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

I threw my arms out wide. “Hence the reason why we’re back here!” I spun in a circle. Overhead we heard the flap of wings. I wasn’t fast enough to catch the flight of the Nephilim guard, but it was good enough to know they were out there patrolling the grounds.

We did go straight to the dorm, but it wasn’t because Max had said so. It was because after what happened, I was exhausted.

When I opened the door, Basil was pacing the floor. “There you are! Do you know what time it is?”

I glanced at the clock on Sophie’s nightstand and winced. We’d meant to be back two hours ago. “You didn’t even think to let me know by mirror!”

I held my hands up, palms towards him in surrender. “Sorry! We got held up.”

“Lex attacked Durin,” Sophie explained.

“What?”

I gave her the evil eye while I explained to Basil what had happened. When I was done, he was pacing even harder. It was difficult for a doll to look so serious but Basil somehow managed to pull it off.

“This isn’t good. The Soul Sisterhood.” He said it like it meant something to him. “You don’t think this could be connected to what happened to you in the Fae forest?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. Someone explain to me how it is that we’re the only ones who could see the attacker?” Sophie had confirmed she’d also seen a blur before Durin had gone nuts and screamed at everyone.

“It’s because the Sisterhood are human,” Basil said. “They are, essentially, low-magic users.”

If I’d been drinking, I would have spat liquid out of my mouth. “But low-magic users aren’t normally powerful,” I said. I was a freak under the circumstances.

“That’s true,” Basil said. “But even a low-magic user can become very proficient in their field.” He eyed both of us meaningfully.

I sat down heavily on the bed. My resolution to unpack flew out the window.

“What kind of magic does the Sisterhood have?”

“Light,” Sophie said. “They bend light and use it as a cloak to conceal themselves.”

“Like Fred,” I said. After what he’d done, our ex-friend had been arrested and removed to Bloodline Penitentiary. He was lucky he was underage or he would have gone straight to the Dominion Prison. I knew I should despise him, a part of me did, but I kept thinking about how frightened he’d been while he was here. It made me feel slightly awful for him.

“Nothing like Fred,” Basil corrected. “He didn’t use his powers. He simply summoned a demon. Light is only what we suspect their powers are. Not much is known about the Sisterhood because they don’t want anyone to know. They want nothing to do with the supernatural community.”

“So, why have they come out now?”

“Your guess is as good as anybody else’s,” Basil said.

Sophie rubbed her eyes. “We’re not allowed to talk about it so don’t go blabbing on the MirrorNet.”

“As if I would do such a thing!”

Yeah, right. For a centuries-old mage, he was the biggest gossip ever. After all that had happened tonight, I expected to be out like a light. Sophie was snoring softly soon after her head hit the pillow, but I couldn’t even close my eyes for long. In my mind, I kept trying to draw a circle over and over again. For some reason, I felt incredibly exposed.

When I finally did manage to get some sleep, the sky outside was already beginning to lighten. And just because the universe was so lovely, Lucifer’s smiling face appeared in my nightmares.

5

He was terrible in his beauty. Not in the way of a wolf or a lion, but like an unreasonable fear that you knew was illogical but couldn’t shake. I had a feeling that this wasn’t his only face. That one day I would see the other one and it would change everything.

Tonight, he wore the golden armour. The intricate pattern of the sun rising above celestial wings imprinted in my mind. Kai’s armour had an image of a sword piercing through the clouds. The light to break the spell of night. Lucifer’s mantle was about being above the other seraphim. It made me wonder what Azreal would think about it.

There was no time for thinking right now. “You know it will happen, little one,” Lucifer said. He stomped his foot onto the chest of a fallen Nephilim. “Be with me or watch everyone you’ve ever cared about snuff out.”

I tried to shut my eyes against the vision, but they wouldn’t close. As always, I was immobilised in my nightmares. The body below Lucifer’s foot began to morph from a faceless soldier into Kai’s chiselled features. In this iteration, his eyes were closed. But his skin was washed out to make a stark backdrop for the trail of blood dripping from his lips.

I knew it was a nightmare. I knew it wasn’t real. Yet when I tried to step back, my body locked. A sword materialised in Lucifer’s hand. The Morning Star appeared in the sky above. That it was visible even though the sun was shining attested to the brightness of it. The Morning Star. The devil whose greed had caused the Earth dimension to be used as a battlefield.

Please don’t, the words shaped in my mind.

He only smiled. “The last in my brother’s line,” Lucifer said. “And yet he does nothing to aide you.”

The scream lodged in my throat as Lucifer brought his sword down on Kai’s neck. I shoved awake feeling like someone had kicked me repeatedly in the gut. Sweat soaked through my singlet and pyjama bottoms. My hand found the demon blade’s hilt. I grabbed it and yanked it against my chest, the cool metal pressed against my cheek. For some reason, the weapon of the enemy always provided me with solace. I didn’t want to unpack the reason why I took comfort in the notion that I could wield the blade. Only that if I came across