Bloodline Fallacy: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 5)

by Lan Chan

  With that, he turned around and marched away. Isla’s jawline could have cut through stone. She shrugged at me before gesturing for Emily to follow her. I stood there uncertain of what had just happened. What I did know was that for the first time since he offered it, Kai regretted the bond. Because through it, I knew without a doubt that he’d just looked me in the eye and lied through his teeth.

  22

  Standing outside Jacqueline’s house all night wasn’t feasible. My thoughts were disturbed as I walked back to the dorms instead of using the ring. I needed to clear my head. The gnawing in my gut became worse with each step. At the front door of the senior Academy, I finally bit the bullet and glanced inside at the bond. It was still there but there was a vivid emerald edge everywhere it touched my magic. When I tried to prod, it locked me out as surely as Kai closing the door in my face. What the hell?

  The alert light outside my door was a solid feature now. There were so many backed-up bulletins I didn’t even bother. It made things a bit difficult when I tried to weed through for the ones I actually wanted to listen to.

  There was a bulletin from Basil ranting about the rumours he’d heard about what Kai was doing to get ready for the inevitable day when I would accept the bond. I returned the call but cut him off before he could launch into it.

  “Don’t you have actual work to do on the prison?” I asked.

  He waved away my question. “That’s beside the point.”

  “Well, I need to ask you about something. Was Jacqueline around today by any chance?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  Hmmm. “Did she come into contact with any demons?”

  “It’s a supernatural prison. Of course she did.”

  I tried to inspect his features for any signs of duplicity. At the moment, his credibility was also in doubt. Basil was the one who initially suspected there was something odd going on with me being forsaken. He’d made a decision not to tell me about it and it had almost ended up killing me for real.

  “Was there an incident?”

  “Why are you asking me this?”

  I debated whether to tell him. The door opened. Sophie came in smelling of anise and citrus. “What’s she asking you?” Sophie asked.

  “Strange questions about Jacqueline,” Basil said.

  “What about her?”

  “Well, she’s sick for one thing,” I blurted. “I find that really strange, don’t you?”

  Sophie stopped collecting her towel. “Sick?”

  That’s right. That was the reaction I wanted. Basil frowned at me through the Mirror. “You must be mistaken.”

  “I think out of everyone here, I would know it when someone is sick. I am, after all, the one who’s always in the infirmary.”

  “Oh, you mean she was injured.”

  “No, that’s not what I mean. She was all sweaty and coughing like she had the flu.”

  Basil scratched at his nose. “Supernaturals don’t get the flu. In any case, who knows what she could have picked up from the demons in the prison?”

  Sophie came to stand behind me. “Can that even happen?”

  “Of course it can. You of all people should know a demon can make a supernatural sick.”

  This hadn’t been the way I thought this conversation would go. “I’m sure she’ll be fine tomorrow,” Basil predicted.

  I hated it when he was right. The next morning when I went to her office to check, Jacqueline was sitting at her desk with not a hair out of place. Last night’s sweat-drenched hair was clean and arranged into loose waves. She’d chosen a midnight-blue suit that brought out the pigments in her eyes. Between the two of us, she looked like the healthier specimen.

  “Ah, Lex. I never got around to asking you what you needed me for last night. I assume you weren’t there with Emily.”

  “I was reading the codex and came across a passage on you that needed some clarification. Are you feeling okay?”

  The puzzled look she gave me should have been reassuring, but instead, it made me all the more concerned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  I edged into the office. Might as well stick around now that I was here. And I was a tiny bit curious about how she came to be a Pendragon. “You were pretty sick last night.”

  Her amused grin said otherwise. “Amazons don’t get sick, Lex. You should know that by now. I suspect it was a curse some demon threw at me. It seems to have run its course. That’s generally the way these things go.”

  If there was an award for most convincing performance, she would win the crown. Swallowing my reservations, I tried to snoop a little while I had the opportunity. “Was Emily okay?”

  “As much as she can be under the circumstances.”

  “So she’s not hearing voices?”

  “How much did you overhear last night?”

