Page 307 of Halfblood Deceived

They landed on the stone entrance, under a horribly bright morning sun that made Aella squint.

She rolled away from him and tried to stand, but he grabbed her ankle.

Aella growled and smashed her boot against his ugly face. He released her with a grunt. She stood and unsheathed her other claymore. The gargoyle lunged for her like a bull again, but Aella spun on her heels and opened a gash on his back.

“The bigger they are, the dumber they are, and the harder they fall,” said Aylana’s voice in her head. “Be smarter and faster.”

Aella could be smart and fast.

She avoided most of the male’s blows, receiving only one on her shoulder that sent her stumbling but didn’t break anything. She rolled on the floor, avoiding a stomp, and then sliced again, cutting the male’s stomach open.

He growled, pressing his hands against the wound. That second of distraction cost him his head.

Aella panted, eyes squinting against the morning’s sun which created beautiful rainbow prisms in the water spurting from the fountain.

Four black Escalades approached the property. They parked so hastily on the wide drive beyond the fountain that they almost collided. The screech of the tires against the concrete jarred Aella’s ears.

Micah exited the first Escalade on the left, along with Father Israel, and two gargoyle males Aella didn’t know. And then fifteen more gargoyle males came from the other SUVs.

Aella’s stomach clenched. Rage and bloodlust still burned in her veins, demanding she kill them all. But there was a small part of her that was terrified. She kicked that cowardly side away. No backing down now. She would die, but she would die a warrior, a survivor. And not a victim. Not their victim.

She kept her face impassive even as Micah glared at her with even more disgust than before. And even as Father Israel examined her as if she were an exotic animal in a zoo.

“Battles are psychological as much as they are physical;” Aella heard Sebastian’s voice say in her head. “If you are at a physical disadvantage, emotionally destabilize your enemy. Mock them. Take away their superiority complex. Be as much of a fucking nuisance as you can. Angry enemies don’t think clearly.”

Aella could do that. She could.

“Welcome home, honey!” Aella said, her bizarrely deepened, predatory voice coming out satisfactorily firm. Micah’s eyes widened slightly, despite his mask of disdain. “I have bad news for you, I’m afraid.” She counted with her fingers as she came down the entrance steps. “One, I blew up the kitchen. Two, I decapitated your little girlfriend. And three, I want a divorce.” She hummed. “Nope. I think I’d rather become a happy widow, to be honest.”

Micah blinked.

“What the fuck is that?” one of the gargoyles asked, staring at Aella as if she had snakes for hair and tentacles, too.

Aella rather liked that look. She tilted her head at the gargoyle. “I’m a ‘she,’ not a ‘that.’ How rude of you.”

“You’ve changed, Aella,” Father Israel said.

Aella chuckled. “Yes. Yes, I have. And I rather like the new me.” She realized how true that was when she said it. A pang of melancholy settled in her chest. It was a shame that she wouldn’t get to be her new self for much longer.

She flicked a glance at the still-frozen-with-surprise gargoyle males. Then she smirked at Micah. “Now, I know that underneath your abusive, rapist habits, you’re a chickenshit, but this seems like a bit much, don’t you think?” She pointed at the gargoyles with her sword. “Are you that afraid of me?”

Micah’s nostrils flared, but he gave her a nasty smile. “They aren’t here for you, whore. They’re here to slay your vampire boyfriend and his friends when they come for you.”

Aella had figured as much.

Goddesses, please protect Zeydan; she prayed. Please protect Diana, Aylana, Kamilla, Sebastian, Evan, and the others. Please.

She pursed her lips in faux consideration and made a show of looking around. “Seems like they’re not coming. So you’re gonna have to fight just me.” She took a step closer, even as that tiny, cowardly part of her wanted to run. Her eyes never left Micah’s. “So what do you say, asshole? Are you going to fight me now that my hands are not tied?” With a murmured spell, she summoned her other claymore into her hand and twirled both.

Micah clenched his teeth. “Jonas, Peter. Kill her.”

Aella laughed. She couldn’t help it. “Chickenshit.”

Micah didn’t move.

Jonas and Peter took a step forward and shifted into their beastly, horned, fanged, stone selves, summoning their swords.

Aella’s head throbbed. Her eyes burned with the sunlight and suppressed tears. Her heart felt heavy and sore in her chest. She wanted to hug her sister one more time. She wanted to kiss Zeydan one more time.

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