Bloodline Diplomacy: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 3) Read online

  Bloodline Diplomacy

  Bloodline Academy Book Three

  Lan Chan

  Copyright © 2020 by Lan Chan

  All rights reserved.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, (electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.

  All names, characters, groups and events portrayed in this book are fictitious, and all opinions expressed by the characters, whose preferences and attitudes are entirely their own. Any similarities to real persons or groups, living or dead are coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Cover by Christian Bentulan

  Editing by Contagious Edits

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

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  1

  As I gripped the steering wheel tight and eased my foot down on the gas, I thought I might have discovered a potential Nephilim weakness. Flicking my gaze to the rear-view mirror, I caught Astrid mid dry-retch. She cupped her hands over her mouth. The window was opened a fraction for air. It blasted her hair across her face. If she yacked now, it was going to blow back in her face.

  Beside me, Wanda sat white-knuckled. Her whole body was plastered to the passenger seat like she was training for a space mission. “Not so fast!” Wanda said.

  “I’m barely pushing a hundred. You just think it’s faster because you’re seeing it from the side.”

  “Lex!”

  I sighed and took my foot off the gas a little. Wanda scrubbed at her face. “I don’t know what possessed me to agree to this. You’re a menace.”

  “There’s nobody else out here.”

  “It doesn’t matter. The road rules don’t evaporate just because you’re alone.” I wanted to argue that they kind of did. Also, we were still inside the borders of the Academy. There was no way I was going to get busted by the cops. Despite the rapid drop in speed, Astrid continued to appear green. She swiped at her brow with the back of her hand. The radio that hadn’t been working anyway threw out sparks against the white circle Wanda had drawn around the electronics.

  “Don’t freak out,” Wanda said, turning her head to the side and eyeing Astrid. “The last thing we need is for the car to break down.”

  “I still don’t see why we couldn’t have just done this on our own,” I said. We were on a routine mission to check the surveillance tower. It was impossibly irritating to have to bring one of the supernaturals with us. Wanda and I had been doing this guard gig for a couple of weeks now. Every time we went out, one of the supernaturals would mess with the car. Last time, Marshall had yawned and blown out the power steering.

  I slapped the wheel. Wanda was teaching me how to drive. I always knew the first car I’d get to drive would be a rusted-up piece of junk. It was a billion-year-old, boxy Toyota. I had no idea where the supernaturals had gotten it from. The colour was a disgusting egg-yolk yellow. Some time in its history it must have been owned by somebody vastly more proud of it than me. There were black racing stripes painted down the middle. I was trying my best to earn those stripes, but Astrid was really cramping my style.

  Wanda tapped her foot. “This is super easy,” I said.

  She gave me the side-eye. Then she smiled. “Yeah, I guess compared to fighting a supercharged vampire, driving a car isn’t all that difficult.”

  Astrid made a lurching sound. “I don’t know how you stand it,” she said. “I feel like my insides are going to come up.”

  I was mid-laugh when a tingle of ice dragged a line down the back of my neck. We were approaching the checkpoint perimeter. “Keep your eyes on the road,” Wanda said. She leaned forward in her seat. Her head turned in a sweep. Of course I tried to do the same. My hands took their cue from my eyes. We veered across the dirt road. Astrid whimpered. Wanda’s breath hitched.

  “Jeez,” I said. “It’s not that bad.”

  Wanda flagged away my sarcasm. “Slow down.”

  The caution in her voice had me complying. She pointed to the perimeter of the guard tower. Not up the top but around the base where the six metal legs were bolted into the ground. I squinted but couldn’t see what she was worried about.

  “Around that scrub of bottle brush,” she said. I craned my neck to the side and swore. Astrid unbuckled her seat belt. The analogue clock on the dashboard started to wind around until time accelerated.

  “Astrid,” I warned. But her attention was fixed on the four mountain bikes that had been concealed in the bushes. Out of habit, I drew a circle around the car. In order for the towers to operate this close to the Academy, all traces of supernatural magic had to be purged from the area. Thankfully, that didn’t extend to low magic. Not that a circle would do much for us if they decided to start firing. I had about enough juice to hold off for a while, but eventually even I would tire.

  “Stop the car,” Astrid said. I was already in the midst of doing so. It was too late at this point to try for stealth. The thrill of driving melted away. It was replaced by the cold dread of premonition. The Academy existed on land that was situated in the middle of Australia. The closest big town was Alice Springs. Even that was too far away for a bike ride. A short distance from the barrier of the guard towers, the supernatural wards kicked in. Nothing human or supernatural should have been able to detect the Academy.

