Page 297 of Halfblood Deceived

CHAPTER 58

Aroth portalled Zeydan, Kamilla, Kerian, Diana, and Aylana directly inside the parlor Zeydan and his family used as an office.

The rest of Zeydan’s family was already there.

Evan was sitting at his desk, blond hair messy, brow furrowed, and eyes bright yellow as he typed so fast his fingers were barely visible. Andreas was standing beside him, arms crossed over his chest, looking at the screen. Luce was sitting next to Evan with a tablet in her hands, her expression tense with concentration, and the stuffed frog Aella had given her against her chest.

Gabby also typed something at full speed on her computer, her face a mask of anguish.

Mari was pacing the room before they arrived. Her green-yellow hair was messier than usual, as if she’d run her fingers through it over and over. Her magic stirred with concern.

“We’ve narrowed down Aella’s possible location to a forest area of two square miles,” Andreas announced.

“That still leaves a lot of terrain to cover,” Gabby said, somber. “But it’s better than nothing.”

“I’ve tried several algorithms and used a dozen satellites, but the signal keeps fucking jumping everywhere!” Evan growled, still typing like a maniac.

“They must have some sort of jamming device that makes the signal bounce from one receiving tower to the other,” Luce said. Her glassy brown eyes met Zeydan’s. “We’ve done our best.”

Zeydan’s stomach twisted. “I know you have, Luce.” He turned to Andreas. “How are you tracking Aella?”

Mari narrowed her eyes at Andreas. “Yes, how are you tracking Aella, Andreas?”

Andreas gave her a look, then met Zeydan’s eyes. “I injected her with a tracker.”

“You what?!” Aylana and Diana chorused.

“When?” Zeydan demanded. His control, already stretched thin with despair, threatened to snap at what Andreas had done, useful as it was.

Andreas’ jaw worked. “When we sneaked her out of the hospital after Brittany mind-controlled Diana.”

“You mean when she was drugged half out of her mind and fucking vulnerable?” Aylana demanded.

Diana growled. “How dare you?”

Zeydan clenched his fists. The temptation to clock Andreas in the face again was almost too much to resist. “Answer the fucking question.”

Andreas scoffed. “I asked for her permission after she had sobered up, you paranoid idiots. And it’ll help us now, won’t it?”

“You could have chosen a better moment, you arse,” Mari said.

Andreas rolled his eyes. “No, I couldn’t have. We needed a backup for the trackers on her clothes in case they failed. Besides, we should all have trackers. We are all at risk of being fucking kidnapped. It should be a standard safety precaution.”

“Maybe,” Zeydan admitted through gritted teeth. “But you are never putting trackers on someone who might feel pressed to accept. Do you understand?”

Andreas scoffed. “Sure. I’ll be considerate of people’s gentle sensitivities next time—”

Zeydan growled.

“This is the wrong time for a fight, so knock it off,” Kamilla interrupted in her commanding tone, hands on her hips. “We’ll take the jet and fly to Maine at once. We’ll have to comb the area, but at least it’s a start.”

“And we have to choose who will go,” Kerian added. “We can’t leave Darkwood unprotected. Especially not with at least one accomplice of the fucking gargoyles running around.”

“Agreed,” Kamilla said. “But we don’t know how many gargoyles we’ll be facing off when we find Aella. It might be an all-hands-on-deck situation.”

“They must know we will try to rescue her,” Zeydan said, his voice rough with the knot stuck in his throat. I have to go. I need to go. We’re wasting time. I’m wasting time! He agonized. But the logical side of his brain knew that wasn’t true. That going blindly after Aella could be a disaster. The fucking gargoyles had killed many vampires by kidnapping their soulmates, knowing that they would go into battle driven only by instinct and no reasoning. He couldn’t risk Aella’s life by being impulsive. No matter how much he wanted to. He would be of no use to her if he got himself killed before rescuing her. “We need to be prepared to fight as many as we did last time.” His eyes fell on every beloved, worried face in the room.

He couldn’t risk leaving Gabby without her husband.

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