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

I pulled out my phone and snapped the fading markings. I then accessed the photo I’d taken of the box the day before and held it beside the sigil on the floor for Claudius to compare. He frowned as his eyes bounced between the two.

“Yes, yes, I see what you mean.”

Claudius’s knees popped as he straightened. He cracked his back for good measure.

I considered the fading sigil. If it did match to the box, then it was a safe bet that the same person who translocated into my lab yesterday morning just tried to murder me. Was it the same person who murdered Bear Goldburn and returned his body to the secure penthouse?

“Well, let me take a gander inside the office,” Claudius said, “see if there are any more traps.”

I warned him to be careful, but he was already picking his way through the destruction. I remained in the corridor and called Vega. It had only been a few minutes since she’d dropped me off, and she was still driving.

“Miss me already?” she teased.

“I’m going to preface this by saying I’m okay—”

“Why?” she cut in. “What happened?”

“The door to my office was booby-trapped with fire magic. The fire’s out, and like I said, I’m fine.” I glanced over a bare arm. Though it was still as red as a slapped ham, the wounds were closing. “The fire department is on the way, but I want the Sup Squad taking lead on the investigation.” The last thing I needed was someone treating this like a mundane case, something Vega understood as well.

“I’ll make the call as soon as we’re done. Any idea who set the trap?”

“There might be a connection to the box I found. As well as to Bear Goldburn’s murder.”

I didn’t share the very disturbing idea that someone other than the Order had removed the box from my lab. The thought of an intruder breaching my protective wards while Tony was home made me sick to my stomach. I could only imagine what it would do to Vega. I would tell her, just not now.

“Goldburn’s murder?” she echoed. “Maybe you’re closer to the truth than you thought.”

“Maybe,” I allowed. “In the meantime, I think it would be a good idea for Mae to take Tony up to her place until we can figure out what’s going on.”

“Wouldn’t the apartment be safer?”

“I don’t know who or what we’re dealing with. If they came after me here, they could try the same there.”

“All right. But you’re sure you’re okay?”

The don’t bullshit me came through loud and clear.

“I might’ve caught on fire a little, but everything’s healing. My coat didn’t make it, though.”

“Coats can be replaced. In fact, I was getting ready to burn that one myself.”

“I thought that might cheer you up.”

“I could never replace you, though,” she said, turning serious again. “I know you’re trying to live up to your responsibilities, but you’re a target now. Ask for whatever you need, whether it’s from the Order, the city, or me. I mean it.”

“I hear you, and I will.”

By the time police and fire arrived, Claudius had completed his inspection of my office. He padded over in wet socks to where I’d gathered the members of the Sup Squad. Clad in their formidable gear, they’d listened attentively to my account, their leader entering the info on a forearm tablet built into his suit.

“Well,” Claudius said, dusting his hands off as he arrived among us. “No more sigils or traps.”

“Any evidence of how the perp came or went?” I asked. Though Claudius had forgotten much of his magic over the years, he remained a pro in translocating. He was light years beyond me in that area.

“Some distortions,” he replied, “but those probably resulted from the release of energy. I’ll need to check back after things settle down.”

“And tell the Order I need to talk to them ASAP.”

“Of course, of course. Well, if that’s all for now, I should probably get back to the phones.”

Smiling, Claudius rapped a knuckle against a Sup Squad member’s chest plate, then signed an opening into the wall beside him. A force sucked him through the portal and closed again. Though the Squad members looked at one another, they refrained from comment. Another reason I’d wanted them.

As a pair of explosives experts went into the office to begin evidence-collecting, I turned to the Squad leader, a thick-built guy named Trevor whom I’d helped train when he was a member of the Hundred.

“What do you need from me?” I asked.

He pointed out the hallway’s cameras. “I arranged for campus security to pull the footage for the last twenty-four hours. Let’s go take a look, see if anything stands out.”

By the time Trevor and I arrived at the office of campus security, a young woman was awaiting us at a large monitor.

“No activity around the door until about an hour ago,” she said.

“Let’s see it,” Trevor said.

As he and I took positions on either side of her, she started the recording from where it was paused. On the black-and-white feed, a figure entered from screen right. He stopped at my door, knocked, then appeared to try the knob. He brought a backpack around to his front, and for the next minute squatted with his back to the feed, arms working. As I watched, an ice floe grew in my stomach.

“Recognize him?” Trevor asked.

“He’s a student here,” I said. “His name’s Sven Roe.”

12

The security officer replayed the segment twice more. The feed was clear enough that there was no doubt. It was Sven’s build, Sven’s hair, Sven’s manner of moving. And he was wearing the dark pack I’d seen over his shoulder that morning. The same pack he’d hiked up and sped away with when I called his name.

“Sven Roe,” I repeated. “R-O-E.”

I wrote his name in all caps in my notepad, ripped the page out, and handed it to Trevor.

While he called it in, a campus security officer left to