Page 284 of Halfblood Deceived

Aroth snapped his fingers, not bothering to look at Zeydan. But a second later, Zeydan was fully clean and feeling a bit as if he’d been tossed into an icy lake.

“Thank you,” he said with as much sarcasm as he could inject into two words.

Aylana snorted.

“Shall we go?” Zeydan asked Aylana. He needed a pint or two of sheep blood to replenish his strength, and she needed a nap, as she said. “I’ll drop you off at your building—” The center of his chest ached, and he felt lightheaded. His heart raced faster than when he was being chased by the snake. The back of his throat burned and his eyes itched. He had to brace himself with a hand on the hood of the car so as not to fall to the ground.

“Zeydan!” Aylana called. She placed her hands on his shoulders, brow tight with concern. “What’s happening? I can feel that pain…”

Zeydan’s ears rang.

He closed his eyes as his head throbbed like mad and his heart seemed to want to strangle itself.

What the fuck is happening? He wondered.

And then the answer hit him like a cudgel to the head.

Aella.

He was fine.

But Aella wasn’t. She was scared. No, terrified.

And he wasn’t with her.

He opened his eyes and inhaled as if he’d been underwater.

“Zeydan? What’s wrong?” Aylana asked.

“Aella. She’s hurt. She needs me,” he forced out, straightening and looking around him as if he could find her—

A flash of light drew his attention to the car.

He’d left his cell phone in the vehicle to avoid getting distracted by the buzzing of too many messages. He almost ripped the door off, grabbed the phone, and answered it.

“Who is this?” he asked, his instincts screaming that the call was related to Aella.

“This is Nurse Jasmine,” came the vaguely familiar feminine voice. “I have Diana here with me. She asked me to call you.”

“Is she with Aella?” Zeydan asked.

“No,” Nurse Jasmine answered. “They were together, but I found Diana alone, drugged and wounded. She asked me to call you. I think Aella has been kidnapped.”

Everything inside Zeydan ached.

Aella. Aella. Aella.

No. No. NO!

“I’ll be there in a minute,” he answered.

“Hurry,” Nurse Jasmine said, then disconnected the call.

Zeydan’s ears rang. The street was too bright. Aroth and Aylana were blurry. And everything was spinning. He shook his head, putting everything back into focus. Aylana looked horrified. She’d clearly heard the conversation.

“Call Kamilla, Aylana,” Zeydan said. “I’ll drive to the hospital—”

Aroth gripped Zeydan, and Aylana’s wrists without warning. And then there was only darkness and the nauseating sensation of gravity inverting.

---