Dead Man's Deal The Asylum Tales - By Jocelynn Drake Page 0,92
only save what they can use.”
I pushed to my feet again and dusted my hands off before picking up the watering can. “Thank you, Chang, for showing me this. They are beautiful.”
“It’s my way of ensuring that certain plants do not disappear from this earth,” he said with a shrug, but his face quickly brightened with a new thought. “I have a small section of my garden dedicated to Saint Helena. That island lost so many plants. I rescued an olive, ebony, and heliotrope.”
I walked back over to the little old man and followed him as he continued to wander through the garden.
“I’m surprised that you recognized the Cry Pansy,” he said, breaking the growing silence.
I paused, staring at a deep red bloom that appeared to be the extinct Cosmo Atrosanguineus. There was supposedly a clone in a Tower greenhouse, but the original was long gone from the earth. Except maybe for the one that I was now looking at. “A long time ago when I was studying, I discovered that I was pretty good at remembering the various uses for plants as well as their growing requirements. I thought when I got older I would spend a chunk of my life working in one of the Tower greenhouses. I always imagined that it would be peaceful and safe.” My voice died off as I stared at the flower. I had never gotten to the greenhouse in Dresden, or more important, the massive exotics greenhouse at the Antarctica Tower. I was too busy trying to escape.
A sigh rose up in my chest and it was hard to hold it in. The greenhouses were just one example of the good the Towers could do. They preserved rare and nearly extinct plants and flowers, which could be used to heal wounds and cure diseases. But the warlocks and the witches weren’t interested in saving the people of the world. Just themselves.
The sound of Chang’s feet steadily moving down the gravel path tore me from my thoughts and I followed him until he sat on a carved wooden bench under an ancient oak tree. He gave a relieved sigh as he settled on the bench and stretched his thin legs out in front of him. Setting the watering can by the side of the bench, I sat next to Chang and looked out across the garden. I hadn’t realized it as we walked, but we had moved uphill, so that we now looked over a large section that was spread out in a vast explosion of color. For just a moment the world had slipped away from us and there were no threats from the Towers or the Summer Court or Reave. It was just Chang and me, lost in nature.
“I’ve heard rumors,” Chang started, his voice soft and almost hesitant. “I’ve heard the Towers are looking for something stolen from them.”
Looking down at the old man, I arched one eyebrow and frowned. “Do you have a guilty conscience? Is there something you would like to confess?”
Chang scowled at me but didn’t speak. My composure cracked and I smiled. “I can’t imagine that your conscience would ever prick you. At least not when it comes to the Ivory Towers.” The brief humor slipped from me and the weight of the situation descended on my shoulders again. “But the rumors are true in a way. They are looking for something they protect, but you can rest easy in that it’s not anything that you’ve recently procured. Well, I certainly hope that you’re not attempting to purchase this item.”
The old man stopped scowling, but didn’t lose his dark expression as he looked straight ahead again. “There are many interesting things that the warlocks and witches guard, but most . . . most are hidden within the Towers and can be accessed by only another witch or warlock. And seeing how you are the only warlock that I do business with . . .”
“We both know I have enough problems. I’m not fetching you new baubles from the Towers to add to your collection.”
Chang didn’t even blink an eye at my comment. Today was the first time either one of us had vocalized what I was sure he had always known. We didn’t speak of my past with the Towers and I never asked how he knew. Chang knew things—that was how he had become the best at acquiring the exotic.
There was a tightness around his eyes as he stared at some distant point. He was