Page 266 of Halfblood Deceived

Aella saw it as if in slow motion. A rush of adrenaline pumped in her veins. She pulled at the cuffs with all her might, freeing one leg and one wrist, just in time to kick Brittany in the stomach.

Time seemed to move normally again as Brittany landed on her table full of horrible torture devices. She lost the gun.

Aella struggled to free herself from the other cuffs. She ripped the one trapping her other foot. Her breath came in fast bursts. She was dizzy with hunger and the remnants of whatever they’d used to knock her unconscious.

Brittany coughed. Her face was red and full of cuts, a vein in her forehead pulsing. “Carina, attack!”

Carina ran toward Aella.

She turned and used the chair as a shield, but the werewolf female ripped it from her hands with her jaws, along with the last cuff.

Aella screamed. The metal of the cuff opened a gash on her wrist.

Carina jumped at her…

But a white wolf crashed against Carina before she could rip Aella’s face off.

Evan, Aella realized.

Aylana was fighting against the vampire, who launched balls of red magic at her. The fey-werewolf female was blocking with her verdant magic and slashing at the vampire with her magicked platinum sword.

Aella turned toward Brittany, who stood a few yards away from her, breathing hard and looking maniacal with rage… but also defeated. Resigned.

Aella saw a decision flash in the witch’s eyes.

She was tugging one of her socks free and tackling Brittany to the floor in a second. Aella straddled the woman and pried her jaw open. She kicked her feet and screamed, which actually helped Aella stuff her dirty rainbow-colored sock into the witch’s mouth.

“I don’t think so,” Aella said, making sure the blonde couldn’t bite down. “You are going to pay for what you did, you little psycho.”

Brittany let out a sock-muffled scream.

Aella grabbed the witch’s head and smashed it against the floor with minimum force. She needed her alive. Brittany’s eyes crossed, and her body went lax.

Aella stood, feeling horribly dizzy, and turned around just in time to see Andreas place a foot on Brian’s neck and shoot him three times in the head. She flinched. The sound of wood breaking drew her attention to Evan, who had managed to toss Carina against one of the barn’s wooden columns so hard that the column splintered. Carina fell to the floor and didn’t move again, but she was still breathing. Evan growled and licked his teeth. The fur on his spine stood up.

“Don’t kill her,” Aella croaked. “She’s under a… spell.” She was short of breath and her sight was blurring, but she saw Aylana approach.

Her friend’s face was smeared with blood, but it didn’t seem to be hers, and the vampire with magic didn’t have a head anymore.

“Are you guys OK?” Aella asked. “You arrived… just… in time.”

Aylana sucked in a breath, giving Aella a horrified look. “Oh, no.”

Evan whimpered and neared Aella in a blink, along with Andreas and Aylana.

“What?” Aella asked.

Aylana wrapped a hand around Aella’s shoulders just as her knees failed her. “Oh, goddess. Fuck, no.”

Andreas cursed. His handsome face was tight with horrified concern. “Fuck. Fucking Hell.”

Aella followed the direction of their gazes and looked down at her stomach… to find the handle of a dagger poking out from her side. Which meant the blade was inside her. It was the same side Micah had stabbed, actually.

“Ugh, not again,” Aella heard herself mutter as if she were underwater.

Her sight blurred further.

Three pairs of worried eyes were the last thing she saw before everything turned black.

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