the right data, it was, interestingly enough from a videogame he’d played, over ten years before.

  “Um… The spirit of a place? A single idea that… I don’t know, makes people vanish, in this case?”

  That got a laugh.

  “Not totally wrong. A powerful idea that is attached to a place. This one is designed to consume. It’s a pure hunger, for the specific target. I took the one down here already. We need to do your place. What do you have to trade for that? It isn’t a hard bit of work for me, but I doubt you can find a mage that can do the work in time. Even Zack would be hard pressed to get it done, if I didn’t tell him how. Keely could do it. You’ve met her and she does like you, so that might be cheaper for you. Or it could cost you everything. You never know with The Mistress of Souls, do you?”

  It was Greater Demon Bargaining Time then. He’d never done much of it himself, since it hadn’t come up. He’d seen it done though, several times. The main idea seemed to be playing down the value of the work or whatever you wanted and increasing the value of what you wanted to trade. Most people didn’t do that kind of thing, but Darla Gibson wasn’t going to kill him if he was too pushy about it. Ann, The Rotted, might. Not The Technician.

  There was, in his head, an obvious path that he needed to follow. Why it was so clear to him, he didn't know, but it was there for him. It always was.

  “Hmm. Well, I suppose I could let you take this down at my place in exchange for some information? I got a bit of news today. Not much, but that plus what you’ll be able to learn taking down another of these things might make it worth your while. So… That, and you can owe me a medium sized favor to be named later?”

  It was warped in the wrong direction but actually got a chuckle, which was better than a death curse or whatever could have been coming.

  “Not bad. No, of course. This is real work. Not hard for me, but nearly impossible for you right now. Ten million dollars and three line walking favors, to be named later.”

  He nodded. That was a lot, but probably about fair.

  Which meant he needed to talk her way down, or else she’d think he was an easy mark.

  “I’m not line walking right now. I have orders for that, so no. That’s way too much. I can pack up and take what I need in about fifteen minutes. Sure, the neighbors will be eaten but for a lot less than ten million I can buy the whole place and relocate them all.” He technically had that kind of money but his cop act wouldn’t. That meant he’d have to let the other people there die, most likely.

  There was a soft inhalation from the demon, then.

  “Four million, and two favors. It won’t be line walking, unless you’re doing that again by t
hen?”

  He thought about it and made a face that she couldn’t see. Not that she wouldn’t know what was going on.

  “Two million, no favors but I’ll give you the new information. In exchange, you have to show me how to break this kind of thing, as well as make sure this place is safe. I get that teaching me to do it might be too hard to do in time but showing it to me and explaining it shouldn’t be too much. It would be up to me to learn it or not.”

  There was a silent pause. The greater demon was breathing, however, so hadn’t just dropped the phone and run off in anger. It was a dramatic pause, most likely. She just wouldn’t need that much time to think about the topic. It was meant to pull at him. To cause the human part of himself to respond to the idea that she was considering walking away from the bargaining table. She wasn’t, yet.

  “Three million, one small favor and that information. In exchange for that, I’ll walk you through breaking this and make sure it gets done. You’ll know how to do it by the end. I don’t promise that I won’t use torture to get you to do it. You’ll be able to though, and as alive as you are right now.”

  He thought for a few seconds. He was supposed to not go for it, since there was a hint at pain being involved. Troy got that but took a fake breath he didn't need and smiled.

  “Three million, one small favor, and that information that I probably would have shared otherwise. You’ll make sure this is broken and teach me how. Try to keep the torture to a minimum? Only what’s actually needed for me to learn?”

  It couldn’t hurt to ask, after all.

  “Done then. I’ll be by in about… Call it an hour? I need to eat first. Ready yourself.” The phone clicked off then.

  He needed his phone to get to his bank account. That meant he got to see three million vanish from it in real time. Without his doing anything at all. That done, he put it away and focused with his eyes closed. He tried to go deep. As much as what he’d done when in the void between worlds. It might not be the correct thing to do but when the demon got there, she called out, to get him to open his eyes.

  Opening them, it took him a bit to work out what, and who, he was seeing. She looked young. About sixteen or so. Not as cute as Darla Gibson, the way he knew her. More realistic though. Plump, without being fat. Her face was still heart shaped, but held a bit of softness to it. Her skin was nearly flawless, with only two small blemishes on her forehead. They were covered up with makeup, but in a way that allowed them to show through.

  “Technician? Alison, in this shape, isn’t it?” He’d heard the name before and the body was young enough to fit the voice he’d heard on the phone at the time.

  She grinned at him.

  “That’s me. So, Officer Lopez… I see you actually tried to prepare? Good. This will take a while. The first thing you need to do is find the growing sense of a single concept. One of hunger. In this case, it will want to consume you, totally. Behind the fabric of the world.” She moved forward, but didn't touch him or come within reach.

  “Now, clear your mind. Let the sea of thoughts inside your mind become as still as possible.” There was waiting, as he did that.

  After a while, forgetting she was there, her voice came at him again. Making ripples inside of him.

  “Perfect. Now, find and ignore the ideas around you. The thought of your sofa, your floor, those around you. Even the walls. Once you have that done, notice what’s left. If it isn’t me, or the desire to utterly consume you, set it aside.”

  It took a while for that to happen. Hours, at the very least. When he found it, the idea tried to come for him. Slowly. Weakly. It worked toward him however, attempting to rip his every cell into dust. It didn’t work, because the kami simply wasn’t powerful enough. Yet. It was closer than he liked that way.

