Bloodline Diplomacy: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 3) by Lan Chan (best short novels .txt) 📕

Basil walked into the room. He glanced at the ice cream and groaned. “You do realise you’re over sixty,” he reminded Nanna.

“Does he always say such sweet things?” Nanna asked Odette. The other woman laughed. Basil was not amused. I don’t think he really thought through what living with three women might actually mean for him.

“It’s time,” he said to me.

“Home by six,” Nanna called out as Basil opened a portal for me.

“It’s a guard shift,” I reminded her. “I’m not going to a party!”

It made no difference. Basil and I exchanged looks before I stepped through the portal. I landed at the outer edge of Bloodline’s perimeter. Wanda already had the car running. I slid into the driver’s seat.

Sophie and Astrid waved at me from the back seat. “Here we go again,” Wanda said as I put my foot down on the gas. This time, there were no trespassers on the tower platform. We did a routine sweep while Astrid stood guard below.

“How is she?” Sophie asked me.

“As well as can be expected,” I said. I switched on the monitor and went over the surveillance for the last two days. “She sometimes freezes and it takes her a while to remember where she is but it’s not as bad as it was when she first woke up.” That had been two weeks ago. So far so good.

I was more concerned about what we would find out here. After out last disastrous patrol, Wanda and I were slightly on edge.

“Colour me surprised,” Wanda said. She was checking the armoury. “Nothing has actually gone wrong so far.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Sophie suggested. We had just stepped out of the guard tower when the speakers crackled. I peered down below to make sure Astrid wasn’t doing anything to set them off. A second later, I wished that was all it had been. Wanda froze mid-step and turned back to the surveillance screen. It had gone dark. Static flickered and then a picture materialised on screen. It showed the face of a middle-aged man I didn’t recognise. He was dark-haired with a square jaw peppered in stubble. There was nothing remarkable about him save for the intense look in his eyes.

“Greetings,” he said. The technology in the tower was decades old so I knew it had to be a recorded message. “My name is Declan Summers. My associates and I are supporters of Ben Cochran and all he tried to do. Ben might be gone but his manifesto lives on in the Human League. For too long we humans have lived with the consequences of having monsters in our midst. We will no longer be silenced.”

The message played on a loop. We heard it twice more before Wanda had the good sense to shut it off. “Astrid,” Wanda said. “You’d better come up here.”

Sufficed to say, the Council were not happy with this new group coming out of the woodwork. Astrid and I left them arguing in the Council chambers about what to do with this threat. I could still hear Matilda yelling that she didn’t know who they were.

Astrid took me on the scenic route around Seraphina. We were just passing over a white stone and golden-trimmed bridge that arched over a waterfall. I was so busy looking over the side that I didn’t see the figures coming towards us until they were mere metres away.

“Hello, Astrid,” a soft voice said. For some reason, Astrid’s spine straightened. I turned back to find her face had reformed into that cool expression she’d had when I first met her.

“Hello, Chanelle.”

The Nephilim girl in front of us was perfect in every way. Where Astrid was light embodied, Chanelle’s sultry, dark colouring held an undertone of ripeness. She was a head taller than me. Her black hair curled in natural ringlets down to her waist. I had a sudden image of her sitting in a half clam shell as cherubs played instruments around her. There were two golden-armoured guards behind her. Michael’s crest was emblazed on their chests.

I cleared my throat. Astrid didn’t introduce us. Instead, she latched onto my forearm. “We’re on our way to urgent business,” Astrid said. I was taken aback by her tone. Never mind the outright lie.

Chanelle’s plump lips drew into a smile. In deference to my friend, it immediately got my back up. Chanelle’s eyes flicked to the necklace Kai had given me. She dragged her attention back to my face. Lucifer might be the devil, but the look in Chanelle’s eyes could have killed me.

“You must be Alessia,” she said. She didn’t try to shake my hand. The way she said my name made my hackles rise. Astrid tried to pull me away but I wouldn’t budge. That would make it seem like we were running away.

“Who are you supposed to be?” I said.

She raised her beautifully sculptured brow and smirked at the two guards at her back. Most of the Nephilim guards were flawless in their execution of their duty but these ones broke ranks and smiled back at her.

When she deigned to give me her attention again, there was something predatory in her eyes. “I’m the woman the Nephilim Council has chosen to bond with Malachi,” she said. She reached out for my necklace. I was too stunned to stop her. “I believe this is mine.” She yanked the necklace from me.

Somebody was going to die.

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