Dead Man's Deal The Asylum Tales - By Jocelynn Drake Page 0,154

stopped for a second, waiting. “The elf will be executed for his violation of our sanctity.” I waited but she stopped talking and no one said my name. I released my held breath in a rush. My head swam and my knees went weak. I was sure that I was going to fall on my ass in the middle of the chamber and I didn’t care.

“I’m not the only one who knows!” Reave screamed in desperation.

“No,” I said in a broken whisper before I could catch myself. If I thought it would have made a difference, I would have killed Reave in that second, but it was too late. The words had already hit the air. Apparently, the council members hadn’t dug deeply enough to see Reave give the locations to my brother, but now they would know.

I closed my eyes against the swell of impotent rage and tears, but not before I saw the orbs snap to bright yellow as they dove back into Reave’s mind, searching for the bit of information that they had missed.

“Robert Grant . . . your brother . . .” one of the council members said in surprise. I didn’t know who had spoken, but the voice had been female, sounding almost sad, or at least pitying.

I took at deep breath and blinked back the tears before looking up at them. “It was Reave’s way of ensuring my cooperation and protection against the Towers. He told the locations to my brother.” My tone was quiet, almost as if I was dead inside, but I wasn’t that lucky.

“And the location of this brother?” the dandy inquired.

It had been on the tip of my tongue to say that I killed him, but they would know the truth. They would search my brain until they found the memory of me murdering my brother. I couldn’t lie to the council. I could stretch the truth, but not outright lie.

“He’s gone.”

The warlock smiled at me, trying to look as if he was my best friend in the world, but I wasn’t buying it. “Where?”

“No.”

The warlock’s eyes widened, but otherwise there was no reaction on his lean face as he watched me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see several orbs flare to bright red. Yeah, this was what I had been waiting for. You didn’t refuse the council and you never struck bargains, but I was going to try to do both to save my brother’s life.

I prepared to step out on the tightrope. The council members could try to read my mind like they had read Reave’s, but they wouldn’t be as successful because I was a warlock. I knew how to compartmentalize thoughts, hide them away so that a quick search would reveal nothing. Oh, they could eventually find the truth, but it wasn’t going to be quick. They’d have to strip away each layer of my brain until there was nothing left of me. Normally, the council wouldn’t have a problem with such a thing, other than that it took lots of valuable time. I had to give them a good reason not to destroy my mind.

“Reave told my brother, but I wiped the memory. Robert doesn’t know the locations now; nor is he aware that he ever knew them.”

The dandy flashed me an indulgent smile that I wanted to rip off his face with a rake. “Forgive us if we’re not as confident as you. Memory wipes are quite tricky. I can’t imagine that you’ve had a lot of practice at them.” His smile widened as he waited for me to backpedal. Memory spells were not covered in my self-defense-only agreement and I was about to hang myself if I admitted a second time to using it.

My gaze never wavered from him. “As Simon Thorn could at one time attest, I am talented. My brother’s memory has been wiped.”

The murmur of conversation behind me picked up again for a couple seconds before one of the council members pounded his staff on the stone floor. The warlock who had spoken smiled at me, his grin nearly sharklike. He thought he had me, and he was probably right, but I wasn’t done yet.

“My brother’s memory has been wiped,” I repeated, my voice rising strong and firm. “He has no memory of Reave, myself, or my family. I gave him a new name, appearance, and past that he doesn’t question. He was sent from the city where he lived and I have no idea where