Bloodline Secrecy: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 2) by Lan Chan (best e ink reader for manga TXT) 📕

“Thanks! Astrid took me to the hairdresser when I was in Seraphina with Kai.”

It would have hurt less if she’d just punched me repeatedly. This pretending not to care thing sucked bigtime. I wasn’t a good actress. My whole life I’d been taught that the truth was always preferable to a lie. Now the idea of the truth was what caught me.

“Have you met Astrid yet?” She didn’t wait for me to respond. “She’s so cool. Most of the Nephilim I’ve met are a bit stuck-up but she’s so nice.”

Where the hell was Professor Magnus and why was she not here to shut this down? Why hadn’t it even occurred to me that Cassie would have been introduced to Astrid? Kai had said they were friends. I didn’t figure him for a liar either. So they were just friends. For now. I was sure that after I’d insulted him yesterday that status would change.

Cassie would be thrilled about it given the moonstruck look on her face right now. Something thumped me on the shoulder. It felt like being hit by a rock.

“Ow!”

Charles appeared in the desk beside me. “Oops, sorry. Forgot you’re human.”

I rubbed my shoulder. Laughter erupted from the front of the class. Maddison and her friends had turned around and caught the exchange. I raised a brow at her. Instead of giving me lip, she turned back around. I’d saved her life a few months ago. That had translated into her leaving both me and Cassie alone. I was glad that some mean girls weren’t pure evil.

“How’s Durin?” I asked Charles.

“Pissed.” I wasn’t sure if that was technically a curse and if I should chastise him for it. Some of the swearing I’d heard from the shifters in Zambia had made my toes curl. It seemed to be an accepted part of their culture. “He’s gotten super paranoid. It’s insane to try and get in or out of the Reserve. Thank goodness school has started again.”

Before I could tell him that I would be super paranoid too if an assassin had tried to kill me, Professor Magnus finally made her appearance. She practically flew into the room. Her usually sedate coif was slightly unwound. Small tendrils of hair hung around her pretty face.

“I’m sorry for being late,” she said. She clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “We’ve had a slight change of plans for today. I know we were supposed to start on mid-level demons this semester, but I want to rearrange and begin with urban legends and where these stories might have come from. Let’s start with the Soul Sisterhood.”

The pen in my hand almost snapped. Charles’s did. Of course the professor pointedly ignored both of us and any of the other shifters in the room.

They had been sworn to secrecy by their alpha, and no amount of coaxing would have pried the information about the incident from them. I, on the other hand, was not bound by shifter dominance magic. So she pretended I didn’t exist. Which was fine by me as long as I could listen. Charles was not to be dissuaded.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to entertain myths, Professor,” he said.

“Raise your hand if you wish to speak, Charles.” He raised his hand. She turned her back and flipped open the textbook.

“Let’s all open our books to page 74. Luther, could you please read out the first paragraph?”

I shrugged at the incredulous look Charles shot me. Some of them shrank a little at the sudden lesson change. Even Maddison remained quiet. They were scared by just the mention of the Sisterhood. No wonder the Council wanted to keep the news quiet.

“‘The Soul Sisterhood was believed to have been borne of the spirit of the Earth dimension,’” Luther read. I knew this already from my own studies. I doubted there would be anything in these few paragraphs that would enlighten me further. “‘They are to the Earth dimension what the Nephilim are to the Celestial realm. The daughters of a God. Such was Gaia’s fury at the invasion that her daughters were tasked with ridding the world of supernatural beings. They became slayers. It was said that when Lucifer brought forth the demons from the Hell dimension, the Soul Sisterhood were forced to forge an alliance with the supernaturals. They aided in the removal and defeat of the Morning Star. However, their casualties were fatal. After the war, it was speculated that the race of slayers perished.’”

“Thank you, Luther.” Professor Magnus perched on her desk. “Who can tell me the reason why the power of the Soul Sisterhood is so attuned to their goals?”

Charles almost dislocated his shoulder waving his hand in the air. She didn’t call on him, though. “Maddison.”

“It’s in their very name,” Maddison said. “The Sisterhood are able to harness the power of the soul. They can project themselves outside of their physical bodies and do harm as though they were corporeal.”

A shudder ran through the room. “So they’re ghosts who can actually kill you?” another kid asked.

“Not necessarily,” Maddison said. “They have different rules for their powers compared to us.”

“And why is that?” the professor pressed.

The room went quiet. After a couple of minutes passed, I found myself tentatively raising my hand. It was hard to ignore me when there were no other takers. The professor nodded. “It’s because the source of their power is of this dimension,” I said. “The Sisterhood are bound to the earth.”

“Does this mean they’re low-magic users?” Maddison asked. Trust her to make that connection.

“In a way, yes,” the professor answered. Way to be diplomatic. It wasn’t just in a way. That was exactly what they were. “The Sisterhood are very specific low-magic users.”

“They use light magic,” Charles blurted out, no longer able to keep his mouth shut.

“That’s not accurate,” the professor said. “It’s greatly believed that the Sisterhood use light magic because that’s the only form of magic we can attribute their powers to. In all likelihood, their powers