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

out and touch the scales on her shoulder. She noticed me staring and smiled. Even though they were on land, her hair haloed around her head as though suspended by water. I wasn’t surprised that sailors marooned their ships trying to get to the mermaids.

The one on the right made a circular hand gesture. “She wants to know if there are any specifications you can give them about where they could look,” Isla asked.

I scratched at my head. Samantha had said that Gaia was reacting to the pollution of the earth. It would also have to be somewhere most other sea creatures were reluctant to go. I imagined the dumping of all manner of rubbish into the ocean would tick her right off. “Try where the water is most polluted,” I said.

Isla frowned. “Toxic water is harmful to supernaturals as well,” she said.

I bounced from one foot to the other. Half of it was because I knew I was asking a lot. The other half was because of the sound of waves around us. “I’m not sure what else to do?”

Isla relayed the message. “She said you’ll owe them bigtime when the favour is done.”

Of course I would. With no other options, I agreed to their terms. “Let’s go back before I end up indebted to the entire supernatural community.”

Speaking of debts, I woke up earlier than usual the next morning to start my chores in the Grove. I hit a snag trying to get past the fence. When I touched the pickets, the small charge I usually felt blasted me backwards. I landed on my butt. Phoenix whined. A glance inside at the well showed the state of my hedge magic was still almost empty. For a few heartbeats I allowed myself to let my head sink between my bent knees. Phoenix pushed his warm, wet nose against the crook of my neck. With a heavy sigh, I stood. Straightening my back I braced for the shot of pain and grabbed the fencing. The shock snaked up my arms, but I held firm. I vaulted over the fence and landed with jittery nerves. The purple and yellow nymphs appeared before me. They were scowling.

In anticipation of their chastising, I slipped into the Ley dimension. When she spoke, the purple nymph’s words were only slightly speedy. “There’s something wrong with you,” she said. “Something more wrong than usual.”

“It’s nice to see you too.”

I shook myself of the last of the protection spell’s burn and got to work. While I hauled water and pruned like a chump, the nymphs and Phoenix played on the lawn. For all their warning about human animals not reacting well to supernaturals, Phoenix was showing no ill effects. Either there was something wrong with him or there was something wrong with the Academy. It could go both ways really.

When I was done, I retrieved the demon blade from where I left it beside the mature Arcana tree. The nymphs and I went through routine after routine of drills. I wasn’t very good with other weapons, but with the demon blade, I suspected I was beginning to show signs of improvement. They would never say so, of course. That would almost be like being nice to me. No, the first signs I might be improving was when they increased their ranks and I could still manage to deflect their attacks.

I was in the midst of executing a perfect underarm sweep when a bright flash of green lit up the edge of the web of energy. The nymphs immediately stopped attacking to converge on Kai. I released the shroud of the Ley dimension to find him leaning with his back against a tree. His mouth was curved at the edges. After a second of being blinded by the sheer masculine beauty of him, I noticed the faint smudges under his eyes. When was the last time he slept? He’d been doing who knows what inside Seraphina for weeks on end. Most of the time he was absent from classes.

“Not bad, Blue.” He took a few steps towards me. His angel blade appeared in his hands. Swinging the heavy blade with the ease of a seasoned fighter, he held it out with the tip pointed at me. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

“Are you jok –?”

He struck out while I was distracted. The nymphs scattered to the edge of the clearing but stayed to watch me get my ass handed to me. Now that Kai had stopped being my instructor, I bet they missed these shows. Once upon a time Kai would have pulled the strike a second before it landed and then chewed me out for all of the things I’d done wrong. This time I raised the demon blade and met him head-on. The two swords clashed in a spark of green-and-black fire. The dark power in me ate up the green as it roared over the length of the demon blade. I dragged the blade against his sword and pushed back to create distance.

My heart faltered at the lack of blue at the same time his eyes widened. “Blue,” he said.

“Keep going.”

In the time it took for Kai to make a decision, I dropped into the Ley dimension and read his movements through the web of stars and lights. I knew he held back but beating Malachi Pendragon at even a quarter of his strength was more than most people could claim.

He came at me again. This time he swung the angel blade in a wide arc that was meant to disorient me as I tried to pinpoint its trajectory. But in the Ley dimension everything slowed down enough so that I had the chance to pivot out of the line of his reach. Using the only thing I had to my advantage, my size, I ducked under his arm as he pulled back and struck his ribs with my elbow.

The contact sent a jarring vibration up my arm. “Dammit!” I shouted. In my hubris, I’d forgotten