Page 280 of Halfblood Deceived

The witch laughed. The sound was much like nails on a chalkboard. She ripped the dagger off with a hiss. The smoking bullets fell with a clink on the concrete ground a second later. “You will taste so delicious, Your Graces. I’m sure of it.”

The witch turned into a cloud of black smoke with uncanny speed.

Zeydan and Aylana stepped back as one. The smoke cleared a second later, revealing a giant black snake with fangs as long as Zeydan’s forearm that made anacondas look cute.

“Holy fucking shit!” Aylana cursed, just as the snake lunged for them.

Zeydan pushed Aylana behind him, firing at the snake’s open maw. It hissed, dodged, and tried to bite his neck. He hit the snake with his telekinesis and drew back, but the beast coiled her tail around his legs and swung him away.

He landed painfully on the concrete stairs, his legs still trapped by the snake, which pulled him closer—

The snake hissed and abruptly released him.

Zeydan stood in a flash to see Aylana—sword in hand—kick away a writhing piece of the snake’s tail. It spurted black ichor on the filthy floor.

The snake hissed, rising from the floor, much taller than both of them, black eyes alight with a malignant red glow as it licked her lips. “Naughty Duchess. I will make you ssscream!”

Her tail regrew right before their eyes.

“Fucking hells,” Zeydan grumbled, summoning his sword.

The snake lunged for them again.

Zeydan used his telekinesis and sword to fend off the biting attempts. With his peripheral vision, he could see Aylana block with a magical shield, and swing her blade, catching the sides of the snake. They drew back, going up the stairs.

Apprehension coiled painfully tight in his gut. They’d been expecting to find a lunatic witch like Brittany, who informed Kerian of this hideout. But not a shapeshifting witch so full of dark magic, she was practically a demon. He didn’t know how to kill this snake-witch. But he knew getting bitten would at the very least make him wish he were dead, so he focused on avoiding the snake’s reeking maw and dripping fangs. Aylana seemed to follow the same line of thinking. She even managed to strike the snake’s fang with her sword, which made the beast very unhappy.

If Aylana dies, Sebastian will murder me; Zeydan thought. His heart was beating so hard that he could feel it under his tongue.

By the time they made it to the top of the stairs, Zeydan and Aylana were both half-covered in splashes of foul black ichor.

In silent agreement, they fought back to back. Swinging, dodging bites, and trying to reach the underbelly of the snake.

Zeydan considered using his mist to blind the beast, but he’d blind Aylana too, and he couldn’t afford to do that.

There was another power he could use, but it could hurt Aylana, too.

“Do you trust me?” Zeydan asked Aylana, using his telekinesis to toss a filthy sofa into the snake’s maw.

The snake spat out a piece of sofa and hissed.

“Mostly,” Aylana panted.

Zeydan wrapped an invisible rope of kinetic power around the snake’s tail and pulled, smashing the beast against a brick wall that broke with the impact. “Then run.”

Aylana gave him a knowing look. “Okay,” she conceded, speeding away, passing by the snake.

The snake snapped her jaws inches away from Aylana’s legs and went after her with blind hunger. Aylana tried to hide behind the sparse walls, but the snake broke them as if they were made of paper.

Zeydan went after both, calling for that well of electric power he rarely used. Using too much of it could drain his energy levels, but this was a matter of life or death, so he didn’t give a fuck.

Aylana ran out of space to run. Back against the wall, she cast a shield. The terror in her eyes made something twist painfully inside Zeydan’s chest. The snake lifted herself off the ground, ready to devour Aylana—

Zeydan placed his hands around the snake’s tail and let go of his electric power. Crackling forks of blue energy covered the massive snake’s bulk. The beast let out a horrifying sound. The scent of burned, rotten meat clung to Zeydan’s throat like oil. He let go of every drop of that power he had, watching in half-fascination, half-horror as the snake fell to the floor and twisted grotesquely. Until it didn’t move anymore.

Zeydan’s power output lessened until it stopped. Disgusted, he let go of the snake’s tail. He was breathing hard with exertion, which was an appalling idea given the stench of burned demonic snake everywhere.

Aylana gave him a wide-eyed look. “I’m going to have new nightmares.”

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