Dead Man's Deal The Asylum Tales - By Jocelynn Drake Page 0,137
out the back door. When you’re sure you’re safely hidden, send a message to me at my parlor,” I instructed in a hard, even voice, hoping the tone was drilling into his head past the pain and self-doubts.
“Yes, but . . .” His words immediately drifted off as he motioned toward Gideon; the warlock lifted the body in his arms.
“Gideon will see that she gets a proper burial. You need to get these kids to safety. It might be a little while, but eventually the Towers are going to come investigate this fight. You need to be gone.”
Étienne nodded and then quickly urged the others back into the house. They wordlessly followed his orders and I was grateful for that. I turned to find Gideon standing a couple feet away, the cloak-enshrouded Alice held in his arms with the same gentleness he would show any sleeping child. Tears still streaked his cheeks, but there was a coldness to his eyes that made me glad that he was on my side.
“We will end this,” he said in a low voice, and then he disappeared.
A chill swept over me as I stood there alone in the silence. I had a feeling that the this that Gideon was referring to was the Towers’ reign of terror. I hoped he was right, but I was afraid that we wouldn’t live to see the fruits of our labors.
A soft meow drew my attention to the ground to find Sofie stepping out of some thick bushes near the front porch. I had completely forgotten that she had been in my arms as I left the house. I couldn’t blame her for hiding, as there wasn’t much she could have done in that fight besides die. As I bent down toward the ground, she ran over to me and let me gather her up in my arms.
We stood guard at the side of the dilapidated old house as the kids gathered their meager belongings. I rubbed Sofie’s head, but she never purred. I stared off into space, concentrating on using a quiet spell that tracked all magic in the area, but no other witches or warlocks appeared.
When the remaining kids had run from the house and disappeared to some unknown location, I used another small spell to dissipate any lingering traces of magic spells in the area. With any luck, when the Towers came to check out the dead, they would assume that I was the only one who had been found. They would have no proof that the runaways had ever been there.
Holding Sofie against my chest, I teleported, wishing I had never left Gaia’s world.
26
I WANTED TO go back to Trixie’s apartment with Sofie. I wanted to crawl into bed with the blond elf and pull her tight against my body while mentally blocking out the world. But I didn’t. After grabbing my wand from my apartment, I went to the tattoo parlor and prepared for the end.
Spells were put into place to alert me if someone decided to unexpectedly pop in. I grabbed my wand, tucking it in my back pocket, so that I wouldn’t feel quite so naked. I had no idea if Henry Fox was going to make another grab for me or if he was going to send yet another group of witches and warlocks to be slaughtered. He had come at me with three other magic users. He held me in a house with others magic users. He had sent three more hunting for me after my escape, and still I slipped from his grasp. I was hoping that he was going to be more cautious. It would buy me time, which is what I needed most because I was sure that I wasn’t going to escape again.
With my defense in place, I spent the morning on the phone, draining my bank account and trading in favors to get things done quickly and quietly. Plans were finalized. This business had put me in contact with more than my fair share of shady characters. I had always hoped that I would never contact them, but that never stopped me from secreting away their phone numbers against the day when I would need them.
By late afternoon when Trixie walked through the door for her shift, I was done and was waiting for my target. I felt numb and I was grateful for it. If I had felt anything else, I wouldn’t have been able to continue.