Page 287 of Halfblood Deceived

Eli dragged her until she was standing right in front of Micah. “Here you go, Micah. Here’s your whore. Just as I promised.”

Micah’s nostrils flared as he looked down at Aella, mouth curled with disgust.

Aella’s ears rang.

No. No. No.

Please. Please. Please.

Distantly, she was aware that she was sobbing, tears streaming down her face. And part of her—that rebellious side she had shoved into a deep, dark corner until a few months before—roared in rage and indignation.

Fight. Fight. FIGHT! It demanded of her.

I can’t. I can’t. I can’t!

Micah grabbed her by her braid and dragged her inside the manor.

Aella’s sight flicked on and off like a broken bulb. The ringing in her ears and the beating of her heart were deafening.

She noticed a few unknown males looking at her with open disdain as Micah dragged her to the back of the manor and then down a flight of stairs.

She didn’t want to go where he was taking her. But he would rip her hair clear off her head if she didn’t follow. She could feel several strands tearing from her skull as it was.

They reached a wide room with white walls, a white-tiled floor, and two cells.

One of them was occupied.

Micah tossed her into the empty one and entered it, too.

Aella’s attention was snagged away by the occupant of the other cell.

A small girl with her bony arms wrapped around her legs, tucked into the furthest corner of the room. The girl had almond-shaped eyes and unevenly chopped, short black hair. What was visible of her pallid skin through a blood-stained white hospital robe was covered in bruises.

Aella knew the girl.

She’d seen those broken blue eyes before.

Goddess. Oh, goddess. No.

“Aiko?” Aella asked. “Aiko?!”

Aiko’s bloodshot blue eyes widened in surprise and recognition.

A strangled cry crawled out of Aella’s throat.

Aiko was alive. She was alive. They’d taken her.

“Oh, goddess,” Aella murmured. “Oh, no.”

“‘Goddess?’” Eli asked with a laugh. “Seems like your whore has been fully corrupted, Micah.”

Aella blinked tears and reluctantly turned her head away from Aiko.

Micah was staring her down, breathing like an angry bull.

Right behind him—leaning casually against the wall by the stairs—was Eli. His expression betrayed perverse amusement and hunger for blood.

“Don’t call that monster by her heathen name,” Micah ordered Aella.

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