The Gates of Troy (Lopez Time Book 3) Read online

  So, he did it.

  If it was appreciated, he didn’t know. The woman didn’t exactly pet or cosseted him, to show how much he was admired for taking the hard part on himself. Then, she was married to a woman, so might not care that much about flirting with him that way.

  Even if he did look good in his new suit.

  Tarsus wasn’t in to take messages that day but there was a machine, a thing that was an actual service, with a secretary that took messages, for some reason. It seemed both expensive and refined, while also less than perfectly efficient. He left a number, with a message to call him about what they talked about last, since things had changed.

  Then he had about four hours of paperwork to file and double check. It wasn’t that much fun but he didn't hate that part of the job, like a lot of police officers did. He was good enough at writing, so it wasn’t the hunt and peck fight that a lot of them had to deal with. Spelling was made simpler, thanks to a program that checked that for him, as he worked.

  After a while, the women left, to go and see about hiring some killers, or perhaps to work out how to murder The Children of Baphomet themselves. He wasn’t told which but he was able to work for a while on the silly picnic they were going to be having. At five, he was able to pack up, which meant that as he walked out, he found Avery Rome standing there, in a nice red dress. She was made up for a date and held a wicker basket that smelled like it had food inside.

  “Mr. Lopez. I came to take you out on a date. I was thinking we could go to the beach? I found a nice spot that no one goes to.” She sounded a bit shy, under the bold words.

  As if she expected him to reject her, for some reason.

  “That sounds wonderful! I should change first. Something a bit less… Expensive?” She was dressed for fun, it seemed. Her tan shoulders showed, the light dress not covering them.

  They looked delicious. Not even in a blood drinking way. She was very cute, after all. She’d also dressed up in a way that screamed about sex. A thing that she wouldn’t want from him at all. She, as a dragon, just didn't have a real sex drive. That wouldn’t stop her from being able to do things. That meant she had word that Eve had returned his own sex drive.

  Since Eve was her adoptive mother, that one was likely, he realized.

  It also meant that Eve was working against him. Trying to get him married to the girl, for some reason. At least, she wasn’t working to stop Avery, or suggest she find someone more appropriate for her. The difficult part was that she was sweet, and a little shy but not bad in any way.

  Avery seemed ready to wait for him there. Even if it meant that he left her and went home first, as she stood out front of a police station, waiting for her date. That was nearly as horrible a thing as Troy could imagine doing to her over the whole thing.

  “Come on? We can leave from my place.” He was certain of that. Even if she wanted to go to a different reality.

  There was a grin from the girl. She played with her curly black hair a bit. It made tight ringlets but had been arranged to look fun and like it wasn’t a hassle to care for. That would be a lie, of course. Troy had dated enough women with hair like that to understand that it could take hours to have that kind of a look. It showed that there was effort in what she was doing, if nothing else.

  The drive to his house didn’t take long but he invited her inside anyway, since it seemed rude to have her waiting in the car, when they’d probably go to a node to get to wherever she wanted to go.

  “I… Would you take us? I can make a bridge now but it still takes me a while. I can’t use magic. I can show you where it is? After you change?”

  “Sure. That sounds fun. Let me get to that.” He looked at her, flirting a bit, as he left the room. As if his plan was to get laid that night, instead of just being polite to a friend of his that might not have a horrible idea. He didn't need to be married but it wasn’t like the idea had never come up for him before. His parents were still married, after all, so it could work.

  Avery’s people, The Grey, hadn’t even had the concept of divorce, so she didn’t really have that either. That meant she wasn’t going to take the idea half as lightly as most of the women that he’d dated would have. There was that problem with the fact that he was dating Barbara, of course. Troy wasn’t going to break up with her to get married to a mutual friend, either.

  Especially since they were all essentially immortal. Messing things up that badly would be moronic on his part. It would be better to go without either of them, than to do that.

