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

off a piece of garlic bread from the loaf. “I’m actually not bad. We had computers to use at school and I was always at the library using theirs.”

I was also at the library trying to hide so I could stay there overnight but I didn’t mention that part.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” Diana asked after we stuffed ourselves.

Having felt like I had been cooped up all day, I gladly agreed. We kept off any of the well-trodden paths. The area around the billabong was less popular because of the slight sulphur smell that lingered in the air. We decided to see if the bunyip was in.

“It’s not dangerous, is it?” I asked.

Diana shook her head. “Nah. That’s just stories the Aboriginals made up to keep people from destroying their lakes. Pretty smart if you ask me.”

“It’s not nice, though, is it?” Sophie said. “I heard it tried to eat one of the goblin kids.”

“I’m pretty sure that was because he was throwing rocks at it.”

“Fair enough,” I said.

The circumference of the billabong was much larger than I had anticipated. It wasn’t just one body of water either. It was a grouping of them. They melded together to create wetlands with mangroves in one corner and weeping willows in another. Fae lanterns hung in obscure places in the trees. It was enough light so we wouldn’t break our necks but not enough to disturb the natural rhythm of the ecosystem.

A deep groan echoed through the wetlands. “He’s awake,” Diana said. “Let’s go see.”

Excited for my first look at the bunyip, we rounded the bend of the path to be hit by a ferocious wind. My legs struggled to move forward against the gale. Diana had to anchor me to the ground.

“What the hell?” She had to scream to be heard over the biting wind. We inched forward at a snail’s pace. The bunyip groaned again. I wondered why the Academy would conjure up a wind this strong, when a figure stepped out from behind a eucalypt. Now I was the one groaning. Brigid spotted us at the same time.

Her lips turned down. “Get lost,” she said.

“Are you joking?” Diana snapped. She was the only one of us who could move at a normal pace against the wind. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Practicing. What does it look like?”

Her hands were raised palms up in front of her. The spray of water that shot out was like solid little pellets. A shadowy figure in the lake turned over. The bunyip. Its head was elongated with two rows of sharp, grey teeth. Its eyes were situated on either side of its head, giving it good lateral vision but possibly not great frontal acuity. It raised an arching, clawed hand. Not to strike but as a shield against the spray of water.

“It looks like you’re disturbing the poor creatures who live here,” I said. While we were talking, I’d spotted a number of misshapen shadows scurrying away between the trees. Some of them walked upright. They had ears as big as a kangaroo’s. I’d heard there were yowies in here as well. They were like smaller versions of what the humans called Bigfoot. Brigid was effectively chasing all the creatures away.

She bared her teeth at me. “Surprised you’re still here,” she said. “After what the Council did to you, I would think you’d have tucked your tail between your legs and run.” She lifted her arms. The spray of water became a tornado. It raised a column of water three feet from the surface. The bunyip groaned.

“Stop it!” I yelled.

“I’m going to call the guard,” Diana said. She only just moved a step when Brigid swept her arm out. The funnel of water broke from the surface and went hurtling straight for Diana. Sophie and I ducked. We pressed ourselves to the ground so that we wouldn’t be blown away. Diana grunted as she tried to stay out of the way of the tornado. The thud of her back against a tree told me she’d failed.

“All that training for nothing,” Brigid said. She spat on the ground. “Dwarves. Completely useless for anything other than digging around in the dark.”

I heard Diana’s growl, but she couldn’t move for the water battering at her. “Stop messing with her,” Sophie screamed.

The wind picked up. It shoved Sophie a couple of feet away from me. “Sophie!” I tried to reach out for her, but she was too far away. She was being blown towards the edge of the billabong. I dug my fingers into the dirt. Beneath me, I could feel the roots of the trees trying to do the same. Heat blossomed in my chest.

“Turn off the wind,” I shouted. “Are you nuts?”

Brigid snorted. “No wonder they didn’t tell you about your grandmother,” she said. “You act like such a big shot but at the end of the day you would rather be comfortable here than do what you have to in order to make it out there.”

I would have pointed out what a hypocrite she was if a red haze of rage hadn’t gripped me. My knuckles turned white as the world shifted around me. The wind that had been pressing me flat now felt like little more than a spring breeze. I pushed up to my feet.

Uncertainty flashed across Brigid’s face. Her eyes widened. I took a running start, gaining speed as she tried to redirect the burst of water at me. I felt the dampness and chill of it brush up against my cheek. It didn’t linger long enough to stop me.

When my fist connected with Brigid’s nose, I heard something snap. She reeled back and screamed, clutching at her face. The wind died instantly. My anger remained. Brigid was a more experienced fighter. If only she could get a lock on where I was.

The jab she threw would have grazed my chin if I wasn’t in flux. I caught her wrist, bent it forward, and applied pressure like Diana