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

“No, it is a divided contingency.”

“What’s your contingency plan?”

He grimaced. Those sharp teeth were almost comforting at this point. “My kind have no offensive magic to speak of.”

“You can control minds and turn people to stone,” I corrected.

“Only those who are of lesser species. And you’ve been doing more reading.”

“I have to,” I said. “Otherwise I’d fall behind on all of my classes.”

He pressed his hand to my forehead. “Well, you probably should think about getting some more rest.”

“But I just woke up!”

“You also depleted your energy. I hear the nymphs are not impressed that their bargain with you has fallen by the wayside.”

I groaned and hunkered back down into the sheets.

“I’ll let the headmistress know that you’ve awoken but that you’re conserving your energy.”

Despite my protests, I was out like a light as soon as my head hit the pillow.

The next time I woke it was because there was chatter in the room. There were too many of them. Sophie and Diana were arguing about something they had learned in their Dead Languages class.

“Do you guys mind?” I snarled. “I’m trying to sleep!”

Of course that gave them cause to leap all over me. They weren’t the only ones. Cassie and Charles were also there.

“Everybody get off me!” I yelled. In his excitement, Charles had elbowed me in the cheek. I was not impressed.

“Remind me never to accept another invitation to a shifter event again,” I told him.

All he could do was grin at me. “Dad says that Durin is locking down on all activities anyway.”

“Probably wise given the current state of things.”

Cassie climbed onto the bed with me. She swung her legs over the side. Her generally chipper mood told me her cousin was probably okay. It saved me from not so subtly asking after his health. She picked at a loose thread on my sheets.

“I heard someone say that they might be thinking about closing down the Academy until this gets sorted out,” Cassie said.

“I doubt it,” Diana said. “They’d be insane to think that there is anywhere safer for us.”

“I don’t know,” Sophie said. “Down in a hole in the ground sounds pretty secure to me.”

Diana made a face. “And about as dull as watching paint dry. Besides, the Sisterhood have no interest in us. They seem to be going after the Council.”

It was then I remembered what the Sisterhood had whispered to me before I passed out. Was it true the supernaturals had hunted them to extinction?

Sophie cleared her throat. “Anyway,” she said, her eyes darting to me and Diana and then to the kids. I got the message loud and clear. “Do you feel ready to go back to the dorms? Basil is out of his woollen mind with worry and it’s making him unravel.”

“Don’t I even get a few days off?” I glanced at the sun chart on the wall. It was now Monday afternoon. “Shouldn’t you guys be in class?”

“It’s lunchtime.”

“Yeah, but you’re missing out on lunch by being here.”

They shrugged. “I’ll move myself back. I need to go check in on the Grove anyway.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Sophie said. “They’ve been in a foul mood since you passed out. Nobody has been allowed in there since. You’re not going to go back in there until you’re fully recovered. They’re going to attack you for sure.”

I sighed. “Fine.”

They left me to prepare myself for discharge. Doctor Thorne came to see me off. “Hopefully I won’t see you in here again for a while,” he said.

“Going by my track record, I wouldn’t bet on it.”

It was tempting to make a detour to the Grove anyway, but Sophie was probably right. Until I was strong enough to re-establish the blood magic circles for them, the nymphs would remain obstinate. And that meant acorns to the head at the very least. I wasn’t prepared for that at the moment.

It didn’t occur to me until I got back to the room that I was missing the demon blade. The last person who had it was Kai. A knot twisted in my stomach at the thought of him. That thought disintegrated as Basil wailed at me.

“Look at the state of me!” he said. “I don’t even know how this is happening. It must be anxiety. Every time I let you out of my sight you go and get yourself into trouble.”

He was a ball of nervous energy. I would bet manna that he had been on the MirrorNet again. I slumped down on the bed.

“Why don’t you tell me all about what’s been happening while I stitch you back up?” I asked.

He hesitated for the briefest second before he launched right into it. “There is all this talk about how the Council should be going underground because they’re the ones being attacked,” he said. “And on the opposite side, there are people who are criticising them for having done nothing about the Soul Sisterhood situation in the first place.”

I told him about what the Sisterhood had said to me. The derisive noise he made all but confirmed it was the truth. “Sounds like something the Council could have mandated,” he said. “Victoria would have been around at the time. I wouldn’t put it past her to issue such an order. There would be nothing to worry about if they believed the Sisterhood extinct.”

“What’s the gist of their strategy now?” I asked.

He huffed. “You mean aside from bickering with each other?” I waited for his temper to simmer down before I threaded maroon wool into the eye of a needle and stitched up his side. At this rate, there wouldn’t be a single part of him that would be in its original form. I had patched him up so many times it was ridiculous. We all steered well clear of the possible reason behind his unravelling. It was too difficult a topic to speak about.

“I think they’re considering using human methods of deterrent.”

I almost bit my tongue. “You’re kidding. Like what?”

He peered at me.