Page 317 of Halfblood Deceived

Aella gulped, exchanging a surprised look with Aiko and a knowing glance with Aylana.

“So he’s dead?” She needed to confirm that.

Diana nodded. “Yep.”

Aella released a long breath, avoiding Diana and Zeydan’s curious gazes. “I’ll explain later.”

“We have all the time in the world,” Zeydan promised.

Aella turned to look at those beautiful jade eyes. Her throat went tight with longing, love, fear of the future, and too much to put into words.

They reached the jet. The hatch was open and the airstair was down already.

Mari helped Andreas inside. They were, for once, not bickering. Aella thought it was a testament to how conflicted they both were about the thing they both hated the most—feelings.

Isaiah let go of Evan, his eyes on Aella. “Have a safe trip, Aella. I’m glad to have seen you again.”

Consternation squeezed Aella’s chest. “But—”

“Do you have any ties here, Isaiah?” Kamilla asked with her usual firm calm.

He shook his head. “No.”

“And are we correct to assume you are a pariah and a target of the Order of the Light?” Kerian inquired.

Isaiah dipped his chin. ”Yes. I’ve caused them as much trouble as I could during the last months.”

Kamilla gave him an approving, feral smile. “Good. Then you should come with us. You can figure out what you want to do once you’re safe.”

Isaiah blinked. “You… want me to go with you?”

Kerian shrugged, lips curling wryly. “In case you haven’t noticed, Milla and I are quite fond of befriending rebellious exiles. So yes.”

Sebastian clapped Isaiah’s shoulder. “We are all defectors here, one way or another. You’ll fit right in.”

Isaiah blinked some more, brow furrowed with confusion.

Aella knew how disoriented he felt.

“You’ll have to shift back to get inside the jet, mate,” Evan said to Isaiah. “Dunno if you’ve noticed, but you’re kinda huge.”

Isaiah took a deep breath and shifted back into his humanoid form. The wound on his abdomen wasn’t deep enough to compromise his organs, but it was deep.

There was something different about him, but Aella couldn’t quite place what—same dark skin, same shaved head, same handsome, strong features… His eyes, she realized. He looks haunted. Aella could very much relate. She remembered all too well the horrifying experience of discovering supernatural beings are not the monsters the church claimed.

Aylana approached Isaiah, pointing her magic-glowing hand at his wound. “May I?”

His eyes widened. “Yes.”

Aylana cast two spells in Latin, one to clean the blood, and the other to seal it. “Hmm. Better?”

Isaiah dipped his chin at her. “Better, thank you.”

Aylana smiled. “No problem.”

Sebastian wrapped an arm around Aylana’s shoulders and kissed her soundly. “You look so fucking hot when you use magic.”

Aylana huffed. “You think I look hot all the time.” She climbed the stairs to get inside the jet.

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