Dead Man's Deal The Asylum Tales - By Jocelynn Drake Page 0,10

knowledge. An untrained child who could unconsciously tap magical energy was a serious danger. In moments of fear or anger, people died around the child without the child intending it to happen.

Gideon knew that. If Sofie couldn’t train his daughter, he had few options. He couldn’t do it himself without risking others finding out. Training was an intensive, full-time gig and Gideon was already working for the council as a guardian. But if Bridgette wasn’t trained, she’d have to be killed.

I closed my eyes against the ugly thought but it was still there. For a brief second I thought that I could at least teach her a few basic things about control and protection, but I crushed the thought before it fully formed. What the fuck did I know about caring for a seven-year-old girl? I was an outcast former warlock-in-training now a tattoo artist who moonlighted nights doing odd jobs for the local mob. Not a great role model. Sofie was the best choice. I’d have to convince her of it.

“As much as I hate to ask after all the fun we’ve had tonight,” I started, shoving my thoughts back to my most immediate problem, “but what are the chances that Reave doesn’t know about tonight’s events?”

“Oh, he knows,” Bronx said as he took the exit ramp off the highway. “He definitely knows by now.”

“Retribution?”

“Oh, yeah. Expect pain.”

I leaned my head to the side, hitting it against the window. It was my fault. Bronx had nothing to do with my decision to free the pixies but I knew that Reave would punish him along with me. “Damn it! I’m sorry.”

“For what? The pixies?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you regret it?”

“No.”

“Then don’t apologize,” Bronx said. He slowed the car to a stop at a red light and glanced over at me. “You saved lives tonight, and if you didn’t do something, I would have.”

“Thanks.”

He shrugged. “It’s been a rough night. You want me to drop you at Trixie’s?”

“You think it’s safe?”

“Reave’s going to need time to realign his distribution network after tonight’s escapade. We’ve got a day or two. Besides, I’m sure he knows about Trixie and you. Staying away won’t protect her if he wants to attack you from that side.”

“Then Trixie’s would be great,” I said with a sigh. “You can come up too. She won’t mind.”

Bronx chuckled. I knew that trolls were naturally solitary creatures, but sometimes I worried about him feeling lonely even if my worry was unrealistic. “I’ll be fine. I’ve had enough fun for one night. I don’t need another session of strip Chinese checkers burned into my brain.”

I gave a snort of laughter. “We don’t have to play that. Trixie said she’s been working on a way to make a drinking game out of The Princess Bride.”

The troll rolled his eyes, one corner of his mouth quirking in a half smile. “Let’s save it for this All Hallows’ Eve. Go spend some quality time with your girlfriend.”

Smiling, I relaxed in my seat as we got closer to Trixie’s apartment. Beautiful green eyes. Musical laughter. A soft touch that soothed the tears in my heart and the holes in my soul. Tonight, I would fall asleep holding Trixie and I would deal with the rest of the world tomorrow.

3

REAVE SURPRISED US as we reached Trixie’s apartment complex. Escorted to a large, dark warehouse in a not-so-nice part of Low Town, we stood in an open area with large wooden crates lining the far walls. Reave’s black clothes and liquid black hair allowed him to nearly disappear into the shadows. Streetlights leaked through the dirty second-story windows, but he avoided the light for the most part.

To say that Reave was pissed would be an understatement. The Svartálfar wasn’t raving and stomping around the room while intermittently throwing things at us. Dark elves, like their Summer and Winter Court brethren, didn’t show emotion like that. But the telltale muscle spasm at the corner of his eye and the constant fisting and unfisting of his hands said it all.

“Why do it, Gage? That’s all I want to know,” Reave said in a low, even voice. He almost sounded reasonable.

I shrugged, fighting to not look over at Bronx. “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about. You wanted the house protected from intruders. I protected it.”

“While destroying my supplies in the process.” Each word was ground between clenched teeth. “There are consequences for every action.”

It happened too quickly for me to react. Two pairs of hands roughly grabbed my arms, jerking