  He got into a pair of jeans and a loose sweater. One that was comfortable, and a deep green color. The shoes on his feet were casual loafers. It was a bit fancy, given the rest of the outfit but Avery had dressed up to get his attention, he needed to at least show that he’d noticed that.

  Walking out, he smiled.

  “Now, where would you like to go? Using a bridge, so inside this world?” That made sense. It was a date, not an attempt to get laid. She was probably waiting to pull out the big guns on that one, for her proposal to him.

  She moved toward him, her face a bit worried looking.

  “Um, I can pass you a link to the spot? Here… My skin…” She could pass intent by touching someone, and had done it before with him. Twice, while they worked on different projects. Instead of doing that though, she kissed him.

  There was a link to the correct spot in it. He did it back, since she put enough effort into it to make it more than a peck on the lips. It was nearly sensuous.

  “Nice. So, this is a date you say? Or do I need to bring weapons with me?”

  She actually flushed enough that he could see it in infra-red. That was interesting to notice, since he’d never seen her do that before.

  “It’s… I’m…” She took a big breath and looked away, as if gathering her courage. “I was talking to Barbara. She said that you two are dating? I… Would you like to get married? She said it was fine with her, as long as I didn’t steal you away all to myself. My tribe… We, a lot of the men had a wife and also other women. That isn’t so strange to me. I like her, so it would be fine to have her with us, if you want? Part of the time. She mentioned that we shouldn’t all live together, because you’re both vampires. Is that…”

  Troy looked at her, then nodded a bit. At the same time, he formed the bridge to the spot she’d linked him to. When it opened, she looked at it, then through it. It was still daylight, where they were going. It was nearly six in the evening where they were and possibly a bit earlier on the other side of the rift he was holding. That looked right but no sound came through for some reason.

  He waved.

  “We should go now. As for marriage…” She tensed up but walked through the hole in space easily, as if it weren’t something all that new. She’d done it before, after all. Really, it sounded like she’s already learned to make her own, which was promising. That showed she was keeping up on building her skills.

  “I… Think that we could give it a try? At least date for a bit with that in mind? I mean, this is nearly the first time I’ve been alone with you, when it wasn’t work related.” His lips still tingled, from the contact with her. He was cold, being dead, but she was warm to the touch.

  As soon as they were through and he glanced around for a bit, he nodded. It was a beach, made of sand, with tide pools behind them. There was no way for a human being to get there, unless they were willing to swim against the powerful waves in the area. At a guess, they had a few hours before the sand would be underwater. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that there was a cave.

  It didn’t look deep at all.

  Avery smiled sweetly.

  “It’s a bit damp but secluded enough. I have some blood for you? Animal. Eve mentioned that you didn't eat people anymore.”

  That got a nod, since it was an important thing to mention.

  “Hardly ever, at least. Maybe on special occasions. Anyway… marriage. That’s a bit out of the blue. Why me? I mean… you know that I can’t ha
ve children, right? So, if you want them…”

  There was a soft head shake then.

  “I can but I wasn’t thinking that. Besides, I can find men to sleep with for that. It’s a lot harder to find one who actually plans to stick around. Phillip… He was very kind to me but… Well, you know.”

  She winced.

  Apparently even she understood that you weren’t supposed to talk about your ex on the first date. Then again, they’d talked about the woman he was currently dating first thing. That had to change the tenor of things.

  After that, for a while, he sipped his blood, while Avery ate. Then they chatted about the future. It sounded… Promising.

  Chapter three

  Troy was still thinking about Avery and that whole potential mess of a situation, the next evening. For the first time since he’d been on the force, which was nearly seven months, he’d been called in on something that seemed to be nearly his originally promised job.

  Sort of.

  Officer Phillips and his partner Scaville, had been given a call to a local corner market. When they’d gotten there, a vampire was causing a scene. The issue, one that both of the uniformed police had picked up on, was different than it seemed at first. The supposed vampire was just a kid, maybe twenty or so, and human. Wearing fake teeth and a Twilight t-shirt.

