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

“It’s not very likely, is it?” Sophie said. She was stuffing a cookie in her mouth. I was doing the same. The sugar was very helpful in making me forget that my heart had almost exploded out of my chest. What made my hand shake so much I needed to sit on it was that I didn’t think an arcane circle was going to help me if the assassin wanted to kill us. I was quite certain now that in the Reserve the assassin had simply stepped through it.

“Twice in less than two months when no Sister has been spotted in over a century?” Basil said, “I wouldn’t call that unlikely.”

I put my cookie down. “What are you saying?”

Basil paced the top of the table. “It’s very likely that the assassin might be following you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Basil,” Nora said. I might have believed it if her hand wasn’t rattling the teacup. I put my forehead to the table and wailed.

“I want to go back to not knowing about any of this,” I said.

“It’s a bit too late for that,” Basil said. So comforting. “Come, let’s work on our blood circles. It’s the only thing that might stop a Sister from breaching your protection spells.”

“Go with them, Sophie,” Nora said.

Sophie’s eyes got huge. She scampered behind us into the bedroom we’d been given while we were here.

“This is bad,” she said.

I couldn’t agree more. The Mwansas were staunchly against blood circles. It was too close to dark magic for them. After what Sophie’s great-grandfather had done, they steered clear of anything blood-related. I’d been forbidden from practicing while I was in Zambia. But now they were allowing Sophie to learn. I couldn’t help feeling like it might be too little, too late.

11

Out of deference for our nerves, Nora rescheduled the low-magic party for the next weekend. Instead we had a quiet dinner at home before bed. I spent most of the time jumping at shadows. When Mani suggested we go shopping, it was a hard pass from me. Even though the guards had been doubled, I didn’t want to get anywhere near the place. Also, I had zero manna to spend.

We arrived back at our dorm on Sunday evening to be welcomed by a new mural. This one told us to pick a side.

“They’re getting less creative,” Sophie said.

“My level of annoyance is the same.”

“Maybe we should get Jacqueline to issue a bulletin.”

“No way.” I opened the door and waved her in. The incident with the Soul Sisterhood shadow had put all this into perspective. No way was I running from this if I really did have an assassin on my tail. Life was about more than what some stupid kids thought of me.

“It occurs to me,” I said to Sophie, “that I should probably get some kind of job.”

“Now isn’t exactly the best time,” she said. She had a point. Still, I wouldn’t be dissuaded.

“I agree. But I can’t just keep plodding along. I have zero marketable skills in the human world. So if I’m going to survive after the Academy, I need to make some money.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I’m not sure. Something plant-related.”

“Any chance the nymphs will pay you? You do kind of look after their tree.”

I snorted. “Yeah right! I’m lucky they don’t give me more grief than they actually do.”

Despite Basil’s indication that the circles might be superfluous against the Sisterhood, I drew them anyway. If nothing else, it gave me a sense of comfort. The familiar lines and thought patterns calmed my overactive heart. When I fell asleep that night, it was with a feeling of purpose.

I held on to that feeling through the whispered glances in the dining hall at breakfast. Over lunch I elected to stay with Charles and Cassie in the junior campus because I’d finally remembered to bring the demon blade to show them. We had to do it behind one of the outlying buildings. I was pretty sure that if I got caught showing twelve-year-olds a demon weapon, my ass would be kicked from here to Rivia.

I tried not to notice too much that Kai was missing from class. “I suppose you’re quite pleased with yourself,” Brigid said to me when I walked in.

I didn’t think it was odd at the time. She’d said so many stupid things to me. It wasn’t until I was in my Weaponry and Combat class that it clicked that something odd was happening.

First, Professor Eldridge totally ripped through one of the Fae for playing around with his crossbow.

“This is not a playground for your ego,” she bellowed.

I pretty much dropped my weapon and tucked myself into a ball. Her voice could strip paint. When she got angry it was as if her stature increased in size.

“What was that all about?” I asked.

Sophie shook her head at me. “Not sure,” she said. “But people have been whispering again.” She paused. I didn’t even have the energy to get annoyed.

Trey waked over with Roland. Both of them were carrying axes. This was not a drill. “Have you guys heard the rumours?” Roland asked.

Not again. “What now?”

“I’m not sure exactly. The Nephilim are all pretty agitated. Some of the third-years haven’t been in their classes apparently.”

I brushed it off. Anything remotely related to the Nephilim caused the gossip mill to turn overtime. They weren’t even that interesting to begin with. Yet my mind cast back to the earlier class. I’d tried to make polite conversation with Adam, but he’d given me a couple of short replies before trailing off.

At dinner, it seemed to be the only thing anybody wanted to talk about. The fact that Kai and Bradley were both missing in action all day had not gone unnoticed.

I was decidedly ignoring the sick feeling in my stomach at the thought of something happening to Kai when the table went quiet. I lifted my head. Sophie sat opposite