Bloodline Alchemy: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 6), Lan Chan [free ebook reader for android TXT] 📗

“What exactly is this?” I ventured.

Luther pinched the bridge of his nose. Maggie was the world’s biggest over-sharer. She was brassy and bold and so full of life that for a second, I suddenly missed my mama unbearably. “This fool has gotten it into his head that he needs to be studying at all hours. He hasn’t slept in how long? And then I found these in his backpack this morning.” She waved a couple of vials of winterflower essence in my face.

Not strictly illegal, the concoction was regulated, though. It had the effect of being able to keep supernaturals awake longer than they could already handle. The problem was that a supernatural, hyped up and without sleep, was all kinds of dangerous.

Seeing that I wasn’t going to be a saviour here, I backed away slowly and scrambled through the door to the private wing before I could get too caught up in the argument. Luther was in for a world of hurt.

Pain was a familiar emotion that latched on to me as I made my way to room nine. There was no need to read for signs on the doors because Tony was standing guard out the front. He nodded at me.

“May I go in?”

Stepping aside, he opened the door for me. Like a ghost, Noah slipped in behind me. Irritation flamed in my chest. It felt intrusive for him to be here. But I doubted he would care if I made that point. Pushing the annoyance aside, I focused on the figure on the cot in the corner of the small room and felt my throat closing over.

“Hi, Professor,” I said, coming to stand beside her. There was a bunch of cappuccino-coloured dahlias on the table by her bedside. In between the pretty petals I could see a number of beetles and earwigs hiding. They had probably come from the kitchen garden which meant Peter or Thalia had been here recently.

Somebody had bundled the sheets just below her chest like they thought she might be too warm. I understood the sentiment. Right now, I was imagining her waking up all of a sudden because she was uncomfortable.

Without warning, a tear trailed down my left cheek. Dammit! Why did I keep crying all the time? Scrubbing it away with an impatient swipe, I was very aware of Noah standing behind me. If he weren’t, I might have tried to see if I could revive her with something from the infirmary supply closet. There was any number of elixirs that I could transmute. But I had a feeling this ailment ran far deeper than mere disease. Just for kicks, I took a deep breath and gathered the Ley dimension around me.

Lex had always told me that her Ley sight allowed her to see the world in a vast array of colours. I saw it only in a swathe of pink, white, and red hues. I saw it as varying shades of blood. In connections of love and friendship. The aura around the professor was the deepest shade of brownish crimson. Like it was being polluted with darkness.

Given that the malachim had gone for her, I wasn’t surprised. I knew Professor Suleiman would have tried to perform an exorcism. Her current condition was not synonymous with demon possession, but it still felt as though there was something inside her that shouldn’t have been there. Tentatively, I reached out as though to take her hand. Her skin was warm and pliant. As soon as we touched, the brown tint in her aura intensified. Something bucked inside my chest in response to the contact. Without thinking, I bit my tongue and tasted blood. It coated the inside of my mouth as an ancient, sonorous voice filled my mind. It wasn’t unpleasant as much as it was surprising.

Soon, it whispered. In my mind, I saw an endless Abyss.

Something locked on to my wrist and tugged. I lost grip on the Ley dimension and blinked in disorientation. Steely but warm fingers dragged my hand away from the professor.

“What are you doing?” Noah said. The frost in his tone left nothing to the imagination. For a second, all I could do was stare. Then I coughed to dislodge the frog in my throat.

I opened my hands and waved them at him. “What did you think I was doing? I’m unarmed.”

“What was that just now?”

I tried to shake him off, but he wouldn’t let go. “Get off me.”

His nostrils flared. I bristled, knowing he was trying to scent a lie on me. “What was that?”

“What was what? You’re seeing things you want to see. Get. Off. Me.”

We stared at each other, neither of us wanting to back down. “This is way too familiar,” I sniped. “I’m not a clueless little girl anymore. Let me go.”

He would not. “You did something.”

“Right,” I laughed. “I waited until we were alone together and decided that right now would be the best time to try something. Just like when I was five and I was collecting bones for rituals, huh? Or when I was six and stealing teeth and hair to cast voodoo.”

He was undeterred by my recollection of all his baseless childhood claims. “You murdered people to save your friend!”

I had been expecting it from the moment I’d first laid eyes on him again. “What did you do?” I said. “Did you wait around all this time until you caught wind of me doing something and then asked to be assigned to me so you can catch me out?”

“Why are you getting so upset if you haven’t done anything?”

If I were the violent type, I would have hit him there and then. “Why have you always acted like I’ve done something when I never have?”

He leaned down to me, his face just inches from mine. “Because I know you want to,” he said. It was barely above a whisper, but it reverberated in my head. “You might not like it. On some level, it might even hurt you.