Page 321 of Halfblood Deceived

Aiko swallowed hard. “I’m just… I don’t know.”

Evan gently squeezed her hand. “Take your time, okay?”

Aiko nodded.

Mari flicked Andreas’ ear. “Wake up, you lazy bugger.”

Andreas stirred with a groan. His hand was still on Mari’s leg. She seemed disinclined to move it.

Andreas sighed, blinking to orient himself, then turned to glare at Mari. “There are better ways of waking someone up, Marigold.”

“A bucketful of icy water? Magical electrocution?” Mari suggested.

“How about a tender kiss on the lips?” Evan asked innocently, batting his eyelashes.

Mari and Andreas turned to glare at him as one.

“How about permanent baldness, Evan?” Mari asked at the same time Andreas drawled: “Is that a proposition, Evan? Because you’re not my type either.”

Evan flipped his hair. “That’s because you have terrible taste, Andreas.” He narrowed his eyes at Mari. “If you touch my hair I’m not helping you build your special gadget, Mari.”

Mari grumbled something that Zeydan was sure Evan didn’t want to hear.

Aiko blinked at them, caught between amusement and her, fortunately, dwindling panic.

Isaiah looked just as surprised.

Andreas arched a brow at Evan, and then his eyes drifted to his hand, still on Mari’s thigh.

Mari didn’t move. There was a challenge in her eyes, and something vulnerable barely hidden under her grumpy veneer.

Zeydan watched, hardly breathing along with Evan.

Andreas gave Mari’s leg two soft pats without breaking eye contact with her.

Mari’s breath hitched slightly.

Near-eidetic memory can be a blessing sometimes, Zeydan thought, barely holding back an inappropriate, juvenile giggle.

Andreas stood and left the jet as if nothing had happened.

One, two, three, four, five…

Mari finally noticed she had four pairs of curious eyes on her.

She cleared her throat, straightened, and all but bolted out after Andreas.

“I ship it so fucking hard,” Evan said with a dreamy sigh.

“Me too,” Zeydan admitted.

Luce’s voice reached their ears. “Dad!”

Aiko’s eyes grew wide. She set her blanket aside, ran her fingers through her butchered hair, and gave a dejected look at the clean blue scrubs—that Mari no doubt had given her—and were too big on her thin frame.

Zeydan swallowed hard.

Evan and Isaiah watched Aiko with the same conflict.

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