  Which, while a bit like showing up in public in black face, wasn’t going to start a big fight, normally. Except that the three punks at the store who had been getting beer had decided that beating up the gangly boy in vamp drag would show how manly they were. That or that their dicks weren’t half as small as you might imagine.

  What they hadn’t understood at the time was that the elderly looking woman that had come in, dressed like everyone in the world’s sainted grandmother, was actually a vampire. She, it seems, had gotten the idea of what was going on well enough but had taken offense at the toughs going after an innocent person in her area.

  There had been a presentation of real teeth and fangs, and some quietly worked up cops. So, not having had a real class on what to do in that kind of situation, they’d called in the one vampire they knew personally.

  It was after work hours but Troy had come in expecting that part, originally. It was something to do at the very least, so he’d jogged over, figuring that the exercise wouldn’t hurt him that much. The scene at the store was…

  Pretty much comical.

  Pushing a bit, he simply appeared, out of thin air, which no one except the older looking female vampire noticed. She reacted to him, with a cringe. That and a look away, so that she wouldn’t be challenging him to a fight, first thing. No one else got it.

  On the ground, sitting on the curb in front of the brightly lit shop, were three handcuffed boys. They’d clearly been worked over a bit but other than some light bruising and in one case a cut over his eye, they appeared to be fine. Scared out of their minds but that was all. The slightly emo looking vampire cosplayer was a little bit shaken up as well, having been hit several times. The other officers stood there, seeming stiff and watching the real vampire but they weren’t drawing down on her or anything. It was that obvious fear that was funny.

  After all, they clearly didn’t need to be doing anything of the sort. The call in to him had explained that part directly. The woman had clearly played the hero in the scene. If she’d walked up and laid a beating down with her cane, the uniforms would have shaken her hand and possibly roughed up the punks that had started the whole thing, again.

  Troy did that first thing. The helpful congratulatory part.

  “Hello! Troy Lopez, Supernatural Division. I hear that you stepped in to prevent a crime here, ma’am?” He moved in slowly, with his right hand outstretched. Still, he stopped several feet away, just in case the woman decided to fight. That or flee. She hadn’t from the mere police but now there was a real danger to her present. She might respond to that, where she hadn’t before.

  Instead the lady took a breath and spoke in a low tone.

  “That is correct. These hooligans had set upon this child, claiming he was one of us. I gave them fair warning to stop, three times, before I did anything. They chose to engage with me in battle instead. I spared their lives, since they’re fools, not evil, I do not believe. I… I’d come for cat food. I failed to get out earlier to the supermarket. This time of year… is difficult for me that way. The sun stays so long.”

  Such things were real for all vampires, coming seasonally. He was up for the whole thing but the pain lasted longer each day. Given it was pure torture, a lot of vamps just stayed dead longer.

  There was no car there, for the deep voiced, almost rough sounding, vampire woman. Or the kids. Looking around, Troy smiled then.

  “Would it be all right to get your name? We have to put things like that in the report. Contact information, as well. This sounds pretty clear cut to me.”

  The whining started then. Not from the rather effeminate looking vampire wanna-be but the harder looking kids on the curb.

  “That… Thing, attacked us. I’m pressing charges! We have the right not to be harassed by the dead.”

  Officer Scaville gave the dumbass a hard look. It spoke of a second beating coming in a few seconds. The boy with a vine-like tattoo on his face that was supposed to be of something that was probably described as tribal, while actually being pictorial code for the word moron. His hair was black on top but shaved on the sides. Really, it would have looked nearly military, if not for the too warm leather jacket. That had metal studs on it that would be useless in a fight but gave the perception of utility that way.

  Moving forward, Troy almost thought that the kid was going to get a face full of shoe leather. The officer stopped first and spoke, his voice low.

