didn’t want to smile or laugh, but Trixie was pulling it out of me. But I had a feeling that was just her way—making the world a slightly lighter place wherever she went.
“I was thinking that you could come in tomorrow evening around six and we could get the paperwork out of the way so you can start inking before the end of the week,” I said.
Trixie stopped, her keys tightly clenched in her fist. “You want me to work in your parlor?” she asked, her lovely face twisted in confusion.
“I’ve seen your work. You’re very talented and Asylum needs your talent. If you can stand working with Bronx and me, I think you’ll like Low Town.”
Trixie turned slightly, glancing over her shoulder back at the woods and the vampire nest we had just left. I knew her thoughts, because I had seen the same expression on Bronx’s face when I had offered him a job. I didn’t care about the chaos and the brief flash of drama. Trixie risked her life to help a friend, and I could respect that. I also didn’t care that she was hiding something, because I understood better than most the importance of privacy. We all had our secrets, and at some point in our lives, we needed a safe place to hide for a while. Asylum could be that for Trixie.
There was still some worry in her eyes when she looked back at me and smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
As I turned to continue toward her car, I bumped her elbow with mine. “Let’s get out of here. We’ve caused enough chaos for one night.”
Trixie nodded solemnly and we left the west side of Low Town, heading back toward her place and my car. Saving people wasn’t the easy business it had once been. Sometimes the so-called damsel in distress didn’t need your help and the evil villain needed a little saving of his own. I wouldn’t make the same mistake with Trixie and her secrets. Besides, given my history with the Ivory Towers, this world was more likely to see me as the dragon than the white knight.
If you enjoyed Jocelynn Drake’s Dark Days series or the Asylum Interviews,
read on for a sneak peek at her next book,
Angel’s Ink
the first full-length novel in the Asylum Tales series,
coming in October 2012!
CHAPTER ONE
T he hammer of a gun clicked as it was cocked.
That small, distinct sound sent a shiver through me despite the summer heat shimmering off the sidewalk. My heart skipped. I froze with my right foot on the bottom step leading up to the tattoo parlor—so close to sanctuary, and yet I didn’t have a chance. The front door was locked. I was trapped, hanging helpless in that second waiting for the gunman behind me to finally speak or send a bullet screaming through the back of my head.
“You fucking lied to me, Gage!” snarled my assailant. The voice sounded familiar, but it wasn’t until I slowly turned around that I realized why my life was hanging by a thread. I had tattooed the man just a couple of weeks ago and apparently he wasn’t pleased with the result.
Russell Dalton was a large, beefy man full of muscles and a layer of fat around his waist from too many Big Macs and not enough core exercises. He was loud, obnoxious, and cheap. In my opinion, he had gotten what he paid for, but then it looked like he wanted to take his anger and frustration out on my hide, as he remained in the shadows of the alley beside the parlor.
“I never lied to you,” I replied calmly, holding my hands open and out to my sides to show that I didn’t have any weapons. In this world, you couldn’t be too careful. I resisted the urge to look up at the sky, knowing that it was not long after noon—hours away from when the hulking Bronx would be able to get to the tattoo parlor. Damn trolls and their weakness for sunlight. I was on my own for now, but then it was better that way. Just the two of us and no one watching.
“You promised me good luck,” Russell accused. “Since I got this damn tattoo, I was fired from my job, my car was stolen, and my
“I was thinking that you could come in tomorrow evening around six and we could get the paperwork out of the way so you can start inking before the end of the week,” I said.
Trixie stopped, her keys tightly clenched in her fist. “You want me to work in your parlor?” she asked, her lovely face twisted in confusion.
“I’ve seen your work. You’re very talented and Asylum needs your talent. If you can stand working with Bronx and me, I think you’ll like Low Town.”
Trixie turned slightly, glancing over her shoulder back at the woods and the vampire nest we had just left. I knew her thoughts, because I had seen the same expression on Bronx’s face when I had offered him a job. I didn’t care about the chaos and the brief flash of drama. Trixie risked her life to help a friend, and I could respect that. I also didn’t care that she was hiding something, because I understood better than most the importance of privacy. We all had our secrets, and at some point in our lives, we needed a safe place to hide for a while. Asylum could be that for Trixie.
There was still some worry in her eyes when she looked back at me and smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
As I turned to continue toward her car, I bumped her elbow with mine. “Let’s get out of here. We’ve caused enough chaos for one night.”
Trixie nodded solemnly and we left the west side of Low Town, heading back toward her place and my car. Saving people wasn’t the easy business it had once been. Sometimes the so-called damsel in distress didn’t need your help and the evil villain needed a little saving of his own. I wouldn’t make the same mistake with Trixie and her secrets. Besides, given my history with the Ivory Towers, this world was more likely to see me as the dragon than the white knight.
If you enjoyed Jocelynn Drake’s Dark Days series or the Asylum Interviews,
read on for a sneak peek at her next book,
Angel’s Ink
the first full-length novel in the Asylum Tales series,
coming in October 2012!
CHAPTER ONE
T he hammer of a gun clicked as it was cocked.
That small, distinct sound sent a shiver through me despite the summer heat shimmering off the sidewalk. My heart skipped. I froze with my right foot on the bottom step leading up to the tattoo parlor—so close to sanctuary, and yet I didn’t have a chance. The front door was locked. I was trapped, hanging helpless in that second waiting for the gunman behind me to finally speak or send a bullet screaming through the back of my head.
“You fucking lied to me, Gage!” snarled my assailant. The voice sounded familiar, but it wasn’t until I slowly turned around that I realized why my life was hanging by a thread. I had tattooed the man just a couple of weeks ago and apparently he wasn’t pleased with the result.
Russell Dalton was a large, beefy man full of muscles and a layer of fat around his waist from too many Big Macs and not enough core exercises. He was loud, obnoxious, and cheap. In my opinion, he had gotten what he paid for, but then it looked like he wanted to take his anger and frustration out on my hide, as he remained in the shadows of the alley beside the parlor.
“I never lied to you,” I replied calmly, holding my hands open and out to my sides to show that I didn’t have any weapons. In this world, you couldn’t be too careful. I resisted the urge to look up at the sky, knowing that it was not long after noon—hours away from when the hulking Bronx would be able to get to the tattoo parlor. Damn trolls and their weakness for sunlight. I was on my own for now, but then it was better that way. Just the two of us and no one watching.
“You promised me good luck,” Russell accused. “Since I got this damn tattoo, I was fired from my job, my car was stolen, and my
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