Dead Man's Deal The Asylum Tales - By Jocelynn Drake Page 0,78

jeans to keep from reaching for her. “They’ll keep coming until I give them a reason to stop.”

“And that’s handing over the elf to the Ivory Towers?”

Half of my mouth quirked in a smile. “Try not to feel too much sympathy for him. He’s a real asshole and I think the world would be better off without him around.” My half smile disappeared as she frowned. “I’m sorry. I want change as badly as you. Maybe even more so, but this way will only get millions of people killed and we’ll end up in a worse place than we are in now.”

“Then how do things ever change?”

“From within. It’s slow and dangerous, but the fighting is unlikely to spread into the rest of the world. I know you can’t tell, but it’s happening. Things are changing in the Towers. It will get better. Maybe not in our lifetimes, but it will get better if they keep pressing forward.”

Trixie looked up at me. A thin, fragile smile drifted ghostlike across her lips. “Things must be changing. You’re here.”

“Yes, and I’m not the only one. It will get better.” I extended my right hand to her, holding my breath as I waited to see if she’d take it. I understood her need to strike back at the Towers and I held a great key that would help the world. I prayed that she understood that revealing the Tower locations to the world only led to death and destruction, not freedom.

Slowly, Trixie stepped closer and placed her hand in mine, allowing me to pull her into my arms. “I don’t like it and my instincts say that the information should be shared, but I understand. So many of the people I knew when I was a child are dead as a result of the Great War. I can’t go through that again. Maybe I’m a coward,” she said against my shoulder.

“No. You’re trying to fight smarter.”

In the distance, I could hear the whine of police sirens drawing closer to the park. The truck driver must have called in the cops and it was time for us to get going. Pressing a kiss to Trixie’s temple, I ushered her over to her car. As I placed her in the passenger seat, I took the keys and jumped behind the wheel. I was afraid that I’d have to work a little glamour of my own to get by the cops, and oddly enough it was more easily done while driving the car.

“So what now?” she asked on a sigh of relief as we jumped on the expressway without being stopped.

I reached over and tapped the cover of the white book that lay forgotten in her lap. “You need to read through that and make some notes for me. I need to know what changed with the elves before they started having problems. Diet? Magic? Sexual positions?”

Trixie gave a little snort. “I doubt Arianna had such things written down, but I’ll make a note,” she said sarcastically. She sighed again and I looked over to find her staring at the book she was now holding. “I honestly forgot about this. It all seems so . . . unimportant now, you know? Considering the mess with the Towers.”

“This is important to me,” I said firmly. “The Towers thing is fixable and so is this. It won’t be easy, but we’ll fix it.”

“Thanks, Gage.”

“No problem.” I hit the turn signal and glanced in the mirrors before sliding over into the left lane. Afternoon traffic was light, and I was eager to get Trixie safely tucked away. “I thought of something else you could look into for me.”

“What?”

“Have the elves ever consulted the Hearth Women?”

Trixie turned in her seat to look at me. “No, but then I thought they were just midwives and humans were their only clients.”

I smiled. “You’re right in that humans are usually their only clients, but a few other races trickle in here and there. They have skills beyond being midwives. Centuries ago, the Hearth Women were called the Handmaidens of Hera. Hera may have been the goddess of marriage, but she was often seen as a protector of the home, hearth, and childbirth. Could you ask them their opinion and advice?”

“Sure. If you think it will help.”

“Thanks,” I said. I had a feeling that they would be much more helpful to Trixie than to me, because much like their patron goddess, the Hearth Women didn’t much care for men. “Oh, and a word of