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

last, he cleared his throat and said, “We’ll pull back if you give us Everson. While we deal with him, I’ll, ah, work on putting out the vampire rumors.”

Give us Everson, Budge was saying, and war will be averted.

I pinched the corners of my eyes with a finger and thumb, trying to piece together what was happening on the mayor’s end. If Caroline was there advising him, was she trying to help me? Or would I be grabbed and thrown into a trial for public consumption? A trial seemed the logical next step in the fae’s campaign. They had already aroused the city’s sympathies and fears; now they could stoke a communal lust for justice—all to Budge’s and the fae’s benefit. The fae would get their preferred candidate and, using the vampire rumor as leverage against Arnaud, access to the lower portal. That may have been their plan all along.

One in which I’d served as unwitting pawn.

When I lowered my hand, Arnaud’s fellow executives were watching me. Loathing hardened their unblinking eyes. I was a threat to their security. They wanted me gone. Could I blame them? If I was in their position, I’d no doubt want the same. And if turning myself in meant preventing a war in which innocents could be killed, maybe I didn’t have a choice.

I cleared my dry throat, but Arnaud showed me his palm.

“I’m afraid I can’t accede to your request, Mayor,” he said.

I blinked in surprise. Several of the vampires hissed their protests.

“Why not?” the mayor demanded.

“Because I know a bluff when I hear one.”

Budge let out an aggrieved sigh. “You’re not leaving me much choice, then.”

“I’ll trust you to make the right call,” Arnaud said. “Your city is depending on you.”

Budge raised his voice. “Everson, if you’re there—”

“Good day, Mayor,” Arnaud said and disconnected the call. He signaled for Zarko to remove the phone from the conference room.

Around me, the vampires’ protests grew into bat-like shrieks. Without warning, something slammed into me. I toppled backwards in my chair and landed hard against the floor. The young-looking vampire was on top of me, pupils shrinking inside bright yellow irises, spiny teeth sprouting from his gums.

“You’ll get us killed!” he screamed, and lunged for my throat.

A fist knocked Damien off me. By the time I straightened, Arnaud had the vampire pinned high against the wall. “Did I not say the wizard was under my protection?” he seethed, an inch from Damien’s twisting face. “Subvert my authority again, and you will be killed.”

Arnaud tossed the vampire aside and returned to the head of the table.

Damien shuffled back to his own seat, grumbling but chastised. The remaining vampires stopped screeching, their eyes shifting between me and Arnaud.

“My apologies,” Arnaud said as I stood and righted my chair. “My fellow executives are on edge, and perhaps understandably. There is much at stake. However…” He peered around the table. “…I know what I’m doing. The eradication program would eventually have included us all. That day has only been moved up, an opportunity we should be embracing, not wringing our hands over like Nervous Nellies. The city has no intention of sparing us and never did. So now comes the question.” Arnaud leveled his eyes at me as I sat again. “Will you renew the Pact between our kinds and defend our rightful place in this city? Or will you bow to the fears and prejudices of humanity?”

His musky scent grew inside the room, making my heart slam harder. I raised my eyes to the satellite image. The gunboats Arnaud had mentioned earlier were rushing in to surround lower Manhattan.

“I need to know your endgame,” I said.

“There’s a fitting quote, Mr. Croft: ‘War is the continuation of politics by other means.’” He gave an almost paternal smile. “Don’t be fooled by the show of force. What’s happening is nothing more than politics writ large. All we need do is force a stalemate. Make it so further engagement will be too costly for the mayor’s reelection chances.”

“So your strategy is purely defensive?” I asked to be sure.

“We’ve nothing to gain by attacking the city,” he replied. “With a successful stand, we win by default. The mayor will have no choice but to seek a negotiated settlement. We may have to make a concession or two, yes, but we’ll find the ground on which we presently stand more solid. And that would include you, Mr. Croft, for whom the ground underfoot must feel like quicksand.”

“Assuming we’re successful,” I said.

“Trust me.” Arnaud’s eyes gleamed. “I’ve prepared for this day.”

A sick shiver passed through me. Trust me. As if I could ever trust someone so vile. But something in his words carried me back to my final meeting with Lady Bastet. There had been a moment when the mystic had stared into me, her third eye probing some future horizon. And what was it she’d said when she’d returned? Trust in the one you trust least?

I lowered my gaze back to Arnaud.

The one I trusted least was right in front of me.

“I’ll repeat my offer from the bar,” Arnaud said.

He reached into his shirt pocket and held out a silver band. His yellowing talons scraped as he turned the signet around to face me. I stared at a rearing dragon. Grandpa’s ring. He was offering to return it to me. All I had to do was renew the strategic alliance between our kinds.

Trust in the one you trust least.

I clenched my jaw. How in the hell could I trust a monster?

“What say you?” Arnaud pressed.

26

I eyed the ring Arnaud’s blood slave had broken my finger to remove. Containing the power of the Brasov Pact, the ring was a deterrent against vampire aggression. If I renewed the Pact, that power would only be enhanced. Arnaud and his ilk wouldn’t be able to touch me.

“The offer will not stand forever,” Arnaud said.

My legs tensed, as though to stand and claim the ring, but the rational part of my mind resisted. Aligning with Arnaud might