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

Samantha and Matilda found me in the kitchen as I was feeding the last of my toast and bacon to the dingo. Samantha came to sit beside me while Matilda chose to perch on the windowsill opposite.

“C’mon now,” Matilda said. “No need to get all sullen. I was just joking last night.”

“Really? Were you joking when you tried to rip my...Kai’s soul out of his body?”

She wrinkled her nose at me. “No hard feelings, pumpkin. It’s all part of the program.”

“Is she kidding?” I asked Samantha. The grand mistress tapped her chin.

“Mattie is a little eccentric as you can see. But she’s only here for a short while, and I thought you would benefit from her unique experiences.”

I knew this was going to happen. Despite all assurances that I wouldn’t have to do any schooling on the weekend, here we were. “I don’t think there’s anything I want to learn from her.”

I was trying to get a rise out of her but instead she threw her head back and laughed. I had to admit she had a lot more personality than Giselle.

Samantha cleared her throat. “I thought Mattie could help you see if you can find a way to undo that curse on your grandmother.”

It was interesting that Samantha continued to refer to Nanna as my grandmother despite being the one to tell me she wasn’t. “How is she going to do that?”

“Let’s see, shall we?” Matilda said. “Why don’t we go somewhere less accessible?”

“Like where?”

“The beach?”

She doubled over laughing when the blood drained from my face. “Just kidding. Sam’s office should suffice.”

“You’re not funny.”

She didn’t stop smiling all the way. Phoenix padded beside me and then exited via the open back door. More odd behaviour.

Samantha sat behind her desk. I plonked down opposite her. Once again, Matilda was content to perch on the edge of the desk.

“Show me what the problem is,” Matilda said.

“How?”

“Bake me a cake.” She rolled her eyes again. “How do you think? Draw it for me.”

I almost reached for a pen and paper when the meaning of her words dawned on me. Right. I closed my eyes and tried to dredge up the memory of the threads that held Nanna bound. With my eyes still closed, I began to weave the threads together in front of me. When the light saturated my closed eyelids, I knew I was close to the end. The last touches I added were in a blue that was darker than my own.

When I opened my eyes, everything was bathed in light. Even the scenery outside was washed in blue.

Matilda’s head was cocked to the side. She jumped off the table and stepped around the many circles I’d drawn. Rather than dissipate like the circles I made in other areas, they pulsed as though there was indeed something inside of them.

“This is way too intricate to have been done on a whim,” Matilda said.

“The reigning theory seems to be that Alessia did it a piece at a time. She must have been doing it without even realising it.”

The way Matilda bit her lip said she wasn’t buying it. “What about these other, darker threads?”

“I suspect they might be forged from long ago. Perhaps in her childhood.”

Matilda walked around the room. She reached out to touch the threads of blue without making actual contact. When she turned her head up towards the portraits above Samantha’s head, I had a terrible feeling in my gut.

“Do you remember what Hilary’s magic used to be like?” Matilda asked.

Samantha’s looked quizzical. “Sure. But Hilary’s magic was purple.”

“Blue is a stronger colour than purple.”

“What are you thinking?”

“It’s possible these darker threads are a combination of both of their power.”

Samantha sucked in a breath. “That’s impossible.”

“So is a hedge witch with a demon blade.”

They both turned and looked at me. I stared right back. Samantha went very pale but Matilda’s trademark smirk was working overtime.

“I have no idea what you’re both on about,” I said.

“I should think not.” Matilda settled on the desk again. “It’s never been done before. A curse without a receptacle shouldn’t last this long. Most need objects to stay intact. An amulet or a –”

“Doll?”

She smiled. “Or a doll. Humans are too fragile for that kind of binding without breaking down.”

“She has broken down,” I spat, the anger spiking.

“You haven’t seen a real breakdown then. It’s not something you’d forget any time soon.”

“Bethany Hastings is slightly touched. She’s lost her memory, but from what I’ve heard, everything else about her is mostly whole. Bethany has managed to keep her sanity for eighteen years. That’s not something to be dismissed lightly.”

“The question is,” Samantha said, “how do we undo this?”

“It’s impossible to know anything without having access to her.” Matilda raised a brow at me.

“Don’t bother,” I said. “Even I’m not allowed to have access to her right now.”

She inspected her nails. “That seems odd to me. Why are they insisting on keeping you separated?”

“They have concerns about what I would be revealing to you,” I said.

“That doesn’t seem right.”

I could see both sides. At the same time both sides annoyed me. “Given the way you and Giselle terrorized them, I can’t really blame them. They didn’t know if you were going to turn out to be a mind witch as well.”

Matilda leaned forward. “Trust me, if Giselle wanted to steal your thoughts, you would have felt it.”

“So I’ve been told. The long and the short of it is that we’re not getting into Seraphina anytime soon.”

“I take it then that we’re also not going to get Giselle back either. Courtney’s not going to be happy about that.” I assumed she was referring to the third member of their little assassin group.

“Tough luck.”

“What did you do to her anyway?” Matilda asked.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “No idea. I’m not really on the level with what these powers are all about.”

“Then let’s see if we can do something about that.”

“I’ll leave you to it,” Samantha said. “I have some arrangements to make with Ben’s