Page 44 of Halfblood Deceived

Andreas sighed, rubbing his forehead. “That’s a fucking terrible idea. They could ambush us.”

“Don’t tell me you still believe Aella is here on an undercover mission to kill us all,” Evan protested. “There is no way in all the Hells she was faking that.”

Zeydan gulped, looking at the lax, still bruised face of the female the gargoyles had all but destroyed. And yet she had the courage to try to do what was right.

Andreas sighed. “I know that she’s being honest. What I’m saying is that we are vulnerable outside the mansion. Here we are protected by the wards, the mist, and familiar territory. If we get in our cars and run, we’ll be visible and they’ll rain bombs down on us.” His dark eyes moved toward Gabby. “We can’t afford to be attacked in such a way.”

Gabby rubbed her belly, a mix of defiance and fear flashing in her eyes.

“Andreas is right,” Lex agreed, wrapping his arm tighter around Gabby. “Our cars aren’t armored enough. We’d need a tank to get out of here safely.”

Evan rubbed his temples. “Tell me you called them, Zey.”

Zeydan tried to dislodge the knot in his throat. “They’re on their way,” he assured his family, but still fished out his phone from his pocket. He dialed the number of the person he’d called a lot more in the last few days than he had in almost half a century.

“Is everything all right?” asked Kamilla Davashkov in her usual no-nonsense tone.

“We are at risk of being invaded by the gargoyles,” Zeydan admitted, shame churning in his chest at having to ask for help. But for every beloved, worried face staring back at him, he would ignore it.

His cousin predictably cursed in Romanian and English. “We are mere hours away,” she assured him. “Can you make it go faster?” she asked someone in the background.

“It’s a jet, Milla, not a bloody race car,” answered a familiar male voice. “But can you make it go faster, Dyson?”

“I’ll try,” said a deep male voice.

“We’ll be there as soon as we can, Zeydan,” Kamilla promised, and he believed her.

“Thank you,” he said.

“Always,” Kamilla answered before disconnecting the line.

“What do we do?” Mari asked, her usual grumpy facade replaced by sharp worry.

Zeydan straightened and squared his shoulders. Just because he felt like he was going to vomit his very entrails didn’t mean he could allow himself to crumble. His family needed him.

“Evan, grab Luce and bring her here,” Zeydan ordered. “The basement is safer than the upper floors.” He turned to Andreas. “Lock everything up, set up the countermeasures, and gather all our firepower. We’ll stay in the ballroom. It has the best vantage point. And we won’t separate. It will do us no good.”

Andreas nodded, all but vanishing from sight. Evan followed him at once.

Zeydan met Gabby’s anguished look. “I know you want to fight, but for the love of the goddess, please don’t. Stay here with Mari, Luce, and Aella.”

Gabby swallowed hard but nodded.

Lex kissed his wife passionately for a few seconds and then left the room at top speed as well.

Zeydan met Mari’s gaze. “If we don’t come back, you know what to do.”

Mari’s throat bobbed. “I do, and I will.”

Zeydan took a deep breath. He hated having to say goodbye to them, but if he died, if they all died, he didn’t want to regret not doing something, anything.

So he went around the table and gave a firm hug and a kiss on the temple to Mari, who—instead of grumbling like she usually did—hugged him back and kissed his cheek.

He released her and headed for Gabby, who threw her arms around him without any hesitation, shivering. She kissed both of his cheeks, blue eyes glassy, but she held her tears back stubbornly.

“Uncle Zeydan, what’s going on?” Luce asked, rubbing her eyes and holding onto Evan’s shoulder as he cradled her closer to him than usual.

Zeydan cupped her face and kissed her forehead. “You are going to stay here with aunties Mari and Gabby, Luce.”

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