Bloodline Alchemy: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 6) Lan Chan (uplifting novels .TXT) 📖

“Turn it off,” Charles grated after we’d watched the same report four times in a row. Cassie sat on the couch, her hands clenching and releasing as she tried to take calming breaths.

“They won’t let us into Seraphina to see her,” she said. “No one but Nephilim and guards in and out now.”

Charles stood. For a second, I thought he was going to run out the door, when he turned and punched the wall. I winced as it shattered beneath his fist. When his cheeks became bathed in burnt orange as his eyes glowed, I knew we were looking at a meltdown. “It’s not like we can do anything even if we’re there!” he shouted at nobody in particular.

“Stop it,” I said. “Maybe we can’t help her right now, but we can help each other by not losing our minds. You want to do something? Let’s go to school.”

“What good is that?” he snapped.

Luther got up from the couch. “Sophie’s right. I know you can feel it in the air same as I can. Everyone is scared. If you roll around acting all pissed off because you’re scared, the submissives are going to freak out.”

“Who says I’m scared?” Charles said, coming up dangerously close to Luther.

Luther ignored the challenge. “Are you going to sit here all day roaring about how you can’t do anything, or are you going to go out there and remember what you’re supposed to be protecting?”

It was amazing what a good night’s sleep could do for a person. It was those calm words delivered in Luther’s practical way that made me realise what had been so wrong with the Reserve since the moment I’d stepped foot back here. Their fear and helplessness had made them forget who they were.

So, like usual, we got ready to go to the Academy. I wasn’t surprised when Noah turned up as we were walking to the portal.

“What’s happening up there?” I asked, nodding towards the conference rooms of the pack circle.

Not really expecting an answer, I was surprised when he said, “They’re divided. Half of them are chomping at the bit to go after the Hell dimension. The other half want to cut us off from the supernatural community so we can look after our own.”

A typical alpha response to an impossible situation. “And where do you land?”

“My job is to guard you while you’re at the Academy.”

I didn’t know what to make of it. It was no surprise that less than half the students turned up to Potions. All of the Nephilim were gone. I was also sans one of my friends. That too was understandable. Professor Suleiman was undeterred by the absenteeism. He just wheeled the trolley of blood into the room like nothing cataclysmic had happened overnight. “I trust you understand why we need to go on despite any challenges we might face.”

Today, I breathed through my nose even though the echo of the blood extraction was no longer a constant drumming. Just being in the room with it made my skin crawl. I took a seat in the corner, as far away from everybody else as I could.

Charming lit a steady fire under the cauldron, and I set to work. Without friends, Noah had space to sit behind the desk while I set to work. He didn’t move a muscle, like he thought if he knocked something over it would affect the potion.

When I dropped the nephilite crystal into the cauldron, he frowned. “What was that?”

“A stabilising crystal.”

He leaned over and looked into the bottom of the cauldron. “Is that meant to be there?”

“If you know that, why are you asking me questions?”

He rubbed at the back of his neck.

“We both know you’re well versed in potions,” I said, in no mood to entertain his subterfuge today.

“I had to be.” He gripped the edge of the bench. Charming flinched as the table cracked, and the fire died out for a second.

“Please don’t break things. I need Charming to be calm. This isn’t a potion that can be poorly made.”

“What is it?” Grooved lines appeared around his mouth. I might have ignored it if I didn’t see the sheen of sweat that suddenly clung to his brow. If I didn’t know better, I would think that he was afraid. But that was exactly it. As well-adjusted as he had become, there were some things that even he was unable to completely forget.

“It’s a health elixir,” I explained. “I started working on the potion last year as a school project. It does wonders for a supernatural’s healing ability.”

“Why do that? You’re not supernatural.”

I contemplated lying but didn’t see the point in it. “It was for Max. I started it after he hurt himself in the Unity games.”

He eyed me as though trying to see beyond my words. Beyond my body even. Right into my soul. “Why the crystal?”

“Kai gave it to me for my birthday. It helps to stabilise a potion so that it doesn’t explode.”

“And the rosemary?”

He pointed at where I had placed a sprig of rosemary I’d picked from the bush near the portal field. “It reminds me of my friend.”

He had no more questions, and I didn’t have the wherewithal to answer, as my throat clogged. Thinking of Kai brought back last night’s dream in a fresh wave of hysteria. Before we left the house, I had already decided I would tell Max when I got the chance. Until then, I just had to keep myself busy. Focusing on the potion became my salvation. There was nothing besides me and the precise ingredients that would make up the potion. I cleaned, sliced, and pummelled ingredients in a slow grind and dropped them into the potion using a silver spoon, and in some cases, enchanted tweezers.

Noah didn’t say a word as I worked until I glanced up at him. “I’m going to use blood now.” As expected, he tensed. “It’ll be my