Dead Man's Deal The Asylum Tales - By Jocelynn Drake Page 0,150
seen me and even fewer knew of my altered appearance.
We moved silently down the hall to a large opening. There was no elevator car as you would expect, just an empty shaft that ran from the top of the tower to several floors below the earth. Without hesitating, I stepped into the emptiness, my feet finding an invisible platform. Gideon and Reave were immediately behind me.
“Council chambers,” Gideon said in a strong voice.
The invisible floor fell away and we dropped into the darkness, my stomach instantly becoming swept away. Reave screamed, the horrible sound echoing throughout the shaft, so that everyone within the Tower could hear it. I closed my eyes and clamped my mouth shut, willing myself to trust the magic despite my own desire to scream. The worst had always been when a new apprentice was brought to the Tower. The child’s screams could be heard for weeks echoing through the building until the apprentice grew accustomed to this mode of travel.
Just when you were sure you would slam into the earth, breaking every bone in your body, a gentle force surrounded you, slowing your descent so you landed softly on another platform at your desired floor. I opened my eyes to find us on the bottom floor. Torchlight danced along the walls of the narrow hallway that ended in another set of enormous black doors. The walls and floor were black. The wall sconces were black iron. The only color was the flickering flames.
I stepped out of the shaft first with Reave floating just above the ground behind me. Gideon hadn’t bothered to heal his knee and kept him in a physical binding spell. There was no reason to heal him so long as he could talk and scream. As we walked down the hall, the doors automatically opened to reveal a room almost as big as the entire Tower was round. When we entered, it was like walking into a wall of noise after passing through so many silent halls. A quick glance revealed that all twelve members of the council were present. Only one seat was vacant, but then a new member had yet to be elected following Peter’s death. They were all dressed in the classic black robes, but in place of their wands were long wooden staves topped with different-colored orbs.
The twelve council members were on a dais so that they could easily look down on the supplicants and accused. Before them was an open floor that was a strange mix of a courtroom floor and an arena for gladiators. At the opposite end of the room were several rows of seats for people to watch the proceedings. To my displeasure, every seat in the place was taken. I had prayed that due to the lateness of the hour, I would come before only the council members, but I had a feeling that because of the high stress caused by recent events, everyone was waiting for news with bated breath.
As we neared the center of the room, one of the council warlocks pounded his staff on the floor twice. A moment later, the double door banged closed, sending a horrible echo through my chest. Please, let those doors open for me again.
“Mr. Powell, this is an unexpected visit,” Henry Fox called down to me. I clenched my jaw, fighting the urge to make a snide remark. These assholes weren’t going to make it easy on me, but starting a fight with the council would not help me see daylight again. “And you even dressed for the occasion.”
I stood, stiff and sore, staring straight ahead at the cold, black stone wall that made up the front of their dais, refusing to acknowledge Fox’s comments. I knew as soon as I said one word to the prick, he’d bring up the fact that I’d used forbidden magic in a fight that he witnessed—getting both myself and Gideon in trouble. Sure, that fucking asshole started the fight, but I wasn’t sure there were many in the room who would care about this technicality.
“Master Toussaint,” one witch on the council started a bit wearily. I nearly looked around to see who she was addressing when it dawned on me that she was talking to Gideon. I knew his last name, but I hadn’t heard it used in a long time. “It seems that Mr. Powell has finally given you a reason to bring him before us. It’s a shame it couldn’t wait for a more agreeable hour.”