  “Shut up. Vampires are just people and have full rights under the law. Plus, the guy you jumped is just doing it to get chicks. Being a prick about it helps no one.” There was nearly a smile then but the man turned, so that the boys on the ground wouldn’t see it. Not that they were children. They were in their twenties at a guess.

  Old enough to do time for attacking people.

  His hand had been taken by the vampire, and she didn’t let go instantly, even though the woman was clearly a bit freaked out by him. That made no sense really. He was dressed up for work still, and looked professional and nice. It was all based on him just appearing. That was a great trick but didn’t mean that much. Except that he’d be hard to beat in a fight, possibly.

  Given that he was showing up for the police, the assumption would be that he, Troy, was there to represent the vampire council, not the locals there. The truth was that idea was… Well, more or less true, as far as the vampires went. It kind of worked, too. She was acting like he was, more or less, what he was.

  In a low voice, which sounded harsh and a bit violent, the lady spoke.

  “Mable Herrington. I’m local. The five blocks around the water tower are my territory. This is on the edge of that but mine.” That got a troubled look. A flare of red came to her eyes as well.

  They didn’t go full red, and only Phillips responded, his right hand moving slowly toward his side arm. Troy cut that off with a warm smile and a wave to the man. He actually stopped, then, after a few seconds, forced himself to relax and stand up straighter.

  It was close to the right move.

  He nodded at Mable then.

  “That makes sense. These boys here attacked a vampire, in your area, so you were duty bound to protect him. You gave them a chance to stop. The full three warnings?” As far as he knew that wasn’t a thing, even under vampire rules but there was a nod, as if she thought it was a thing.

  “I did, sir.”

  The emo kid, with his too long black hair, who was holding a can of Pepsi to his face as an ice pack, spoke up then.

  “Yeah. I heard that, while I was being hit. It really happened.”

  Even one of the sitting kids nodded. That was more of an abstract thing but it got Troy’s attention, since h
is piercings twinkled in the lights from the store. His hair was lighter but as fake as the emo boy’s black. Just in silver blond. It was actually kind of cool looking, Troy had to admit. Even the facial decorations would have been neat enough, if the guys had been behaving themselves.

  Scaville, who was a bit pudgy around the middle, white enough to be accepted at a Klan rally and annoyed looking as a rule, waved at the store.

  “That’s what the clerk said, too. So, this is pretty clear cut. We need to get some things for our records but then we shouldn’t have to detain you at all, ma’am. Sir.” He looked at the hero of the day and the victim of the attack, as if they were on his side.

  Which was more or less correct.

  Then they did their jobs again, getting data, and having backup in, to pick up the would-be toughs. It was tempting to lecture them, about how they all needed to get along but he didn’t do that. No one else did, either. Moving about fifteen feet away, Troy shook the emo kid’s hand as well. Interestingly, Mable floated over. After a moment, he understood her reasoning. She was there to protect the kid, in case there was going to be trouble.

  Even knowing that she couldn’t win a fight against him.

  The older looking lady, wrinkled of face and gray of hair, held very still, at first. He went on, since it was close to the correct thing for her to be doing.

  “Troy Lopez, Lincoln PD, Supernatural Division.” As they shook, the slightly moist and soft hand pumped his back.

  “Roger. Mivens. Um… I don’t mean anything… you know, with the teeth? It’s… I was just trying to… You know, seem like I wasn’t me.” He was embarrassed seeming, as if that wasn’t half of what kids his age did in public.

  Having worked at a night club for years, Troy really understood the basic idea. He’d seen it thousands of times. Half of getting with a woman was making sure that you stood out enough to attract attention. Younger men didn’t have fancy cars or millions of dollars, so had to use other tricks. Nice clothing, different hair colors and things like that. The trick was in not limiting day to day ability to work at the same time. Roger the emo boy, who had mascara on his face, as well as pale foundation makeup, had done it about right, that way. He could take that crud off his skin and go get a real job.