Page 256 of Halfblood Deceived

“No!” Aella cried, struggling to stand.

“Diana!” called Vaz, in his hands a ball of dark energy. “Don’t make me hurt you.”

Diana laughed, the sound pained and empty. Tears streamed down her face. “You can’t hurt me, Vazniroth. You’re not a match for me.” With uncanny speed, she called for a ball of crackling red energy and tossed it at Vaz.

He put up a hasty shield, but the blow tossed him to the floor, and Diana went after him, calling for more power, hitting him with it again, and again, and again…

Vaz hissed, his black eyes panicked and his body shaking.

Aella’s bones protested as she jumped to her feet. But adrenaline burned through her veins, dulling the pain. She jumped on Diana’s back and grabbed her arm to stop her from tossing another ball of energy at Vaz. Panic clawed at her insides as she remembered that she’d done this before to stop Micah from killing Aiko.

And like Micah, Diana tossed her off as if she were weightless.

Aella rolled to break the fall this time, but it still hurt. She felt as if her head were spinning.

Diana turned her attention to Vaz again. She kicked him, sending his body flying away several yards, and still went after him.

“No!” Rod cried, standing in Diana’s way. He sent his fist to her face, breaking the bones in his hand.

Diana grabbed him by the neck and punched him in the face, breaking his jaw and knocking him unconscious. Then she tossed him aside. His body hit one of the solid columns. He fell hard to the floor.

“No!” Vaz croaked. His black eyes were wide and panicked on Rod.

Diana lifted her foot to stomp Vaz’s head.

A growl of pain left Aella’s clenched teeth as she rose from the floor and rushed to Diana with a speed she didn’t know she possessed. Her skin tingled and felt bizarrely too tight for her body, but she didn’t pay attention to that. She grabbed one of her sister’s wings and pulled with all her might… tossing Diana away from Vaz and Rod.

How the Hell? Aella wondered, but she had no time to wonder.

She placed herself in front of Diana, knees bent, a growl reverberating in her throat. Her power stirred in her solar plexus demanding an out. She’d practiced casting balls of offensive energy before with Aylana. But everything inside her recoiled at the idea of hurting her sister.

Diana was still in there, Aella knew it. Her sister was in there, underneath the snarling beast with stone skin and infernal eyes looking at Aella as if she were prey. She was suffering, she was in pain. But Aella had to fight her. She had to protect her friends, she had to protect herself.

It didn’t make dodging and delivering blows any easier.

Aella had no idea how her bones weren’t breaking when they connected with Diana’s face, chest, or stomach. She didn’t know she could move so fast, and dodge Diana’s lethal fists so effectively, but she was doing it, and she wouldn’t question it.

Diana growled in frustration, determined to break Aella’s defense and go after Vaz.

Aella could see the other bouncers gawking at Diana with abject horror in her peripheral vision. She couldn’t blame them for not helping, but dreaded the moment when Diana broke her defense and—

Diana tackled her.

Aella lost all her breath at the blow but wrapped both arms around Diana’s neck and her legs around her waist.

“Get off me, vampire filth!” Diana growled near Aella’s ear.

Zeydan’s blood in my system, Aella realized. I smell like him.

“Diana, it’s me, Aella!” She cried out as Diana rammed her fist into her ribs once, twice, and again. The crack of bone reached her ears before searing pain spread around her torso. She cried out, but didn’t let Diana go. “Diana! Please! It’s me. It’s Aella. Your sister. You have to stop. Diana, stop!”

Diana let out a deafening roar… and then beat her wings.

Aella’s stomach swooped at the sudden pull. She reflexively tightened her hold on her sister. “Diana! Stop—” Diana broke through the ceiling. Through solid concrete as if it were no inconvenience.

She took most of the blow, but a piece of concrete hit Aella’s head. The sight of the night sky turned blurry. Aella felt the strength she’d summoned from the-gods-knew-where leaking away. Her skin tingled unpleasantly. Something hot and sticky ran down her neck. Blood, she realized.

“Diana,” Aella muttered. “Stop. Diana…”

---