Page 163 of Halfblood Deceived

Aylana stood on her rear paws, towering over all of them. She placed one paw on Sebastian’s shoulder and the other on Aroth’s. Sebastian wrapped an arm around Aylana and craned his neck to give her a delighted look, even as he placed a hand on Lex’s nape. Evan closed the circle by holding onto his brother’s fur.

A vortex of black energy later, they were gone.

“He’s scary but also kind of cool, I have to admit,” Diana commented.

Kamilla nodded. “Scary but cool is Kerian’s type.”

Kerian shrugged. “So it is.”

Andreas let out a small, amused huff.

Zeydan felt dizzy with the relief of knowing Andreas would live. He tightened his hold around Andreas, earning himself a knowing sideways glance and shoulder squeeze from the grumpy vampire.

Aroth returned in a cyclone of shadows, and approached, taking Kamilla’s hand in one of his without ceremony. Kamilla showed no reaction whatsoever aside from a half smile.

Diana shifted back with a flash of red magic and gripped Zeydan’s free hand. She offered her other hand to Mari, who didn’t hesitate to take it, but looked at Aroth’s pale palm as if it were going to grow fangs and bite her.

Aroth’s lips twisted into a challenging smirk, black eyes locked with Mari’s.

The tiny fey tilted up her chin in that stubborn gesture she’d passed on to Luce and slid her small brown hand inside Aroth’s. She shuddered, giving Aroth a wide-eyed look that he countered with a wicked half-smile.

Zeydan was very grateful the demon was on their side. Anyone capable of making Mari shudder was someone not even Zeydan wanted to mess with.

“I’ll be right back,” Aroth promised Kerian.

The vampire prince smiled at him. “I’ll be here dismembering dead bodies.”

“And some say romance is dead,” Andreas deadpanned, smiling wryly at Aroth.

Kamilla huffed. “Clearly not.”

“Nothing like dismembering and immolating dead gargoyles with your lover,” Zeydan agreed with faux seriousness.

“Except for killing them, perhaps,” Diana mused.

“Agreed,” Aroth said without a trace of sarcasm, and then darkness enveloped them all.

CHAPTER 34

They all sat in different chairs and sofas around the low coffee table in the reading room. Utterly exhausted, but reluctant to be separated.

Gabby was curled on Lex’s lap, her head on his shoulder, lips brushing his neck. Both had obviously cried-out-eyes but were back in cuddly mode after the longest row Zeydan had ever heard them have. He couldn’t blame Gabby for being angry at her husband. She was terrified of losing him before he met their daughter and hated not being able to fight alongside him, as usual.

Aylana, back in her fey form, was sitting next to Sebastian, wrapped in his arms, dozing.

Luce was sandwiched between a still exhausted, sore Evan and an equally pale Andreas. Her eyes were red-rimmed and her tiny hands held onto her father’s and her favorite uncle’s hands so hard her knuckles were white.

Mari was on Andreas’ other side on the massive sofa. She was pretending not to notice that Andreas’ arm was on the headrest, touching the back of her neck. Just as Andreas was pretending that he hadn’t noticed her green-yellow hair brushing his arm.

Kamilla and Diana shared the smallest sofa, their sides flushed together. Diana had an arm around Kamilla’s shoulders and Kam had placed a hand casually on Diana’s thigh.

Zeydan’s empathic senses prickled with the intensity of the emotions Kamilla and Diana felt for each other. Fear, anguish, and uncertainty laced with something hot and powerful. Having been witness to Lex and Gabby’s pining, Zeydan was pretty sure Kamilla and Diana were hopelessly in love with each other. He idly wondered why they weren’t together. Did Kamilla fear the Royal Vampire Council’s disapproval? Did Diana fear the social repercussions? While gargoyle/vampire relationships were not unheard of, they were still taboo for most supernaturals.

Zeydan thought it made sense at a certain level. Gargoyles had killed and raped countless vampires, werewolves, and fey. They had driven other species to extinction. Most supernaturals felt reflexively horrified and disgusted by gargoyles. But no one has the right to decide who you love.

Not some antiquated council, or a nosy neighbor. And definitely not a perverse order of sanctimonious lunatics.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy. Many would object to such relationships and make it their business.

---