Dead Man's Deal The Asylum Tales - By Jocelynn Drake Page 0,49

ignored them. We were wrong and thousands died because of it.

Tonight was a time of grief and overwhelming fear as people searched for a reason behind this unexpected attack. The long-lived races would be gathered, trying to figure out if this was the start of another Great War and what they should do. They would remember the horrors of the last war, the devastation to their races that were even now struggling to pull away from the brink of extinction.

Tomorrow, grief would be replaced by boiling rage. The creatures with shorter life spans, shorter memories, would shake their fists in the air and call for arms against the Towers, regardless of the fact that they didn’t know where to go to strike at their enemy. Regardless of the fact that they didn’t have a hope in the world of winning.

I was angry for all the lives that had been senselessly wiped out in a matter of seconds by a handful of witches and warlocks. I was angry for all the years of violence and bloodshed. But more so, I was afraid. I was afraid for the people of this world if we were forced to go to war again. And a bit selfishly, I was afraid for myself.

Despite my petty claims of leaving the Towers and turning my back on that lot, I was still a warlock. If we went to war, I wouldn’t side with the Towers, but what could one warlock-in-training do against them? And would the rest of the world even welcome my help if we went to war?

No. This had to be stopped before it came to that. The mess with the Towers had to be sorted out before anyone else had to pay the price.

10

A BAD FEELING followed me back to my apartment that night, making me grateful that I picked up a few items from my secret hoard in the parlor’s basement. Along with my wand, I grabbed some colored chalk, a couple crystals, and a handful of various herbs. I didn’t know when Sofie was getting to my apartment and I definitely didn’t know if or when Gideon was going to show up. In the meantime, I needed to be protected.

It didn’t help that the number of people who knew my dirty little secret was growing due to my recent association with Reave. I couldn’t trust his flunkies to keep their mouths shut. While the unwashed masses might not know where to find the Towers, my aging apartment building, less than twenty minutes from my tattoo parlor, wasn’t difficult to locate.

Before reaching my place, I stopped at a gas station and bought a small bag of sunflower seeds. Breaking open the bag, I scattered the seeds outside my front door. My landlady wasn’t going to be pleased if I didn’t vacuum up the mess the next morning, but at least I was protected against a bunch of OCD vampires for the night.

My stomach twisted as I discovered that my apartment was empty. There was no note and no text telling me when Robert had left, where he’d gone, or when he’d get back. Asshole. How the hell was I supposed to protect him if I couldn’t fucking find him? He’d mentioned something about getting clothes from his place, but I’d expected him to have done it in the afternoon. Unfortunately, I couldn’t wait. I needed to protect the apartment.

As soon as the dead bolt slid home, I grabbed a piece of chalk out of my pocket and drew a series of symbols on the plain wood door and along the doorjamb. Each symbol briefly flared to life and then faded again as the protective wards were locked into place. When I was finished with the door, I pocketed the chalk and hurried to my bathroom, grabbing a bar of soap. Going through the apartment, I drew symbols with the soap on each window and on the sliding-glass doors that led to the balcony. I hesitated, looking at the balcony. I thought about scratching a few symbols on the concrete floor, but decided against it. If someone went to the trouble of climbing to my balcony, the wards on the sliding-glass door would stop them. This would give me a glimpse of my would-be attacker before I sent the bastard packing.

Dropping the soap and chalk on the coffee table in the center of the living room, I bent and pulled my wand out from where I had shoved it into my sock before collapsing