Bloodline Diplomacy: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 3) - Lan Chan (thriller books to read .txt) 📗

checkpoint that’s closest to Terran Academy without setting off their perimeter alarms. From there, someone from Terran will pick you up and take you the rest of the way. We’ve been warned that they won’t allow any of us to accompany you.”

Despite what she’d said, she glanced meaningfully between Kai and me. “We’re here if you need us, Lex.”

I bit my lip to force myself not mention the fact that they were there for me unless I wanted to go to the junior campus. Or to be out on school grounds late at night.

The next time we teleported, it was to a secluded section of a fern forest that didn’t appear to be reachable on foot. Somewhere close by there was the distinct rushing of a waterfall. The dingo turned around on his padded feet like he was unsure what to do with himself and the new sounds that he’d likely never heard before.

I understood. If Kai hadn’t suddenly been peering at me so intently, I might have reached out and touched the fern. I’d seen pictures of them in books of course, but this was the first time I’d seen them in their natural habitat.

“You still have time to reconsider,” Kai said.

“Can we not start this?” I asked. “I think it’s pretty clear I’m going and that I don’t have much of a choice.” I bit my tongue again. By the end of all this, I probably wasn’t going to be able to talk with all the things I stopped myself from saying. He seemed to understand nonetheless.

A sudden flash of something darted in his eyes. “I think we’re definitely going to be late now,” I said.

“They can wait.”

He took a step like he was going to grab me. I crouched down and pretended to tie my shoelace. When I unfurled, I grabbed the handle of my suitcase and headed off towards what I thought might have been the road. What I came across was a downward slope that was so steep it might as well have been a staircase. I could see now why he’d chosen this spot. He and some mountain climbers were just about the only people who might have been able to get up here.

I waited. After a brief silence, he exhaled and popped out of existence. The dingo was on the other side of the clearing. He was rolling around on the dropped fern branches. When Kai returned, he was scowling. “They’re in place.”

I went rigid waiting for him to teleport me. Instead, he brushed the back of his fingers over my cheekbone. He swallowed like he was holding back from saying all of the things he knew wouldn’t be helpful. Like the fact that the Sisterhood might try to turn me against Bloodline. His fingers trailed below my ear and laced through the hair at the nape of my neck. Now I was the one swallowing. The pulse in my neck pounded against his palm.

“Try not to do anything too insane,” he said. His lips parted. I knew there was a lot he left unspoken. Like the fact that with the soul gate in place, if something did happen, there would be no way for him to reach me.

For over a year I had lived with the security of knowing he was within reach. Even when he was driving me up the wall, I knew he would be there if I needed him. Not just for protection. When his lips pressed against mine, I stepped closer and allowed him to wrap me up in his arms. I heard the dingo’s whine, but everything melted at the same time my insides did.

We broke away when the dingo latched on to his jeans and dragged his leg aside. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. “It’s a good thing you’re taking him,” Kai said. He grabbed the scruff of the dingo’s neck and me around the waist.

The ripple of pleasure and pain had me gasping momentarily. We landed at a truck rest stop behind the cover of some pine trees. Kai pulled my wheeled suitcase along the dirt path until it hit bitumen. A black sedan with a tint job that was surely illegal was parked in the bays. The two front doors opened.

I didn’t imagine the way Kai’s muscles tightened when Sean stepped out of the driver’s side. An older girl came out of the passenger seat. She wore black jeans and a blue halter neck top that showed off the sinewy muscles on her arms. Her boots crunched on the gravel. She had sunglasses on that covered her eyes. Even without seeing them, the grim line of her mouth told me she wasn’t the friendly type.

“Made it at last,” Sean said, indicating his watch.

I wasn’t sure who he was directing that to, but neither Kai nor I answered. The dingo bounded up beside me. “Ahhh,” I said. “I’m hoping you don’t have a no-pets policy at Terran.”

The girl lifted her sunglasses to reveal wide brown eyes and a soft face that was at odds with her hardened physique. I was hit with a sudden inkling of familiarity even though I was sure I’d never met her before. What really took me aback was when she dropped to the ground and held her hand out to the dingo. The animal promptly pulled his lips back and growled. She didn’t seem offended by this behaviour. In fact, a small smile pulled at her mouth. It made all the difference in the friendliness of her face. That friendliness disappeared as she regarded Kai and then me.

“The dingo can come,” Sean said. “We’ve got a kennel for canines.”

I was suddenly suspicious. “You don’t use them for rituals, do you?” If he said yes, we were outta here.

“We’re not into black magic,” he said. “Gaia’s creatures are sacred to us.”

“Even rats?”

He didn’t hesitate. “Even rats.” Damn.

Sean tapped on the boot of the car and it swung up. When I tried to take my suitcase