Page 185 of Halfblood Deceived

There was a word for women like her. She had heard it a million times before. She had done nothing to deserve it in the past, but now… Now that evil voice in her head chanted it over and over.

Also, she was still married. It didn’t matter that her husband had tried to kill her.

You are married. You are married and kissing other people. You’ll go straight to Hell. You are a whore; the voice snarled.

Aella gulped. That voice… it was an amalgamation of Micah’s voice, Father Israel’s, and her own guilty conscience.

Remembering that she was still wretchedly married to Micah wasn’t what made Aella feel guiltier, however.

She felt as if she had betrayed Zeydan.

He was not her boyfriend. Perhaps he wouldn’t want to be her friend anymore after the way she’d pushed him away. But Aella felt as if she had gone behind Zeydan’s back.

“Aella,” Reese called.

She blinked, refocusing her sight on the handsome bouncer. “Yes?”

“Are you alright?” Reese asked, dark brows furrowed. “I—fuck.” They ran a hand through their hair. “I’m sorry if I pushed myself on you.”

“You didn’t,” Aella said. They hadn’t. Aella had let them kiss her. “But that can’t happen again. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to be sorry for setting your boundaries, Aella,” Reese said. They sighed. “But… may I ask why it can’t happen again? Is it because you are not attracted to people like me?”

“I…” Aella gulped. “Attraction isn’t something I’m used to feeling. It’s new and still confusing.” She bit her lip. “But that’s not why. I just can’t.”

“Is it true you and Zeydan are together, then?” Reese asked, voice gentle.

“We’re not,” Aella said. “But… it’s complicated.”

Reese huffed, smiling ruefully. “When is it not complicated?”

Aella’s lips wobbled in an approximation of a smile. “True that.”

Reese scratched their neck. “I hope we can still be friends.”

“Of course,” Aella said, brow furrowing. “Why wouldn’t we?”

Reese laughed softly, giving Aella’s hand a squeeze. “Why not, indeed?” They checked their watch. “We better get back.”

Aella nodded. “Yeah.” She followed Reese back inside Hecate, her mind racing with even more questions.

Thank all the gods she had hours of distraction ahead.

CHAPTER 38

Zeydan leaned his elbows on the stone railing of the largest terrace in Kamilla and Kerian’s mansion.

Goddess, he was tired.

He hadn’t slept much last week. And he’d done his best to avoid his thoughts and worries by making himself as busy as possible.

It had worked, mostly.

He and Andreas were helping Kamilla investigate the possibility of an organized hate group. His grumpy friend had been delighted to chase down their scant leads.

So far, they’d found little.

Andreas had tracked down a female witch who was a friend of John, the bastard who had assaulted Aella. Her name was Idira, and she’d had a half-dead demon chained to a wall in her basement. She was conducting experiments on the demon, draining the male’s power and turning it into the foulest dark magic Zeydan had seen in a long time. Idira had consumed so much power from the demon that it had taken a while for Zeydan, Andreas, and Kamilla to subdue her. Once they had her bound, they interrogated her, but she proved to be a mostly dead end. Idira had given John a grimoire with foul curses designed to break wills and control minds, but she didn’t know much else about him.

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