From Blood and Ash (Blood And Ash #1) - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,67

day and then something acrid like bitter melon. I focused on the sensations as my heart thumped against my ribs. They felt like…excitement and fear as Loren stared at me as if she wished to say something additional.

But that couldn’t be what I was picking up on from Loren. It didn’t make any sense. Those emotions had to be coming from me, and somehow, influencing my gift.

Dafina grabbed her friend’s arm. “Come, we should be on our way.”

Not given much choice, Loren was hauled out of her seat and quickly escorted out of the room with Dafina whispering in her ear.

“I think you scared them,” Tawny said.

Lifting a trembling hand, I took a quick sip of the sweet lemon drink. I had no idea what had just happened.

“Poppy.” Tawny touched my arm lightly. “Are you okay?”

I nodded as I carefully placed the cup down. “Yes, I’m just…” How could I explain it? Tawny didn’t know about the gift, but even if she did, I wasn’t sure I could have put it into words, or be sure that anything had actually happened.

I looked over at her and opened my senses. Like at first with Dafina and Loren, all I felt was a twinge of sorrow. No deep pain or anything I shouldn’t be feeling.

My heart slowed, and my body relaxed. I sat back, wondering if it was just stress causing my gift to behave so oddly.

Tawny stared at me, concern creeping into her expression.

“I’m okay,” I told her, still keeping my voice low. “I just can’t believe what Loren said.”

“Neither can I, but she’s always been…amused by the most morbid things. Like Dafina said, she means nothing by it.”

I nodded, thinking that whether or not she meant anything by it didn’t exactly matter. I took another sip of the drink, relieved to find that my hand wasn’t trembling. Feeling measurably more normal, I chalked up the weirdness to stress and lack of sleep. My thoughts returned to the Dark One. He could be behind the attacks and might very well be after me, but none of that meant he was actually within the city. However, if he were…

Unease trickled through me as I thought about Goldcrest Manor. It wasn’t impossible for something like that to happen here, especially considering an Atlantian and a Descenter had already infiltrated the castle grounds.

“What are you going to do?” Tawny whispered.

“About the Dark One possibly being in the city?” I replied, confused.

“What? No.” She squeezed my arm. “About him.”

“Him?” I glanced at Hawke.

“Yes. Him.” Sighing, she let go of my arm. “Unless there’s another guy you’ve made out with while your identity was concealed.”

“Yes. There are many. They have an actual club,” I replied dryly, and she rolled her eyes. “There’s nothing for me to do.”

“Have you even spoken to him?” She tapped her chin, glancing at him.

“No.”

She tilted her head. “You do realize you will have to actually speak in front of him at some point.”

“I’m speaking right now,” I pointed out, even though I knew that wasn’t what she’d meant.

Her eyes narrowed. “You’re whispering, Poppy. I can barely hear you.”

“You can hear me just fine,” I told her.

She looked as if she wanted to kick me under the table again. “I have no idea how you haven’t confronted him yet. I understand the risks involved, but I would have to know if he recognized me. And if he did, why hasn’t he said anything?”

“It’s not like I don’t want to know.” I glanced at Hawke. “But there’s…”

I stiffened as Hawke’s gaze connected with mine and held. He was looking straight at me, and even though I knew he couldn’t see my eyes, it still felt like he could. There was no way he could hear Tawny and me, not from where he stood and with as quietly as I was speaking, but his stare was piercing as if he could see not only through me, but into me.

I tried to brush off the sensation, but the longer he held my gaze, the more the feeling increased. It had to be his eyes and their color. Such a strange, stunning golden hue. One could imagine all sorts of things while staring into those eyes.

He broke eye contact, pivoting toward the entryway. My breath left me in a ragged exhale, my heart hammering as if I were running across the Rise once more.

“That was…intense,” Tawny murmured.

I blinked, giving a shake of my head as I turned to her. “What?”

“That.” Her brows were lifted. “You and