  Last semester, the Soul Sisterhood had made a reappearance. In an effort to provide the Academy with beefed-up security, the guard towers had been erected around the warded perimeter. Each tower was fitted with sensors and enough firepower to take out a small army.

  Astrid squinted. We were sitting less than a hundred metres away from the fenced-off area around the towers. Wanda had some serious visual acuity to have spotted the bikes from this far away.

  “There are people up on the platform,” Astrid said. I saw them too. Though we were too far away to pick out features, it wasn’t hard to see them strolling about the tower. One of them was holding the rifle that should have been locked in the cabinet by the security door.

  “Can you make out what they’re doing?” I asked.

  “It doesn’t matter,”
Astrid said. “To them, this would appear to be an official government facility. That they’ve disregarded that authority puts them in the hostile territory.”

  “What if they’re just stupid kids?” Wanda asked. It seemed unlikely given the location and difficulty of gaining access to the tower, but it was still a possibility. Was this the kind of idiotic thing I’d be doing if I weren’t enrolled in Bloodline?

  “If they’re kids, then they won’t have an issue if I walk in there and ask them to leave,” Astrid said. “Stay in the car.”

  “Umm…” I started. She was already out of the door.

  One of the things Sophie and I had been trying to impress upon Astrid was that she wasn’t as imposing as she believed. Blessed with the kind of looks that most women would kill for, her best bet right now would be to stun them with her appearance. If she unfurled her wings or brought out her angel blade, she would do damage to the equipment. On the other hand, if she did nothing, we might be in a bit of a jam.

  Wanda’s leg bounced up and down. She was biting her bottom lip. Her eyes were glued for intervals between Astrid’s striding figure and the railing on the guard tower. They’d spotted us as soon as we drove into view.

  I hissed as the figure on the ledge, a male judging by the span of his shoulders, pointed his gun at Astrid.

  “This isn’t good,” Wanda said. “Should we call for reinforcements?”

  Now I was the one chewing my lip. “There are only four of them. Astrid could take down a human army with her eyes closed.” And yet something was gnawing away at the pit of my gut. I hadn’t let go of the steering wheel. My knuckles were blue.

  I heard Kai’s huffed warning in my head. “If something happens, do not under any circumstances throw yourself in the line of fire.” He didn’t seem to understand what taking this role meant for me.

  Wanda and I both opened our doors at the same time. A second and third figure appeared on the ledge, their guns raised. A fourth was squatted down in what I recognised as a chanting position. Even with the sun blaring down at us, I could see the flicker of a red candle. Those bastards weren’t kids. They were conjuring.

  My circle clashed with Wanda’s as we attempted to provide Astrid with protection. Dispensing with any kind of disguise, her wings sprouted from her back. She raised herself into the air, her voice booming. Wanda and I started running. We split our protection between Astrid and ourselves.

  Sparks ignited in the engine room as the sum of Astrid’s power rolled over the technology. I covered my ears with my hands as the speakers attached to the tower squealed.

  “You’re trespassing on private property,” Astrid spoke. “Leave now or you will be removed.” She didn’t need the assistance of a megaphone. The air around her shimmered silver. It still somehow managed to appear dark.

  The first gunshot bounced off my circle. I flinched and jumped a little as I ran. It stung like a bitch. Unlike supernatural energy, a physical hit by a projectile of that magnitude was like getting slugged in the jaw.

  Wanda swore. The parallel nature of magic and technology meant there was no way to salvage either in this scenario. We were going to have to destroy the tower in order to contain the situation.

  She came to a screeching halt and ripped a remote device from the pocket of her jacket. The way she banged it against her palm as I kept running told me that it was malfunctioning. It was little wonder considering Astrid had now risen to the eye line of the intruders. Her angel blade flashed in her hand. I wasn’t sure what the rules were for the dispatch of humans. The show of the blade had been a bluff. She didn’t need the weapon against mere humans. Often it was enough to bring it out and swing it around. This time, it had no effect.

  Two of the men on the tower opened fire at her. Only one of the bullets actually grazed my circle because Astrid was evading them. On the other hand, I wasn’t so fast. When they realised they weren’t getting through to her, the tide of their attention turned.

  Ah shit. Now those guns were pointed at me. A bullet ricocheted off my protection circle. The next one embedded into the shield of blue before it got stuck, and the force of the circle crushed it. I yelped and ran in a snaking fashion, hoping to create a harder target. It made no difference.

