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

“Wait, no it doesn’t. It doesn’t settle anything!”

“Lex.” She pinned me with the full extent of her Amazonian gaze. “You need to take these lessons. Perhaps working with a water elemental will help dispel your fear of the oc –.”

The look I gave her could have flayed a dragon’s hide. “Who says I’m scared of the ocean?”

For the first time since I’d known her, she seemed sheepish. “I, ah...”

“He told you, didn’t he?” When next I saw Kai, I was going to wring his neck.

“Now don’t go getting angry at him. It was my fault. I suggested we could take a trip to the beach with Cassie and he said you’d never go and –”

I wasn’t sure why but my face was getting really warm. She cleared her throat. “Anyway, perhaps you should take the rest of the day off while we finalise your timetable. Everything should be in order by then.”

I scratched the back of my neck. “Will the kids be able to come to this campus?” I asked.

“If they choose to. But you won’t be able to cross over the threshold for the foreseeable future.”

I couldn’t help the frustrated breath that I let out. “What about getting to and from Terran? I don’t know if I can handle the school bus every time.”

“We’re working on that too. I still don’t like the idea of just handing you over to them, but we don’t have much of a choice.”

Now would have been the perfect time to tell her about the Gaia thing. If I waited long enough, Nora probably would have said something to her. But for some reason I didn’t really want it getting out there that my great-grandmother had been the one to bind a deity. How was that even possible? Basil had said that my great-grandmother had been a powerful hedge witch but this seemed a little farfetched.

“Yes, I still need to go.”

“Then I suppose we’re done here.”

I got up to leave. Just as my hand hit the door, she called out my name. “I know once you start to attend Terran Academy you’ll end up being placed in a difficult situation. I wouldn’t want you to do anything you feel compromises your integrity. We’re not naive to the fact that they may want you to keep some things to yourself. While it’s not ideal, as long as it doesn’t endanger Bloodline, we’re willing to let it slide. But I expect you will let us know as soon as anything changes.”

All I could do was nod my head. What was there to say to that? I hadn’t even started at Terran Academy yet and they were already preparing for the day when I would betray them. It was a wonder I was being allowed to walk around freely at all.

10

I really wanted to say I told you so when I walked into my first Elemental Magic class later in the week. More than a dozen Fae turned to watch me. There was a boy with dark hair and bright grey eyes who actually bared his teeth at me. The rest of them wouldn’t stop looking even when I tried to stare them down.

I wasn’t sure where I was walking except that I needed to get away from as many of these people as humanly possible. There were a few spare seats in the middle of the room, but I zoomed in on the one empty seat in the back row.

Somebody beside me groaned when I sat down. “As if I don’t have enough problems as it is,” Isla said. She dragged fingers through her straight black hair and grimaced at me.

“You think you’ve got problems?” I shot back.

“At least they’re acknowledging you’re alive. I’ve been blacklisted.”

“Trade?”

“I wish.”

I had to believe she was just trying to be sarcastic. There was no more room for talk because the professor walked in. I had seen Professor Aisling in the halls but never had cause to be in one of her classes. Until now, I had avoided the Fae subjects like the plague. She was a pale-skinned Fae with black wings and blonde hair. Every time I’d seen her, she was wearing either all black or all white. Today it was a white maxi dress. I imagined it was a way to accentuate the colour of her wings. She was just as untouched by time as the rest of her kin, but there was something dewy about her. I wished I had the ability to see past glamours. Then again, I was slightly scared of what I might find behind their masks.

“Well, class,” she said, “I see we have a new addition to our ranks this year. I have to say I’m surprised that you’ve decided to join us, Alessia.” Decided was a strong word. As was the maniacal grin that she gave me. A sinking feeling in my gut had me gripping the spine of my textbook.

I shrugged and smiled brightly. Sometimes, shutting your mouth was the best way to defuse a situation. Colour me surprised when it worked. Isla must have been as shell-shocked as I was because I could see the whites of her eyes in my periphery.

Professor Aisling cleared her throat. Now that she knew she wasn’t going to get a rise out of me, she decided to teach.

Despite myself, I was kind of captivated. “We’re learning about water this semester,” she said. “We’ve already covered earth and air. Both of which have their own special caveats. But some would argue that water is by and large the most important element.” There was a round of good-natured hissing from the Fae who specialised in other elements. Beside me, Isla crossed her arms over her chest. She was a water Fae. In the trials for our first semester, she’d used her abilities to bring us rain. I had to admit that was very cool. Never in a million years would I tell her that, though.

The professor allowed