Dead Man's Deal The Asylum Tales - By Jocelynn Drake Page 0,118

this. You can.”

She stared at me for a long time, gazing deep into my eyes. I didn’t know if she was reading my mind to determine that I was telling the truth or if she was looking inside herself. I could easily imagine that she had spent a very long lifetime fighting to right the messes caused by the Towers and she had to be tired of what was becoming a futile act. I couldn’t blame her for wanting to step away from the world and remain closeted here, where peace seeped so deeply into your soul. But I needed her to act.

“Chang also warned me that you are a sneaky devil,” she said with a slight frown.

A sigh of relief burst from my chest and my shoulders slumped. She was going to help. On an impulse, I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her soft cheek. “Thank you.”

“Ah! Just a minute!” she said sharply as I pushed to my feet. She pointed a thin finger at me. “Even in this world, you can’t get something for nothing. If I help the elves, what will you give me in return?”

I was so excited that I nearly opened my mouth and said, Anything! but I caught myself at the last second. Unfortunately, I had a feeling that she heard that thought because her smile grew. But then, if she had been reading my mind, she knew that she had me. I would do anything to get Trixie safely back with her people. If I couldn’t stop the Towers, I needed some place for her to go that would be hidden, and the elves knew how to hide.

“It’s amazing what we do for love, isn’t it?” Gaia said, looking at me speculatively. “A little while ago, I said that you would have a second chance to come back here. Would you trade that for the elves? For your Trixie’s safety?”

The thought hurt, but I didn’t hesitate. “Yes, I’ll trade it.”

“Would you trade Squall for Trixie?”

My heart jerked in my chest and it felt as if my skin had become cold and clammy. I stumbled a step backward as if I could run from her question. “Trade him?” My voice was coarse like gravel. “Would . . . would he be safe and happy if he didn’t come to me?”

Gaia gave a little shrug, closely watching me. “The future is always an unknown thing. Maybe yes, maybe no.”

Thoughts collided with raging emotion until everything was simply a dark whirlpool sucking down into nothing. Trade Squall for Trixie? Just seconds ago I had thought I would trade anything, but now I couldn’t say the words. I had known him for only a few minutes as I held his fragile body in my arms, but I knew with every fiber of my being that he was mine. Yet, by the same token, I loved Trixie and she was mine as well. I needed her safe if I was to have a hope of staying sane. How could I trade one person for another?

I never saw her move, but Gaia was suddenly standing in front of me, her hand on my arm. There was a lump in my throat and I was struggling against the overwhelming fear that I had gotten so close to my goal and it was now slipping through my fingers. I was failing because I couldn’t let go of my son to save not only my girlfriend but all her people.

“Shhh,” she said softly. Peace started to ease back into my chest, slowing my heart and shrinking the lump in my throat. “Breathe easy, Gage. It was a trick question. You can’t trade one loved one for another. You end up destroying three lives and saving none.”

“I offer everything that I am and everything I have, but I can’t . . . can’t choose.” My voice was rough and a part of me was angry that I couldn’t control my emotions. There was something about this place. Everything was so raw and fresh here, more vibrant and alive, that emotions usually so easily under my control veered wildly out of my hands.

Gaia smiled brightly at me, looking as if tears were gathering in her own eyes. “You don’t have to. What you’ve offered me is enough. I’ll fix the elves’ procreation problem.”

My heart lurched and my body tensed. My emotions were a fucking roller coaster here and I was beginning to think that it was well past time for me to