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

“I’ll get it soon. Can I also get a job?”

“Slow down,” she said. “You’re only here two days a week and alternating weekends. I’m not sure there will be all that much time for you to get a job on top of everything else.”

Oh she was good. The only way I’d be able to juggle all I wanted was if I increased my time at Terran. Rather than give me time to ruminate, she continued. “That’s settled then. We will all attend the treaty negotiations. Although I suspect only myself, Jessica, and Ben will be able to officially negotiate.”

“Ben?” I asked. Sean had introduced me to his roommate Ashton, who was the only other boy in the Academy.

“My husband Ben,” Samantha said. “He’s on the board of Terran Academy.”

“Oh. Right.” That made sense. I wasn’t sure why I’d thought they would all be single given they spent so much time here. Then again, she had painted a pretty good picture of freedom in this place.

“You don’t live here?” I asked her.

“Sometimes I stay overnight. But I have my own home in Geelong.”

When lunch was over, Samantha beckoned at me. “Come.”

“I should help clean up,” I said.

Melissa wagged a finger at me. “Oh don’t you worry, my love. We’ll put you on the cleaning roster soon enough.” She took the plate from my hands and disappeared with it.

Everybody else streamed out. There was no way I would remember half their names on the first day. Heck, I couldn’t even remember the names of some of the students in my year at Bloodline and I’d been with them for a while now.

Samantha led me to a room a few doors down from the kitchen. When we stepped inside, I saw it was set up as a little office. Outside the window, I could see directly along the path that showed me a view of both the soul gate and anything coming down the road towards the school.

“Take a seat,” Samantha said. She sat down behind the desk and waved at the seats in front of me. I sat on my hands but leaned forward to take a whiff of the blousy gardenias in her bud vase. I relaxed a little.

Samantha passed a silver laptop over. And a phone. I stared at both of them. “What’s this?” She didn’t know whether to smile or frown.

“Are you asking me what they actually are or why we’re giving them to you?”

I swallowed. Then laughed nervously. “Sorry. I’ve just gotten used to not relying on technology.”

“Hmm.” It was an unpleasant sound. “You are very much of this Earth, Alessia. You are human. We use technology.”

I didn’t want her to get the wrong idea. “I know,” I said. “But I kind of wasn’t in a situation where I could afford a phone or tablet even before I joined Bloodline Academy.”

“Well then, we’re going to have to help you relearn all of it. That’s what living in this world means. We don’t hide ourselves away and make our own rules.”

“They do it for a reason.”

“Really? What reason is that?”

“Their presence would terrify most humans, for one thing.”

I couldn’t believe it when she nodded. “Maybe at first. But you’d be surprised how quickly most humans can adapt to things.”

“That’s not what I heard.” Nor what I’d seen.

“The ones who break are ones who would have broken over something else anyway.” That didn’t exactly sound like such a supportive statement. She had switched on the laptop while we spoke. Now she turned the screen to face me. On it was a spreadsheet with what looked like a timetable. There were two on the screen. She toggled from one to the other like some kind of tech expert. She was about Nanna’s age. Their computer literacy skills were at polar opposites. My nanna thought tech was the devil’s work. Now that statement had a whole new meaning. I saw that Melissa had been right. I’d been added onto the roster for chores.

“These are the classes that you’ll be attending,” Samantha said. “We’ve swapped out your Herbology classes for a one-on-one Horticulture course that will get you accreditation the same way any other human university will. The advantage we have is that our classrooms are small. You’ll get the kind of attention you need to ensure your gifts are nurtured. From what I understand your magic circles are quite advanced. We’ve got a range of skillsets here, but you’ll fit right into the basic magic class.” She pointed to two classes over the two days that were highlighted in yellow. “These are the ones that you will not be permitted to miss under any circumstances.”

I squinted to see what they were. Advanced Combat and Soul Splitting. I couldn’t help grimacing. “Ummm...I think you might be disappointed with my level of physical ability.”

She smirked. “You underestimate yourself. As have the monsters.” She tapped at her own laptop. “The demon blade you possess, did you bring it with you?”

“No.” As much as I wanted it for protection, I hadn’t been comfortable taking it with me when I’d left Bloodline.

“Perhaps that’s a good thing. We’re not even sure if you’d be able to get it past the soul gate.”

“We didn’t pass the soul sate on the way in,” I reminded her.

“And you don’t need to again. But be assured if you attempt to bring in anything that isn’t of this Earth, you will feel the repercussions. We might be very few, but our duty to the Earth dimension is taken very seriously.” She let the silence hang for a second. “Which is why I regret that I am going to have to ask if there is anything you can tell us that might give us an advantage over the monsters during this negotiation?”

My hand stilled over the webpage I’d opened. I had been typing in my great-grandmother’s name into the search engine.

“Beg your pardon?” I might be shocked, but my manners had improved.

“We are at a