Page 86 of Halfblood Deceived

Aella couldn’t believe that. She was a nuisance, had always been. But she didn’t want to argue with Kamilla and become even more annoying, so she nodded.

“Are you hungry?”

Aella shook her head. “Not really.”

The vampire princess opened her mouth and closed it again, taking a deep breath. “Remember I told you I have a halfblood gargoyle friend?”

How could Aella forget? The idea of Kamilla Davashkov having a gargoyle friend would never stop being shocking. “Yes.”

“Well, she’d like to meet you,” Kamilla said. “Her name is Diana.”

Aella’s brow furrowed. “Why?”

Kamilla regarded Aella with worried topaz eyes. “We believe you and Diana might be related.”

Aella blinked. “What?”

“I must confess that I am not sure how to proceed,” Kamilla said. “Diana would prefer to tell you her reasons to believe that you are relatives herself. But I don’t want to cause you distress either. So I am not sure if it would be right for me to tell you or if you should hear it from her. What do you think?”

Aella felt a bit dizzy. She supposed it wasn’t strange that she had relatives she’d never heard of before. Especially if said relatives were defectors who lived in a city ruled by the vampire princess herself. But part of her still found the idea of having a living family member bewildering. The Order had said she had no one. But then The Order had lied about so much more. And did she want to know more from Kamilla or to let this alleged relative explain?

Aella bit off little pieces of her lower lip. “Whatever you think is best. I am in your debt.”

Kamilla shook her head. “No, my dear. If you are uncomfortable, we can postpone this meeting, because it might shock you. And I will never impose my will over yours, alright? So think about it for a second.”

Aella blinked. A meeting with a stranger, relative or not, sounded ominous and intimidating, but also too intriguing to ignore. And ashamed as she was of needing Kamilla’s care, Aella knew she could trust her. God, Aella had never trusted anyone more than she did Kamilla Davashkov. No matter if they had barely met. No matter if Kamilla was a vampire. Aella felt deep in her heart and bones that Kamilla was kindred somehow.

So she took a deep breath and nodded. “I’m curious, so I’m okay with letting her explain.”

Kamilla squeezed both of her hands. “Good.” She then let go and went back to the door, opening it to let in a female with red hair and many freckles.

Aella stopped breathing, her brain all but short-circuiting as she noticed different things about the stranger all at once.

The gargoyle female—Diana—was dressed in boots, black jeans, and a sleeveless cotton top. Her leanly muscled, bare arms were covered with tattoos of red roses and thorns. Short, deep red hair haloed her sharp-featured face.

And she was incredibly similar to Aella.

Same shade of vibrant red hair. Same shape of the brows—currently tight with anguish. The dusting of countless freckles on her high cheekbones and over the bridge of her nose was almost an identical match to Aella’s.

She was slightly taller, athletic, and leaner. Her eyes were blue and her cheeks were slimmer, but her face. It was so much like Aella’s.

An invisible undercurrent of nervous energy made Aella’s skin tingle. It came from Diana. She was practically vibrating with a chaotic mix of sadness, happiness, and apprehension. There was something strangely… familiar about Diana’s energy.

“Hello, Aella,” the gargoyle greeted, voice slightly hoarse but gentle.

Aella licked her parched lips and swallowed hard, inhaling brusquely. “Hello. Who are you?” Why do you look like me? Why can I feel your emotions?

The stranger approached slowly, steps measured as if nearing a feral cat. “My name is Diana. And I am your sister.”

Aella blinked several times, even though her eyesight was as sharp as ever. “I-I am an only child. The vampires killed my mother and father when I was a baby. I don’t have a sister.”

Diana’s blue eyes filled with tears. She cursed and wiped them with the back of her hand. “I both hate being the one to tell you this and am glad I’m the one who gets to do it. Your mother, our mother, wasn’t killed by the vampires, but by the Order of the Light. They killed her as a punishment for leaving my father, our mother’s first husband, and turning her back on the Order.”

Aella would have dropped to the floor if she hadn’t been leaning against the wall. She reached out and held onto it as her knees grew weak. “No, you—you’re wrong. That’s not what happened. It isn’t.”

Diana’s face twisted with clear despair, raw pain leaving her in waves. There was no sign of deception or dark intention, but Aella still couldn’t believe it. Her eyes searched the steadying topaz gaze of Kamilla, and the sympathy and sorrow she found there told her all she needed to know.

Kamilla approached, standing between Aella and Diana like a communication bridge. “Mari and I could run some tests. We have a sample of your blood already, Aella. We needed it to make sure you were free of gargoyle poison and to adjust the dosage of your healing potions. Diana provided us with some strands of her hair. We could compare your DNA to confirm your blood relation.”

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