Page 217 of Halfblood Deceived

“Let’s be honest, she’s done worse,” Aella teased.

Mac yawned. “True.”

Lupita scowled at her roommate or tried. A huge yawn overtook her.

“You guys should get some sleep,” Aella advised. “You look tired.”

Mac huffed. “You are as much of a mother hen as Diana.”

Lupita stretched her tiny body as she stood. “And we look better than you, trust us. But you’re right, my bed beckons, and so does my favorite taco place.”

Mac stood as well. “We are not having tacos for breakfast again.”

Lupita rolled her eyes. “We’ll see about that.” She gently patted Aella’s blanket-covered calf. “Rest a lot, chica.”

“I will,” Aella promised.

Mac and Lupita waved goodbye and left, not closing the door through which Lex, Gabby, Evan, Andreas, and Luce came in.

Aella’s eyes went wide.

“I told you the hall was fuller,” Zeydan said with a half smile. Part of the anguish had melted from his face. And the only thing stopping Aella from leaning close and kissing him were the witnesses.

“Aella!” Luce said, carefully jumping to sit at the edge of her bed.

Déjà vu, Aella mused. “Hey, Luce.” She lifted her eyes to the others. “Hello.”

Diana smiled and sat back in her chair so that Gabby could approach.

“You scared us, honey,” Gabby said, kissing Aella’s forehead.

Aella felt her lips curl up. “Sorry.”

Gabby shook her head and stepped back. “No need to apologize, silly. We just worry about you.”

Aella felt her eyes prickle with surprise and delight.

She had no one for so long, and apparently, she could fill up a room with people who cared about her now.

Evan approached, planting barely there kisses on Aella’s cheeks. “I’m sure that if you look closely, you’ll find a few gray hairs on Zeydan’s head.”

“More than a few,” Lex said, wrapping his arm around Gabby’s shoulders.

Aella smiled at Evan, squeezing Zeydan’s hand a bit harder in quiet reassurance. “I’ll make sure to do that soon.”

Zeydan loved laying his head on Aella’s lap and letting her run her fingers through his hair. He let out contented sounds that lodged warm and enticing in Aella’s lower belly. She would be delighted to examine him thoroughly for non-existent gray hairs.

The beeping of the machine that marked Aella’s heartbeat sped up.

“Are you alright, Aella?” Luce asked, brow furrowed.

“I’m okay,” Aella hastened to say, grateful that she had apparently lost enough blood not to blush too violently.

“You don’t look too bad for someone who lost a kidney and then grew it back,” Lex opined, head tilted.

Aella chewed the inside of her lip. “I’m still not sure how that happened.”

Evan leaned against the wall next to Andreas. Lex and Gabby sat on the chairs Mac and Lupita had vacated.

---