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

thing that worried me was that he had the kind of pinpoint focus that made him dangerous. If he was beginning to push back against the demands of the Sisterhood, it meant he’d figured something out. “Don’t do anything stupid,” I said.

He just grinned at me like stupid was his middle name. And I was the idiot who was in love with him.

30

By some miracle, Kai didn’t kick up a stink when I had to return to Terran the weekend of my birthday. He was absent for it anyway. Astrid was now on official teleportation duty. In some ways I was relieved. It lessened the separation anxiety even if it was disappointing not to see him.

I was unpacking my suitcase when my hand scraped against the sharp edge of an envelope. The handwriting with my name on the envelope was atrocious. I smiled thinking of Basil. It felt like a card, but there was something inside that made it padded. I sat down on the bed and carefully opened the flap. Half a dozen hundred dollar bills fell out onto the floor. There were more of them inside the card. I stared at the sudden windfall. My manna account hadn’t even hit triple digits yet. The new schedule and all the other issues had put an end to my short stint as a guard.

I didn’t even have a human bank account. Just one of these notes was more than the sum of all that I had ever owned. I held the card and let the rest of the money fall onto my lap. There was a lot of it.

Lex, Thanks to some very poor judgement on behalf of almost everybody we know, I won’t be able to wish you a happy birthday on the actual day. So in the tradition of every absent father figure, I’m throwing money at the problem. I hope this gift will make life at Terran better for you the way you’ve made my life so much better for having you in it. Love, Basil.

I was sniffling when Harlow’s voice entered the room. “Holy shit!” she said. “How much cash is that?”

She was standing at the doorway with Alison. They were both wide-eyed. I didn’t bother to count or collect the cash. “I’m not sure,” I said. When I sat there just staring at the words in the card, they traded glances and then slunk away. Only after they were gone did I move to pick up the money I’d dropped.

There was two thousand dollars in the stack. More money than I even knew what to do with. It was unthinkable. Basil had clearly not been thinking straight. I smiled when it occurred to me he probably never thought straight. He was such an odd character. I glanced at the floor-length mirror beside the built-in closet wishing it was one of the ones at Bloodline that I could use to communicate. But I was cut off, and I couldn’t sit around here moping about missing people all day.

“Any more news on trying to find Gaia?” Matilda asked me during our next training session.

“I’m trying something, but I haven’t had much success so far.” It didn’t help to elaborate. I didn’t think she would be impressed that I’d solicited the assistance of the supernaturals.

“Do you know anything about being a bone witch?” I asked her as we sank down into the lawn beside the cutting garden.

“About as much as I know about any other speciality. How’s your hedge magic?”

The face I made said it all. So far there had been no sign of this regeneration Samantha had assured me would happen. Matilda sensed it and redirected the conversation. “Is there anything helpful in your great-grandmother’s diary?”

I shook my head. “Not unless you want a recipe for some unknown potion,” I said. I had a feeling Hilary Hastings was a bit of an experimentalist witch. It would account for all of her eccentric abilities. Sophie was trying to sneak into the library in Seraphina when she was there, to look up some reference books. So far she hadn’t found anything.

“You haven’t had enough time to figure anything out,” Matilda said. “Let’s get started. I want you to try and focus on your heartbeat. Once you’ve done that, drop into the Ley dimension and sync the beat with the pulses that run along the web. When you can get a proper rhythm, that’s when you’ll learn how to phase at will.

We spent the entire day attempting to get it right. And the next two days. I had a feeling the Sisterhood were trying to speed up my induction given the current circumstances. I wasn’t sure whether they were more afraid of the supernaturals having an advantage over us or Gaia being in a destructive rage.

By the end of the third day I was improving slightly. I still freaked out a little whenever something would pass through me. It was only the garden beds that we were using at this stage, but I was terrified of getting it wrong and ending up with a rose bush growing out of my stomach.

“You’re getting the hang of it,” Matilda said. She refrained from comparing my progress to the Evil Three.

“Another six months and I might not squeal while I’m doing it,” I said.

“We can only hope.”

Samantha appeared around the edge of the cutting garden. Storm clouds raged across her face. “The supernaturals have left something at the soul gate for you,” she said. “We’ve placed it in your room.” I could almost see the steam billowing from her ears.

“Thanks. I’m sure they didn’t mean to trespass. It’s just that it’s my birthday and –” She held up her hand.

“It’s not just about today,” she said. “They disregard any agreement whenever they feel like it. We are an afterthought to them. I hope you’ll remember that tonight.”

Matilda blew out a breath after Samantha left. “Phew,” she said. “Sam can get a little intense sometimes. But she means well.”

Everybody meant well but that