  Alison, The Technician, spoke then.

  “Nice. Now, you have its essence. You can feel it. So, change it. You can quiet it. Move it to a different space. Even turn it back on its maker. Make a new idea of what it is and hold it. Then, slowly, add energy to it. You don’t have a lot to spare, yet, so you’ll need to use clarity of mind. You have that. That and time… That’s all you really need, for magic.”

  Troy decided to wipe it away, totally. He let his mind flow over it and stilled the concept, which, after a time, left nothing in its place, except a sense of peace.

  When it was done, the girl smiled at him.

  “Not bad. I really thought that it would take longer. I didn’t even have to use any coercive conditioning. You can still even get to work on time, if you shower quick. Now, what’s the information you had for me… Oh… here.” She touched him then, her hand warm on his arm. Filled with life and power, but it flowed the wrong way. Inward only. If he tried to bite her, he wouldn’t be feeding. No, he’d end up drained through the link.

  There was a tingle at the contact, as information flowed out of him. Only a bit of it and only a copy, so he wasn’t left lessened by the connection. A small bit of what he was. He pulled the correct information for her, presenting it. That part had to be due to her ability. That was the only way what he was doing made sense. It was very specific, not the kind of thing he did every day.

  She just grunted.

  “I get it. So, there’s someone else in danger from this. Well, at least the local police can handle it now. I don’t really have to tell you that if you can do this on your own, you can pretty much do any kind of magic? Powerfully. You need practice, but if you can’t be bothered to do that… The thing there is that I know you can be. I expect you to put the effort in. I’ll be checking, so do it. This was a hit. That means someone foolishly hired these mages to come after us. That speaks of someone well connected. Not a greater demon, since they’d know that it wouldn’t work. A being that would know to take you as a serious threat however. Not enough to avoid you totally. That was a mistake.” She winked at him. It was a lot saucier than what Darla the cheerleader had ever used with him.

  Even when he’d been trying rather desperately to get her into bed.

  “I won’t hold your hand on this, since you’re a big boy now. You have been, the whole time I’ve known you, I think. You get the idea. You tracked down a subtle concept. You should be able to find people that you’ve met before that way as well. Maybe not, if they’ve guarded themselves well enough. I doubt they knew to do that with a vampire. They’ll probably work out that they’ve failed with us inside five days. That leaves the last target, if they don’t abort.”

  Looking at the clock on the wall, the girl shook her head.

  “I need to be off to school. I’m late. See you Saturday?” She didn’t wait, moving into the lines, after ripping a rift into the world. It was a little annoying, since it left a tear, right in his living room.

  Moving fast, forcing into pain to do it, he showered, cleaned up and walked to work, wearing one of his nicer suits. His hair was brushed, but not styled, being too short for a lot of that. He walked into the office at nine-oh-two, to find a coffee sipping Detective Tran looking at him.

  “Ha. Who’s late now, bitches?” She grinned though, not meaning it.

  “That would be me. I have a good excuse. I learned how to break the spell. It would have formed a powerful Troy eating idea in a few days. It tried to get me last night, but I was able to take it down. I had a lesson in it. So, if we come up against another one, we won’t be stuck with people dying. At least if we know about it first. We probably have to go and take out the ones in New Mexico. They’re focused on a specific target, but once that’s consumed, the things don’t seem nearly as picky.”

  Detective Tran sipped from her white mug.

  “Hence the others just vanishing. Well, fuck. How did you get lessons in this? Is it… Something I can learn? Burning sage and invoking Hecate or making the right angel mark on the wall?” She seemed hopeful on that score.

  “Um… Honestly, yes and no. You can probably learn to do it but I doubt that you’ll want to spend the time. I kind of had a few hundred y
ears of practice, seven or so, that helped in a sideways fashion. Years of lessons in magic first as well. If you’re willing… Then, yeah, I bet you can do it.”

  That got an eye roll.

  “No then? Who taught you? In case we need to get that hooked up for someone else.”

  “The Technician. It cost, too. Three million dollars, a favor to be paid later and some data. Pretty much everything we have to date. Not that she couldn’t have just taken that anyway.” Worse, he had a feeling that he’d made a nearly brilliant bargain with her. For one of her own kind.

  She’d let him do it, as well. Why that was, he didn’t know. Then she’d flat out told him to get his butt going and learn how to actually do magic for real, instead of just as an academic subject. Her line about checking in on him that way was a bit sinister. She was Zack’s mentor, so Troy knew first hand that she’d actually do it. Probably sooner than he could be ready for.

  His partner drank more coffee, then shook her head, trying to clear something from it.

  “Wait… You have three million dollars? Or did? That… Why work, if you have that kind of money lying around?”

  He smiled then. He nearly decided to be vague about it all, then went with the truth.

  “I have a few hundred million. Being a line walker pays really well. That was me mainly not caring about money at all. Why work? Because it needs to be done. Someone has to go first and Eve Benson needed to fill a spot here. So, I came. Why does anyone do anything? To survive. To help others do the same. This is important work. Even if all we do is keep school kids on the straight and narrow and put picnics together, it’s worth it.”

  He sounded like he meant it. Which wasn’t totally true. Oh, it was important. No one could doubt that. It just didn’t actually need him to be doing it. Not so far. Detective Tran would have been fine alone. Well, dying of heart disease, but other than that, she didn’t really need him. His whole point in being there was to show a fanged face to the world that wasn’t trying to bite them.

  A thing that had made him a target already.