Page 126 of Halfblood Deceived

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By nine o’clock, Aella had cleaned so many tables and received so many orders that she hadn’t bothered keeping count. She had also carried many empty glasses to the kitchen area where Rebecca and two young human males worked.

Rebecca knew how to mix drinks, Mac had told Aella. But since that meant she’d have to listen to people and not her audiobooks, Rebecca preferred washing the countless tumblers, glasses, trays, and many more things.

Aella flicked a glance at Diana from time to time, and her sister always gazed back reassuringly without fault.

The music was loud, but not to the point it hurt Aella’s ears. She supposed because the many supernaturals around would also be bothered if the decibels were too high.

Faithful to her promise, Mac had stayed near Aella all night. She had an easygoing, charismatic manner that Aella was certain she would never possess. Four of the other hosts—Jasmine, Leah, Jake, and Svetlana—had given Aella a quick hello before starting their shift. There were also quite a few more bouncers that Aella hadn’t been formally introduced to, but she had shared a friendly nod with each.

The floral perfume and glamoured necklace Diana had given Aella seemed to be working as well. No one had screamed ‘gargoyle!’ and ran away or tried to attack her so far. Something unlikely anyway, because supernaturals had to behave around humans. But Aella counted that as a win.

The fastest bartender by far was Lupita. She mixed and served drinks so fast that the patrons often gawked at her. Diana was great too. Some males and females wanted her and only her to make their drinks. Jessa, Trinity, and Brittany smiled so much that Aella almost felt her cheeks hurt in sympathy.

Aella returned from leaving two trays full of beer mugs in the kitchen, locating Mac’s blonde ponytail easily among the many tables.

She headed toward Mac. A male with black hair and a fancy suit without a tie, sitting at a table with three more occupants, snapped his fingers at her halfway.

Aella fished her little notebook and pen from her apron as she neared his table, feeling strangely uncomfortable. Maybe it was because he’d snapped his fingers at her and that reminded her of Micah. Or because the way his blue eyes traveled up and down her body made her feel naked and reminded her of Eli. Or because his friends—all young, male, and dressed in expensive designer clothes—had anticipation written on their faces. Mac and the others had warned her that leering looks were unfortunately not a rarity. And that while they couldn’t kick patrons out just for that, Aella didn’t have to smile or pretend to be comfortable. Which was good because Aella was a horrible actress most of the time.

She swallowed hard. “What can I get you?”

Blue-eyes raked his gaze from her black canvas shoes to her face. Aella’s stomach turned. Her heart pounded in her ears.

He still hadn’t answered.

“What can I get you?” Aella repeated, trying to speak firmly, but her voice was barely audible.

Blue-eyes licked his front teeth. “Vodka, on the rocks.”

His friends also gave their orders at last, and Aella was relieved by not having to look at their faces.

“Anything else?” Aella asked.

Blue eyes smirked at her, tilting his head to look at her butt. “A piece of that ass would be good.”

His friends laughed.

Aella gritted her teeth, torn between anger, disgust, and embarrassment.

She turned on her heels, trying not to imagine how the idiot would look like if she poured the drink on his head.

The loud smack reached her ears before the stinging pain spread across her left buttock.

Aella froze.

Suddenly, she wasn’t at the club anymore. She was back at the mansion, back in the room she shared with Micah, his scent thick in the air, her pleading whimpers echoing in her head.

Humiliation spread inside her chest, making her feel as if her insides were withering.

Her ears rang.

Someone shook her shoulders. “Aella, darling.”

Sound and sight returned to her with the force of an avalanche.

She inhaled brusquely, blinking to see her sister’s worried face.

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