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

on that looked like it was made out of silicone or latex. Harlow’s eyes widened. She made a grabbing motion but then restrained herself. I couldn’t look away from the substance in those beakers.

Beside me, Phoenix yelped. He scented it too. That acetone chemical smell that had filled the air before Astrid went down.

“What the hell is that?” I snarled.

The Evil Three were unmoved by my sudden agitation. “It’s the thing that’s going to turn the tide of this war,” Alison said. She too was staring at Sean’s slow-moving form.

I whipped my head around to look at Rachel. “That stuff was used on one of the Nephilim.” It didn’t surprise me when she shrugged.

“What is it?” I wanted to know.

“We’re not entirely sure,” Ashton said. “Industrial waste mixed with some other arcane ingredients I think.”

“Surely that stuff is poisonous to us too!”

Sean had placed the tray down on the lawn table. He held up his gloved hands. “Hence these.” Their blasé attitude was really starting to tick me off.

“Where did you get this stuff from?”

“Does it matter?” Ashton asked.

“Yes.”

He regarded me for a second. How could they not see that this stuff had the potential to mess with us just as badly? Even from five metres away I could smell the chemical burn of it. I couldn’t even imagine what it might feel like to have it smeared on my skin. Everything inside of me revolted against it. The blue layer of my magic became erratic. How could Rachel stand being so close?

“Somebody posted the serum online,” Ashton said. “We don’t know where it’s manufactured but they do pickups.”

“So you bought random industrial waste off the internet?”

“No, of course not. It’s not random. It’s survival.”

“So there are witches and wizards out there who aren’t part of Terran, who are making these concoctions to sell for profit?”

My pulse hammered in my throat. “Sometimes you have to do the unthinkable to survive,” Ashton said. It hit me then that survival was exactly how they saw this. How many times had I lamented during Weaponry and Combat that there was no way I would be able to physically keep up with the supernaturals?

I withered back down onto the seat and hunched over onto my elbows. Sean produced a device that looked much like a dart gun. He loaded the serum into the vials and they all proceeded to continue with target practice. Every once in a while, one of the Evil Three would sneak a glance at me. Rachel ignored me completely, too engrossed in what she was doing.

“Would you like to try?” Ashton asked me off the cuff after I’d been sitting there with a scowl on my face.

I shook my head but didn’t say much.

“We wouldn’t do this if we didn’t have to.”

“You don’t have to.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You’ve lived amongst them. They’re your friends. But we live in this mortal world, and the things we’ve seen make it impossible to turn a blind eye.”

“We’re on the same side. How does fighting each other help in the war against the demons?”

This time, Ashton closed him eyes in what must have been an attempt not to roll them. “The war we’re fighting isn’t just against the demons,” he said. “This dimension is ours. Anything that shouldn’t be here is our enemy. Maybe you can’t see that now, but you will.”

It was the absolute certainty of it that got me. Like he knew for certain and he was just waiting for me to catch up. As I sat there, all I could think about was the men in that guard tower. The ones who had been possessed into attacking us with this same substance. Phoenix growled in the back of his throat. Suddenly, I wanted to meet whoever it was that produced these chemicals. Lucifer’s laughter echoed in the back of my mind.

“Maybe it would make me feel better if we could verify where this stuff comes from?” I said, trying to appear conciliatory.

Ashton grinned. “You’re in luck, actually. Rach and I were going to pick up another load of inventory in a few weeks. You can come along if you like.”

Oh, I imagined I wouldn’t like it in the least. But I agreed to it all the same. When did I ever do anything for the sake of liking it anyway?

21

On the day I was scheduled to return to Bloodline, I found myself standing in front of Phoenix’s run. Ashton left the gate open now because it was pointless even having a gate. This wasn’t normal behaviour in most domesticated dogs let alone a wild dingo. I’d only ever had contact with the strays I found on the streets. Most of them were pets that had run away. Usually I’d only have them for a night before the vets opened up in the morning and I took them in so they could go home.

I petted the hair on Phoenix’s collar. “I’ll see you next week,” I told him. When I walked away, he followed me. “Umm...” I crouched down in front of him. “You need to stay here. You wouldn’t be able to handle it at Bloodline.” The message didn’t get through.

“I’m not sure what to do,” I asked Ashton. He too had come to see me off.

“What are the chances he’s going to follow you home no matter how far it is?”

Neither of us could answer that. “Are they seriously not going to let you keep him just because they think he’ll be a nuisance?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Then just take him.”

We didn’t have much choice considering Phoenix headbutted me out of the way and jumped in the car ahead of me. I bit my bottom lip. This was going to be a problem.

Sean and Rachel drove me to the pickup point. Even though I had a million thoughts running through my mind, a thrill whipped through me when we got close to the swap point and I saw Kai leaning against a tree. Phoenix got up on