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

Right. Forgot where I was. When I’d finished raiding the marshmallow bag and my mug was more mallow than liquid, Samantha pressed her point.

“I don’t know what happened!” I said, between sips. “The Ev – the girls said I had a better chance of reaching my great-grandmother so we did a summoning spell. Five seconds into it Gaia’s spirit showed up and tried to kill us!”

“Tried to kill you,” Alison corrected.

“I’m pretty sure she was on a general homicidal rage.”

“She didn’t try and take back our powers,” Harlow reminded me. I pushed my mug aside. The thought of food was suddenly unappealing. I was all too aware that my hedge magic was waning. I looked at Samantha.

“Will I get it back?” I asked.

She laced her fingers in front of her. “There’s no way of telling,” she said. “Nothing like this has ever happened before. I wouldn’t be too concerned. Our power does regenerate.” She reached out to place her hand over mine. “Do you see now why it is so imperative that we find Gaia?”

I understood. My only concern was whether or not I would live through it if I did find her. Our supposed deity seemed pretty intent on bringing me down.

When Sean dropped me off at the exchange spot this time, it was Astrid who was waiting for me. Phoenix stood up in the back seat and growled at her. I scratched the hairs on the back of his neck. It wasn’t until he was out of the car and sticking to me like Velcro that I realised he was feeling uneasy.

“They tend to do that around me,” Astrid said. Sean waved and drove off.

“He’s been okay around Kai.”

“Malachi is one of Raphael’s,” she said. Like that explained everything.

“Where is he?”

She touched my arm and the world went dark for a second. We reappeared just outside my bedroom door. Once again, Sophie wasn’t in. It was Friday night. If she wasn’t here then I figured she was probably with her parents in Rivia doing some Council-related stuff.

“I’m not sure,” Astrid said in response to my previous question. “He said he was doing something important and couldn’t leave Seraphina.”

I tried not to let the disappointment show on my face. She could tell anyway. “I’m sure it must be critical if he didn’t go to get you. He hasn’t been himself since you’ve been gone.” She stayed and watched me unpack. Diana arrived a couple minutes later.

“So,” Diana said. “It’s your birthday soon.”

“Don’t remind me.”

She splayed out on her belly on Sophie’s bed. “Are you sure you don’t want to do anything?”

“I’m certain.”

“But it’s your eighteenth,” Astrid said. “I’m given to understand this is an important rite of passage in the human world.”

“We’re not in the human world.” They exchanged a glance. “What?” I said.

“We just don’t want you to regret anything,” Diana said. “I mean, last year you didn’t even tell anyone when your birthday was!”

“That’s because I forgot. Dates aren’t all that important when you’re living on the streets.” It was the truth. Last year the whole thing had completely slipped my mind on account of me trying to get used to the fact that the supernatural world even existed. This year I had only told them because Sophie had commented that I hadn’t had a birthday in all the time they’d known me.

The girls seemed unable to come up with a response to my assertion. It was hard to justify a big party in the face of homelessness. I let them off the hook. “Thanks, guys, but I really am okay about it. “Besides, I’ll be at Terran and I’m being dragged to the treaty negotiations anyway.”

They left me alone shortly after. I got on the MirrorNet straight away and dialled Basil’s number. “I have concerns about your so-called love life if you’re picking up a call on a Friday night,” I joked when his face appeared. Internally, my relief was palpable. He saw right through it.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. Odette walked by in the background and waved. She was wearing a pointed black hat inside. I waved back but didn’t comment. Now was not the time.

I told Basil what had happened. His frown became increasingly pronounced. “Goodness, Lex. Next time someone asks you to perform a ritual, maybe you should pause before doing it.”

“Well, I know that now!”

“But for them to push you into a situation like that knowing how dangerous it is. Have you told Jacqueline?”

“No! And I’m not going to.”

“Why not?”

I bit my lip. Why not? “I’m not sure. I think maybe they’re right. If Gaia is going crazy because she’s trapped, I need to find a way to free her.”

“Except we have no idea where she might be.”

I nodded absentmindedly. “Azrael said something to me that I’ve been mulling over. Why am I afraid of the ocean? Maybe something didn’t happen to me when I was a baby. Maybe I’m afraid of it because something might happen to me now if I go in there.”

“You believe she’s been bound to the ocean?”

“It’s as good a theory as any other. Only problem is that I can’t get anywhere near it without freaking out.”

“Maybe you don’t have to. Do you understand how the mermaid lagoon works?”

I shook my head.

“Really, Alessia! You’re taking Elemental Magic. This is basic stuff!” I waited for his parental rant to subside. He blew out a breath. “Anyway, the lagoon is magically sectioned off from the Earth’s ocean, but it is still a part of it. It is made possible by the continued maintenance of a two-way portal. If you can get in contact with the mermaids, they might be able to search the ocean for you.”

“Wouldn’t someone have come across something beforehand?”

“Not if she’s been concealed somewhere no one would want to go.”

That was how I found myself outside Isla’s bedroom door. A place I generally tried to avoid at all costs. The Fae occupied a nicer part of the dorm wing. Actually, it only looked nicer because they probably