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

Shit, that had been this summer. I looked at my younger self for a moment, considering how—and even if—I would have wanted to be told I wasn’t really me, but actually a spliced-off echo in space and time.

“Yes,” I said at last. “This is a time catch.”

He inhaled solemnly and nodded to himself. “I feel better hearing it from you.”

I’d figured he would. The fact a future version of me was still living suggested things were going to be all right, somehow.

“But I have to ask,” he said. “That woman who just disappeared…?”

“Caroline Reid,” I confirmed. “Your colleague. And it’s a long story.”

“No doubt,” he muttered.

“Are you going to be all right?”

The revelation about the time catch had turned his face a shade of bone and given him a thousand-yard stare, but he snuffed out a laugh. “Maybe this will get me to take more risks in my personal life,” he said.

With Vega, Tony, and a little girl on the way, not to mention all the people I could now call my friends, it was easy to forget how lonely I’d once been. But the man in front of me was testament to that solitary period.

I nodded. “That’s a good plan.”

“In the meantime, what else can I do to help?”

I was about to thank him for the offer and tell him he’d already helped enough, but I still had to move everyone out of there. I gestured toward the bus. “We’re going to need to get this big guy downtown.”

“Past the Wall?” When I nodded, he checked his trench coat pockets before looking up in sudden realization. “Do you happen to have any more of the stealth potion you cooked at my place?”

I pulled out a vial. “Last one.”

As he palmed it, he said, “All right, take Broadway south. By the time you get to the Wall, I’ll have that checkpoint open.”

I punched his shoulder. “Thanks, kid.”

He punched mine back. “Don’t mention it, old timer.”

I smiled sadly as he ran off to hail a cab.

“I didn’t want to interrupt,” Bree-yark said, walking over, “but that might be the wildest thing I’ve ever seen.”

When I peered around, I noticed that just about everyone had been watching my reunion with myself as well. Meanwhile, the approaching sirens had stopped somewhere beyond the far side of the bus.

“Is everyone here?” I called.

When Jordan and Seay answered that all of theirs were accounted for, I waved them toward the bus. As they boarded, I filled them in on where Caroline had gone and that we could expect Osgood shortly.

“We’ll start making our way downtown,” I said, “but we’re going to have to take a side trip to track Arnaud.”

“No, we won’t,” Bree-yark said.

Before I could tap into the wards that bound Arnaud, the goblin stuck his hand under a seat and hauled up the demon-vampire by the back of his neck manacle. I stared for a moment, not believing he hadn’t fled. Had his fear of Malphas’s demons overwhelmed all other instincts? Is that why he’d stayed? Or did he believe his best chance at freedom was the infernal deal he’d proposed to me?

“Unhand me, you brute,” Arnaud hissed, swiping his manacled hands around.

With a growl, Bree-yark shoved the demon-vampire up the aisle. “Do we even need him anymore?”

I caught Arnaud as he stumbled against me. “What do you mean?”

“If Caroline is sending us Osgood,” Bree-yark said, “having a demonic line is pointless now, right?”

That got some mutters of agreement from the rest of the bus. Though Jordan and Gorgantha remained quiet this time, I could see by their eyes that they were ready to dispose of Arnaud too. Even Seay was giving him a black look. And Caroline was no longer here to defend me. My gaze returned to Bree-yark. I might have considered what he was suggesting if it hadn’t been for Arianna’s dream visit.

Find Arnaud, she’d said.

There was a connection between him and freeing the Order from the Harkless Rift, one I still hadn’t found.

“He’s our backup plan,” I said firmly. “He’s coming.”

Though Bree-yark grumbled, the others fell silent. They’d already experienced firsthand the consequences of not having a backup plan for returning to the present, and it had sucked big time.

With no wereboar to drive us, I inherited the responsibility by virtue of being the last one to board. I settled into the air-cushioned seat, then pulled down a narrow seat beside me that was probably used for training.

“Sit down,” I told Arnaud.

Though no longer under Caroline’s enchantments, he complied. As I leaned over to strap him in, he hissed in my ear.

“The alert was a freebie,” he said, referring to his warning that Caroline’s husband hadn’t been the demon. “The next time, it will mean invoking our little agreement. In exchange for my help, you’ll release me,” he reminded me. “Not only from these wards, but from any and all acts of retribution—by you, your Order, or anyone you can think to contract. For my part, I’ll promise to stay away.”

I ignored him, telling myself it would never come to that.

But had I ever thought he would end up sparing Angelus’s life?

I looked out the driver window. The pileup against the side of the bus ran three and four cars deep. The backup extended for several blocks now, even overflowing onto the sidewalks. Several ambulance and police vehicles were trying to nose their way through, while a small army of first responders had already disembarked and were hustling through the backup to reach the accident scene.

I do not want to deal with these guys.

As instructed, the wereboar had left the bus running, and it only took a moment for me to orient myself to the transmission and pedals. By going into forward and reverse several times, I was able to separate from the wreckage by degrees. Soon, I had enough room to turn the bus south toward the empty road. As I accelerated, the frame squealed against the left front tire, drowning out the shouts of