Dark (Beautiful Ashes #1) by Lora Ann Read Free Book Online Page A

against her, two weeks and the stitches she was sewing would be removable, but they’d leave a mark. The girl was damn lucky not to have lost any part of her body. Still, who’d done it? And how did they get in here? “Looks like only the rod was taken,” she answered Keeley’s unspoken question.
    Keeley took a deep, labored breath. She wasn’t dead or disfigured. Why the beast chose not to do either was beyond her. Although, she acknowledged, a decent scar would forever mar her. Add it to the list. “Where am I?”
    “No need to worry about that. You won’t be staying for long.” The matter-of-fact tone told Keeley she was in danger.
    Another thought popped out before she could censor it. “Why didn’t you let the drug do its job?”
    That gained a quirk of the doctor’s brow. “You wanted to have mush for a brain?” With a slight cock of her head, she continued, “Oh, I see. You wanted to die.”
    Keeley nodded solemnly. “It would be best.”
    The doctor chortled unkindly. “What awaits you is a sadist who will most likely give you your heart’s desire, my dear.”
    Damn. She squirmed from the juices her sex provided. What should scare the ever-loving shit out of her, effectively turned her on. In a still small place inside, where light still flickered, came a hope she couldn’t fathom. Tar would not let her be sold or taken away. He’d save her. Her soft smile did not go unnoticed, but was misinterpreted. “You like that . Good. Now I know you’ll fully cooperate,” the doctor said as she removed her gloves.
    Keeley shrugged, neither admitting nor denying the speculation. Deep down she knew her death would be the kindest for Tar, for her sweet sister, Lacey, even herself, but the masochist inside craved the emotional upheaval that could be gained from surviving. She really had fallen. And though Keeley knew he’d try, Tarius couldn’t save her. No one could.
     

Chapter Seven
     
     
    Tar stepped into a small office, noticing Mitch was in deep concentration. “Find something?”
    Fucking A. “Nothing good, man.”
    Tar stepped around the desk to peer over Mitch’s shoulder and froze, his breath leaving his lungs on a, “Are you fucking kidding me?!”
    Before Mitch could confirm or deny whatever was going through Tar’s head, one of his men walked in. “Leith. Whatcha got?”
    “Found this, Sir.” He held up a blood soaked T-shirt.
    Mitch turned. “Tar?” He snapped his fingers in front of those vacant green eyes. “I need you here, McNeil.” Tar’s gaze met his, and what Mitch saw sent cold shivers up and down his spine. That look. He’d only seen it on Tar’s face once and prayed he would never witness it again. Yet, there it was saluting him. Holy Mary Mother of God. Mitch moved quickly, but it wasn’t fast enough. Tar latched onto the other man in the room with a punishing grip. Tar was a mountain of a man, and enraged, he became damn near unstoppable. This was why Mitch respected the hell out of the man who could easily destroy all in his path with a single swipe of his muscled arm. Also the reason he knew just how deadly Tarius McNeil was in that particular state.
    Dangerous.
    Ruthless.
    Unforgiving.
    A sight one would never forget when they came face-to-face with it. Leith fought hard to breathe but he didn’t back down, reaching for a pressure point inside the forearm choking him. The tiny reflex was all he needed to get enough air to gasp out, “I-I-I on-ly…w-want t-t-to he-lp.”
    Mitch approached with caution, gun drawn. Please God, I don’t want to shoot him . But he knew he would if necessary. “One. Of. Our. Own,” he said, articulating each word.
    The barrel against Tar’s temple flashed a night he’d tried so hard to bury.
    His brother and his fiancée betrayed him. The letter lay beside him tear-soaked. How could the people he loved most do something that despicable? Caught off-guard, the enemy infiltrated their camp and was now bearing down on one of