Page 311 of Halfblood Deceived

Aella tried to toss Micah over her, but she didn’t have the strength to do it. Her sight blurred, but she could see Isaiah fighting—a tornado of blades, wings, claws, power, and fury. But he was losing. He was being sliced at. Two males were trying to cut his wings.

Aella growled and jabbed at Micah with her elbow, but he didn’t let her go. “Should I make him look while I cut you into pieces, or make you watch as I clip him? Which one would be more fun, whore?”

“You are nothing but a cowardly piece of shit,” Aella rasped.

He laughed at her but choked on the sound as sudden darkness fell over them.

Aella looked up to see a massive gray-white cloud covering the sky above the entire mansion and part of the forest.

Heat slipped down her spine and wrapped around her center. Her heart raced so hard she felt it under her tongue.

She knew that sensation.

She knew it down to her tired, sore bones.

Zeydan?

Something rained from the cloud.

No, not something.

Someone.

Several people, wearing black armor. Four had wings.

One of them had black hair, and electric-green eyes with slitted pupils, and he was flying straight for Aella.

Zeydan!

“NO!” Micah screamed, lifting a dagger to stab Aella in the neck.

Zeydan growled, fangs flashing and sent out a blast of his kinetic power.

Micah’s arm froze midair and bent at an unnatural angle along with one of his wings. His piercing scream hurt Aella’s ears.

She took advantage of his distraction and used the last dregs of her strength to pry his arm off her neck and kick him in the stomach, making him fly and then land on his back.

The effort sent her to her backside on the stone floor. But then Zeydan landed beside her. He sank to his knees and wrapped his arms around her.

“Aella, my Amazon,” he said, his voice thick with the same panic-relief-joy coursing through Aella’s veins.

Aella closed her eyes at the sound of his beloved voice. “My vampire.” She slid one clawed hand into his hair and pressed her lips against his in a hard, desperate kiss. A rough sound rumbled in Zeydan’s chest. He helped her stand without breaking the kiss.

Reluctantly, Aella pulled back. No time for this, not yet; she bargained with herself. She turned to see her friends, and her heart squeezed with equal parts worry and joy.

Kamilla and Kerian were fighting four gargoyles at once and winning. Their fighting technique was a lethal, skillful dance of magic, swords, and brute strength. Aella understood then why gargoyles feared them so much. Sebastian and Aylana were blocking the blasts of two males back-to-back, and casting their fire. Diana decapitated one and moved to parry the strike of another. Andreas and Mari were fighting as one against two gargoyles as well. Evan—wearing armor—blocked the blow of a vicious male almost as large as Isaiah. And Isaiah sank his sword into the male’s gut.

Evan gave Isaiah a curious, speculative look, but shrugged. And then—to Aella’s astonishment—Evan turned to fight back to back with Isaiah against two more gargoyles.

Movement caught Aella’s eye. There were six more gargoyles on the roof. Four of them jumped. One landed mere feet away from Andreas and Mari and brought his halberd down to strike Mari.

Andreas shoved Mari out of the way, but he had no time to parry.

Time seemed to slow down as three things happened at once.

Zeydan launched one of his swords at the massive gargoyle. Diana sliced at the male’s arm. And the halberd found its mark on Andreas’s shoulder.

Zeydan’s sword impaled the massive gargoyle right through the middle. Diana cut the male’s arm off before he could slice Andreas in half, but Aella could see the blood and the massive cut so close to Andreas’ neck.

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