Page 288 of Halfblood Deceived

Monster?

Monster?!

Aella’s blood boiled.

Scorching rage burned in her center with volcanic potency. Pure, undiluted wrath coursed through her veins, burning her fear until only cinders remained.

“You dare call her a monster?” Aella demanded. Her voice shook. Her whole body shook with the rage building and building within her. “You?! The bastards who killed her family and locked her up like an animal?! How dare you?!”

Eli and Micah stared at her with open surprise.

A low, feline growl rumbled in Aella’s throat. “You are the monsters. You’ve always been the monsters. I know that now. I’ve known for a long time. One day, you will burn in Hell like you deserve!”

Heat flared in Aella’s solar plexus. The heat of her power. She tried to release it, but it was trapped. Trapped as she was by the icy cuffs. The corrupted magic in the bindings sent a chill from her arms to her spine. Aella pulled at the cuffs, but she’d break her bones rather than break free from them.

Eli tsked. “Are you going to let her talk to you like that, Micah?”

“‘Are you going to let her talk to you like that, Micah?’” Aella mocked, imitating the idiot’s drawl. “Are you ever going to get your head out of Micah’s ass, Eli?”

He growled and stepped forward, but Micah lifted a hand to stop him. His eyes never left Aella’s. “You will tell us the location of the Davashkov residence,” Micah said, his tone domineering as always, nostrils flaring. “And where to find that monster you’ve been rutting with, too.”

Aella blinked. She knew where the Davashkov mansion was located. Hell, she could find it without a map. No one had ever put a hood on her head when they’d taken her there. But not in a million years—in a billion years, would she betray Kamilla, Kerian, Aylana, Sebastian, Zeydan, and his family. She would never tell them. They’d have to kill her first.

Her lips curled up—half smile, half feral challenge. “No. I don’t think I will.”

Micah’s brown eyes turned blazing red. He clenched his teeth so hard it was audible. “You will tell me, whore. Or I will beat it out of you.”

Aella laughed. The sound was hysterical and unstable to her own ears. “No, you’ll try. And you’ll fail.”

Micah launched a blow to her face.

Aella saw it as if in slow motion.

She dodged and kicked him in the stomach.

Micah’s back hit the cell hard enough to make it vibrate. He growled and launched another blow, then another. Aella dodged and retreated, but her back hit the wall, and she had no more space to maneuver.

Micah’s next blow landed on her cheek.

Bright lights danced in front of her eyes, but she didn’t fall.

Micah grabbed her by the neck, pinning her to the wall. His red eyes were manic with rage. “Tell me where the Davashkov twins are hiding.”

Aella swallowed a mouth full of blood. “No-pe.”

He hit her again, again, and again. With a wet, creaky sound, one of her molars was torn from her gum.

Her ears rang, and her vision blacked out for a few seconds.

“Tell me where those leeches hide!” Micah screamed in her face, spittle flying, skin graying.

Aella spat a mouthful of blood and her molar on his face. “Coward,” she croaked. “You’re nothing but a coward. Unchain me and fight me then, you rotting coward!”

Micah wiped the blood from his face. “Your blood smells like a vampire’s.” He tilted his head, examining her as if she were an animal he was about to dissect. “It’s filthy. You’re filthy. You’re a filthy whore. A vampire’s whore.”

Aella chuckled. “I’d rather be his whore than your wife.”

Micah screamed and sent his fist against her face and stomach too many times to count. Aella fell to the white-tiled floor on her side. She coughed up blood and pressed her forehead to the solid surface, trying to hide her face from him. Her ears rang, but she could unfortunately still hear him as he kicked her chest, stomach, and legs.

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