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

blue. My arm stretched out as though offering her penance. She had given me this power. It was her right to take it back. At the same time, my mind shrieked in despair. Without the hedge magic, I wouldn’t be able to unbind Nanna. That’s when something primal inside me sparked to life. I was a selfish, lowly human. I wanted my grandmother whether or not she was my flesh and blood.

My outstretched hand curled into a fist. The darkness enclosed the blue light once more. The assault on my mind resumed. It punished me until I was kneeling in front of her, my arms wrapped around myself. The next time the lightning struck, the darkness hit back. It turned the circle into a glowing sphere. The darker magic speared Gaia in the chest. Something slammed into me in real life. I recognised it as Harlow punching me in the arm. But I was too preoccupied with fighting the deity I had meant to save.

Maybe it was just a Hastings thing. Like great-grandmother, like great-granddaughter. I was eternally grateful for the gift Gaia had given me, but I was not a slave. I was not hers to do as she wished. It was with that thought that laughter erupted in the clearing. Harlow’s physical assault ended. In my periphery I saw her limbs slacken as her head turned, trying to find the source of that melodious laughter. I knew exactly where it came from.

Good girl, Lucifer said in my thoughts. Gaia’s mouth twisted into a vehement snarl. She was so busy being disgusted by Lucifer’s essence that she didn’t noticed the small portal opening up inside my magic circle. None of us did until it was too late. An enormous gelatinous creature with dozens of tentacles emerged through the portal.

Matilda let fly with a string of curses. The giant squid demon latched on to Gaia and tugged. Golden lances of power laced around her. I saw them for what they truly were. The squid might have taken her physically, but it was Lucifer who restrained her metaphysically. We could do nothing as Gaia and the squid thing receded into the portal. No sooner had they disappeared did Matilda kick the closest candle in my circle aside. Her act of breaking the circle released me from my stupor. I bent over gasping.

Somebody yanked me into standing position. “What did you do?” Harlow screamed in my face. “She’s been taken to Hell!” Her fist reared back. Matilda grabbed her wrist.

“Stop it,” Matilda said. “What just happened was completely out of anyone’s control.” Harlow and Winnie burst into tears.

I was too busy trying not to throw up. I sank back onto the ground and laid my palms flat against the earth. The debris in my hand was dry but not lifeless. It just wasn’t the kind of life that my hedge magic required. When I looked inside myself at the well of my power, only the few droplets of blue remained. The darkness cocooned it, protecting it from further decay. A tear slid down my right cheek. A few more seconds and she might have taken all of it.

“What do we do now?” Harlow asked, her voice thick with unshed tears.

“I don’t know what that was,” Matilda said, “But it wasn’t Gaia.”

I uncurled from the ground. “What do you mean?”

Matilda shrugged. A frown etched across her face. “I’m not sure. Our deity isn’t destructive in that way. Something’s wrong with her.” She turned to me, her expression suddenly contemplative. “Are you okay?”

I most assuredly was not. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

I would have done a great job of pretending to be until I glanced over her shoulder. A figure stood at the edge of the clearing. His cowl billowed against a non-existent breeze. Sensing my distraction, Matilda turned her head. If she was scowly before, the look on her face was now deathly.

“We’ll meet you back at the car,” Matilda said. She waved at the Evil Three who scampered to clean up the clearing. They marched past Azrael without acknowledging him, but the way their heads bent low told me they weren’t immune to his angelic presence.

When we were alone, he approached slowly. Nothing about him was ever rushed. He had all the time in the dimensions after all. I bit my tongue to stop the rush of emotions from overwhelming me. Unlike the others, I did bow my head. And in doing so, it made anger race to the forefront.

“Where have you been?” I seethed.

His head tilted to one side. “Where I have always been, little one.”

I was careful around Azrael. He didn’t have the same empathic soothing spirit as Raphael. It was just like me to be patronised by the angel of death. But after that ordeal, my filter was gone. “And where is that exactly? I’ve been trying to speak to you for months! Thanks for showing up after the fact.”

His brows drew together. I shit my pants and regretting the smart comment. Azrael raised a hand. I shrank back. This was it, I was going to be smited. Frankly, I was surprised it hadn’t already happened.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Alessia.” He came closer and laid his hand on the top of my head. My pet status was restored. I was not amused. Shaking him off, I crossed my arms over my chest. He had to have seen what had just happened.

“She tried to kill me,” I said. The disbelief made my tone sharp.

“Who?”

Was he joking? “Is immortality making you blind? Gaia, she just tried to kill me and Luc –” The stranglehold on my throat locked down my speech. I glanced up at Azrael frantically. I had tried to contact him with thoughts of Lucifer and what he’d done to me. I had hoped that the seraph’s ability to read my mind would negate Lucifer’s hold on me. But as Azrael peered down at me in confusion, a seed of utter terror planted in my mind.

“Azrael?” It was less