Page 191 of Halfblood Deceived

Morrigan give me patience. “Perhaps I helped someone she cares about when she couldn’t.”

Andreas’s brown eyes turned as wide as Zeydan had ever seen them. His throat bobbed. He opened his mouth and closed it. “We don’t get along. That makes no sense.”

Zeydan felt tempted to hit his head against the wall repeatedly. How could Andreas see their bickering as anything but flirting and the longest foreplay game ever in history? It was absolutely beyond him. “Of course not,” he said, his voice thick with sarcasm. “In fact, you two dislike each other so much that you definitely didn’t almost get killed protecting her. And Mari hates you so very much that she didn’t almost go into a frenzy and put a hole through that gargoyle who stabbed you with a blast of raw energy.”

Kamilla had gotten a better view of what had happened during that battle with the gargoyles in Ancora. She’d told Zeydan about it and not so subtly asked what Zeydan, Gabby, Lex, and Evan had wondered for three long years. Namely—when the fuck are Mari and Andreas going to admit that they love each other to pieces?

Andreas blinked some more. “I would have done the same for Gabby. Or Evan and Lex. Or you. And so would Mari. It means nothing. Nothing more than what you said before. We are a family. And we protect each other. Even if we don’t like each other.”

Zeydan held back the impulse to slap some sense into Andreas. “Of course,” he said. “Now, if you excuse me, I’ll take your advice and get some rest.”

He left Andreas ruminating more than usual and headed for his room.

Zeydan knew why Andreas was deluding himself as much as he could. The death of a soulmate could be lethal to a supernatural. Elizabeth’s death had almost driven Andreas mad. It made perfect sense that he didn’t want to go through that again.

Kerian had lost his soulmate centuries ago, and there were days when he locked himself up in his private library and refused anyone’s company. Not even Kamilla dared to disturb him during those days.

So, yes, Zeydan understood why Andreas and Mari were being deliberately obtuse. But wouldn’t they regret wasting their chance to have each other if one of them died? Wouldn’t that pain be just as brutal? ‘I should have’ and ‘I could have’ were torture. Zeydan knew this all too well.

He huffed and felt like slapping himself. Perspective was a bucketful of cold water on his face.

He knew what to do about his conundrum regarding Aella now.

If he wanted to be honest with himself, Zeydan had to admit he’d known all along.

CHAPTER 39

Aella landed hard on her stomach on the training mat. Even with the secure grip of the sports bra she wore, the blow made her chest hurt.

She groaned and pushed herself to her back, breathing hard. A huge yawn overtook her even as she struggled for a full breath. It made for quite an odd combination.

Aylana’s confused, worried face entered her fuzzy field of vision. “Are you okay?”

Aella nodded. “I’m fine.”

Aylana offered her a hand. “You’ve dodged that kick many times before.”

Aella gripped Aylana’s hand, finding herself hauled to her feet as if she were weightless—despite being several pounds heavier than the fey-werewolf female.

Aylana redid her ponytail, the muscles of her arms shifting under her light brown skin. She looked more beautiful than a runway model in a black tank top and sweatpants. Aella could understand why Sebastian was staring at her with dreamy platinum eyes.

“I’m a bit tired,” Aella admitted, playing with the sleeves of her hoodie.

“That is an understatement,” Sebastian commented from his post at the base of the stairs. He wore a similar outfit to Aylana’s—a sleeveless cotton shirt and sweats. His golden hair was a bit messy after the few times Aylana had tossed him to the mat.

They were in Sebastian and Aylana’s apartment. Some days they trained in the forest, and others here. Especially when Diana skipped her training sessions to spend time with one of her lady friends.

The apartment was beautiful. With an industrial feel, high ceilings, white walls, and a vast library. The first floor had the living room—which they’d turned into a training ring—the kitchen, and the library. Upstairs, there was an open bedroom, a massive walk-in closet, and a bathroom, which Aella had used a few times already.

“I haven’t slept well lately,” Aella said.

“Nightmares?” Aylana asked as she went to the fridge to grab bottles of water.

“Yeah,” Aella muttered. And it was only half a lie.

Sebastian frowned. “Has someone harassed you again, Aella? If that’s the case, please tell us. Zeydan, Kamilla, Andreas, and I are investigating the potential existence of a terrorist group, and we could use any information.”

Aella shook her head. “No. I haven’t run into more creepy people like the witch who attacked me.”

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