Bloodline Secrecy: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 2) Lan Chan (pdf e book reader .TXT) đ
- Author: Lan Chan
Book online «Bloodline Secrecy: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 2) Lan Chan (pdf e book reader .TXT) đ». Author Lan Chan
âMay I please join you?â Astridâs voice said.
Why me?
I glanced up to find her standing beside me. Diana, Sasha, and Roland were all dumbstruck. A trickle of sweat rolled down Sophieâs jaw. I wasnât sure what they were all so concerned about. It wasnât as though I was going to just leap up and punch Astrid. Even if I tried, I was pretty sure she would annihilate me.
I scanned the dining hall. In the last few weeks it had been a ghost town around us. Yet today, all of the seats were full. Our table was the only one with a free seat.
âSure,â I said. The words came out of habit. I didnât really make the connection to what I was saying.
âThank you.â
She sat. Her posture was immaculate. Astrid cut up the fillet of chicken on her plate into bite-sized pieces. Only when she was finished with the whole thing did she lift her fork. Instead of eating, she pushed her peas to the edge of her plate and her carrots as far away from those as possible.
It was only then that she began to eat.
Meanwhile, I had lost my appetite. I couldnât help staring at her peaches-and-cream complexion. Her lips were naturally pink. Roland coughed. I thought he might have swallowed his tongue. Diana elbowed him.
Sophie made an eating motion at me. The silence had stretched on for too long. If she noticed, Astrid didnât say anything about it. She seemed perfectly content to revel in the silence. At least thatâs what I had thought. When she was done eating her chickenâonly her chicken, she hadnât touched anything else on her plateâshe put her fork down exactly parallel to her plate.
âAlessia,â she said. âMay I ask you a question?â
How could I say no when she asked so politely? âSure.â
âDo you understand why Malachi would not want you to know that he has been suspended from school?â
I bit my tongue. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. âCome again?â
The whole table froze. Nobody ate. Every head was craned in her direction. She didnât seem to notice that either. She was very intently watching me. âMalachi has been banned from school for three days. When I asked him why he did what he did, he refused to say.â
âWhy was he suspended?â Sophie asked before I could.
âI donât understand that either. It was an unprovoked attack. Iâve never known him to be the aggressor.â
I didnât like the sound of that. âWhat did he do?â
âWe were just walking along the billabong foreshore when he spotted Bradley. It was perfectly civil until Malachi marched off. The next thing I knew Malachi punched him. They got into a scuffle. Malachi broke Bradleyâs arm before I could intervene.â She shook her head, eyes downcast. âI donât understand. He knows his own strength. He doesnât normally like to use force unless he has to.â
âHis grandmother suspended him?â I asked, feeling slightly green.
âShe tried to get the reason out of him as well, but all he said was âIâm Malachi Pendragon. I can do whatever I want.ââ She did a surprisingly accurate impression of Kai with his arms folded over his chest and his brow arching.
Sophie giggled. I didnât think it was very funny.
âAstrid,â I said. âAre you and Kai together?â
Her perfectly contoured brows drew close. I had a feeling they were naturally like that. âTogether?â
âYeah,â Diana said. âAs like, an item. Dating. Making kissing faces at each other.â
She cocked her head to the side. âWhy would we do that?â
Sophie laughed outright. She nudged me under the table with her foot. I nudged back. âYou spend quite a lot of time with him,â Diana said.
âYes,â Astrid said. âHeâs teaching me to better acclimate to the world outside of Seraphina. Itâs the only way Iâll ever be able to get a guard posting.â
âSo, you donât like him?â Diana pushed. My tongue lodged in my throat.
âOf course I like him. I love him. Iâve loved him since we were four. Heâs the only friend Iâve ever really had. But I donât understand your implication.â
For some reason, the open statement made me smile. There was something almost childlike about her frankness. It reminded me a lot of some of the kids in the junior class. I had a feeling I knew why Kai was so overprotective of her.
Diana leaned forward in her seat. âSo, Kai isnât your boyfriend?â
Astridâs face went preternaturally still. âWhy in the world would he be my boyfriend? Weâve known each other for too long for any of that to happen.â
Diana grinned at me. She pumped her eyebrows twice. Now that Astrid was done answering questions, she had some of her own.
âNo matter what I say he refuses to speak to anyone,â Astrid said. âI really donât understand it. He despises being confined.â
âConfined?â
âYes. Heâs not technically just a student. As a member of the Council and the last one of his line, he has responsibilities and duties. They wouldnât allow him to be so blatantly hostile without repercussions.â
Normally, when someone got suspended, they tended to just spend the time binging television shows. Or in the case of supernaturals, they probably got on the MirrorNet and caught up on all the gossip. Astrid made it sound like Kai was in prison. The worry lines etched across her face told me I probably wasnât far off the mark.
âWhere is he?â I asked.
âIn the cells in Seraphina.â
I was taken aback. âTheyâre actually locking him up?â Astrid nodded. âBut heâs a Pendragon.â
âYes, well, even Pendragons have to pay the price if they attack someone of the Webb lineage. Bradley is one of Michaelâs, after all.â
âI thought he was above all of that stuff,â Sophie confessed.
Astrid picked up her fork and speared a pea. I had a feeling she would eat only the peas until they were all gone. She brought a forkful to her mouth and chewed. âTo be honest, Iâm more concerned about the self-inflicted punishment. He regrets his actions, but he refuses to
Comments (0)