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

She was gone with a swish of her skirt. I was left to the tutelage of a witch who thought I was a funny little play thing.

“Have you ever considered letting go of the restraints you put on yourself just to see how far your power can take you?” Matilda asked. I shuddered at the thought. It was bad enough when I lost control. I’d hate to think what it might be like if I did it on purpose.

“I’d rather not.”

She shrugged. “Seems like a waste. Sooner or later, something is going to push you into it and if you don’t learn how to control it, it’ll end up controlling you.”

“I’ve managed so far.”

She crossed her ankles in front of her. “Managing isn’t controlling. Eventually you’ll age out of both Academies. What are you going to do then?”

The thought had crossed my mind. And with it came the image of a burning sword and a field of battle. I must have physically shuddered because Matilda looked curious. “What was that?”

I could feel the first stab of pain in my throat. I cleared it. “Nothing. I just don’t want to think that far ahead. Right now I’m having enough trouble getting past what happened yesterday.”

That triggered something in her that was anything but pleasant. She put on a great front but she obviously hadn’t become a deadly member of the Sisterhood based on her sense of humour.

“I knew we should have tried harder to eliminate that Nephilim,” she said. “Without him, I reckon we could convince you our side is the way to go.”

This time I did choke.

“Sorry, pumpkin, but it’s true. I kept telling Giselle he’d be a problem, but she said she needed him to get to you. Now look where we are. I don’t suppose you’d consider slipping a knife into his ribs in his sleep?”

She was seriously out of her mind. I had to wonder if it was an affliction that affected all of the Sisterhood. Great. Now I had insanity to look forward to as well as death.

“Can we get back to you teaching me stuff?”

She blew out a breath. “Fine. But for the record, I don’t like this working on a Sunday thing.”

Now she was speaking my language.

26

“Show me your phasing,” Matilda said.

“Show me yours.”

She uncrossed her legs. “I take it you can’t do it at will then.”

Was I that obvious? “You do know how it’s done, don’t you?”

I felt like a monkey in her lab. She sighed and got up off the table again. “Get rid of this, will you?” She pointed to the blue strands. I waved my hand and the circles unwound and disappeared. “I suppose I should be grateful you know that much. Did Bethany teach you that?”

“More or less.”

“Shame we couldn’t find anything on her background. It would be interesting if we could dredge up any other girls with your abilities.”

I highly doubted that. The last thing we needed was other people who were somehow tied to Lucifer in this way.

“Let’s sit on the floor.”

I had a feeling I knew what was coming. “We’re going to meditate,” she said. Called it.

“While you breathe, I want you to take special care to try and listen to your heart beating.”

By now I was pretty good at getting my thoughts to clear. What I hadn’t counted on was this listening to your heart business. Because as much as I was straining to hear, all I could concentrate on were the sounds coming from outside the window. Especially the sound of the waves.

“You’re not present,” Matilda said. My eyes snapped open. I thought I would find her watching me but she had her eyes closed. After a beat she realised I’d lost my train of thought. “What’s the problem?”

I tugged on my sleeve. “I can’t seem to hear my heart beating.”

She grinned. “When I said ‘hear’ I meant in the metaphysical sense.”

“That means nothing to me.”

“What do they teach you in that school?”

“Mostly how to get my ass kicked by supernaturals.”

She was not amused. “Get up. You’re a hedge witch, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

We went outside into the cutting garden. There were so many scents vying for my attention that I didn’t know where to start. Every now and again I caught a whiff of cow dung. Even that didn’t dampen my happiness.

Matilda kicked off her shoes. I did the same. We sat down on the grass beside the gardenia bushes. “What kind of witch are you?” I asked her.

“The deadly kind.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “I don’t have a power outside of the soul splitting. That’s why I’m so good at it. You on the other hand have so many conflicting ones. It’s no wonder you can’t get a grasp on any of them. It’s a shame you can’t bring your demon blade onto the grounds.”

“I could if somebody would let me have access.”

She shook her head. “Even if we wanted to, the soul gate wouldn’t allow it. It is the ultimate safe spot for us.”

That seemed kind of funny considering I didn’t feel all that safe here. Not with the ocean churning so close.

“I want you to open your third eye.”

“My what now?”

She swiped at a blade of grass. “What the supernaturals call the Ley dimension. I want you to access the lines of energy that make up everything in this earth. Use it to allow you to see your own heartbeat. Use it to see mine.”

The next time I closed my eyes, I did as she asked. It was easy enough to slip into the Ley dimension. It was far harder to pinpoint my own heartbeat. When I tried to be introspective, the glow of my power swirled between blue and shimmering black. Each pulse tried to drown out the other. It was like I had two heartbeats and they were fighting with each other for dominance. We did this for so long I heard the first bell for dinner out of nowhere.

My eyes peeled open. “That went quick.”

Matilda pushed up