Page 69 of Halfblood Deceived

Aella had seen the predator barely hidden under Zeydan’s refined, beautiful facade. She’d seen him in bestial form, but this was different. He wasn’t desperate, but wholly enraged. She could almost hear the wheels of his mind turning as he plotted revenge. Her skin prickled with the angry energy leaking out from him. There was also grief in his storming emotions, so bitter Aella could taste it.

“I will make roots sprout from your feet and anchor you here, Zeydan,” Mari warned, eyes narrowed.

He returned her glare. “You can’t.”

Mari’s eyes flashed with verdant magic. “Are you sure about that, Your Grace?”

“Uncle Zeydan, you have to be reasonable,” Luce interjected. “We don’t want to lose you.” She turned her face toward her father, looking heartbreakingly grown up. “You promised you would protect me. If you leave me to go on a suicide mission, you are breaking that promise.”

Andreas went pale, his brow tightening with pain. “I’m sorry, Luce. I just—I want to make sure no other girls are forced to watch their mothers die.”

“And you think killing Eli and Micah will save all supernatural girls from losing their mothers?” Kerian asked. He shook his head, ancient grief, and anger darkening his topaz eyes. “You can kill hundreds, and yet hundreds more will come to take their place. All we can do is build cities that are safe from them, or hide among the mortals in the wide world.”

“Things had gotten better,” Kamilla mused, brow furrowed, her topaz eyes bright with age-old rage, just like her brother’s. “We are seeing a resurgence in their brutality and numbers, and we don’t yet know why, but we do know fighting battles that will cost us precious lives is not the way.”

“And sitting on our powerful arses, hiding from those fuckers as they grow stronger, is the way?” Zeydan challenged, upper lip curling over sharp canines.

“Is that what you think Milla and I do?” Kerian asked.

Zeydan arched a brow. “It isn’t?”

Given the widening of Gabby’s eyes, that had been very rude.

Kamilla sighed. “There are other ways to fight this endless war, Zeydan. We’ll be happy to show them to you once you calm down and stop planning to offer yourself on a silver platter to the gargoyles.” Zeydan opened his mouth to argue. Kamilla quieted him with a raised finger. “I forbid you to leave Darkwood until you regain your senses. Need I remind you that I am still your princess and you don’t want to test my patience?”

Aella could hear Zeydan’s teeth grinding.

“Haven’t you just done that?” he asked tersely.

Aella swallowed hard. Her usual impulse to hide in plain sight by becoming statue-like was overridden by her desire to help Kamilla and the others keep Zeydan safe. “I don’t know the location of the mansion,” she told them. “I’ve only left it five times since I moved in almost two years ago, and they put a hood on my head so I couldn’t see.” She received appalled glances from all the occupants of the table. “Um, they do the same with all females. Because we are weak and not as trustworthy as the males.”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Aylana all but growled, hazel eyes flashing with emerald magic. “You didn’t even know where you lived?”

Aella shook her head. “The last time I left the mansion was when I snuck along with them to Tatsuki’s home, and I was hiding in the back of an SUV, so I couldn’t see either.” Her insides quaking with apprehension, she met Zeydan’s eyes. “And even if I did know, I wouldn’t tell you.” Zeydan’s eyebrows shot up. Aella pressed on. “I wouldn’t tell you because there are innocent children and females who don’t know the truth living there, and I can’t stand the idea of them dying. And I do have an idea about the location of the church. But I also won’t tell you, because going there is a suicide mission, and I agree with Kamilla, it’s not worth it. You have a family to lose. It doesn’t matter that they are safe now, they’d lose you.”

She noticed Kamilla and Kerian’s approving expressions from the corner of her eye and felt embarrassed because that was only half of the reason. But Aella didn’t think it would be wise to mention how she felt sick at the idea of betraying the nuns and priests. Even though she knew they were accomplices to the brutality of the gargoyles.

Zeydan’s frowned, teeth clenching. Several emotions flashed in his jade eyes—anger, surprise, understanding, even embarrassment. He finally sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Alright, I promise not to go after the bastards. Everyone happy?”

Kamilla hummed. “Satisfied at least.”

Gabby exhaled, the tension in her shoulders melting.

“We are elated, you fucking reckless idiot,” Mari growled.

Aella blinked at the tiny fey, still shocked at how she had no qualms about insulting Zeydan.

Mari gave Aella a crooked, knowing smile. “He might be a duke, but I don’t give a flying fuck and someone ought to rein him in when he’s being an idiot.”

Andreas huffed. “And who shall keep you in line, Marigold?”

Mari pointed a finger at him, green magic shining on the tip. “Don’t test me, arsehole.”

Zeydan arched a brow at Mari. “Also, the little madam here is a princess, so she’s used to getting away with being an obnoxious brat.”

“Auntie Mari is quite bossy,” Luce said, crossing her arms on the table, expression relieved. “But she is usually right.”

Mari smiled at Luce. “I should be surprised that the 10-year-old is the smartest member of our family after me, but I’m really not.”

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