Page 145 of Halfblood Deceived

Gabby nodded. “Yep. In a few years, she’ll be smarter than most of us.”

“Not you, though, my brilliant, Ph.D. wife,” Lex enthused, kissing Gabby’s cheek.

“She’s obviously far away from Andreas’ league already,” Evan said, dodging Andreas’s attempt to strike the back of his head with a dancer’s grace. The blond werewolf flashed Aella a smile and gave a quick, friendly squeeze to her shoulder. “It’s nice to see you, Aella. You look amazing.”

She blinked at him, confused. She was wearing jeans and a fluffy sweater. But he seemed to mean it, so she half smiled. “Thank you, and so do you.”

Evan winked and went after Luce.

Aella’s gaze drifted back toward Zeydan as if drawn by a magnet. He was dressed casually in black boots, black jeans, a white button-down shirt, and a gray calf-length coat. Something tightened pleasantly in her chest and she had to inhale deeper.

His jade eyes swept her entire frame as well, lingering on her hair, braided loosely over her shoulder. There was warmth in his gaze, and something else that Aella couldn’t identify but made her heart beat slightly faster.

“Are you on your way out?” Zeydan asked.

Aella swallowed. Her throat was a bit dry. “Yes.”

“Can I walk you home, or wherever you are going?” he asked.

“Home, and yes,” she said, realizing with a jolt that Gabby and Lex were gone, and that Andreas was giving her an icy scowl from his position mere feet away from her.

Zeydan smiled. “Let me just check to see if the books I came to find are in stock.”

“I’ll wait for you at the entrance,” Aella agreed.

Zeydan dipped his chin and disappeared into the contemporary fiction section.

Aella barely managed a step down the hall before she had Andreas right in front of her.

Her stomach made an uncomfortable swoop.

Aylana and Diana had been training her for a while now. Aella was sure she could take down most humans who tried to attack her, but not a vampire warrior.

Logically, she knew Andreas wouldn’t hurt her with Zeydan so close, or even at all, but—

“Be careful,” Andreas warned, voice whisper-low.

“What do you mean?” Aella asked in the same tone.

He sent a look toward the aisle Zeydan had gone into before leaning slightly closer to her. “If what you feel is mere morbid curiosity, don’t do it. Zeydan has enough to deal with already.”

Aella’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand.”

Gabby all but materialized half behind him. “That’s quite enough, Andreas.”

A muscle jumped in Andreas’ jaw, but he stepped back, gave Aella a narrow look that was strangely menacing, and then left toward the young adult section.

“I honestly don’t understand what he means,” Aella confessed to Gabby.

The vampiress gave her hand a squeeze. “I know. Don’t worry about it.”

“Would you please say bye to Luce for me?” Aella requested.

Gabby smiled. “Of course.”

Aella headed back to the front desk, finding Zeydan there already. They paid for their books and headed outside.

The sky was dark blue, and some stars were visible through the thick white clouds. People milled about, making purchases in nearby clothes stores, going in and out of the coffee shop across the street, and heading home after work. A gust of wind hit Aella, and she shivered.

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