  Suspicion reared its head in my thoughts. No random humans could be this good a shot. This was military-style precision. Astrid struck out with her angel blade. She aimed it at the railing so that the corresponding blast of light forced the men to cover their eyes. That took the heat off me enough that I was able to duck underneath the base of the tower. I huffed, leaning on one of the legs as I peered into the bushes where their bikes had been dropped.

  Wanda was coming my way when she stopped mid-step. A wash of horror crept across her face. Her mouth opened but no sound came out. Her expression caused a fist of terror to reach into my chest and squeeze my heart.

  Astrid screamed in such terrible agony my knees buckled. The sound of her voice kickstarted Wanda who made a circular gesture with her hand as though reinforcing her circle. A moment later, Astrid thudded to the ground. The circle around her was covered in what looked like sewage. It gurgled and bubbled, ingesting the magic around her. Wanda howled and fell to her knees. I took a step toward them at the same time a thousand knives sank their blades into my mind. My circle disintegrated as the substance around Astrid ate it away. I cradled my head as the world went dark around me.

  2

  My shoulder hit one of the tower’s legs. The pain was minuscule compared to the thundering stabbing in my head. Something wet trickled down from my nostril. Red bloomed in the sandy dirt where I was curled. My blood pooled in a small crevice. I grit my teeth against the pain and tried to block out the sound of Wanda’s agonised keening.

  In my thoughts, something dark and insidious was trying to break the barrier that held my sanity intact. Deep inside my mind, the pool of dark power rose up. It braced against the foreign entity and pushed back.

  My eyes flickered open. I reached out for the tuft of grass that had the tenacity to grow amidst the parched desert conditions. That was the exact sentiment I was going for. I might not be all that pretty, but I would damn well survive when everything else died. Knives dug into me once more. I smashed my fist against the side of my head hoping that the physical pain would bring me clarity.

  What it did was tell me I was this close to passing out. Before that could happen, I reached out and drew circles around the heads of the four men on the tower. For all its emphasis on warfare, Bloodline’s imperative was not to hurt humans. They were well aware they were trespassers in this dimension.

  I didn’t give a damn about humanity as I constricted the circles around the four men and cut off their oxygen. My ears picked up their laboured breath as one by one they passed out. One of them keeled over the railing. His body crunched just to the side of where Astrid lay prone.

  I sensed it the moment they all lost consciousness. It didn’t stop the pain. Grasping the leg of the tower as a crutch, I dragged myself to my feet. The urge to throw up churned in my gut. I entertained it all the way up the metal staircase. When my foot hit the lip of the platform, my legs almost gave way again. The bile that had been steadily rising in my throat won. Leaning over the edge, I emptied my stomach.

  My throat continued to spasm as I took in the picture before me. One of those bastards had drawn a summoning circle on the metal platform. It had been done in blood. The stupid idiot was now slumped inside. His body and hands were covered in crimson. What made me enraged was that the blood wasn’t his. My eyes pricked with tears. The dingo sat curled in on itself. As though it had cowered to try and get away, but its legs had atrophied from either pain or blood loss. I couldn’t tell if it was breathing. Forcing myself to step closer, I reached out to lay my palm on its side. The dark power inside of me fluctuated. A tendril of black and gold spiralled around my fingers. I felt a tiny shock of electricity jump between us. The sudden spike of power made me woozy. For some reason my mind cast out
images of that moment when the Soul Sisterhood tried to tear Kai’s soul from his body. My head spun. I almost had a heart attack when the red-and-tan creature twitched.

  Without thinking, I turned to drag the man off the poor dingo he had blooded. Thankfully, he wasn’t anywhere near as solid as his friends. My clumsy manoeuvring smeared the outline of the circle and knocked over a couple of the candles. The air around me popped as the spell broke.

  I gasped for breath when the pain subsided. The aura of it still made black-and-white spots dance across my vision. Blood made the surface of the metal slick. My foot slipped as I dragged the man to the side. I braced my arms out as I fell with him. When my palm touched down on the metal, the blood smeared on my skin.

  A howl of something arcane filled my ears. The light around me bled from the world. Everything that had been solid blurred into the background. I pushed up on my elbow as the world became a cavern of intense cold. Not this again!

  My heart clenched. I shrank back from the darkness, but there was nowhere to go. Despite trying not to look, my gaze landed on the indomitable figure standing by the mouth of the cavern. A dim glow emanated from outside, but it was hardly enough to see. I didn’t need light. The subtle golden aura around Lucifer was more than enough.