Night Rune (Prof Croft Book 8) by Brad Magnarella (best e reader for academics txt) 📕

debris—and overshot the target. With a second invocation, I hardened the air into a shelf below the interface. A plummeting boulder slammed into our ascent, and we landed hard on the shelf, ending up face to face with the swimming interface.

Praise be.

I quickly locked us in place. On the ride over, my plan had been to hunker near the interface and wait for Malachi to return with Seay and the others. I squinted toward what had once been south, but it was a pandemonium of warping terrain and falling wreckage. My shield twisted savagely, spouting sparks over us. With a Word, I dissolved the wall of hardened air separating us from the interface.

“Go!” I shouted, waving my teammates in.

Bree-yark disappeared through the interface first, followed by Gorgantha, then Caroline.

I took a final look south. Still no one. With a pit in my stomach, I seized Arnaud and pulled him through as the shield failed behind us.

I face-planted into the ground, the rest of me landing at an odd angle that knocked the wind from my lungs. I rolled onto my back and gasped for air. The sun glared through leafy treetops, thawing my face and hands.

Wherever we are, it’s not winter.

As my breath returned, I pushed myself upright. Arnaud, who had landed beside me, did the same. Caroline was already on her feet, checking on Gorgantha and Bree-yark. The two staggered from some bushes, Dropsy peering from the top of Bree-yark’s pouch. An asphalt walkway wound past our weedy patch of lawn. Modern buildings rose beyond the trees, and I could hear car traffic. We were in one of the city’s parks. More importantly, we were in a time catch that wasn’t falling apart.

“Everyone all right?” I called hoarsely as I gained my feet.

“Better than a few second ago,” Gorgantha said, giving her head a quick shake.

Bree-yark was rubbing his right hip, but he grunted his assent.

“How about you?” Caroline asked. She had the concerned look I’d grown accustomed to, but now it had me bristling with suspicion again.

“Fine,” I said, spitting dirt and dead grass from my lips and brushing off my coat. “Any idea where we are?”

“Schurz Park,” she said, “just below the mayor’s mansion.”

When I peered around, I found the East River sparkling through a span of trees. Geographically, this time catch lined up with the last one. I turned toward the street now. “That puts us at about East Eighty-seventh.”

“And where did Malachi say Jordan was?” Gorgantha asked. “Some sort of palace?”

“Belvedere Castle,” I said. “It’s in Central Park.”

“What would he be doing there?” Bree-yark grunted.

I had the same question, Belvedere Castle being a mostly decorative building that offered some nice views. “My guess is he tried to reach Harriman Park, but couldn’t because of a time interface. The castle might have been the only refuge he could find. Of course, there’s no telling how long he’s been here.”

“Must be after the recent Crash, then,” Caroline said.

Half of Bree-yark’s brow ridge went up. “How do you figure?”

“After the Crash, the city slashed the Parks and Rec budget, and that included security,” she explained. “The only way he and the other druids are living there is if no one’s visiting the park and no one’s in authority to kick them out.”

As she talked, I noticed the fresh graffiti covering a stone wall.

“Means the park’s gonna be hella dangerous too,” Gorgantha said. “Should we wait for Malachi and Seay?”

Bree-yark slid me a grim look. The chances of Malachi and Seay having escaped the failing time catch were toward the none side of slim, but I didn’t want to have to tell Gorgantha that. I swallowed back an upwelling of grief and anger.

“Malachi will know to look for us at the park,” Caroline replied.

I cleared my throat. “Yeah. We can walk there in thirty, but let’s hail a cab.”

“A’right,” Gorgantha said. “Though you might wanna stick some clothes on me.”

Before Caroline could cast a glamour, I took her hand. “That thing I wanted to ask you about in the cave? Do you have a sec?”

It was time we couldn’t afford, but I didn’t want to keep doubting her, either. That would only undermine what remained of our team. I signaled for the others to keep an eye on Arnaud as I walked off with her a short distance.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

I stopped and faced her. “Arnaud claims his memories of 1776 weren’t wiped. He’s saying you made that up.”

“Is he also saying I’m the demon?”

“He suggested as much.”

“Well, I’m not.” A weariness weighed on her eyes that convinced me even more than her denial. Add to that the fact she’d been unphased by my banishment attack at Crusspatch’s cottage—

“But yes,” she said, “I lied about his memories being scrubbed.”

I blinked twice. “What? Why?”

“Because I didn’t want to worry your fiancée.”

“Vega?”

I thought back to the holding area at 1 Police Plaza. When Vega asked how long I’d known Arnaud offered a way into the time catch, Caroline had covered for me. She may also have sensed my dilemma over the stability factor. Tell Vega? Remain silent? I’d gone with the second, obviously. And now Caroline was claiming she’d followed suit. Lying so she wouldn’t have to announce that the time catch was as unstable as Arnaud had claimed.

“I also wanted to verify his memories,” she said, “ensure they weren’t lies. Which we were able to do in his office.”

The copper plates and their placement. By Arnaud’s own admission, that had been the extent of what he knew of Malphas’s plans for the St. Martin’s site. The rest was guesswork. His demon master had managed his scheme well.

“I’m sorry,” Caroline said. “I should have told you.”

“Was there anything else in his memories?”

“Nothing useful.”

“Nothing about a Night Rune?”

She shook her head. “That didn’t come up.”

“He claims his master mentioned it,” I said, “but he could also have heard us talking. He’s been conscious most of this time.”

Caroline’s brow furrowed. “He has?”

“At least partially.”

“Damn, something must have shifted with his draining