Read Online Demon's Vow: Part 2 of the Final Asylum Tales (The Asylum Tales series) by Jocelynn Drake - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jocelynn Drake
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was no sound at all — only the all-consuming silence of the nothing we traveled through to get to Germany in the blink of an eye. A rise of panic had me clenching my teeth because it felt like there was no air to breathe in the emptiness, but even as that frantic thought formed in my brain, we were in Germany. I had to shield my eyes for a second against the glare of the moonlight coming off the snow after the darkness that had consumed me.
The Dresden Ivory Tower rose up like a pale, bony finger against the thick velvet night sky. The forest that surrounded the structure had been pushed back as if even nature feared to draw too close to the witches and warlocks that lived inside. My heart gave a couple hard thumps at the sight of the structure and my breathing grew ragged around the lump that had formed in my throat.
The last time I had seen this Tower I had stood before the council waiting to hear if I was to be killed for my rebellion against my mentor and my attempts to escape. Obviously, I was allowed to live, but there had been a price. And in the end, whatever concessions I thought I had won proved to be false because I was right back here ten years later. Only this time, I had asked for entrance into their bloodstained halls.
“I brought us in this way because I wasn’t sure if Master Thorn had a secret entrance that you could use,” Gideon said when I no longer sounded like I was at risk of hyperventilating. There was no missing the note of hope in his tone.
“If he did, I don’t know about it.” My voice sounded like it had been dragged across the concrete. I never thought I’d find myself back here. And when Simon had been killed, I’d hoped I would never have to think about him or my past again. It’s amazing how fucking wrong I can be at times.
Clearing my throat, I took a step forward and then another one, relieved to find that it grew easier as long as I kept my mind on the task at hand. Getting into Simon’s rooms meant my getting into the library, which meant that I was closer to finding the killer and finding a way to keep Trixie and our baby safe. Now I just had to enter Simon’s rooms without having my organs pulled out through my belly button.
Gideon wordlessly commanded the massive double doors to open and we stepped inside the Tower, escaping the bitter cold for something that felt so much worse—a heart-sickening familiarity that was almost comforting. Ten years had passed and it all looked the same. The floor was covered in cold gray marble and the walls were a deep charcoal gray, while smoky white globes of light dotted the walls at regular intervals. There was a hint of burnt heather in the air along with a whiff of lavender, both of which just barely failed to mask the coppery tang of old blood.
But it wasn’t the scents or sights that nearly had me gagging. It was the fact that something in my body relaxed upon returning. I had lived here for nine years—longer than I ever lived with my real family, who loved and treated me with kindness. This Tower had become my life, my future, and my entire world. No matter the horrors I survived, the people I had killed, or the times I had nearly died myself, something in my psyche called this place home.
“I can go up to Thorn’s door with you, but I can’t help you beyond that,” Gideon said, breaking the silence after allowing me a couple of minutes to merely stare at my stark surroundings.
“No. I’ll meet you in the library after I’m done,” I said once I felt that I had a firm handle on my emotions.
“Gage, you don’t—”
“Yeah, I do.” Glancing over my shoulder at his, I flashed him a twisted grin. “Don’t worry. I remember the way.”
Striding across the open main hall, I stopped before a quartet of large black openings along the wall. They were like car-less elevators that could take you to any location within the Towers. You just had to have the balls to use them. Or maybe you had to be a little
The Dresden Ivory Tower rose up like a pale, bony finger against the thick velvet night sky. The forest that surrounded the structure had been pushed back as if even nature feared to draw too close to the witches and warlocks that lived inside. My heart gave a couple hard thumps at the sight of the structure and my breathing grew ragged around the lump that had formed in my throat.
The last time I had seen this Tower I had stood before the council waiting to hear if I was to be killed for my rebellion against my mentor and my attempts to escape. Obviously, I was allowed to live, but there had been a price. And in the end, whatever concessions I thought I had won proved to be false because I was right back here ten years later. Only this time, I had asked for entrance into their bloodstained halls.
“I brought us in this way because I wasn’t sure if Master Thorn had a secret entrance that you could use,” Gideon said when I no longer sounded like I was at risk of hyperventilating. There was no missing the note of hope in his tone.
“If he did, I don’t know about it.” My voice sounded like it had been dragged across the concrete. I never thought I’d find myself back here. And when Simon had been killed, I’d hoped I would never have to think about him or my past again. It’s amazing how fucking wrong I can be at times.
Clearing my throat, I took a step forward and then another one, relieved to find that it grew easier as long as I kept my mind on the task at hand. Getting into Simon’s rooms meant my getting into the library, which meant that I was closer to finding the killer and finding a way to keep Trixie and our baby safe. Now I just had to enter Simon’s rooms without having my organs pulled out through my belly button.
Gideon wordlessly commanded the massive double doors to open and we stepped inside the Tower, escaping the bitter cold for something that felt so much worse—a heart-sickening familiarity that was almost comforting. Ten years had passed and it all looked the same. The floor was covered in cold gray marble and the walls were a deep charcoal gray, while smoky white globes of light dotted the walls at regular intervals. There was a hint of burnt heather in the air along with a whiff of lavender, both of which just barely failed to mask the coppery tang of old blood.
But it wasn’t the scents or sights that nearly had me gagging. It was the fact that something in my body relaxed upon returning. I had lived here for nine years—longer than I ever lived with my real family, who loved and treated me with kindness. This Tower had become my life, my future, and my entire world. No matter the horrors I survived, the people I had killed, or the times I had nearly died myself, something in my psyche called this place home.
“I can go up to Thorn’s door with you, but I can’t help you beyond that,” Gideon said, breaking the silence after allowing me a couple of minutes to merely stare at my stark surroundings.
“No. I’ll meet you in the library after I’m done,” I said once I felt that I had a firm handle on my emotions.
“Gage, you don’t—”
“Yeah, I do.” Glancing over my shoulder at his, I flashed him a twisted grin. “Don’t worry. I remember the way.”
Striding across the open main hall, I stopped before a quartet of large black openings along the wall. They were like car-less elevators that could take you to any location within the Towers. You just had to have the balls to use them. Or maybe you had to be a little
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