Read Online Asher by Jo Raven - Free Book Online Page A

again. Fuck, I thought that evil was over. “Not the first time,” I say, my words slurred. “Caught me by surprise. I thought he stopped drinking.” I moan, grabbing my head. “I’m not going back.”
    God, I have to stop talking. Can’t lay all this on Zane. Not with what he has to deal with. I can handle myself.
    He stands up and pulls me to my feet. Black spots swim in my vision and my knees buckle. Good thing he grabs me under the armpits.
    Yeah, I can handle myself just fine. Right.
    “You bastard,” he hisses in my ear. “I told you to call me when you needed something, and this qualifies as needing something, got it?”
    I’m too busy trying not to hurl to reply. My lack of answer doesn’t seem to faze him. Maybe he takes my silence as agreement. Maybe it is.
    I’m past thinking and past caring.
    “You’re coming with me.” He slings my arm over his shoulders and leads me to his car. I let him buckle me in. I’m exhausted just from crossing the street.
    Boy is Erin gonna be pissed to see me. The thought sends me chuckling again, and ow, my ribs smart.
    Zane keeps sending me strange looks as he drives. “You okay?”
    It strikes me as funny he should ask at this point and I want to laugh harder. But then I realize he must be thinking I’ve gone off the deep end. I probably sound like a lunatic, laughing without a reason, and force myself to stop.
    “You should have called me,” Zane is muttering under his breath. “You should have.... Damn, fucker, you could have died if you’d stayed out there tonight. What the hell were you thinking?”
    I have no answer to that.
    But Zane’s on a roll. “If you’d died, I wouldn’t have known. You should have called me. I’m taking you to the hospital.”
    “No. I’m okay.”
    “The hell you are. Let me get you checked out.”
    “I said no.” We’ve had this discussion before and Zane knows my answer won’t change.
    He tries a different tack. “Temperature’s going down to zero tonight. Don’t you know any better? Where’s your damn cell?”
    My cell? “Must have left it at home.”
    “We’ll drive by and get it.”
    “No!” I make a grab for his arm. “I said I’m not going back there, Z-man.”
    I can’t put Dad in jail. But I also can’t fight him anymore. God knows I’ve tried—hell, he goads me all the time, leaves me no choice—but he’s too strong, too unpredictable, friendly one day and in a murderous mood the next. Ever since Mom fell sick, and since her death, he’s been so angry.
    Anger runs in the family.
    Zane is giving me a wide-eyed look. “Okay, we’re not going to your dad’s. Dammit. Where will you go?” He winces as soon as the words leave his mouth. “For now you’re staying with me, that goes without saying, fucker.”
    But later... Yeah, I know. I let go of his arm and lean back in the seat, gritting my teeth. I have to find another solution, but I’m too damn tired and the heater blows warmth on my icy face, making me sleepy.
    I’m dozing by the time he parks and comes around to pull me out of the car. Then I’m wide awake because the pain leaves me breathless. It’s as if blades are being shoved into my lower back and, I swear, my head’s about to split in half.
    “Come on.” Zane frowns at me, then slings my arm over his shoulders once more, which is a good thing the way the street keeps tilting. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
    I follow him up the stairs, doing the best I can to keep up. Zane ushers me inside and drops me on his sofa. I groan and just sprawl there, wheezing. It’s so warm inside. I feel as if my skin is melting.
    “Man, you’re fucked up,” he says and shakes his head in wonder as he shrugs off his jacket.
    Yeah, you can say that.
    He leaves and comes back with clothes—underwear, drawstring pants, a T-shirt. “You stink. Go shower. Towel’s on the rack.”
    He’s merciless. He leaves me no choice, pulling me to my feet and helping me to the bathroom. “Want me to