Page 54 of Halfblood Deceived

She hissed and drew back.

Micah laughed at her.

Aella clenched her teeth and gripped her remaining sword’s handle with both hands, bending her knees slightly and ignoring the blood running down her arm.

A flash of movement almost twenty yards up in the air caught Aella’s eye.

Warmth spread across her nape and back as four winged males shot down from the sky. Two of them smashed one against the ground, and Aella knew who it was even though she’d never seen him transformed into his mighty, beastly form.

Zeydan.

The two gargoyles who took him down hastened to grab each of his arms and force him to his knees as another male gargoyle landed in front of him.

Aella knew who that was, too.

Eli.

He hadn’t died.

How on Earth did he recover so fast? Aella wondered.

Something in her heart pulled and ached. Eli was a mean bastard. He was going to do more than just kill Zeydan. Aella’s hands shook.

Micah followed her gaze, his eyes taking on a deranged gleam. “You care about that leech, don’t you?”

Aella didn’t answer, but she didn’t have to. She knew the anguish on her face gave her away. Clenching her teeth, she sliced at Micah with all she had, which wasn’t much, but she had to—no, she needed to help Zeydan somehow.

Micah growled at her. “You disgusting vampire-loving whore!”

Aella parried his next blow, but the strength behind it was such that it broke her claymore in half, along with her wrist.

A hoarse cry left her throat.

She backed down and tried to grab her fallen sword, but Micah gripped her neck in his stone hand, claws digging into her soft, mangled skin, and drove his sword into her.

Aella choked on her breath, looking down at the silvery blade going through her middle, right under her sternum. Her blood poured out from the wound, bathing the blade and Micah’s hand.

“AELLA! NO!” she heard someone roar.

Zeydan.

Micah bared his stone teeth at her and pulled the blade free.

Aella fell forward, landing on the hard ground, her face twisted toward Zeydan.

The vampire was roaring and pulling at the shackles, dragging the two gargoyles holding him. A blast of invisible energy left him and sent all three gargoyles off their feet, but they didn’t let go of the chains, keeping Zeydan trapped.

Even as her lifeblood escaped her, Aella thought Zeydan looked strangely beautiful in his most savage form. He growled, hissed, and pulled, dragging his massive bulk toward her. His curiously electric-green eyes with vertical pupils were wild with desperation.

Aella could feel the painful tingle on her spine and knew that Micah was going to slice her into pieces.

“NO!” Zeydan roared.

Aella tried to keep her eyes open to not miss Zeydan’s look. She wanted to cling to that beautiful gaze, even if it was full of frantic rage and despair, but dark spots were covering her sight…

CHAPTER 14

Aella’s eyes fell closed.

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