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

She pointed at me. And then at the shadows cast by the trees. I had a feeling she was indicating another foe. The Soul Sisterhood.

“I’m not sure,” I said. “Why would they come here?”

But the answer was obvious when I really thought about it. A tree that revived supernaturals and allowed humans to better accept the supernatural world around them? If I was an anti-supernatural zealot, I’d want to get rid of it too.

“I need you to trust me,” I said to her. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

They hovered around each other in a circle. Their mouths were moving but their speech had become so high-pitched I couldn’t hear it at all. Finally, Purple Nymph glided over. She clapped her hands in front of her. A purple spark of energy swept over the glade in a wave of tingling across my skin. I had a feeling they had lifted the ban against me from the Grove. Not that it had been that effective. That’s when I understood completely the fear they had of the Soul Sisterhood.

There was nowhere the assassins couldn’t infiltrate. Their connection to the earth gave them the home advantage. I couldn’t understand at all why low-magic users were considered the lesser part of the race.

Purple Nymph pointed at my demon blade. I stepped over and picked it up. She waved her hands in a frenzy, indicating the Ley lines. I knew what it was she wanted. Sinking into a cross-legged sitting position, I closed my eyes. The image before me shifted from the multi-layered greens of the Grove to the starry, coloured backdrop of the Ley lines. My breath evened out. I reached out to touch the little motes of colour.

Overhead, the warning bell for the first classes rang. When I opened my eyes, the Grove was bathed in light. All of the nymphs were gone except for Purple.

“How long was I in there?”

Her movement was slow when she turned to me. “Two hours,” she said in perfectly even speech. My eyes widened. I could actually see her wings flapping. Normally, they were just a glittery purple blur. She pointed to the sun in the sky.

It was time for me to go. I was smiling as I raced back to my room to change. For the first time since I’d gotten the demon blade, it didn’t feel like such a weight on my shoulders.

28

A note arrived for me halfway through Magic History. I opened it to find a message from Jacqueline to say that she would like to meet with me at lunchtime. Frowning, I could just imagine what it was about. Kai had opened his big mouth and now she was going to pull the plug on the meetings with Skander.

I was scowling when I met Sophie and told her I had to skip lunch because of the meeting.

“Okay, but don’t be late for Weaponry and Combat,” she said. “We’re getting our Halloween Showcase assignments today.”

Like I could forget. It wasn’t likely that I would be assigned my final exam as part of the Weaponry and Combat Showcase anyway. I was literally at the bottom of the class, to Kai’s irritation. If I stayed there, it would mean points off our House total at the end of the semester. It was like he’d forgotten all about my stellar results from last semester.

Alex waved me right in when I arrived at Jacqueline’s office. She wasn’t alone. Lounging in one of the chairs in front of her desk was none other than the snitch himself.

Kai was leaning back in the chair, its two front legs lifted off the ground. His left leg was propped on the side of Jacqueline’s desk for leverage. I had the urge to kick out the back legs of his chair, but I had a feeling that would do me more damage than him.

“Lex,” Jacqueline said. There was laughter in her smile. “Please take a seat. I’m sorry for cutting into your break.”

There was a knock on the door just as I sat down. “Come in.”

Alex arrived with a trolley of food. My hollow stomach dipped. He set up the plates of sandwiches, pastries, and fruit on Jacqueline’s cleared desk. A pitcher each of sparkling water and orange juice came next.

“Thank you, Alex.” She turned to me. “Help yourself.”

I was starving. That was a given. I was always starving. It took a lot of energy for me to keep up with all these supernaturals. There was a stone in my gut. The thought of eating when my fate was about to be decided made me nauseated.

“You’re not in trouble, Lex.”

“I know,” I said. I hadn’t bloody done anything wrong. Until now I’d purposefully been ignoring Kai and he’d allowed it. He leaned forward, grabbed a serving plate and heaped it with food. When he set it down in front of me, I had to resist the urge to throw it at his head. Bickering with him in front of his grandmother was not a wise move on any day.

I cleared my throat. “I want to continue learning from Skander,” I said. Let’s face it, I wasn’t your beat-around-the-bush type of girl.

Kai choked on the juice he’d just sipped. He thumped his chest to stop from coughing. Jacqueline’s crystal blue eyes crinkled in confusion. “I’m not sure I understand,” Jacqueline said. “Is there a suggestion that you should stop?”

I glanced at Kai out of the corner of my eye. He brushed his fingers through his hair, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “He’s been getting a little sketchy,” Kai said. “Astrid and I are reviewing the situation.”

Jacqueline tapped fingers on her chin. She took a polite bite out of her sandwich. “Not really the conversation I had hoped to have over lunch,” she said.

I looked from one of them back to the other. “Then why did you summon me here?”

She laughed. Kai dropped his head onto his fist. There was a dusky pink hue running