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

back and forth beyond the wall of shielding I’d erected, growls rumbling from his thickly muscled throats.

“Is that Cerberus?” Gil asked shakily.

“A version of him, anyway.”

“What’s he doing here?”

It couldn’t be a coincidence that a creature from Greek mythology was menacing me only a day after I’d found a box with inscriptions from a Hermes cult. Regardless, I didn’t want to put Gil or any more of the men in his path, even if they were probabilities, shadows of their actual selves.

“Not sure,” I replied. “But I really need you to get inside.”

I moved away from Gil. The heads of the Cerberus followed me, confirming I was their target. I motioned for Gil to go. He hesitated before sidestepping toward the door his men held open.

I faced the creature, sword in one hand, staff in the other, cycling through everything I knew about my opponent. Cerberus was the formidable three-headed dog that guarded the entrance to Hades. Only a few major mythological figures had managed to get past him. Orpheus charmed him with his lyre, and Hercules beat the starch out of him with his superior strength—neither one of which I possessed. But Aeneas drugged him with a loaf of bread. I may not have had any baked goods on me, but I had a sleeping potion.

The activated tube was already bubbling as I pulled it from my coat and spiked it against the roof. The glass shattered around the Cerberus’s front paws, releasing a plume of pink mist. Nostrils wrinkling, the Cerberus stalked back, but instead of stumbling or going woozy, his muscles contracted and he launched himself against the shield. I staggered from the impact, quickly reinforcing the barrier.

Okay, so the potion was a no-go, but he had to have a weakness.

I put my wizardry aside for a moment and went into full professor mode. There were parallels between the Greek and Abrahamic versions of the underworld. If the Cerberus held enough demon essence, he could be susceptible to banishment.

And what better time to test that theory.

The creature’s six eyes canted down as the first rune on my sword began to glow white. Growling, he backed off again. With a Word, I shaped a second wall of hardened air behind him, halting his retreat. Trapped, he lunged. I thrust my blade. The Cerberus’s heads slammed into the shield, and my blade plunged into his chest with a faint scrape. I pulled in the realm’s ambient energy.

“Disfare!” I shouted, releasing it through the rune.

Bright banishment light swelled from the sword and swallowed the creature. His barking climbed in pitch. I brought a shoulder to my right ear and kept pushing, expecting the head-splitting sound to break apart along with the Cerberus’s form. But as the light receded, the damned mutt was still standing.

I withdrew the sword with a grunt and backed away. Thoroughly pissed now, the Cerberus threw his body against the shield, sending sparks rolling down the sides. His next charge brought it down.

You’re not demonic enough for banishment, I thought, digging into a coat pocket. But maybe you’re spectral enough for this!

My hand emerged with a fistful of gray salt. I shouted at the same moment the Cerberus leapt, sending the salt blasting into his barking faces. Flames flashed on impact. I dove away as the Cerberus landed awkwardly and slammed into the retaining wall.

He gained his feet and wheeled, smoke rising from the growling heads. A second dose of salt was already en route. This one met his chest, sending up a dark plume of fire.

Disperse, dammit!

The forces that held the creature together were too strong, and I was almost out of salt. I needed more—a lot more. Then it hit me. The Hudson River was only a few blocks away. If I could lead the Cerberus there, cast him in, the combo of salt and moving water would break him apart before he could dog-paddle to shore.

Holding out the remaining handful of salt in warning, I backed from the Cerberus.

He stalked after me, drool spilling from his muzzles and landing on the rooftop in hisses of steam. The men had all gone inside except for Gil, who was standing in the doorway, not ready to leave me.

“I’ll be all right,” I called, not at all sure as I climbed onto the retaining wall. “I’m taking him to the Hudson.”

Returning the salt to my pocket, I glanced down and stepped from the roof. A series of force invocations slowed my descent, but the landing was jarring enough to send a spike through my throbbing right knee. I kept my feet and limp-ran west, my destination a pier off Seventieth Street, about four blocks away.

The Cerberus’s three heads lunged over the side of the rooftop. They peered around before finding me and exploded into furious barking. The sound paralleled me until I reached the end of the block.

Take your time coming down, I thought at him.

The heads disappeared. But only because the creature was taking a running start. He landed in the intersection behind me, causing a muscle car roaring down Tenth Avenue to squall into a U-turn. Loud swears sounded from the kids packed inside. The Cerberus head-butted the vehicle, knocking it off its tires and into a series of rolls. That bought me a half block, but he was coming again.

“Attivare!” I shouted, lobbing a lightning grenade behind me.

Branching bolts of electricity seared from the sky and hit the street in deafening whipcracks. Windows blew from parked cars. The Cerberus stumbled to his knees amid several smoking craters.

Good, I thought. The grenades pack a punch here.

I pulled ahead as the Cerberus’s momentum sent him into a roll.

A police cruiser sped past the intersection ahead of me, slammed its brakes, and shot into reverse. A second and a third cruiser appeared, the three vehicles skidding to stops to form an impromptu roadblock.

Behind me, the Cerberus gained his feet and shook his heads.

Shit. I’d started to slow before deciding I preferred my odds with the NYPD.

Magic hardened