Shadow Duel (Prof Croft Book 9)

it into sword and staff. Vega drew her sidearm and aimed it two-handed. Bree-yark took one look at the doorway and fell flat on his back.

3
Colorful lights shimmered over the threshold, silhouetting a large figure. I moved in front of Tony, ley energy storming toward me. Vega sidestepped with her service weapon for a better angle. Mae knelt beside Bree-yark.
“Who’s there?” I demanded, my mind going to the strange box I’d recovered.
In the next moment, the large figure was standing beside the coat rack, blinking around. The light show faded.
I released my breath. “Jesus, Gretchen. Ever heard of knocking?”
Vega lowered her weapon with a perturbed expression. “Or better yet, calling ahead.”
My teacher waved a hand as if such formalities were for lesser beings, released a low burp, and took in the scene. Tony returned her stare, though in curiosity rather than fear. Buster had stopped in his attempts to play with Tabitha, and both were peering back at her. Gretchen’s gaze fell to Bree-yark. He had landed spread-eagle, the soles of his splayed feet facing her.
“What’s with him?” she asked in the scornful way of an ex.
“You tell us,” I growled.
For ten years Gretchen had strung Bree-yark along, manipulating his affections into chores and lonely stretches of house-sitting. I’d convinced him that he could do better about the same time Mae entered his life. I’d also been there during his breakup with Gretchen in her kitchen. She had not taken it well.
“What? You think I did that?” she said now.
“You once threatened him with a casserole dish,” I reminded her.
“Well, he doesn’t need my help to faint. For all their swagger, goblins aren’t wired to handle emotional stress, especially in matters of the heart. It short circuits their puny brains.”
Mae suspended her efforts to revive Bree-yark and rose. “What did you say about him?”
Gretchen’s eyes narrowed over her hooked nose as she gave Mae a thorough up and down. “I merely made an observation. And who are you supposed to be?”
“I’m not supposed to be anyone. I’m Mae Johnson, his lady friend. Who are you?”
Gretchen thrust out her chin. “Only his former lover.”
“Well let’s keep the emphasis where it belongs,” Mae said, stepping forward. “On former.”
Tabitha’s eyes brightened at the prospect of a cat fight, but I stepped between the two large women before things could get ugly. “Whoa, whoa. You’re here for the box, right?” I said to Gretchen. “Just give me a sec and I’ll grab it.”
But Gretchen stared at me as if I were offering to retrieve a dead rat. “What in the world would I want with your box?”
“It’s the one I found this morning. Claudius didn’t tell you? Last week, the wards detected an energy signature that—”
She showed her palms, some magic in the motion cutting me off. “Enthralling, engrossing, fascinating—all those things, I’m sure. But I’m not here for your box. Good gods, what is that smell?”
“I found the box in a landfill,” I said, then added in a mutter, “and if you’re reacting, it has to be bad.”
“Well, here.” She waved a hand in annoyance.
A prickling wave broke over me, as if I were being scrubbed with a stiff brush. The sensation sent me into an involuntary jitter—and a full blown dance when it reached my delicate parts. Moments later, the scrubbing stopped, leaving behind a faint afterburn. I touched my hair, slick and parted now. When I sniffed my arm, it smelled like fresh lavender. Gretchen had cast a cleaning spell.
“Thanks,” I said thinly.
“And while we’re at it…”
With the snap of her fingers, Bree-yark jolted upright. He put one hand to his heart and the other to his head. With Mae’s help, he pushed himself to his feet, eyes squinting as if from a bad hangover.
“What in thunder happened?” he grumbled.
“You went woozy, you poor thing.” Mae said, guiding him to my reading chair.
“I tend to have that effect on him,” Gretchen remarked, arching a provocative eyebrow.
With a head-clearing shake, the goblin looked between Mae and Gretchen. Brightness returned to his eyes, but it wasn’t the full-blown look of panic from earlier. The fainting must have reset his nervous system.
“Got anything I can take a shot of, Everson?” he asked.
Vega nodded that she’d get it and disappeared into the kitchen.
“If you didn’t come for the box,” I said to Gretchen, “to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?”
“I’ll be going away for a while.”
I snorted. “Since when do you announce your departures? You usually just disappear.”
“Someone has asked me on a trip,” she continued, as if I hadn’t spoken. “A wonderful man. But it’s all very last minute. He’s quite…” She circled a hand as she searched for the word. “Adventurous. And he can afford to be. He’s done extremely well for himself. Anyway, I’ve told him yes.”
I noticed something that had escaped me in the confusion of her arrival: Gretchen had undergone a makeover. Her unruly hair was now a trendy, shoulder-length bob with blond highlights. Gone too was the frumpy housedress. She was wearing a fashionable blazer over a blouse, and straight-leg jeans tucked into a pair of women’s boots. Flashes of gold jewelry completed the stylish look. To impress this mystery man? Maybe, but I also noticed she was speaking loudly enough for Bree-yark to hear.
I shook my head. She wasn’t doing me any courtesy by announcing her departure; she was trying to make her ex jealous.
“He mentioned a cliffside villa in the Cinque Terre with a wonderful ocean view,” she was saying. “And then we’ll be in Paris for the Fete de la—”
“All right, all right,” I cut in. “When will you be back?”
Despite my very mixed feelings about Gretchen, the Order still felt she was the best teacher for my stage of development. And when she was around long enough to string a few training sessions together, I actually learned some things. She’d shown me a kickass potion the month before that I couldn’t wait to use.
“I’ll be back when I’m back,” she snapped,