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

neutral. I slunk off to the side and sat down again. Jacqueline marched up to the front of the bus. She was in a no-nonsense black suit today with a pair of kitten heels. Her wrists were adorned with a multitude of gold bangles. Her back was to me now, but I could see her spine was stiff.

“Well, it looks like nobody’s home so we should probably just turn the bus around,” I noted.

The professor pressed the button that released the door. “Nice try,” Jacqueline said as she stepped out. I shoved out of my seat and followed her. Our small party spilled out of the bus behind me. I didn’t need to turn to feel Kai looming around me.

Jacqueline approached the gate. I swept my gaze over the landscaping, trying to block out the sound of the waves crashing.

A screech of static dragged my attention to the headmistress. “Good morning,” Jacqueline said into the intercom box by the left side of the gate. The thing let out a squeal. It gnashed its metal vocal cords. A spark ignited in the speaker and then smoke started to pour out of it. I bit the inside of my cheek.

“That’s unfortunate,” Jacqueline said. Her voice was bland. “I wonder if we should see if there’s a back way in.”

Nora cleared her throat. The expression on her face was priceless. “If you’re going for harmless diplomacy, I wouldn’t do that,” she said.

“We’d only be trying to see if there’s another way in,” Jacqueline suggested. Sophie turned away so as not to appear like she was laughing. These supernaturals had no idea just how frightening some of their notions were.

As it was, there was no need for breaking and entering. The huge double doors of the mansion swung open with an audible creak. I half expected to see a white-haired figure draped all in black with tapered nails step out. Cats would spill from all around her as lightning struck the ground. What we got instead was a middle-aged woman with her hair cut short into a pageboy look. It curled around her ears and was slightly messy. She wore a pair of faded overalls and canvas shoes. The getup reminded me distinctly of the things Peter often wore. For a second, relief poured into my chest. And then I caught sight of the other people in her group.

As the woman stepped down the flight of stone steps in front of the house, another figure appeared behind her. This woman was ash blonde. Her hair was braided around the corona of her head. She wore a deep purple blouse with gold buttons down the front. Her slacks were charcoal grey and her boots were crocodile print. What caught my attention were the dozens of rings on her fingers. Beside her was a guy about Kai’s age. He leaned against the doorjamb, his arms crossed in front of him.

It jarred to see a male amongst what was supposed to be the headquarters of the Sisterhood. The party of three started towards the gate.

“What are the chances that’s all of them?” Sophie said.

Her parents had already stepped together so that they blocked her view. I glanced up at the three-storey building and saw the curtains right at the very top move.

“Probably zero,” I said. “I wonder if all this conjecture about there not being many of them is actually true.”

We would find out soon enough. Even though there were eight of us and only three of them, I still felt the need to draw the circles in my mind. If experience was anything to go by, they wouldn’t be very effective against the Sisterhood. Still, old habits die hard. I felt better knowing I was doing something besides sit on my hands.

The group reached the other side of the iron gates. Kai tried to step in front of me, but I edged him out of the way with my elbow. He glared down at me. I ignored him and tried to catch a glimpse of the party through the gap between Jacqueline and Professor Mortimer.

“Good morning,” Jacqueline said.

The blonde woman ignored her greeting. Her light brown eyes scanned us. Even though I was mostly obscured, I felt it the second her gaze landed on me. Something cold scraped up my spine. A knowing, as Basil liked to call it. I shuddered. Kai looped his arm around my shoulder and drew me against his side. I didn’t fight him this time.

“You were asked to come alone,” the woman said. Her voice was deep and pleasant. Despite what she said, there was no disapproval in her tone.

“You had to know we couldn’t allow her to do that,” Jacqueline continued. The woman kept ignoring her. She tried to step to the side and get a better look at me but Jacqueline barred her by matching her steps.

“You can ignore us if you like, but there’s no way we’re going to hand Lex over to you without question.”

None of them said a word. Sophie reached out for my hand. Kai let go of me and stepped out in front of us, shielding Sophie as well. His shoulders were tensed. I gripped Sophie’s hand tight. She too must be feeling the sweep of low magic that was being directed at us. It wasn’t anything like the tingle of magic that I felt around Kai or the gut-wrenching hollowness that overcame me when Max roared. This was an eerie touch of quiet. It made the sound of the waves lessen but caused the hairs on my arms to stand up. They might try to pretend they were harmless, but there was malice in the air.

The short-haired woman scratched at her elbow. She looked towards Nora. “You’re human,” she said.

Nora nodded. “That’s beside the point.” I couldn’t see what was happening, but the way Basil dug his heels into the dirt made me think one of them had made some kind of offensive gesture. I’d had enough. Nudging my way to the front