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

“I’ve tried to heal her, but she’s not responding well. The chemicals are interfering with her ability to absorb celestial magic. Professor McKenna hasn’t been able to isolate the ingredients as yet. She thinks it might be demonic in origin. I’m hoping Sophie might be able to help me.”

That made a lot of sense. Sophie’s magic went beyond the usual kitchen witch stuff. Her alchemy, coupled with the fact that it was low magic, might make a difference. “Have you thought about running her through a decontamination shower?” I asked.

He frowned. “That might be a last resort. I don’t want to take her into human space unnecessarily.”

I nodded and then glanced at Wanda. “How are you?”

“Pissed,” she grit out. I knew the feeling.

“Are you well enough to see me in my office?” Jacqueline asked.

My head said yes. My legs contradicted me when I tried to get up. Kai caught me on the downward spiral. “I can still go.”

“Maybe when you’re better,” Jacqueline said.

“I’ll just be lying around here anyway. At least this way I’ll be doing something useful.”

They exchanged glances like I wasn’t even in the room. I stomped on Kai’s foot, but I don’t think he noticed. Finally, he sighed. I knew the teleport was coming, but it still didn’t prepare me for the sensation. My head was spinning when we landed inside Jacqueline’s office. I was practically swooning.

“So this is what it takes to get you to be quiet,” Kai said against my ear.

“Enjoy it while it lasts.”

The stubble on his jaw grazed the shell of my ear. I shivered. “I must be a masochist,” he said. “I think I like it better when you’re not so quiet.”

I gripped his hand as we waited for the others to arrive. He seated me in the armchair in front of Jacqueline’s desk and crouched down beside me. “I’m not going to faint,” I said. My head was definitely spinning, though.

“Uh huh.”

“How’s the dingo?”

“It’s healing. I left it with Basil inside the Reserve. I don’t think Basil’s too happy about that.”

By contrast, I was thrilled.

“Thanks.”

The air between us became taut for a moment. With our schedules as they were, and his mysterious disappearances to Seraphina, we hardly got to see each other. The tension was shattered when the door opened and Jacqueline walked in with Marshall, Nora, Mani, and Professor Mortimer. Kai straightened and moved to stand behind me so that there was room for Nora to sit beside me.

She reached out and touched my arm. “How are you feeling?”

I made a so-so gesture at her. The pain in my head was slowly subsiding. It was the memory of Lucifer’s fingers around my throat that had me apprehensive.

When I opened my mouth to try and tell them of his appearance, my throat locked. I made a sound as though I was choking on my own spit. My tongue felt like it was swelling. Kai tapped me on the back lightly. Jacqueline pushed a glass of water in front of me. By now my eyes were watering. I hacked like I’d gotten debris down my windpipe. All the while my mind screamed at me to say something about Lucifer. It made no difference. Only when I stopped trying did my airways clear.

What had he done to me? I thought of him commanding me not to speak of him. Was that it? Had be put a curse on me? My skin turned cold at the notion. If he was strong enough while he was still bound to stop me from speaking, I didn’t even want to think about how he would be if he ever got out of containment.

Thinking I could somehow outsmart him, I reached for the paper and pen on Jacqueline’s desk only to find my hand cramping. My fingers locked into a fist. No matter how much I tried to force it to open, it remained curled up. Unaware of my alarming dilemma, Jacqueline spoke.

“I just got the report back from the guards. The humans weren’t just laymen. They were high-ranking military officials. The demon that possessed them was expelled when Lex broke the summoning circle.”

I could cut the unease with a blade. “Where are they now?” Marshall asked.

“We transported them to the closest human hospital,” Jacqueline said. “We’ve had them under medical surveillance since the incident, but I’ve just gotten word that they’ve been declared medically unfit. They’ll be shipped to a psychiatric hospital tomorrow.”

Mani scratched at the back of his head. “If it’s helpful, we’ve been hearing all kinds of things about the rise in incidences of violence in the human world. Nothing connected to any of the missions we’ve recorded. The number of demon possessions is rising.”

I bit my tongue raw trying to alert them to the threat. It did no good. My spine went cold at the thought of facing an enemy that could incapacitate me with a single word. Azrael! I screamed in my mind. Once again there was no answer.

Jacqueline sighed. “This could all be a coincidence, but we don’t have the luxury of waiting to find out.” After a long pause, she pulled something out of the top drawer of her desk. “Hey!” I shouted when I saw it was the ripped-up pieces of the letter the Soul Sisterhood had sent me. “I threw that out!”

She knew that. She’d been there on Christmas Eve when I’d thrown it in the fire at Basil’s place and declared that I didn’t want to talk about it. Now here the letter was. I had seen part of it burn, but the letter in front of me was completely whole.

“I know you don’t want to do this,” Jacqueline said. “But if the Sisterhood are behind this attack it means they have recruited other human allies. They could be a bigger threat than we imagined. This new weapon of theirs coupled with their abilities could make things very difficult for us.”

“I’m not going to join them.” It was frustrating as hell to know who was really behind the