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

I still couldn’t get it through my head what she was asking me. But when I looked up into her face, it was no longer softened by good humour. She might not be a shifter, but her eyes were predatory and they were fixed on me.

14

I retracted my hands from these gifts that now appeared to be bribes. “I’m not sure what you think I’d know that could be of any use to you.”

“You’ve been around them for an extended period of time,” she said. She steepled her fingers and rested her chin on them. “Is there any reason they would suddenly want a treaty now?”

“You mean aside from the fact that Giselle went on a killing spree? I imagine that’s a fair incentive.”

She had been doing a good job of imitating a statue. But when I mentioned Giselle’s name, her fingers tightened. “Giselle is one of our best,” she said, like it was some kind of justification.

“Why would she choose to work inside a supernatural prison with the very monsters she despised?”

“Why not?” Samantha asked. And I realised in that second it was a good question. Given everything I’d just found out about the Sisterhood, why wouldn’t they want to work in the prison with the sole purpose of keeping those monsters they despised locked up.

“I have no insider knowledge,” I said. “I’m still just a student.”

This time, her smile was wide. “You’re involved with the youngest member of their Council. Your school houses some of the most powerful monsters in the world. The soul gate is one of our greatest protections. We created it to be fatal to the monster species. The mage who touched it should have been killed. There are things you know that you might not be aware of that could help us.”

“Help you do what exactly? The point of the negotiations is to come to an agreement about co-existing peacefully together.”

“Peace is an illusion they have created,” she said. “We haven’t had peace since the first barriers came down. Do you have any idea the things that go on without the knowledge of their Council?” She saw on my face that I didn’t. “Well then, your time at Terran will be enlightening.”

“What about the demons?” I asked. I felt like we were losing sight of what it was both species were meant to be fighting against.

“Demons,” she hissed. “They brought them into this dimension and allowed them to run rampant. Why is it our responsibility to clean up after them?”

“But we have the same goals.”

“No, Alessia. We have shared interests. That doesn’t mean we want the same thing. We are here for the protection of humans. You’ve seen how human witches and wizards are treated by the monsters. They both fear and pity us. You of all people should understand that. They must have reacted poorly to the knowledge that your powers might be far greater than their own.”

It was true. There were some who had actively gone out of their way to make my life miserable. But for the most part, they had been scared. I was…attached to the one Nephilim who had pestered me about what I really was.

“But you’ve said that Gaia is missing and that makes it easier for demons to take hold of human hosts. Wouldn’t it be quicker to ask for the Council’s help in locating her?”

“We haven’t had any luck finding her. If our own can’t do it, what makes you think the monsters can do any better? Giselle lived right under their noses for years and they had no idea she was there. Their senses are attuned to other things.”

“If they knew Gaia was missing, they would want to help find her.”

“They already know,” she said. “You can bet your friend and her parents have told them. Yet where is their offer of assistance?”

We were going around in circles. I found this whole thing pointless. “Doesn’t the fact that they took me in and gave me a place to live prove that they’re not all bad?”

“If I found a priceless weapon, I would do everything in my power to keep it with me too.” For some reason, her words made me think of Lucifer and not the supernaturals. It occurred to me that the curse he placed on me might not work on humans. But when I tried to utter the words, my throat locked up immediately. I dug fingers into my thigh and strained to get the sentence out. Anything to alert someone to the fact that Lucifer was in control of some part of me. I was breathless all of a sudden.

“Alessia? Your face had gone all red.” She leaned forward, her eyes wide.

“Water?”

She poured me a glass from the jug on her desk. I chugged it down. When I cleared my throat, my voice was okay again. So long as I steered clear of what Lucifer had forbidden me to reveal, I would keep being able to talk.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “There’s nothing I know that will help you. As far as I’m concerned, they’re not evil.”

She didn’t seem all that surprised. “That’s okay. It was worth a shot. I think I might have been slightly disappointed if you had betrayed them.” It was then she noticed what I was looking at on my laptop screen. “Don’t bother,” she said. “Hilary erased herself from the world. She was eccentric like that. You won’t be able to find anything on there.”

“Did you know her?” I moved to the edge of my seat.

“I thought I did.” She looked down at her hands. She fidgeted a little with the cuticle in a way that seemed juvenile. “I never suspected her capable of what she did. There was just no reckoning for it.”

“Surely you must have known or heard of something.”

“You don’t understand.” She shook her hands in front of her like she was trying to fling away an evil spirit. “Your great-grandmother was