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

“C’mon, I’ll fix us a couple meals to go. That all right, Everson?”

Tabitha lifted her head. “Prepared meals, you say? Do we still have those tuna steaks?” she called past him.

“I think so,” I said, and immediately regretted it.

“I suppose three or four spice-rubbed steaks with a balsamic drizzle wouldn’t hurt,” she moped.

Bree-yark ruffled the hair on her head, which she tolerated with flattened ears. “Attagirl!” he said. That told me just how much she liked him. For anyone else, the gesture would have meant certain death.

“And a half gallon of goat’s milk warmed to one-twenty,” she added.

As Bree-yark headed into the kitchen to get started, I made a mental note to pack a dropper bottle of knock-out potion.

“I’m assuming your wife told you?” Bree-yark said as he drove.

We were in his Hummer, his and Tabitha’s lunches packed and my new trench coat heavy with spell items. Tabitha had made herself comfortable in the back seat on a throw blanket that she’d had Bree-yark refold several times.

“About you and Gretchen showing up together last night?” I said.

“Look, it’s not what you think. She came to my place to tell me you were in the hospital. She offered to ride with me—you know, use her magic so we’d get there faster. What was I supposed to do? I was freaking out.”

His concern was moving, but I wasn’t about to let him off the hook. “Where did you go after the hospital?”

“I took her home.”

“And you just dropped her off, right?”

“Well, she might’ve invited me in for some pickled anchovies on rye. I was starving, Everson. And, well … it’s my favorite snack.”

As if Gretchen hadn’t known that.

“How long did you stay?”

“An hour? Maybe two? We just talked,” he added quickly. “But you know, it was kinda nice.” His lips spread into a reflective smile. “She was actually interested in what I’ve been up to. And when I talked, she listened. That never happened when we were together. She’s like another person.”

Nope, I thought. Same Gretchen, different game.

“Bree-yark, you promised me you wouldn’t talk to her.”

“Yeah, well, what was the harm? Nothing came of it.”

Not this time, but Gretchen’s machinations were wearing him down. It wasn’t a question of if, but when.

“Did you enjoy the hoagie?” he asked out of the blue.

“Huh? Oh, actually, I dropped it in the shadow present and it didn’t make the trip back. Sorry about that.”

“Well, there you go.”

“There I go, what?”

“That was the deal. I promised not to talk to her if you promised to eat the hoagie.”

I scoffed. “One, I had no control over that. And two, you didn’t know I hadn’t eaten the hoagie before you talked to her.”

“A deal’s still a deal.”

Seeing his way free on a technicality, Bree-yark wasn’t about to concede. He redoubled his grip on the steering wheel.

“Just think about Mae,” I said. “Think about what that would do to her. Most importantly, think about what you’d be giving up. Honestly, compare a typical day with Gretchen to a typical day with Mae.”

I watched his eyes dim then light up.

“See? There you go. I rest my case.”

His eyes went dim again. “It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“Gretchen said Enzo is about to propose.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t believe that for a second.”

“No, no, he took her to a jeweler after lunch yesterday to have her finger measured. She showed me the card and everything. She’s really torn. She likes his company, but she’s not sure he’s the one. At the same time, she doesn’t want to be alone.”

“And how is that your problem?”

“Everson’s right,” Tabitha said from the back seat. “I’m no fan of Mae and that thing she calls her pet, but if I had to see Gretchen every day, I’d hang myself with my own tail. She’s revolting. Even talking about her makes me nauseous.”

Seeing he was outnumbered, Bree-yark grunted and became interested in the road.

Sunita’s place was across the Hudson River in New Jersey. We pulled up in front of a modest house with red trim and a neat yard. Two unmarked surveillance vehicles were parked nearby. The NYPD knew we were coming but Sunita didn’t. I pulled out my phone and called her.

“No answer,” I said after the fifth ring.

Bree-yark and I got out and walked to the front door. I moved stiffly, thanks to a sawed-off shotgun holstered under my coat. The gun was from Bree-yark’s collection and loaded with rock-salt shells that he’d purchased for me and I’d soaked in an enhancer. If the “master of many places” whisked me back to the shadow present again, his “shadow of many faces” wasn’t going to be a happy shifter.

I rang the doorbell.

When no one came, my heart pounded.

“Maybe she’s out back,” Bree-yark offered.

The gate to the fenced backyard was latched. I released it with an invocation, and it opened onto a mini Eden. Footpaths tracked through lush gardens and around a pond. I crept forward, too anxious to appreciate any of it.

“Sunita?” I called.

Our path led to a set of steps climbing to a small deck. As I eyed the back door, I wondered if we were going to enter to find her on the floor, her face blue, hollow cavities where her lungs had been.

A splash sounded in the pond behind us, too large for a koi. I turned to find the water churning, waves lapping into the surrounding garden.

“What in thunder?” Bree-yark muttered, drawing a blade from his ankle sheath.

I didn’t like it either. The once-still pond was acting like a meteor had dropped into it. I released my sword from my staff and drew the two apart. At the same moment, something almost as large as the pond thrust to the surface.

26

I stared, struggling to make sense of what I was seeing. The creature was brown and horny with multiple staring eyes. A dozen appendages, thick and segmented, writhed from a head that was also its body, churning the pond waters muddy.

“I’ve been to every corner of Faerie,” Bree-yark said, stepping back,