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

“But they’re supreme beings,” I said.

“Are they? For us to accept their dominion means that we must accept Lucifer as well. It means that whatever he does is justified and we just have to scrape around making the best of it. Are you prepared to do that?”

My blood turned cold at the thought of Lucifer. “What he’s done is not typical.”

She huffed. “Only because his peers have deemed it so. What happens if they decide they’re sick of their patronage and want to rule over us? Who’s going to stop them then?”

I opened my mouth but nothing came out. Who would stop the seraphim if they decided this dimension was no longer worth keeping? Their fighting had inadvertently destroyed the barriers between the dimensions. I would hate to think what they could do if they really meant it. My head was starting to throb at the possibility. My stomach was hollow.

“Do you have anything to eat?”

“Always. I’ll go fix you something. In the meantime, I’ve got something for you to take a look at.” She passed her tablet over and showed me a website about chi or life energy.”

I read the link with some interest. The argument was that energy flowed through the body in a state of either harmony or chaos. Through various forms of mediation and mindfulness, a person could control that energy and achieve the ultimate state of enlightenment. There were too many links to click. I was down an internet search rabbit hole when she came back with a chicken sandwich, some cake, and a glass of orange juice.

“Interesting, isn’t it?”

I nodded, my eyes locked on the plate. She set it down in front of me. I picked up the cake first. Suppressing a smile, she continued. “The power that marks you as one of us, is part of the flow of energy that is so common amongst the theories on some of these sites.”

I opened my mouth, almost spilled cake onto my lap, and chewed frantically. “If everybody knows about it, why don’t more people have the power?”

Samantha closed her eyes for a second. “There were more of us in the beginning,” she said. “When the monsters first breached our world, many had the ability to tap into the soul link. That’s what we call the thread that holds all of us connected to the power source. You must have felt it that night when you discharged so much energy.”

I had felt something. Whether it was the link she spoke about was another thing. I had a feeling the link she referred to and the Ley lines the supernaturals used for their abilities had their origins in the same place. Two sides of the same coin.

“But as the world moves on and the collective consciousness clings to other, less worthy pursuits, we begin to forget where we came from. Fewer people have retained the knowledge or even the desire to rekindle that connection.”

“What if we told them about it?”

She tapped the screen. “We do. It’s all right here. But it’s hard to get someone’s attention when there is so much else for them to worry about. The world had become a place of distraction. The only way to change the course of what we’ve become is for something big to happen.”

“Big how?”

She shook her head. “That still remains to be seen. And not something we can cover in today’s lesson.”

“Lesson?” I thought we’d just been talking.

“Yes. Have you even looked at your timetable? This is your first lesson in soul splitting.”

I almost choked on the sandwich in my mouth. “Soul splitting?” What came out was a bunch of mumbling. But she got the gist of what I was trying to say. I chewed hard and swallowed harder. “Shouldn’t there be other students in the class?”

She smiled. “With numbers being what they are, we have the capacity to provide a more hands-on approach to learning.”

I’ll say. I was getting private tutoring from the grand mistress of the Sisterhood. I couldn’t imagine a situation in which Jacqueline would do the same. It wasn’t practical. There were far too many students in Bloodline Academy for her to devote to me alone. I was kind of glad. I’d had enough trouble keeping up with Professor Eldridge. Two Amazonian instructors might just kill me.

“I’m not very good at fighting,” I said, “I mean, I’m a bit small and slow.”

This time, she showed me her teeth when she smiled. “You’re back in your own world,” she said. “Our abilities aren’t just about size and power. We’ll start with the theory. But first, you must promise me that you won’t reveal any of this to the monsters.”

I wasn’t going to be able to dissuade them from calling the supernaturals monsters any time soon. “It’s not like they’ll be able to replicate it,” I hedged.

“Understanding how something works doesn’t necessarily mean you want to replicate it,” she said. “But should they learn to counter our abilities, we will be at a tactical disadvantage. I know you’re attached to them, but you are undeniably one of us. I need you to give me your word that you won’t say anything.”

“Why don’t you just bind me?” I asked, feeling the grip of Lucifer around my throat.

“Even if I wanted to, I don’t have the strength.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re unlike anything we’ve ever seen, Alessia. What you did to Giselle is unheard of. We can teach you to bind and unbind souls, but outside of that, I’m afraid there are some things you might have to test on your own.”

“What about my nanna?”

“The binding on her seems to be unique. It’s impossible to tell without gaining access to her.”

“They’re not going to let you inside Seraphina.” They weren’t even letting me inside Seraphina these days.

She pursed her lips. “No, I imagine not. Doesn’t it strike you as ridiculous that they’re holding one of ours without any kind of authority and then not allowing us to see her?”

Shit. Now that she’d said it, she had a