Dead Man's Deal The Asylum Tales - By Jocelynn Drake Page 0,88

the council that the threat had been taken care of. I needed the Svartálfar alive with his mind intact to hand over to the Towers if we were to survive this mess.

Stunned by Reave’s revelation, I forgot about the binding spell. Reave leaped at me, plowing a fist into my gut before I could react. I stumbled but caught myself before I could fall on my ass. Rage pumped in my veins, burning a new hole through my soul. Reave had endangered my brother’s life with his plans. He endangered us all. I’d put this asshole on ice somewhere until I could find a way to protect Robert and then I’d hand him over for torture in the Towers.

“You wanted to take on a warlock. Well, now you’ve got one,” I growled.

A wide grin slithered across Reave’s face as he palmed a long, curved blade that had been hanging at his side. “You? You’re no warlock.” He chuckled. “You’re some kid who couldn’t cut it with the other grown-ups, so you ran. And now I’m going to cut you down.” The dark elf took a step, slicing at me with the curved blade in his right hand. I dodged it in time, watching the knife swing wide of me, but it was the unseen blade in his left hand that got me, digging into my side before I could react.

I groaned, my body clenching and stiffening as the pain exploded out from my side. Reave jerked the blade free, twisting it as he pulled. I clapped my hand over the wound, struggling to slow the bleeding as I scrambled for a new spell that would knock Reave unconscious without taking his head off in the process. Subtle spells weren’t my specialty.

Grinning, Reave slashed with both knives, backing me up. This was fucking ridiculous. I was trying to fight him with magic when I didn’t need to. Releasing my side, I dodged one blade while blocking his other arm with mine as it attempted to slash across my neck. My side screamed and my back throbbed, but I ignored the pain as I lifted my leg and kicked him in the knee. Reave moved at the last second and I only clipped it at an angle, but it was enough to get the dark elf to warily back off while favoring that leg.

“I think we’ve had enough fun for one day, boy,” he said. “You’ve got more to worry about than just me.” The bastard came at me fast. I dodged and blocked what I could, but the pain in my side and steady loss of blood was slowing me down. In the end, it was a foot in the sternum that put me on my back in the dusty warehouse. I jerked upright again with a groan, but all I caught was a glimpse of Reave’s back as he sprinted out of the open doorway, disappearing into the bright midday glare of the fenced-in courtyard.

Another groan slipped past my clenched teeth as I got to my feet and ran to the doorway, grasping my side with my left hand. My feet skidded through the dirt and gravel as I stopped in the open area and looked for Reave, but he was already gone. The ogres I had knocked out were still lying on the ground, but the one who opened the door was missing. He shouldn’t have been able to get away that fast, but I had a feeling he had sprinted to wherever Reave’s car was stashed and started it in the event that the Svartálfar would need a fast getaway.

“Fuck!” I shouted. I shuffled across the courtyard, holding my side, grumbling about Reave, the Towers, and my own stupidity. I even paused long enough to kick one of the sleeping ogres in the head. He snorted once and rolled over before continuing to sleep, undisturbed.

When I reached my SUV, I stood next to the front grille and lifted my shirt to look at the cut. It didn’t look that big, but the bleeding hadn’t slowed. A good portion of my shirt and the left side of my jeans were soaked. Swearing again, I pulled the wound closed with my left hand while whispering a quick healing spell. I used just enough magic to knit the interior wounds and close the skin. I didn’t want to waste the energy on the blood or the pain.

With a sigh, I leaned against the grille and glared at the old paper mill.