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

than a whisper. He sensed the pleading in it but didn’t understand where my despair was coming from. It didn’t stop him from kneeling in front of me. Another figure materialised to the right. Then another on my left. This time I was unable to resist.

I dropped to my knees in the presence of Michael and Raphael. When I looked up again, another seraph was standing behind Azrael. It made sense that Ariel’s aura was golden tan. He was the patron seraph of the animals of every dimension. The glow of it reminded me of the sparks in Max and Charles’s eyes when their lions were in charge.

I couldn’t get any lower to the ground but I tried. My world blurred as tears streamed down my cheeks. Because as much as I tried to force the confession out of my mouth, it wouldn’t budge. Tiny, invisible thorns scratched at my throat.

Azrael brushed the back of his palm over my cheek. “Tell me, Alessia.”

I shook my head. I couldn’t. The hand I held to the ground tried to paint a picture in the dirt for him. But I was shackled, and no amount of coaxing would get it out of me.

Good girl, Lucifer praised. I glanced at Azrael to see if he’d heard but his expression was mournful.

“Luc…” It was all I could utter before pain had me bent over.

“Is our brother contained?” Azrael turned to Ariel.

“Most certainly,” the other seraph confirmed. “We would know immediately if there was a change.”

“What about his artefacts?” Michael asked.

“Also contained. There is no change, brothers.”

Their gazes returned to me. Raphael moved forwards. His red-brown hair loose from the lowered cowl. The look on his face made me want to howl. “We ask too much of her,” he said. “She’s just a child.”

I wasn’t sure why but something inside me stood to attention. In the same vein, Azrael’s shoulders tensed. “I do not interfere with Malachi,” Azrael said. “Do not put weakness into her mind.”

“One of us should have blooded her if you wanted her to fight like this,” Michael said. It was such a warrior point of view. “If something is not done soon, this dimension will collapse.”

“Something is being done,” Azrael said. The others bowed their heads at his assertion and teleported out. Azrael turned back to me, his expression resolute but soft. “I’m sorry, Alessia.”

The apology made me reach for his hand. He curled his massive fingers around mine. “We all have our part to bear in this, and I’m afraid yours is the heaviest burden.” He nodded towards the remnants of the broken circle. “This summoning shouldn’t have happened. You cannot simply wrench the souls of the departed into this realm at your whim. That is why a payment in blood has to be made.”

“I didn’t do it just because I felt like it!” I said. “My great-grandmother knows where Gaia is!” His eyes softened.

“I understand. But the dead need rest. Just because you have the ability doesn’t mean you should use it.”

Something slotted into place. “So it’s true. I am a bone witch.”

“Yes. It was the only gift I had to give you.”

I squeezed his fingers. “I don’t understand how to use it.”

“You will. In time.”

“How will I find Gaia without my great-grandmother’s help? Can’t you find her?”

“There are forces in this dimension that we can’t reckon with. Not unless we want the entire fabric of reality undone. Your great-grandmother was a very talented witch. Even we can’t see past her spell.”

And in my thoughts, Lucifer chided. “Even if they knew how to find her, they wouldn’t tell you. That’s how my brothers work. They hint at things and force you to struggle for something they can do in the blink of an eye.”

I wanted very much to reach into my mind and tear out his presence. Azrael pressed my hands together. “She’s destroying this earth,” I said.

“She doesn’t know what she’s doing. That is my biggest fear.” There was an absent quality in his voice that told me he was no longer mentally present. I kept thinking about my biggest fear.

“Why am I frightened of the ocean?”

He stood up. “Why are we frightened of anything? When have you ever shied away from things that scared you?”

His form began to fray at the edges until he faded away. It left me standing in the darkened clearing on my own. Why were we frightened of anything? Fear was about negative consequences. What would going into the ocean take from me? Besides my life, of course?

28

One of the Evil Three must have texted Samantha because the grand mistress was standing at the back door bathed in a glow of light when we got back to Terran. “What exactly happened?” Samantha asked before I could even get out of the back seat.

I had a question of my own. “Azrael says we’re not supposed to summon the spirits of the dead,” I said. “Did you know about this?” The last part was directed at the Evil Three.

“It’s their rule, not ours,” Winnie said. “Besides, their necromancers do it all the time!”

I knew for a fact that wasn’t true. Practice of that kind of darker magic was heavily regulated within the supernatural community. Quite simply because any mage or sorceresses with that kind of power also had control over vampires as well. It was at that point when I resolved to study my ass off because neither side could be trusted to be truthful where I was concerned.

We entered the kitchen. That’s where we found Jessica, Rachel, Sean, and Ashton. Despite it being close to midnight at this point, they were all up and teeming with an undercurrent of excitement. Melissa shoved a mug of hot chocolate in front of me when I sat down. The scent of cocoa and melting marshmallow made my stomach rumble. Only thing was, she’d been a bit cheap on the marshmallow front. “May I have more marshmallows?” I asked.

“Something wrong with your legs?” She shot back from the