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

held it like a pair of pincers. Behind the ghoul’s melted lids, the bulbous orbs of his eyeballs shifted. The thing was coming to. His good arm reared back, black claws level with my face.

“Forza dura!” I shouted.

A force exploded from the sword, freeing the blade and throwing me to the ground. With a chopping downstroke, I hacked the severed hand from my leg. Above me, the ghoul wavered to its feet. Its flaming head lolled to one side, the spine barely supporting it.

“Christ Almighty!” the mayor repeated, still down.

I scrambled toward him on hands and knees and shielded him with my body. Turning to the gunmen, I shouted, “Finish it!”

The explosion was immediate. I twisted my head enough to catch the effect. Bullets chewed through what remained of the neck. Ghoul and head fell to the street, the second rolling toward the gutter.

The gunfire ceased. Except for the crackling of burning bodies, the intersection was quiet.

I rolled off Budge. We both sat up and looked around. The news crews that had retreated in panic crept forward, several cameras fixed on the headless body burning in the street.

“Is everyone all right?” Budge asked, gaining his feet.

Captain Cole emerged from the tent and gave him a thumb’s up: the operation had succeeded. Budge nodded, swiped the hair from his brow, and hustled around until he was in front of the cameras.

“My fellow New Yorkers,” he said, “you’ve now seen the horrible menace with your own eyes. You’ve also witnessed what happens when a determined leader mobilizes the best resources to confront that menace head on. We’re not done yet, but we’re on our way. Phase one of the eradication program is complete.” He swept an arm out. “The ghoul threat to our great city is ended!”

I had to hand it to him. Whatever the man lacked in common sense, he made up for in political instincts. The picture of him in front of the creature carnage was going to look pretty damn impressive on tomorrow’s front pages.

“I’ll be more than happy to take your questions now,” he said, then broke into his signature aw-shucks smile as the cameras and clamoring reporters pressed in. “One at a time, please.”

I caught the coverage that evening on my portable television, an early rabbit-ear model that tolerated my aura better than most. The local stations devoured the story, devoting their entire news slots to that morning’s operation, the coverage ranging from favorable to gushing.

“…an estimated four hundred ghouls eliminated,” Courtney was saying as I shifted the pillows that propped up my wounded leg. “And with that, the mayor claims he’s on his way to eliminating all supernatural threats from the city, though he said that will require a second term.”

“Well played, Budge,” I muttered to the television.

“Just a second term?” Tabitha yawned from the divan. “Does he have any idea how many of us there are?”

“He said threats. And he’s only going after the worst of the worst.”

“Well, there are plenty of those.” Tabitha began ticking them off her paw. “Soul eaters, succubi, incubi…”

“Clear and present threats,” I amended. “Ones that give the mayor the biggest political payout. He’s not going to risk chasing beings that ninety-nine percent of the city can’t even see.” My head ached with the urge to be right. Or maybe I was determined for the vampire Arnaud to be wrong.

“Well, what about me and you?” Tabitha asked.

“What about us? We’re not threats to anyone. Hardly anyone even knows we exist.” A vein in my temple began to throb now, as though I were making the argument to Arnaud himself.

I awaited Tabitha’s response, but she was staring past me, a grin growing across her furry lips. I followed her gaze back to the television. A headshot appeared through the snowy reception, one I recognized.

“You were saying?” Tabitha purred.

“In the excitement of today’s operation, an interesting figure emerged,” Courtney said in a chirpy, you’re-not-going-to-believe-this tone. “His name is Everson Croft. He’s a college professor, a consultant to the mayor, and a modern day wizard. I saw it with my own eyes, folks. Watch here as he battles a flaming ghoul, using only a sword and magical incantations.”

I’d thought all of the cameramen had been in retreat, but at least one had had the brass to stop and shoot. Shaky film rolled of the moment I caught the ghoul in the neck. I could see the severed hand crawling up behind me like a giant spider. Leaping, it affixed itself to my leg. The rest happened quickly. The shouted Word, the ghoul stumbling backwards, me hacking the hand away and shielding the mayor, and at last, the ghoul succumbing to the hail of bullets.

“How delicious,” Tabitha said.

“Whatever his title,” Courtney continued, “I think we can agree that Everson Croft is a hero—our hero—and someone we’ll continue to follow closely. From all of us here at TV 20, goodnight.”

I sagged back in my chair as the credits rolled over the dimming news set. I couldn’t believe it. I was the night’s feel-good closer.

“Well, this should make things interesting,” Tabitha said.

“Yeah, no thanks to Budge.” I limped over to the television and slapped the power button. “Invites every major network to the ghoul roast, then shows up drunk and starts blabbing about his secret wizard weapon.”

“Not so secret now.”

“No kidding. The jerk just made me a walking target.”

“That’s what you get for dealing with a politician. I’ve seduced many over the centuries. They’re the same everywhere.”

I hopped on my good leg to the phone on the kitchen counter. I’d infused the injuries from the ghoul-hand attack with healing magic, but the claw punctures had been deep and bacteria ridden, meaning a longer mend time.

“What are you doing?” Tabitha asked.

“What do you think? Calling the mayor to tell him I’m out.”

I’d reasoned that my inclusion in the eradication program would make me safer. Right now, I felt anything but. My identity had just been broadcast to every New Yorker with a television, which was