Page 29 of Halfblood Deceived

“Definitely not a royal,” Micah agreed. “Which will make this easy, almost too easy.”

“We can’t be overconfident,” Ben argued. “We did last time, and that royal bastard nearly cut me in half.”

“We aren’t all as weak as you, Ben,” Eli sneered.

“Fuck you, Eli,” Ben growled.

“Ben is right,” Father Israel interrupted. “You will take backup this time.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if we captured him when he’s leaving his office?” Isaiah asked, a note of concern in his voice. “There is no need to get his family involved in this.”

Aella’s brow furrowed. The way Isaiah had said family and not clan was bizarre. Vampires were vicious creatures. Too much so to have families… Or so Aella believed. Until last week, she thought they were all dead, and then she had felt Zeydan’s heart against her own, felt his warmth, and smelled his clean blood. She couldn’t take anything for granted anymore.

“Are you getting soft on us, Isaiah?” Eli asked. “There is every need to get the leech’s family involved. He’ll tell us everything we want to know to save his whore and his little spawn.”

Aella felt as if a stone had landed on her stomach. Vampires couldn’t reproduce, so the vampire had turned a child? Such practice was more than horrifying. Robbing an innocent child of a soul by turning them into a bloodsucking monster was the vilest thing Aella could imagine.

“Eli is right,” Father Israel agreed. “Having leverage is good.”

A shiver ran down Aella’s back at the callousness in the priest’s tone. Yes, vampires were monsters, but wasn’t the easy cruelty gargoyles displayed also monstrous?

“Gather your weapons. You leave in half an hour,” Father Israel ordered.

The sound of agreeing hums and movement reached Aella’s ears.

She leaned against the wall and bit her lip. Curiosity became a living, wriggling entity inside her. There was so much she didn’t know about vampires, and she was beginning to think it had been on purpose. Much was kept from the females ‘for their own protection,’ but Aella was done with being allegedly protected from the truth.

She would live in ignorance her whole life if she didn’t do something about it. Something like tagging along and seeing the gargoyles in action.

She was moving before she could overthink it, retrieving a bag she had stashed underneath a chair. It contained a change of clothes, boots, and cash. Spare money and clothing items that the others hadn’t noticed gone missing over the last two years.

Aella quickly replaced her soft dress and cardigan for the black pants that were tight on her hips but loose on her legs. The clothes smelled a bit moldy and made her nose itch, but she held in the sneeze. She had to roll the sleeves of the black shirt that was a few sizes too big. The boots were Ben’s. He’d thrown them away and Aella had smuggled them back into the mansion and cleaned them. He was the shortest, about 6-foot-1, so the fit wasn’t that uncomfortable with her fluffy socks.

Once dressed for espionage, Aella snuck her way to the garage.

She had to hide in the utility room so as not to be caught by one nun who was vacuuming. As soon as the petite woman turned her back on the door, Aella sped past her, cutting through the staff kitchen, and reaching the garage before the males.

They usually used the two SUVs closest to the exit.

Aella tried to open the one on the right side, but it was locked. She dashed toward the one on the left. Muscles tense, and breath held, she tried to unlock the back door… and it worked.

Exhaling in a rush, Aella climbed inside, closing the door just in time to see the males entering the garage, donning their leathers. She ducked and crawled into the compartment behind the back seat. The vehicle was so ridiculously large that she was able to fit—tightly, but she fit. She sent a quick prayer, begging the gargoyles didn’t need the spare tire.

Closing her eyes and forcing her breathing to steady, Aella listened.

She flinched as the door opened and someone tossed a heavy bag mere inches away from her hiding place. The door closed again and then Aella felt two people climb to the front seats of the car. Their weight made the vehicle jostle slightly.

What if one of them was Micah? What if he could smell her?

Her heart kicked into a mad race, a layer of sweat breaking over her whole body. She bit her lip hard. Sweating was a terrible idea. She might as well scream, “I’m here!”

The familiar melody of a metal song reached Aella’s ears and she let out a surreptitious breath of relief.

“I don’t want to have to listen to your heathen music,” Ben grumbled.

“Then get the fuck out of here,” was Isaiah’s response.

Ben grumbled, but the door opened and closed again.

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