Demon's Fury: Part 1 of the Final Asylum Tales (The Asylum Tales series) by Jocelynn Drake Page B

among the people, my life hovered on the edge of a violent end. Were these same people going to be discussing my blood-splattered death scene over a mug of coffee while inwardly wishing they were already home with their spouses and kids? And what were the chances that it would just be my body lying there in pieces? Not good. I couldn’t stomach the idea of Trixie or Bronx being killed because of me.
    “Why did you contact me?” I demanded a little sharper than I had meant to, as I tried to pull my thoughts back from that dark abyss.
    “Because you’re one of the best tattoo artists in the area,” she quickly said, but refused to look up at me. She kept her eyes lowered and concentrated on pulling off her latex gloves and pulling on fleece winter gloves.
    “ One of. I can think of two damn good artists who live here on north side. You could have just gotten Bronx. He worked here and knew Kyle better than I did,” I pressed. “Do you have an axe to grind that I need to know about?”
    “Of course not!” she nearly shouted.
    I snorted, a blast of white fog jumping from my nose in the bitter cold. “Yeah. You ignore your mentors and every vamp at TAPSS when they tell you to stay away from me. What’s the deal?”
    Serah glared up at me, her hands balled into fists at her side. I found myself cringing slightly as I waited for her to explode. “You have a sealed file at TAPSS!” Bumping me with her shoulder, she stomped toward the car, seeming to talk to herself. “No one has a sealed file. I can access basic things like training and certification, but all other information is locked up tight. And it’s not just that the vamps don’t like you. They seem . . . scared of you. And nothing scares them, except maybe the Towers.”
    “So . . . what? You got something to prove?”
    “Yes!” she hissed. She shoved her fists into the pockets of her coat and stopped in the middle of the parking lot. Turning back to me, she looked like she was struggling not to scream. “I spent five years on the Low Town police force and I was a damn good cop. But these fucking vampires treat me like some snot-nosed rookie who doesn’t know shit.”
    I couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up. “And you’re building your street cred with me?”
    Serah shrugged, some of the anger draining from her frame as she started for her car again. “Well, that and the cops have started whispering about you as well.”
    Grabbing her shoulder, I spun Serah around, forcing her to look at me. “What about the cops?” The sealed file wasn’t a surprise. TAPSS knew some details about my past, but that was supposed to be locked down and kept secret from most of the agents. The cops weren’t supposed to know anything about me.
    “There have been rumors recently. Started this past summer.”
    “Rumors about what?”
    “Magic.”
    My heart stopped for a second and then started painfully again, racing in my chest. This was not a good thing. “You think . . . what? I’m a warlock?”
    Serah’s head fell back on a laugh. The sound was like little bells ringing in the crisp air. “A warlock?” She laughed again and this time she snorted. She slapped her hands over her mouth, her cheeks turning red in the dim light. “Now you’re just being ridiculous. You’re a warlock and I’m queen of the pixies.”
    Pulling her keys out of her pocket, she unlocked her car and got in while I walked around to the passenger side. Relief made me light-headed, but a small nagging part of me was insulted. I’d spent most of my life trying to prove to the Towers and myself that I wasn’t like the other witches and warlocks. They were only cold-hearted killers focused on gaining more power while crushing the world. But it was the perverse part of me that didn’t like being told that I didn’t have it in me to be something. Why couldn’t I be a warlock? I shrugged before pulling open the door. My aura must have been wrong. Gideon and the others exuded