The Prof Croft Series: Books 0-4 (Prof Croft Box Sets Book 1) Brad Magnarella (ink book reader txt) 📖

I mean, did a man escort her out?

You mean someone else?

That’s right, someone else.

No-o-o-o?

Christ. Javier’s confusion hadn’t stemmed from a language barrier, but from the belief he’d seen her leave with me. I thought of Angelus and fae powers, namely glamours. The son of a bitch could have assumed my likeness for others to see, but without Caroline necessarily knowing. Hot anger broke through me at the idea. I would find her, but first I had to get rid of these guys.

“I have an alibi,” I said.

“Oh, yeah?” Floyd’s lips tightened into a smile. “Hear that, Whitey? Lover boy here’s got an alibi.”

“Homicide,” I said. “I was consulting on a case for the NYPD. I left the party around 9:30 and didn’t get back until after it was over. Detective Vega will confirm that. I believe you just saw her outside?”

That seemed to give Floyd pause.

“Look,” I said. “When I left, Caroline was talking to a guy named Angelus. Six foot five or so, dark blond hair, a face you want to smash, it’s so damn perfect.”

“That don’t sound like someone who would be mistaken for you,” Floyd said.

“Yeah, no kidding.”

Floyd sighed from his haunches and looked up at Whitey. Some sort of nonverbal communication seemed to pass between them. At last, Floyd nodded and straightened. “We’re gonna look into your alibi,” he said, staring down at me. “But I’m gonna tell you something right now: we find out you’re fibbing, and what happened here today’s gonna seem like a beach vacation. And don’t even think about running. Not unless you want both your legs broken.”

“Great,” I said. “You enjoy the rest of your day, too.”

Floyd shook his head and followed Whitey out. I gained my feet and locked the door behind them.

“And that’s exactly why I have you tour the ledge,” I called back to Tabitha.

“Did you say something, darling?” When I turned, Tabitha was lifting her head from her paws, blinking slowly. “What did those men want?”

“You slept through all of that?”

“It didn’t sound like it was going to be very interesting.” Tabitha yawned. “Is that blood on your mouth?”

I wiped my bottom lip with the back of a hand and retrieved my cane. “Forget it.”

I wasn’t going to get into it with my cat. Touching my cane to my hurt places, I uttered healing incantations. I needed to be at full strength. Caroline was missing, and the Italian mob was interested for some reason. Which meant it was time to dial up some magic.

In my library/lab, I took the slip of paper onto which Caroline had written the address for last night’s gala, aimed my cane at it, and spoke an incantation. White light bloomed from the opal, absorbing Caroline’s essence from her writing.

Without warning, the cane kicked in my hand. It spun me in a complete three-hundred-sixty-degree circle before the opal’s light faltered and went dim. The cane took on a ponderous weight.

“Again?” I groaned.

I pushed more energy into the incantation, already knowing it was a lost cause. Like the salt barrier, something was coming between the item and my target. But in this case I suspected fae magic.

I didn’t know where in the city the fae lived. They were secretive, like I’d said. But I knew someone who might be able to point me in the right direction.

Even if she was a night hag.

13

“Soglia,” I whispered, aligning my mind with my apartment’s defenses—defenses designed to keep out nasty supernaturals. But now I needed to let one in. Not only that, I would be setting out the equivalent of a piece of cheese as bait. I shuddered at the thought, but if I was going to learn anything about the fae in the city, and fast, I had little choice.

From my pocket, I pulled out a piece of black lava rock—an element to which night hags had an affinity—uttered “Aprire,” and set the rock on the floor before the door. The threshold’s energy hit the stone’s shadowy aura and coursed over it, creating a small hole in my home’s defenses.

In the back of the fridge, I found an expired carton of milk. I counted to three, then glugged it down. My stomach shook and burbled, drowning in the spoiled milk. I needed to make my sleep as unpleasant as possible—more night hag bait.

“I’m going to sack out for a bit,” I told Tabitha when my stomach had settled to a dull nausea. “If you hear me moaning or thrashing around for more than a few minutes, could you come and wake me?”

“Sure, darling.”

As if she would be staying awake herself.

I closed the shades and crawled into bed, lying down on my back. Not wanting my protective necklace to act as a deterrent, I turned it around so that the coin hung between my shoulder blades. I then straightened my arms and legs and tried to clear my thoughts. After a few moments, my awareness began to crumble and break apart.

I was in a forest of tall trees, a child, and I was lost. I peered around, frightened by the sameness. Moving in any direction would only plunge me deeper into the forest, to a place no one would find me. And then night would fall, and the creatures would come out.

“Mom!” I cried in a thin, straining voice.

I had never called to her before. Nana, the woman who had raised me, had always been the soother of my scraped knees and hurt feelings. But I had a clear image of my mother, a photo in our old living room of her standing beside a window, light paling one half of her face, lost in thought. Now, an urgent tugging on my heart told me she was the only one who could lead me from here.

“Mom! Help me!”

Footsteps approached from behind. I turned and beheld the beautiful woman from the photo. Same light-brown hair brushed over one shoulder, same sad smile, same soft eyes. Only now they were looking at me.

“Mom!” I ran forward