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

A moment later, Victoria Amos’s shrivelled face appeared in the water. “Oh hell no.”

The collective shriek when I tried to get up was deafening. So much so that I didn’t catch most of what Victoria was saying for the next two minutes. The frowns etched on the tiny faces all around me were enough to enlighten me.

Victoria didn’t say anything new. She rehashed what Orin had said in an equally annoying monotone. I could tell she was reading from a script. Three thousand years of life and a stint of being chair of the Council, and she hadn’t bothered to learn to be personable. Or maybe she had and this was what long life did to people. I was almost tuning out when the word “delegation,” pricked my interest.

“…while our relationship has been treacherous in the past, we hope to forge a new understanding that will be mutually beneficial. To that end, a treaty negotiation has been arranged. Rest assured that your Council are doing everything we can. Your lives need not be affected by this.”

She cut out abruptly at the end of that statement. Easy for her to say. My life had already been affected. In more ways than one. They’d chosen the day of my birthday to have these idiotic negotiations. I bet Orin and Victoria did it on purpose. I wasn’t going to bother with a big party or anything. With everything else going on, celebrating turning a year older, even if it was my eighteenth, seemed trivial. For sure Kai and Sophie were going to be at this shindig. Then I remembered Samantha was making me go too.

Something small and blunt nudged me on my shoulder. The wood nymphs were in a slight frenzy. Their voices were reaching an undetectable decibel again. I covered my ears.

“Stop!” I yelled.

There was silence for a millisecond and then it started up again. I couldn’t get a word in nor hear the words that were being thrown at me. What I could discern was the way the light around them appeared to shudder. Nymph dust scattered in all directions. Dozens of faces peered at me.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m about as enthusiastic about going to their school as I am about peeling the skin off my fingers.”

The purple nymph screeched. She pointed to the demon blade on my back. Out of habit I reached back and touched the hilt. It warmed in my hand. I would bet if I pulled the blade out, the runes painted onto the blade would be glowing blue.

“Yes,” I said, guessing at her question. “The deal still stands.”

If the Sisterhood ever came for the Grove, I would defend it with my life. With my current level of fighting skill, it would be a very short life. That was why they spent the next three hours kicking my butt. My shirt was thoroughly soaked through with sweat when I had to call it quits because I was so hungry. Before I left, I turned to the purple nymph.

“The Ley lines,” I asked. “I can’t seem to feel them past the aura of the Academy.”

To my surprise, instead of chortling at me in her high-pitched voice, she butted her hand against my cheek. An image of decimated forests and polluted streams and rivers filled my mind. As I ventured back to the dorm to change for dinner, my thoughts were filled with her warning. The Ley lines around most of the world were weakening. Without Gaia and with the increased pollution, magic was having a hard time breaking through.

I was so busy ruminating on this that I almost missed the flap of wings above me. When I glanced up, the Nephilim coasted farther and landed just in front of the dining hall. He blended into the shadows, but not before I saw his face. I’d seen that same guard when I’d raced out of the assembly. He’d been positioned just above the rampart of the junior campus dorms. No matter how Kai tried to soften it, I was under surveillance. How long before surveillance became imprisonment?

19

A week later, Kai dropped me off at Terran like before. This time, it was only Rachel who had come to pick me up. Kai didn’t say a word to her. He latched on to my hand and wouldn’t let go until I kicked him.

Rachel was unreservedly quiet on the drive. She had a cross stud in her ear that caught the sunlight and threw it in my face. I wondered if she’d bought it to spite the supernaturals. “Were you a part of it?” I asked when the quiet stretched for too long.

The lines on her face grew sharp. “If I had wanted to go after you, it would have been with fair warning.”

When she parked the car in the lot behind Terran, Samantha and Jessica were waiting for me. Standing in a line behind them were the three girls, Harlow, Winnie, and Alison. They were looking at the ground, but I noticed when Harlow’s head turned towards Alison, her cheeks were pressed tight like she was trying to suppress laughter.

“Wait,” Rachel said when I reached for the door handle. “They’re idiots, but they didn’t know what they were doing.” I stepped out.

“Alessia,” Samantha said. “We’re so glad to have –”

I marched behind her and punched Harlow in the jaw.

Somebody grabbed me around the waist. I swung again, this time clipping Winnie on the shoulder. Rachel yanked me back. “Stop it!” she said.

“You think that was funny?” I screamed. Harlow was clutching at her cheek. “Do you have any idea how many creatures I killed?” My voice was like a razor and it sliced through the still of the land surrounding the Academy. I heard doors and windows in the building open. Over in the field, one of their cattle mooed.

“Alessia!” Jessica said. “Please.”

“I could have killed someone. If there was anybody around, I might have!