Bloodline Secrecy: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 2) Lan Chan (pdf e book reader .TXT) 📖

There was a moment when my way was obstructed by a flight of stairs I didn’t want to run down. Without thinking, I threw my leg over the railing. Kai grabbed me before I could jump.

“Are you insane?” he barked.

I punched him in the gut. It wasn’t nearly as satisfying as I’d imagined. My hand felt like it was going to shatter. My heart was already broken.

“Get off me.”

“Blue.”

“That’s not my name!” I screamed. “I said get off me!”

I shoved and pushed at him. The others caught up just as I was rearing back for another blow. He didn’t do a single thing to stop the hits. I hated that the most. No matter what I did, he would always be stronger. The one in control.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The meditation was paying off. Locking down the turbulent emotions in my chest, I opened my eyes again. Not before the single tear streaked down my cheek. I ignored it. I ignored the tension in Kai’s stance. The way he looked like that one emotional oversight hit him harder than any blow.

He was a liar. They all were.

“I want to see her,” I said. My voice was deadly calm.

“There are things you have to understand,” Durin said.

“What is there to understand?” Sophie said. “She wants to see her grandmother! It’s not that difficult!”

“Let’s all take a moment to catch our breath,” Jacqueline said.

“Why?” I snapped. “So you can come up with another excuse?”

“Lex, I promise –”

I turned my back on her. “I don’t need your promises.”

I kicked off the ridiculous heels. I was sure I’d ripped out a chunk of my hair loosening the braid. I’d never felt more like an idiot than in that dress right then.

“I’ll take you,” Kai said. My whole body protested when he reached out.

“Don’t touch me. Just tell me where she is.”

“She cannot be allowed inside sanctum unaccompanied,” one of the guards said.

“Screw your bullshit rules,” I screamed. The flickering happened again. This time there were whole seconds in which I felt myself wavering. When I blinked and the world became solid again, there were over a dozen guards scrambling around me.

“My Lord,” Kai said. “We need you.”

Thunder clapped beside where we stood. The Nephilim dropped to their knees. I tried to remain upright but as the cloud around Raphael dissipated, I found myself lowering my head.

It wasn’t as easy to shrug off Raphael. I still tried it.

“You lied to me,” I said.

More than one Nephilim as well as Durin flinched.

Raphael sighed. “Come, little one.”

He teleported me to a garden that looked suspiciously like the Grove. It was daylight again. The sudden shock of seeing the sun made me squint. The only way I knew it wasn’t the same was because of the spires of Seraphina towering up behind us. The trees here were all interspersed together. Many of the species came from very different climates.

Raphael began to walk towards a small clearing. Through the trees, I could see there were low garden beds filled with flowers.

“I’m sorry,” Raphael said.

I sped up. Just now I thought I saw movement. My heart was beating in my ears. We were less than two metres away when a hunched figured straightened. I took in the light brown hair streaked with grey. She’d managed to gain a little weight. My eyes teared up. “Nanna,” I sobbed.

Raphael stopped me from running to her. His voice was gentle, but his grip was immovable. “Do not startle her, Alessia. She is awake but there are other ways she hasn’t recovered.”

“What’s wrong with her?”

Our urgent speech caught her attention. Nanna turned towards us. Her smile told me she wasn’t afraid. That eased some of my fear. They were at least treating her well. “Hello?” Nanna called out.

Raphael broached the clearing, steering me with him but not allowing me free access. “Good morning, Bethany.”

Nanna bowed her head. “Good morning to you, Raphael.”

She wore a pair of grey slacks and a cornflower-blue blouse. My first warning that something wasn’t right was the fact that she didn’t have a sun hat on. Nanna always wore a hat to keep the sun off her face. She’d had a skin cancer scare when I was five and had been ultra careful since. When her head turned up, she smiled at me.

The weight in my chest that I’d been carrying since the moment she fell into her coma eased. “Hello there,” she said. “I’m Betty Hastings. Who are you?”

And just like that, it felt like someone had ripped my heart out.

35

Raphael settled his big palm on my shoulder. “This is Alessia. She’s a friend.”

“Hello, Alessia.”

“How are you feeling today?” Raphael asked. Nanna touched her brow.

“Oh, it comes and goes. Sometimes I think I’d lose my head it if wasn’t attached to my neck.”

I had to fight every instinct inside me not to burst into tears. Nanna never forgot anything. Her mind was razor sharp. This woman in front of me claimed to be forgetful. I couldn’t refute her assessment. She’d forgotten about me, after all.

Raphael leaned down. He was almost bent double to speak in my ear. “You may stay for a little while. But do not mention who you are. Her condition is not yet stable.”

I nodded. It was the only thing I remembered how to do.

“Alessia is going to help you in the garden today,” Raphael said. “I will be back for you in an hour.”

With that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. “I’ll never get used to that,” Nanna said. Confusion turned me mute. So the supernatural thing didn’t freak her out but remembering me might?

“Well.” Nanna got back down to her knees. She donned a pair of gardening gloves. “I suppose we better get to it. The garden isn’t going to weed itself.”

Without a clue how to proceed, I hunkered down beside her and started pulling up weeds from around the strawberry plants. I’d always found the chore cathartic.