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

something, I moved towards him. It was only when I got close that I saw the already-healing scratch drawn across his collarbone. “What happened?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing.” He searched my face. I knew that looking away would spark suspicion so I held his gaze. His arm circled around my waist. Breathing was becoming a bit of an issue. “Are you okay?”

His voice was a rough rasp across my temple as he pulled me close. “Yeah.” It was a squeak. If I hadn’t been okay, I was okay now.

“Let’s get out of here for a little while.”

He was leading me down the short hallway when two figures appeared and blocked the exit. Sean and Rachel. That bravado that irritated the heck out of me was draped all over Sean’s expression.

“She’s with us,” Sean said. What happened next justified every one of the fears the humans had tried to impress on me. I blinked and Kai had Sean backed against the wall. Kai gripped Sean’s throat with his left hand. A blotch of red snaked up Sean’s face. He beat at Kai’s arm but the Nephilim’s shoulders were decidedly relaxed.

“Don’t push me,” Kai said. “You want to see a monster? Keep standing in my way.”

Rachel reached for something at her hip. Deeper in the background, heads turned in our direction. “Kai,” I said. “Tick-tock.”

He released Sean and grabbed my hand. The last thing I saw before he teleported us was Rachel’s brown eyes narrowed in vehemence. Kai didn’t take us far. I could still see the house in the distance from the outcrop we landed on. Smoke sizzled from his suit jacket.

“What’s that?”

He shrugged his jacket off and tossed it onto the boulders behind me. His tie went with it. “A deterrent. We’re not supposed to use our powers around here.”

“A deterrent or a restraint?”

“What’s the difference?”

“One hurts, the other incapacitates.”

Another shrug. I forgot who I was speaking to. Even if it killed him, this Neanderthal Nephilim would never admit to feeling pain. “This isn’t very neighbourly of you.”

A dark shadow settled on his face as he dipped his head down toward me. The vein in his jaw twitched. “I’m trying really hard not to ask what they did to you.”

Right. Even I knew when not to keep pushing his buttons. He clasped his hand beneath my jaw. I moved with him as he pulled me close. “You sure you’re alright?”

“Uh huh. Not sure if I will be when we get back there.”

His other arm wrapped around me. The material of the dress felt paper thin. Heat blossomed from where his palm splayed on my ribs. “Maybe we shouldn’t go back.”

“Very funny.”

He was smiling just before his mouth took mine. My eyelids closed involuntarily as my lips parted for him. We might have mere minutes but Kai’s tongue moved in languid strokes like he couldn’t care less what else was happening. Everywhere his hands touched me, my skin felt hypersensitive. A bell chimed in the distance. It must have been important because he pulled away. Then he changed his mind and kissed me again.

Down in the house, a piercing whistle cut through the suddenly cloying evening. Kai made a sound very close to a growl. The vibration poured into my mouth and shot molten heat through my veins. I shoved at his chest. He deigned to move a fraction so that I could speak. “I take it that’s your cue.”

He scrubbed his fingers through his hair. With his eyelids still at half-mast, he reached behind me and grabbed his jacket. Fishing in the pockets, Kai produced a flat, palm-sized, square box. It was white with gold trim. He pressed it into my hands. “I know I’m breaking one of your crazy no birthday celebration rules,” he said. “But I technically didn’t buy it so you can’t be mad.” I couldn’t bring myself to do much besides stare at the box. “Open it.”

My hands were slightly jittery. He lifted my chin. “What’s the matter?”

I presented him with my unadorned fingers and earlobes. “I’ve never had…”

My voice snagged in my throat as I snapped the lid open. The necklace inside took my breath away. It was a simple white-gold chain with an emerald pendant hanging from it. White-gold angel wings enclosed the emerald in a heart motif. The pendant was no bigger than a ten-cent piece, but the markings were so intricate I could make out every detail of the feathers.

As I did a flawless imitation of a mannequin, Kai picked up the necklace, undid the clasp, and fastened it around my neck. “It’s beautiful,” I said. “Thank you.”

The smile he gave me was both wistful and…sad.

“Kai!” It was a roar in Max’s very persuasive alpha tone.

The dominance in it had me shivering. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, a prey instinct came to life. It urged me to run. In the here and now, Kai wrapped his arm around me and teleported us back to the front lawn.

Max and Sophie awaited us. “Where the hell have you been?” Max snapped. “They’re getting antsy in there.” He saw me and his gold-ringed eyes dimmed. “Hey, Lex. Happy birthday.”

Kai shoved Max aside with his shoulder. The lion shifter’s nose scrunched up.

“Do not roar again,” I warned him. “I almost peed myself.”

For some reason, he gave Kai a self-satisfied smile. If Jacqueline hadn’t come to the door, I had a feeling Kai might have tried to go for Max’s head.

“What was that all about?” I asked Sophie.

She sighed heavily. “They’re having an argument.”

“About what?”

She flapped her hand dismissively. “Who knows? Something about Kai spending too much time in Seraphina and about endangering something or oth–”

She stopped mid-sentence and squinted like there was sun in her eye. Her gaze landed on the necklace Kai had given me. Her mouth was slightly ajar. “Wow!”

I touched the emerald gently. “I know. I don’t think I should be trusted with it.”

“I think you’re the best person to trust with it.” She smiled like she