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

He grinned, knowing exactly where my thoughts had scattered. He held up a piece of chalk.

“If anybody says anything, I’ll deny it,” he said, “But I came here to ask if you would help me straighten up my circles.”

He shoved at my back when I stood there with my mouth open. There were so many snarky remarks on my tongue that they created a bottleneck trying to come out all at once. “Don’t say a word!” he growled.

I snatched the chalk off him and laughed.

Sophie decided to play it safe and showcase for Potions and Alchemy. She was neck and neck with one of the Fae girls in our class. “I’m torn,” I said to her at the end of our lesson the next day. “I know you’re my best friend but she’s in my House. Who am I supposed to cheer for?”

She held up a stick of cinnamon with a red string tied around it at me. “If you don’t root for me, I’ll curse you with terrible body odour for the rest of your life. We’ll see how close Kai wants to get to you after that.”

I couldn’t help smiling at her. She didn’t normally get so competitive but there were perks for winning the Showcase. There was a small cash prize for every winner, and for Potions it came with a new, state-of-the-art cauldron.

Peter sidelined me as soon as I walked into Herbology. When Thalia saw us, she came over. “The rest of you please continue weeding the garlic plot,” she told the class.

“Teacher’s pet,” Roland muttered at me on his way into the classroom. I tried to take a swipe at him, but dwarfs could be quick too.

“Has Bruce spoken to you?” Peter asked.

I thought it was hilarious that he called all the professors by their first names. That’s how we found out Professor Eldridge’s real name was Merewether and not Mercy as she liked to be called. Not that anyone would dare refer to her as anything other than Professor Eldridge. Nobody had a death wish.

“He has,” I said.

“I know Arcane Magic has a bigger incentive,” Thalia said, “But you’ll have less competition in this category.”

“We can hear you, you know,” Roland called out.

“I’m glad, Mr. Pierce, because that last tray of mushrooms you produced was sub-standard!”

Roland ducked his head. I had a feeling he had chosen this class at the end of last semester because Sophie was in it. He and Trey were just in here to goof around.

“What do you think?” Peter said. I wondered if he was asking me because there weren’t many candidates to begin with. There were only five other low-magic hedge witches in the Academy. The rest of the stronger elementals were of the Fae race. Something suddenly occurred to me.

“Who is the third-year Herbology candidate?” I asked.

“Brigid Harcourt.”

Of course it was. “I thought she was a wind elemental?”

“She is. The Fae often have more than one speciality.”

I had a feeling I knew why she had chosen Herbology instead. There were no age rules in the Showcase. If you chose to run with a category, you were up against everybody. It was normal for the older students to win.

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll take the test in Herbology.”

Peter clapped me on the back. “Do you want to break the news to Bruce or should I?” he asked Thalia. Of the Fae, she had always been the loveliest person to me. Now her bright eyes sparked with mirth.

“Let’s do it together.”

They moved off and I went to my plot where I had spent a great deal of time weeding and adding mulch. Roland had given me so much shit when I’d made the comfrey and nettle tea to feed the plants. I had to admit it stank to high heaven and left a lingering smell on my hands. Now it was paying dividends because my garlic was twice the size of anyone else’s.

Sophie and I were floating on an academic high when we arrived back at the dorm to change for dinner.

When we opened the door, Basil was waiting there balancing an envelope on his head. “This came for you,” he said. “It arrived by portal from Seraphina.”

I looked at Sophie, but she shrugged. Taking the envelope from him, I tore it open. The card stock was really thick. There was an invitation inside.

“Ooh,” I said. “You’re not going to like this.”

“What now?” she said.

I read the invitation out to her. “Miss Alessia Hastings and Miss Sophie Mwansa are cordially invited to the Supernatural Council Appointment Ceremony.”

She groaned before I could finish. “So it’s really happening,” she said.

“Looks like it.”

“I suppose we’ll need new clothes.”

I balked. “Why?”

“You’ve been to Seraphina,” she said.

“Yes. To the archives and the prison.”

“Jeez,” she said. “Kai really knows how to show a girl a good time.” She flapped her hand. “There’s no way I’m going to walk into a room full of Nephilim in anything less than a ball gown.”

I thought of how uncomfortable those dresses were. I’d never had the chance to acclimate to fancy clothes. Now that I was at the Academy I practically lived in jeans and sneakers. Then it dawned on me why I couldn’t get a new dress anyway. I was flat broke. It almost made me smile.

Sophie had a glint in her eye, though. I didn’t like it. My radar was on high alert as we made our way to the dining hall. Obviously, the Nephilim had gotten their invitations too because the chatter at their table was louder than usual. The girls were practically speaking in nymph decibels.

“Did you guys get an invitation?” Diana asked when we sat down at our outer-rim table.

“Yeah,” Sophie said. Some of that shine she’d had on the way here dimmed a little.

“You’ll still be friends with us lowly nobodies when you’re a Councilwoman’s daughter won’t you?”

“Very funny.”

Diana chuckled. “What are you going to wear?”

I was going to roll into