Dead Man's Deal The Asylum Tales - By Jocelynn Drake Page 0,53
door back in place before a neighbor wandered by.
“What can I do to help?” Robert asked, his voice a little wobbly as he gave Gideon a wide berth as he approached me.
“Nothing.”
“Gage, it looks like you’re in pretty deep shit here. I can help.”
I smiled at Robert, touched more than I wanted to admit that my brother, who was obviously scared shitless, was ready to wade in and watch his little brother’s back. A part of me wished I could let him help, but this was a mess best handled with magic. Lots of magic. “Just go hang out in my bedroom while we clean this up. And save me a couple beers.”
Robert frowned as he looked at Gideon and then nodded. “Got it.” He stared down at me for a few seconds and I don’t know what was passing through his mind, but it didn’t seem to be abject horror, which was surprising. “You need anything, you shout. Anything at all.” And then he shimmied past the broken door into the hall to my bedroom. Under his breath, I could hear him muttering that he should have bought a fucking case of beer.
Turning my full attention on Sofie, I found that her lovely bluish-gray fur was now dark and matted with her blood. There was a large wound in her abdomen and her breathing was shallow. She was fading fast. With a deep breath, I drew in as much energy as I could hold. As I exhaled, I sent that energy streaking through her body. It was a similar spell to what I had used on Bronx nights ago, but stronger. I was afraid of her dying before I could heal her. This spell tied her soul to the energy in her body. As long as I maintained the spell, her soul was trapped.
Despite the smallness of her frame in comparison to Bronx, it still took several minutes for the worst of her wounds to heal. I was vaguely aware of Gideon using magic around me. I could hear the tinkle of broken glass and the clink of silverware while a heavy breeze swept by me as the door flew to its place at the front of the apartment and the lights clicked on. I kept my eyes closed, straining to keep as much of my focus on Sofie as I could.
When the beat of her heart was strong beneath my fingers and her breathing was even, I started to unravel the healing spell, pulling the energy out of her body. Sofie shifted and I thought I could feel her purring. I opened my eyes and took a deep breath, relief making my hands shake as I pulled them away from her. Sofie was an annoying, meddlesome old witch, but she was my annoying, meddlesome old witch and I’d be damned if I was going to let some fucking witch or warlock kill her because I had been stupid enough to send her into danger.
I sat on the carpet, leaning against the nearest wall, and dropped my head until my chin nearly hit my chest. Both Sofie and I had nearly been killed by a witch and a warlock. I was exhausted down to my soul and my body hurt in more places than I wanted to think about. I didn’t want to move, didn’t want to breathe, didn’t want to think, but I still had to do all of the above because Gideon was here and was going to want some answers. He also had some answers that I desperately needed.
Something nudged my elbow. I looked down, lifting my hand. Sofie crawled into my lap and curled up. She didn’t speak, only purred as she snuggled close. I gently ran my fingers over her wet, sticky fur, soothing away the last of the trembling and terror that had gripped us both. I had almost lost her. A lump grew in my throat and my chest ached with a pain that had nothing to do with physical injuries. The Towers were picking apart my life no matter how hard I tried to escape. I’d left my family to keep them safe from the Towers and now the bastards were trying to claim the lives of my friends. There had to be another way.
“You’re better than I am at that particular healing spell,” Gideon said. “I think I would have been able to save her, but she wouldn’t be as strong as she is now.”