Bloodline Diplomacy: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 3), Lan Chan [best way to read an ebook .TXT] 📗

their blood, it was to lessen themselves to give the Nephilim strength. The blood Lucifer gave your father, the blood he gave you, is about control. The Nephilim are separate from my brothers. You are not separated from Lucifer.”

I swallowed. My hand massaged my throat absently.

“This bargain my great-grandmother made with you…”

He lowered his cowl with both hands. I averted my gaze. Lucifer might be beautiful, but Azrael was no less devastating in his own way. “Hilary refused to believe that her line was doomed. The Hastings women have always been gifted. Sometimes, that affects them in peculiar ways. Your grandmother died from an errant spell gone terribly wrong. But there is strength in your blood unlike anything we have ever seen. Gaia and the rest of the Sisterhood were intent on destroying you. They convinced your mother to take her own life before you could be born. Hilary asked for my help in concealing you.”

“How did I not die when my mother threw herself off the rocks?”

He let me think on it. The answer came to me in a rush of awe. “My great-grandmother brought me back,” I breathed. Bone witch. Something occurred to me. “Phoenix?”

He sighed heavily. “Another one that should have passed. He is changed for it. As are you. Hilary would not let you go. I would not allow her to make arbitrary decisions about who was worthy of saving.” He smiled. “Hilary didn’t care. She had a way of flouting all rules no matter who enforced them. We made a bargain.”

“A life for a life.” I heard Hilary’s voice telling me she hoped they hadn’t died for nothing. She was including herself in that statement. “She gave her life for mine. This death magic I have, it was hers.”

I waited for him to elaborate. “She hoped that the combination of three magical lines would counteract Lucifer’s blood. You see now why telling you what you are might have coloured the person you’ve become?”

I knew myself well enough to understand I would have been rolling around pissed as hell. Everybody would have copped a spray. “You’re not telling me everything,” I said.

“No, I’m not. That was my bargain to make with your great-grandmother.” He reached out and took my hand. “This is only the beginning, Alessia. Hilary saved your life, but she couldn’t save you from what is to come. For all of the portents, there is no way to see the future. I fear it will not be kind.”

I gripped his hand. “I’m not exactly the sweet and kind type,” I told him. The amused look he gave me was better than the effect of any Arcana fruit.

“Your great-grandmother gave you to her sister’s daughter to raise,” Azrael told me. My heart seized. “Her sister was non-magical. They had cut ties when they grew older because your great-grandmother understood what her kind of power might bring upon the rest of your family. Bethany Hastings might not be your grandmother, but she is still your blood.”

He brushed a lock of hair from my face after I kept swiping at my watery eyes. “Have care, Alessia. Trust yourself the way your great-grandmother did. Otherwise, I fear for this dimension.”

He brought me back to the beachfront. I immediately wanted to leave. “Can you fix this?” I asked. I swept my arm over the chaos.

“That’s what the Council were supposed to be for.” He lifted his cowl once more and disappeared. I latched on to the past tense in his statement.

I took a shuddering breath and stepped up to the remains of Terran Academy. The soul gate had been destroyed in the fight. As had most of the building. There were holes the size of bathtubs in the roof. Much of the earth was scorched and all of the windows had blown out. The devastation was complete. That didn’t stop the Terrans from being territorial about it. There were idiots arguing on the lawn.

Matilda and Jessica stood neck and neck with Victoria and Orin. Behind them, the rest of the remaining Terran students were armed and ready. It would have been impressive if Rachel wasn’t limping and Sean didn’t have a massive black eye. The Evil Three were decidedly uncomfortable. The problem was that the Council representatives were in peak condition.

“You will answer for your actions,” Orin was saying to Matilda.

“Come over here and I’ll answer them right now,” she said. “Where are the rest of you? Or are you and this walking prune the lackeys they send to do their dirty work?”

Orin reared. His wings popped out of his back. The wind picked up around us. Like Brigid, Orin was a wind elemental. If her strength was anything to go by, he could probably flatten what was left of this place with a single thought.

Nora raced between the two factions. “Let’s just take a breath,” she said. They inched towards her. Mani and Sophie ran to her aid. I searched for Kai amongst them, but he had been hurt quite badly. I imagined he would be in Seraphina by now. There was no way the Nephilim would allow the last of Raphael’s line to remain here in his state.

There was no reasoning with either side. The humans were weak and vulnerable. They’d gotten Gaia back but she wasn’t right in the head. The supernaturals were shaken and disoriented. They’d been dominant for so long it rocked them to the core to think there were forces out there capable of hurting them.

Soon, Lucifer said. I closed my eyes but didn’t try to shut him out. This end is inevitable.

My eyes flicked open to find Scott Goodall with his cobalt sword flaming. He had it drawn out in front of him and pointed at the Evil Three. I wasn’t sure, but I thought I’d heard Harlow comment on the fashionableness of his shoes. This was what I had to work with. I could just imagine them bickering with each other while Lucifer rained death down on us.

I was done with