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

Eventually, all I could feel was the thump of my own heartbeat. On a whim, I opened the barrier where I could access the Ley lines. The sudden burst of multi-coloured lights almost had me staggering. They weren’t so bright here but they took on a different quality. They were soft to the sharpness I saw in Bloodline. They were gentler. And they gentled me. The sweep of colours encompassed the land all the way towards Melbourne. I chased the rainbow farther and farther. Here and there some roadblocks and patches of darkness got in the way, but I managed to weave around them.

When I finally opened my eyes, the knot of anguish in my chest had eased. For all of the doom and gloom, there was still potential in the Earth. I hadn’t dared to throw my net close to where the ocean was, but for now, this was enough.

Dusting myself off, I made my way back to the mansion. Inside the kitchen, Samantha sat with another woman I didn’t know. The other woman was younger, maybe mid-thirties. She had a square face with sharp angled features. But it was her dark brown eyes that stifled me. They were so dark they were almost black. A lick of something cool brushed over my skin. They glanced up as I walked in.

The stranger grinned. “You look just like her,” she said. “It’s just like looking at a younger version of Hilary.” It was the voice that cemented it. I’d heard that voice before. It had been during the Sisterhood attack at Charles’s birthday. She’d been the one to call me a traitor.

25

I lifted my chin. She met my gaze and smiled again. “You act like her, too.”

Samantha must have sensed my sudden agitation because she got up and wrapped her arm around me. “Alessia, this is Matilda. I understand the two of you have met.”

“Under strained circumstances,” Matilda said. She too came around to this side of the dining table. Rather than shake my hand, she placed her finger under my chin and gripped it. I slapped her hand away and wasn’t surprised when she let out a throaty laugh.

“I should apologize,” she said. “Except I’m not sorry.”

“You will be,” I grit out.

Matilda smirked. She turned to Samantha. “I told you she’d be perfect.”

The only thing holding me back from slugging her was Samantha’s nails digging into my bicep. I tried to push Samantha away but she wouldn’t let go. “I know you’re angry,” she said against my ear. “But now isn’t the time.”

Something tried to weave its way into my chest. This time, I put real strength into breaking free. I rounded on her. “Stop doing that,” I snapped. “Whatever you keep doing to try and calm me, it isn’t working.” I wasn’t sure what it was, but I was pretty certain she had some kind of empathetic powers. She was too good at guessing how I was feeling. But unlike Raphael, she seemed to think it was her right to use it to placate me. Like it was wrong for me to feel things that didn’t fit in with her plans. Right now I didn’t have the energy to process another shock.

“I’m going to bed.”

Samantha simply nodded.

For the first time in forever, I forgot to draw a physical circle when I got into bed. It felt like I’d just experienced the longest day in the history of the world. My mind kept speaking to me about right and wrong. About supernaturals and humans. About my own responsibility in all of this. And throughout it all, a single burning question: What was I?

When I posed it to Azrael, silence was all I got in return. He was taking this strange pact thing he had very seriously. It was starting to tick me off. By the time I actually fell asleep, I could already see the light turning grey in the horizon.

It didn’t take long for the nightmare to come for me. I heard Phoenix’s frantic barking but I couldn’t see him above the towering flames. Heat scorched the air. Every breath I took was full of ash. I coughed, but in my dream, I couldn’t move my hands to cover my mouth. Glancing down, I saw the first wave of flame lick at my sneakers. I opened my mouth to scream when a figure appeared in front of me. The fire parted to allow Lucifer access. Wherever he walked, the flames receded as though they were too afraid to touch him.

His wings spread out either side of him. The light from the fire bathed him in an unearthly glow. In his right hand was a blade. Despite being on the brink of burning, I couldn’t help staring at it. At the light it gave off that blazed brighter than the fire. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen his angel blade but every time felt like I hadn’t taken it in properly.

He smiled at me and extended his hand. Phoenix barked again. This time, he sounded close enough that I felt like I heard him next to my ear. Something rough and wet scraped across my cheek. Pointed teeth nicked my ear. The pain acted like an anchor.

My eyes snapped open to find the dingo beside my bed. I let out a startled yelp which he returned. The sheets were a tangled mess of warmth around me. I was sweating buckets. I tried to move my arms but found the sheets twisted around them like shackles.

“How in the world did you get in here?” I croaked. The dingo responded with a single bark. The door was open but nobody else seemed to be around. I extricated myself slowly.

“Thanks.”

Phoenix followed me to the bathroom where I showered and dressed in my sweats. We went for a short run. It was all I could manage because I’d slept way too late and the sun was already hot enough to melt the