Bloodline Secrecy: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 2), Lan Chan [readict TXT] 📗

he did so. All of my concentration went into making sure the sword didn’t inadvertently stab him.

Skander laughed.

When I was a little girl, I used to write my name in all of my circles. As I grew older, I realised that tagging circles with my name meant that I was leaving a trace of myself to be tracked. Not smart if you wanted to disappear on the streets. So I stopped doing it. But I understood that was sort of the point here.

My finger stung like a mother. Refusing to give in to the need to stick it into my mouth, I drew the circles physically and in my mind. I signed every one, commanding it to brand the sword as mine.

Unlike when the sword had taken Skander’s blood, it didn’t sizzle with mine. Everywhere a line of my blood touched it, the metal began to warp and bend until the blade reshaped itself into an intricate pattern of circles. All of them with my signature on it. An iridescent blue glow lit up the surface of the metal. Just like the glow in my bedroom.

There was a snap of something inside my mind. When I glanced down the blue was gone but the blade now hummed in my thoughts.

“Put it down,” Skander said. I did so, watching him intently.

“Now call it back to you.”

“How do I call a sword?”

“Give it a name.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Give it a name.”

I took in the intricate filigree pattern. The blade looked nothing like a demonic sword anymore. In fact, it reminded me of the Mithril swords that some of the Fae carried. Was I really going to name a shiny strap of metal?

Feeling stupid, I made a split-second decision. I’d already decided the blade’s sole purpose was to help me defeat Lucifer. Somehow I knew it would really piss him off to be destroyed with a weapon named after him. I dubbed the blade Morning Star.

Come here, Morning Star. The blade whipped from its position on the mat and into my hand. I gripped the hilt and smiled.

“There you go,” Skander said. “What did you name her?”

“Like I would tell you.”

He threw his head back and laughed. It sounded hollow.

“That’s probably enough for today,” Kai said.

“Agreed,” Giselle noted.

We waited for them to leave first. It would have been less disconcerting not to have to watch Giselle de-animate Skander to drag him off but on the other hand we didn’t want him doing anything while we teleported. Only when he was gone did Kai bring me back to the Academy.

We landed in the soft grass. I blew out a breath.

“That was very interesting,” Astrid said. “Disturbing but interesting.”

“Thankfully we’ll only have to do that once a fortnight,” Kai added. “What did you call your sword?”

“If I didn’t tell him, why in the world would I tell you?”

“Blue.”

I waved him off and started back to my dorm.

“You know that’s not her name, don’t you?” I heard Astrid ask him. I laughed all the way back.

15

“You named your blade Morning Star?” Basil said when I told him.

“Yep.”

“Why?” Sophie asked.

“Because Skander made me pick a name on the spot and I couldn’t think of anything else.”

“You couldn’t have chosen something a little more poetic?” Basil asked.

“I like it.”

“You would,” Sophie suggested. There was a knock on the door. At this time of night, it was either someone we knew well or someone we didn’t now at all. Diana barged in when I opened the door.

“How was it?” she asked.

I had to recount the whole thing again. In hindsight, I should have known that she would show up.

“I like it,” she said when I told her what I’d named the blade.

“Told you!” I said to Sophie and Basil.

“How was he?” Diana asked.

“Bat crap crazy from what I could tell.”

“Was he drooling and snapping his teeth?”

“Worse. He was very polite and reserved. Like he was imagining my death.”

Diana shuddered. She picked up the list of signatures from my dressing table. “Any more?”

“Not a single one. I’ve hit up as many teachers as I possibly can but that’s about all I can do from here.”

“What about the MirrorNet?”

“What about it?”

“Don’t bother,” Basil interjected. “Nora already has it covered.”

Sophie sat bolt upright on her bed. “What do you mean?”

Basil grabbed the mirror and showed us. You know those really cheesy commercials where the perfect family sit around a perfect table and talk to each other about their days? That’s what Nora’s message was like. She and Mani were both so stiff that I thought they might be cardboard cut-outs. They had obviously enlisted the help of their newfound low-magic user friends because there were actually people oohing and ahhing in the back of their monologue.

Sophie groaned. “Oh my Gaia,” she said. “I am never going to live this down.”

“They do seem to need a bit of glamorizing,” Basil said. “I mean, your mother is very charismatic but that doesn’t mean it translates into acting talent.”

“I don’t think you should be getting involved with this, Basil,” I said.

“Why not?”

“For one, lots of people still think you’re a demon bound to a doll.”

“I’ve been tested.”

“They don’t know that. How many inanimate objects have you seen walking around without something demonic in them?”

“Maybe I can be a silent contributor.”

“Who do you talk to all the time anyway?”

“Oh you know, just this and that witch.”

“Please tell me you’re not using the MirrorNet as a dating service. Man,” I slapped my knee. “There must be some desperate witches out there.”

“I beg your pardon?”

I tugged at one of the many ugly repairs I’d made on him. “I mean, aside from the hideous patch-up job, you’re a doll.”

He huffed. “Some people have more depth than to pin everything on appearances.”

“Excuse me!” Sophie said. “I think you’re all missing the bloody point! My parents are out of control”

I waved away her concern. “No they’re not. You know they’re not. What they’re doing is really important.”

She sighed. “I know. I just wish they would do it in a way that didn’t