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

to your classes,” she said. “The Council have made a decision to inform the Academy first because we were directly affected. They wanted to prepare us for the news we are going to hear. Don’t sensationalise it. Many of you were here when the events occurred. Do not believe the things you hear over the things you experienced. Sometimes, you are the best judge of what is good for you.”

She stepped off the stage. I took the opportunity while everyone was still stunned by her curt response to squeeze myself past Sophie and dart out the door.

“Lex!” Sophie pleaded.

I left her and everyone else behind as I pushed the door open and ran. It really annoyed me that no matter how quick and stealthy I could be, the supernaturals would always be faster. I didn’t even class Kai in the same category as the other supernaturals. That’s why I neither heard nor felt him until he’d grabbed me. We teleported and landed inside the Grove. Nymphs scattered as they were startled. Then they returned and made their displeasure known. My mood was radiating from me like radio waves. Their shrill admonitions died as quickly as they had started.

A flick of Kai’s hand and they disappeared, leaving behind a trail of coloured dust. I shoved away from him. At least I tried to. He held me tight, refusing to allow distance between us.

“I didn’t know,” he said.

I thumped his chest. “I’m not angry at you.”

“Gran didn’t know either.”

Obviously I wasn’t as recuperated as I thought because struggling against him suddenly sapped all of my energy. “Yeah, I could tell.” I let my forehead bounce on his chest. “If I get my hands on him, I’m going to show him exactly why he should be afraid of me.”

“Blue –”

I angled my head up and looked him in the eye. “You think I shouldn’t be pissed?”

His brows drew together. “You have every right to be pissed. But blowing your stack right now it just going to prove his point.”

“Everything I do proves some point, though, doesn’t it? I could sit in a corner without moving and someone would complain about it.”

“I wouldn’t have any complaints.”

I skewered him with my gaze. “Okay, okay. Bad time to joke.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t say anything about me going to Terran Academy.”

Kai’s eyes darted.

“What?”

He clamped his hand around my arms, pressing them behind my back. “I can still kick you,” I bit out, recognizing that what he was about to say was unpleasant if he was already hedging his bets.

“Your legs are less of a concern than what your hands can do.”

I was going to knee him in the balls. He sensed as much and held me at arm’s length. “We’re not going to mention anything about you and Terran.”

I breathed through my mouth. Slowly. In and out. As I did so, I searched his face for any signs of duplicity. “Why wouldn’t you just tell people?”

“It’s not the right time.”

“Oh, but what just happened in there was good timing?” It occurred to me that I was meant to be at Terran today. So on top of the actual announcement, Orin had originally planned it so I wouldn’t be here. Nice.

“You have to understand they’re unsettled.”

“Understand? Some of those kids could kill me twice over before I even have a chance to take a breath. You’re acting like I’m some kind of monst-”

The word died in my throat. It was so close to what the Sisterhood had said about them that I didn’t need to finish. I grit my teeth and tried to still my thoughts.

“So what am I supposed to do? Just wait around for somebody to drop the bombshell? What do I do if people start noticing I’m only here half of the time?”

“Gran thinks that by the time most people realise, we will have reached some sort of treaty.”

“Yeah and until then, how many more places am I going to be locked out of?”

He finally let go of my arm to drag his hand through his short hair. “Try and see it from their perspective, Blue.”

I raised a brow at him. “I’ve tried. Any way I look at it, they’re still big, bad, and scary. I’m surprised they haven’t gone on the offensive and taken out the Sisterhood if they’re so afraid.”

“Don’t even joke about that.”

“Who’s joking? They’ve done it before!”

He scrubbed at his face with the heel of his palm. “Okay, let’s just sit on it for a while like Gran asked. You might be surprised that it’s not as bad as you think.”

What I wanted to say was that we had vastly differing views on what we considered bad or good. But I didn’t want to make too big a deal out of it given that nothing had actually happened as yet.

“Fine,” I said. “How’s Nanna?”

“The same for now.”

“Can I go see her? If I’m in Seraphina when the bulletin happens, I won’t have to deal with all the crap that’s going to fallout here.”

The pained expression he gave me had my hackles rising. He tried to reach out to me but I took a slow step backwards. “I’m not allowed in Seraphina either?”

“It’s not that you’re not allowed—”

“That’s exactly what it is.”

“They’re just being overly cautious at the moment. Can you blame them?” The long stretch of silence indicated that I did blame them. But what could I really do about it? I could kick up a stink, but it would end up making me look bad which would prove their point. There was nothing I could really do.

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll stay here.”

“Blue –”

I held up my hand to forestall him. “It’s fine.” Using the word fine would convince him for sure. “I don’t need you hovering.”

His jaw twitched, but he didn’t say anything. It was a testament to how vulnerable he must have thought I was right now. Any other time and I was sure he wouldn’t be holding in his temper. Was he upset because of the situation or