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

the biggest challenge will be seeing it through.” I sensed she was telling that to herself as much as me.

“Sounds like you’ve come to a decision as well,” I said.

I left it out there in case she wanted to talk about it. I wasn’t sure she did. Blocks shot past as the wereboar weaved in and out of traffic. At a corner bus stop, a group waved their arms, believing we were their ride. We blew through a briefcase that a man thrust into the street. Papers burst everywhere.

“With the heart vow, I’m the only one who has a realistic chance against him,” Caroline said at last. “If he’s waiting at the St. Martin’s site, I’ll do what needs to be done.”

“Malachi could be there too,” I reminded her. “He has potent powers of banishment.”

“If he’s not, I’ll need you and the others to buy me time.”

“Of course, whatever you—”

The driver swore and slammed the brakes. We pitched forward while the rear of the bus fishtailed in a shrieking peal. Trailing cars braked and crunched into us. We rocked to a stop across Broadway. More thuds sounded from a growing pileup. I’d thrown an arm across Caroline to brace her, and now we peered out our south-facing window.

A fog of burned rubber scudded past our view. Beyond, a formation of tall figures stood in the road, their skin a familiar cobalt blue. The one in front had the chiseled face of a deity and a mane of copper hair.

“Caroline,” Angelus boomed.

Shit, they’re early. I squeezed her hand and rose. “Stay here.”

“Where are you going?”

“To buy you that time.”

The rest of the bus was beginning to stir as I made my way down the aisle. “What the hell’s going on?” Jordan asked.

“It’s the fae,” I said. “The demon-possessed fae.”

“Come out, Caroline,” Angelus called. “I’m taking you home.”

When I passed the wereboar, I whispered, “Keep the bus running.”

He grunted at my back as I descended the steps. We were far enough south that Broadway had become one way. Behind me, I could hear the shouting and commotion that was the aftermath of the pileup. Ahead, the street was eerily quiet. Pedestrians along both sidewalks stood and stared. Several began filming on their phones. Angelus and the seven fae with him had made no attempts to blend into the period—or to even appear human. Like in Faerie, they could have been a race of gods.

“I’ve come for Caroline,” Angelus said.

“Oh, is that why you were calling her name?”

“We don’t want to harm anyone, Everson.”

“Then maybe dropping into the middle of Broadway wasn’t the brightest move.”

His intense green eyes cut from me to the fishtailed bus and back. Though Angelus carried no weapons, the same light-skinned male and female who had flanked him in Faerie wielded a sickle-shaped blade apiece.

“You were to have summoned me,” he said.

“Yeah, about that…” I pretended to pat my coat pockets. “I must have tossed your stone somewhere.”

“I just want Caroline.”

“Unfortunately, the feeling isn’t mutual.”

For all my bravado, my knees were quaking. I was standing in front of a demon housed in a formidable fae’s body. There was the banishment rune on my blade, sure. But I’d need to pierce him first, and with the kind of powers Angelus wielded, he could reduce me to cellular powder the moment I flexed.

Right now, the game was to keep his attention on me.

“So why don’t you run along back to Faerie?”

“I’ve always tolerated you, Everson. Don’t make this personal.”

I snorted even though being tolerated by a royal fae was rather high praise.

“You want to talk about personal?” Bree-yark barked. “How about you making it so my friends here couldn’t go home?”

When I looked back, I was surprised to see that he had come off the bus, along with Jordan, Delphine, and a host of druids. They were all arrayed behind me, weapons in hand. Through the window I could see Gorgantha standing over where Caroline was presumably crouched, out of sight.

“We have no fight with you,” Angelus replied.

Bree-yark pumped the shotgun’s action. “Then let’s keep it that way.”

I showed the goblin a hand for him to cool it. But something about this whole thing felt off. If Malphas was controlling Angelus, why the fixation on Caroline? Why not engage the rest of us? He had to know we were gunning for his portal now. It was almost as if Angelus was just being … himself.

“Stand aside, Everson,” he said. “She’s not the woman you knew.”

When he stepped forward, a rustle of cloaks sounded behind me, and the collective hum of druidic magic took up in staffs. Angelus’s eyes glowed, while the flanking light-skinned fae readied their blades. The energy issuing from the fae prince sent ominous waves through the time catch: a promise of mass destruction. In the distance, approaching sirens rose and fell, but they felt a world away.

“Then who am I?” Caroline asked.

I looked over to find her moving through the druids. Gorgantha was with her, still acting as her protector, but there was no fear in Caroline’s eyes. Angelus watched sternly, but I felt his power draw down.

“It’s time to come home,” he said.

Gorgantha dropped off as Caroline stopped beside me, keeping Angelus a good fifteen feet out in front of us.

“Why?” she asked. “You’ve already severed my lineal claim.”

“You’re under the influence of a malevolent being. You don’t know what you’re saying, what you’re doing.”

Caroline shook her head sadly. “No, Angelus. It’s you who’s been corrupted.”

In the next moment he was towering over her, hands gripping her arms. Before I could react, he and Caroline were fading from the time catch. He’s taking her! But Caroline’s mouth wrenched down, and Angelus cried out. They returned to solidity, only now Angelus was on his knees, one hand gripping his chest.

She’d done it. She’d attacked him through the heart vow.

The remaining fae faltered as if the attack had stunned them too. It suggested they were joined in a fae bond, possibly to move in and out of the time