Page 110 of Halfblood Deceived

“Sebastian is right,” Andreas agreed from his slouch against the wall. “That was pathetic.”

Zeydan wrapped an invisible thread of his telekinesis around Andreas’s bare ankle and knocked him to his arse.

Luce, sitting on a bench, laughed. “You deserved that, Dad.”

“He absolutely did,” Evan agreed gleefully, chin on his hands.

Andreas scowled as he got to his feet.

Mari was busy working on something incomprehensible to Zeydan in her lab. But Andreas, Gabby, Lex, Evan, and Luce happily witnessed how he got his arse handed to him.

His saving grace? Andreas, Lex, and Evan had also lost most rounds against Sebastian and Aylana separately. They had won none against the couple.

Sebastian was almost as strong as Kerian or Kamilla, which placed him well above the average. And Aylana’s fighting technique was the stuff of beautiful nightmares. Had it been a real fight, with her magic and skills, Aylana could easily overpower anyone in that room except for Sebastian and Zeydan.

Lex sitting on a bench next to Gabby gave Zeydan a worried glance. “You look a bit like a raccoon.”

“But a cute raccoon, Uncle Zeydan,” Luce amended.

Zeydan huffed, still not very sure about how he felt whenever Luce called him cute, which was disturbingly often. “Thank you, Luce.” He fell into a fighting stance again. “Houses don’t find themselves, and businesses need to be managed.”

“More like micro-managed if I know your obsessive habits, which I do,” Andreas argued.

Really, why did Zeydan even like the acerbic arse?

He used his telekinesis to yank at Andreas’ left foot. With his peripheral vision, he noticed that Andreas didn’t go down this time. The grumpy arse flipped him the bird.

Zeydan’s focus remained solely on not going down in thirty seconds under Aylana and Sebastian’s combined attack. He barely blocked one of Aylana’s well-aimed kicks with his forearm. It hurt. Turning on his stance, he dodged an uppercut from Sebastian.

He was exhausted and about to lose another round. But the training was more than worth it, so he didn’t give a fuck.

Still, he persisted, dodging Aylana’s fist and delivering a blow with his elbow between her shoulder blades. He knew that wouldn’t buy him much time, but he had to block Sebastian’s kick. He did better than that, grabbing his cousin’s ankle, kicking his inner thigh, and taking him down on his side. Sebastian grunted.

A blow to the back of his legs took Zeydan down to one knee. He dodged Aylana’s next kick by lurching forward, supporting his weight on his elbow as he swiped his left leg in an arc.

His shin connected with the back of Aylana’s calves. Her legs left the mat, but she used the momentum to backflip with the grace of a gymnast.

Zeydan rolled on the mat to avoid Sebastian’s stomp and stood. He stopped Sebastian’s attempt at a neck grab by jabbing his elbow into the blond’s solar plexus. Sebastian backed down, winded. Zeydan felt his lips curl up.

And then he had Aylana’s foot digging into his thigh, her long legs around his neck, and he was flying off his feet.

His beleaguered brain didn’t allow him to even roll to break the fall.

He landed gracelessly on his back, all the air in his lungs forcibly gone. He blinked at the two-story white ceiling, wondering how on Earth Aylana had managed that in less than a second.

“I think I have a platonic crush,” Evan said with a chuckle.

“Me too,” Gabby echoed.

“Me three,” Lex happily joined in.

“Need I remind you that you did even worse than me, you horrible buggers?” Zeydan asked, still out of breath.

“We aren’t as strong as you,” Evan reminded him gleefully.

Zeydan craned his neck, and yep, all but Luce were barely holding back from laughing at his expense.

Why did he love them again?

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