Shadow Duel (Prof Croft Book 9) by Brad Magnarella (ereader with android .txt) 📕

let you know in a couple weeks when they’re up to their eyeballs in reading. I have a graduate assistant this term.”

“I thought you avoided those.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see how it goes. He’s going to help out with classes and basic research. His name’s Sven.”

I decided not to get into the exchange with Snodgrass. One, because it was only going to spike my blood pressure, and two, because my solution still felt morally ambiguous. But what about Sven’s little magic stunt?

“Problem?” Vega asked, gesturing with her fork at my furrowed brow.

“Possibly. I was meeting with Sven when you called. He said he had come to Midtown College specifically to learn from me, and he wasn’t talking about mythology and lore. He meant my magic.”

Vega raised an eyebrow.

“I discouraged him, of course,” I said. “But here’s the thing. By the time you and I finished our call, he’d dropped a note on my desk and left. On the note was a casting symbol. It incinerated the paper.”

“What, like an attack?”

“No, no, it was harmless. More like he wanted to prove he was ready to be my apprentice.”

“The sorcerer’s apprentice, huh? Didn’t go so well with Mickey. Have you told the Order?”

“Not yet,” I said, smiling at the Fantasia reference. “I want to see if there’s anything really there, first. Could’ve just been a trick.”

“Between that and your landfill expedition, you’ve had quite a day,” she said. “And I haven’t even asked about your date with Hoffman.”

I gave a dry laugh. “He was right to bring me in, he caught a strange one. A bigshot CEO had his kidneys removed without evidence of surgery or even magic. I’ll be doing some spellwork after dinner, trying to figure out what the hell happened—I mean, the heck happened,” I amended, glancing over at Tony.

“And you two got along?” Vega asked carefully. She wasn’t there to act as a buffer between me and her partner this time.

“Surprisingly, yes. I mean, as much as you can get along with someone like Hoffman. We even had a tender moment at the end. With the profile of the case, he’s worried that failure could end his career.”

“He’s probably right.”

“Would you miss him as a partner?”

“Like a bloated appendix, but I’d rather you solved the case.”

“After all the crap he’s given me over the years, it feels strangely empowering to be wielding the Sword of Damocles over him.”

“Well, you won’t be wielding it alone,” Vega said with a sly look.

“Huh?”

“Hoffman got me assigned to the case on a part-time basis. From a desk,” she added before I could voice my objection. “I’ll also be acting as official liaison between the NYPD and one Everson Croft, consultant. My job is to make sure case info reaches you in a timely manner and vice versa.”

“So, what? You’re going to be my babysitter?”

“More like your taskmaster.” She grinned around her next bite of steak.

“That son of a … birch,” I said, shaking my head. “And after our tender moment. Well, welcome to the team.”

She accepted my formal handshake, then aimed her knife at my food. “Eat.”

My wife, who was dining for two, had already cleaned half her plate, while I’d only managed to twirl a wad of spaghetti onto my fork. The day’s trifecta of puzzles—strange box, strange student, and stranger case—had me in full-blown cognitive mode, which tended to distract from my appetite. I began delivering food to mouth, if only so Vega wouldn’t worry about me. Could probably use the brain fuel too.

“You mentioned spellwork,” she said as she was finishing up. “Anything I should be worried about?”

“It’s just a scrying spell. I got everything set up.” I lifted my eyes to indicate the lab. “I also reinforced the wards so no energy can escape the space.”

She fell silent.

Sensing a familiar tension, I said, “It’ll be fine.”

“I know you’d never put us in danger. It’s just that I don’t entirely get spellwork, so my mind goes to all the things that could go wrong. And a lot of that worry is for you. You’ve had some close calls.”

“You’re right,” I admitted. “When I was here by myself, flying solo, I took some risks I probably shouldn’t have. I mean, if anything went wrong, I was the only one who got smoked, right?” I thought about the time I’d summoned a gatekeeper and nearly been pulled into the in-between realm. “That was my reasoning, anyway. My stupidity would equal my loss, and no one else’s.”

“What about my meals?” Tabitha called.

I ignored her. “But since you and I became we, it’s been different. I’ve taken a lot more care. And now that it’s us,” I gestured to include her pregnant belly and Tony, “I’m taking even more care. Like ‘swaddled in bubble wrap and packaged in foam peanuts’ care.”

“And I appreciate that,” she said, but I could see she still wasn’t one-hundred percent assuaged. This was going to take time.

“Want seconds?” I asked, nodding at her plate.

“No, thanks. I think I’ve eaten enough for the next hour.”

I stood and bussed the table. “If it’s any consolation, the Order already has the box I found this morning, so that’s one less worry in the household.”

I’d been relieved to return home to an empty casting circle that afternoon. True to his word, Claudius, who had a direct line to my lab, had portaled in and out. Now, not only was there one less potential hazard in the household, but one less thing to puzzle over. The case and student were plenty.

I scraped the leftovers into Tupperware, rinsed everything off in the sink, and dropped them in the dishwasher.

“Is there anything I can be doing on the case?” Vega called.

“No, no, you’ve had a long day, and I promised you a bath and shoulder rub. I’m not going to put you to work.”

“Your dinner revived me. And since I’m technically your boss on this, I’m not really asking.”

“Well, if you’re going to put it that way…” I returned to the table, wiping my hands with