Read Online Midnight Ash (A Blushing Death Novel) by Suzanne M. Sabol - Free Book Online

wasn’t even trying to hide his disdain. Everyone in the room bristled at Patrick’s tone, even me.
    “Watch it, Blooksucker,” Danny threatened, taking a dangerous step forward.
    I cleared my throat as I pushed off the wall. I hadn’t reached for my blade. I had no intention of using it. Both Patrick and Danny looked at me instead of each other. Distraction. Good.
    Patrick exhaled a deep breath of resignation and closed his eyes for a moment. When he reopened them, his dark eyes were neutral and blank again. Danny sneered at me, curling his lip up as his hazel gray eyes bled to the Amber of his wolf. The Gaoh harrumphed to himself as he leaned back on the couch.
    I took a few careful steps along the middle beam, in toward the center of the room without looking down. “Danny thinks someone was in my house.”
    Patrick’s anxiety skyrocketed through my gut and my knees buckled under the weight of his unease. My breath caught in my lungs, making them burn with the pressure. I shut down the empathic link between us like slamming a vault closed. I breathed again, alone, swimming in my own emotional hell. Thank God! Patrick rounded the desk, shifting his focus between Danny and myself with careful movements and a controlled, blank expression I knew was a lie.
    “Are you sure?” Patrick asked.
    “There was someone else there,” Danny stated with confidence.
    Patrick gazed down at me with an unreadable expression in his dark eyes.
    “Did you have anyone new in your house?” His gaze bore through me like an arrow, slowly turning in the breeze. I didn’t deserve the interrogation or the accusation in his tone. The implications of his question sent gooseflesh skidding across my skin and my fingers itched to pull the knife.
    “No,” I snapped. I squared my shoulders and lifted my chin in defiance. Who the hell did he think he was? I wasn’t a prisoner to be interrogated. Fuck him. Fuck them both.
    Patrick took a deep breath and clasped his hands behind his back, turning as he strode back behind his desk.
    “There’s something else,” I added and watched worry creep across Patrick’s face. I hated that furrowed brow above his beautiful dark eyes and that I was the cause of it.
    “Whoever it was, smelled . . . different,” I said, shoving my hands in the pockets of my jeans. He cocked an eyebrow at me like I’d finally said something that intrigued him. “Like rotten flowers. Gardenias or Magnolias I think. Jasmine, maybe? The flowers smelled white, if that makes sense,”
    Patrick nodded and closed his eyes. Dread filled me.
    “There will have to be a change of plans,” Patrick whispered to Alex.
    “What plan?” I asked, agitated. They’d all been sitting around talking about me again.
    Danny glanced anywhere but at me as his shoulders slumped a little in shame.
    Sonovabitch! Now, I was pissed. The fragile little human can’t take care of herself. Well, fuck them and their physical superiority. I was tired of it. I could take care of myself just fine and had proven just that on several occasions.
    My face flushed and my cheeks warmed with my anger as my blood rushed through my body, boiling over with rage.
    I shot a quick glance over at Dean, the only person who didn’t seem to be caught up in the ‘let’s protect Dahlia’ game plan. I imagined him holding that damned tiger in his giant hands and slowly twisting its neck until its face was wiped from my memory.
    A chill ran up my spine and Patrick reached out his cool hand to caress my cheek. I jumped at the sudden contact and drew the gun at my back without a second thought. I met his dark eyes with my own and what I saw there made me swallow, hard. His expression was filled with surprise, caution, and finally fear. I guess I was more spooked than I’d thought. He hesitated, reaching out with slow steady fingers to touch my face.
    I lowered the gun. The heated flush in my cheeks retreated as I gained at least some control over my