Page 39 of Halfblood Deceived

Zeydan released a breath he definitely knew he’d been holding.

Gabby exhaled as well.

“For now,” Andreas said darkly.

Lex and Gabby threw him equally startled looks.

Zeydan pinned Andreas with a glare and growled at him. “Don’t you even think about hurting her.”

Andreas growled back. “She’s a gargoyle, Zeydan. I don’t want a fucking gargoyle under the same roof as my daughter.”

“She came to warn us,” Zeydan insisted. “She said the others are coming—”

“She’s playing you again, you moron!” Andreas snapped, stepping closer to Zeydan.

A magical, verdant shield flared to life, keeping Andreas at bay and Zeydan from punching Andreas.

Mari turned to glare at them both, hands on her hips. “Listen carefully, you snarling brutes, because I won’t repeat myself.” She made sure they were both indeed listening before continuing. “Aella is my patient now, and I will protect her. I don’t give a flying fuck that she’s a gargoyle, she’s my patient.” She aimed her tiny index finger at Zeydan. “So I won’t have you snarling and starting a fight.” She then pointed at Andreas. “And unless you want to spend the next fucking century as a tree, you won’t lay a fucking finger on her. Did you hear me?”

Andreas scoffed but backed down. “Loud and clear, doctor.”

Zeydan took a deep breath and nodded at Mari.

“Good,” the fey said, dropping the shield. “Gabby, can you help me clean her up?”

“Of course,” Gabby said, approaching Aella’s bedside, brow tightening with horror at the partially healed bruises covering Aella from head to toe. “Dear Lilith, what have they done to her?” Gabby laid a careful hand on the unconscious gargoyle’s shoulder, brow furrowing with sympathy and rage.

Aella’s face had once again the lovely shape Zeydan remembered. Still bruised, and a bit swollen, but by far not as much as before. Her freckles looked stark due to the extreme, lingering paleness.

Mari glared at the three males in the room. “What are you idiots still doing here?”

Zeydan, Lex, and Andreas left the room. The latter got smacked on the arse by the door that Mari had no doubt closed with her magic.

Andreas glared at the door.

Zeydan leaned on the wall, looking down at the crimson blood staining his hands. Aella’s broken visage replayed in his mind’s eye with disturbing detail that made him half wish he didn’t have a near-eidetic memory.

“So, what the fuck just happened?” Lex asked, not unreasonably.

From the corner of his eye, Zeydan saw Evan approach with a sleepy but curious Luce in his arms.

“The little gremlin wouldn’t stay behind,” Evan explained. “She heard the screams and so did I. What’s going on?”

Zeydan gulped, meeting the twins’ curious expressions, Andreas’ perpetual glare, and Luce’s worried big eyes. “Aella showed up at the gates, calling for my help. Judging by her wounds, the gargoyles hurt her. And she said they are coming for us.”

Luce gasped.

Evan’s amber eyes grew wide.

Lex cursed, running his hands through his blond hair and interlocking his fingers behind his neck. “You think she’s telling the truth?”

“Yes,” Zeydan said.

Andreas huffed. “No. I think she’s playing this fool like a fiddle, the same way she did before.”

“She tried,” Zeydan reminded him. “And she failed rather epically.”

Lex gave Andreas a look. “Zeydan is right. Aella couldn’t have fooled anyone. She was terrified and completely out of her depth. And no offense, but I don’t precisely trust your judgment when it comes to gargoyles.”

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