Page 15 of Halfblood Deceived

They were a block away from the intersection in a lonelier area of the city, with buildings under construction. The car was going slow enough to survive a jump. Lex had taken the left lane, so Aella wouldn’t get crushed by another car if she jumped when they hit the right turn that faced the sidewalk…

Now.

Aella rammed her shoulder against the car door with all her strength, forcing it open. The momentum took her out of the moving vehicle and onto the pavement. She fell on her left shoulder harder than she anticipated and rolled, standing, dodging a surprised homeless man pushing a cart. Heart racing, Aella sprinted toward the nearest alley, her dress ripping with the movement.

She couldn’t run for the public.

She couldn’t risk anyone’s life except her own.

She was dead, but at least not the gargoyles, and not a human who tried to call the police and got killed by the vampire for intervening.

Still, Aella clung to the hope of a miracle and ran down the alley, startling a stray cat.

A recognizable tall male form all but materialized in front of her, making her stop so abruptly that she fell onto her backside.

Zeydan tilted his head at her, a swathe of black hair half obscuring one eye. “See what I said? That was incredibly brave, Aella.”

Aella stood on shaky legs, adrenaline flooding her veins.

Zeydan’s eyes drifted to her left shoulder. He blinked. “You are bleeding.”

Aella froze, following his gaze and wincing. Half of her shoulder was raw and bleeding. Becoming aware of how bad it looked made her notice the throbbing pain.

Zeydan sniffed. “Interesting. Your blood doesn’t stink. Are you not a pureblood?”

Aella didn’t process anything beyond “your blood doesn’t stink” but that was enough to fire up her defense mechanism again. The bracelet on her right hand burned in response.

The vampire got one step closer, and Aella backed down two. “I don’t want to hurt you, Aella, so please get back in the car on your own.”

“No,” she said, voice firmer than she expected.

Zeydan sighed.

One second he was two steps away and the next he had tossed her over his shoulder as if she were a misbehaved kitty instead of a tall, definitely not light female.

Micah did the same to her when she didn’t obey him and got on the bed as soon as he barked the order.

Aella had wanted to hit him but knew she couldn’t.

Zeydan was free game, however, and she could do something better than hitting him.

Her bracelet vibrated and turned into a silver dagger with a flash of blue magic.

Aella stabbed Zeydan’s side with it.

He growled and arched backward, knees bending with pain, tipping Aella’s body toward the ground. Aella lurched forward to gain more momentum, pulling out the dagger—which made Zeydan roar in pain. A low, sympathetic whimper dropped from her mouth for some bizarre reason. He deserved it, she said in her mind. He did.

She let herself fall and rolled to avoid hitting her head against the hard concrete in one fast, almost elegant movement.

How had she done that? No idea.

But she’d done it.

She stood, gripping the bloody dagger so hard her knuckles turned white. Her stomach twisted like an old rag at the sight of Zeydan on his knees, clutching his side. A warm smell that mixed red wine, spices, salt, and copper reached her nose, which was strange, because there was nothing in that dark alley that could smell remotely good. And then she realized where the smell that was making her mouth water came from—Zeydan’s blood coating the dagger and her fingers.

How could his blood smell good? It should be rotten, dead as he was, and yet…

Zeydan stood.

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