Dead Man's Deal The Asylum Tales - By Jocelynn Drake Page 0,160
as I leaned against the car again. “How’re things at the shop?”
“Trixie just finished up with the queen’s tattoo and it is so lovely,” he said, excitement filling his voice. “The king was a gentleman the entire time. Your friend wasn’t needed.”
I kept my comments to myself. When I discovered that I couldn’t be at the shop when Trixie tattooed the king and queen of the Summer Court, I’d asked my friend Parker Banton to hang out and keep an eye on the king. Parker was pretty good at taking care of himself and I knew he’d watch out for Trixie for me, but I had asked him because he was an incubus. It was a subtle threat. If the king gave Trixie any grief, Parker was going to use his unique charm on the queen. Considering the queen was now pregnant with the king’s child, I thought that jealousy would keep him on his best behavior.
Of course, the king also knew what I was and that I considered Trixie mine. I didn’t think the elf was stupid enough to piss me off more than he already had.
“You should have seen him,” Duff continued. He pulled at my hair with his little fingers as if he were playing with it. He paused and bent down so that his upside-down face was directly in front of mine. “He was so attentive to the queen. I think they are past their quarrel and are in love again.”
I closed my eyes before they could cross and pushed his head up so that it was no longer in front of mine. Duff specialized in being ridiculous.
“How’s your pixie friend?”
“Much happier now that the dark elf is gone.” We stood there in companionable silence for another couple minutes before Duff tightened his fists in my hair and pulled until I looked up at him. “Well, you’ve had my report. No more stalling from you. Get in there. Once I see you inside, I have to report back to Trixie and then I am joining the pixies. They’re starting their trip to Buenos Aires tomorrow. We’re following the Summer Court to their next destination. I’ve also heard whispers from the Winter Court that they’re planning an ice storm before All Hallows’ Eve.”
I pushed away from my SUV as Duff launched himself into the air. “Safe travels.”
The hobgoblin settled on the low branch of an old oak tree and then pointed over my shoulder. He was right. I was stalling.
Taking a deep breath, I walked up the sidewalk to the red-brick ranch with the dark blue shutters I had been sitting outside of for nearly thirty minutes. The yard was neatly trimmed and two sedans sat in the driveway, baking in the afternoon sun. I got to the front porch before I started to lose my nerve. I wiped my sweaty palms down the legs of my brown cargo pants and over the edge of my navy polo shirt. They were the nicest clothes I owned besides the fucking dark suits that kept appearing in my closet. I shredded the first two only to have four appear the next morning. I wished it was Gideon’s doing, but I knew it was Darius taunting me.
Cursing my cowardice, I punched the doorbell with my index finger before I could chicken out. I held my breath, listening to the sound of footsteps echoing through the house as one of the occupants approached the door. My heart pounded and my throat was threatening to close up on me. As the footsteps stopped by the door, I realized I didn’t have a clue as to what I was going to say. I almost bolted when the door was pulled open.
My first thought was that she was shorter than I remembered, but then I realized that I must not have been done growing when I last saw her. Her hair was still pale blond, making it nearly impossible to pick out the gray hairs, and there were more lines around her eyes and mouth. It wasn’t so much that they made her look older as that they softened her lovely face.
“Hello,” she said in a voice that cut straight through my heart. There was no recognition in her eyes at first, but they immediately swept up for a closer inspection as if something had registered faintly in the back of her mind.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” I started, my voice low and rough. My eyes darted away from hers, no longer able to