  I bit the inside of my cheek and decided to go the ignorance route. “We were outside your place for a while. Isla was concerned, and since I...have some experience, she told me a few things.”

  Jacqueline’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Emily is fine. Yes, it’s concerning that she’s been hearing voices, but unlike yours, she doesn’t appear to be affected by them. They don’t urge her to do anything.”

  “How is that okay? Shouldn’t we try to do something to block them out?”

  “Professor Mortimer and Tyler have already warded the Academy to the brim. Nothing demonic can reach us here. Emily swears black and blue she hasn’t heard the voice since she arrived at the Academy. We’ve increased the protection around her as well. So at this stage, there isn’t much more we can do.”

  If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought she’d rehearsed that speech. No doubt she’d had to make a report to the elite guard already. When I didn’t react, Jacqueline tapped her fingers on the desk to redirect my attention. “Emily’s safety isn’t your problem, Lex. I know you feel responsible for what happened at the hospital and because Emily is human. But you’ve got so many things to deal with already. Let the rest of us do our job.”

  Logic once again. Why was it so difficult to swallow?

  “I suppose so,” I said. My legs kicked under the table. “It doesn’t matter anyway. She still hates me.”

  Jacqueline reached over and squeezed my hand. “She doesn’t hate you. She’s just frightened. I actually think being here has reassured her a little. Maybe with a bit of time, she’ll be more open to things.” Jacqueline let go and smiled fondly. “Now, what’s this about the codex?”

  Brushing past anything that might involve the bond, I asked her about her surname change. “Ah,” she said, the smile still on her lips. “The board thought it might make my tenure more legitimate if I assumed a name that belongs to a legacy Nephilim House.”

  “You never married a Pendragon?”

  She arched a brow. “I suppose you haven’t gotten to that part of Supernatural Species Integration.” I forced my face not to react. “In Amazonian culture, we don’t marry. Our race is matriarchal. We have relationships in order to procreate, but the lifelong bonding never worked out. We were too often at war and too independent to accept compromise.”

  “What about now?”

  “We’re still at war, Lex.”

  I nodded. “But there is some sense of stability.”

  “For the younger ones, there is. This dimension has changed us so much. One day, Cassie might find someone to settle down with. But those of us who have lived long lives, it’s not really a priority.”

  I scratched my head. Mentioning Cassie’s name has leeched some of the joy from her features. I had a feeling I knew exactly where her concern lay. This new dimension posed many cultural shifts. Cassie was growing up in a world of shifters and Nephilim who thrived on permanent bonds. They would accept nothing less. But there would be a part of her, a deeply primal part, which would cling to the old ways. If she fell for a human, her longevity would mean she would watch them and possibly her children die before she did. That was going to be an issue when sh
e grew up. Yeah, okay, I was beginning to see the light in Supernatural Sex Ed.

  Jacqueline shook off her apprehension and crossed her arms over the desk. She then slid forward a little so our heads were closer. “Technically,” she said, “I’m not on duty for another hour. Did you want to talk about how you came to be in possession of the Nephilim Codex in the first place?”

  You could have fried an egg on my face. My nostrils flared. “He thinks he’s so funny,” I snapped. “He’s lucky I haven’t knocked him unconscious with it.”

  Jacqueline grinned, displaying rows of teeth. “Pendragon men tend to be one-track minded. His great-grandfather was the same.”

  “His great-grandfather wasn’t the last of their line.”

  She sighed. “No, he wasn’t. I’m sorry, Lex. I know this is difficult.”

  “It would be a lot less difficult if he would accept that we can’t happen.”

  “I suspect it’s a little too late for that.” She ran her finger along the edge of her desk. “In any case, don’t allow anyone to push you into doing something that you don’t think is right. There are a lot of good intentions, but they’re not the ones having to live with their decisions.”

  I swallowed. “Do you think I’m doing the right thing?”

  “It doesn’t matter what I think.”

  Yes, it did. Maybe things would have been different if Jacqueline was one of those crone relatives who disapproved of every girl their prince brought home. But I had grown to value her advice and her friendship. She brushed a strand of hair out of my eyes and tucked it behind my ear. “I thank the heavens every day that you struggle with what’s right above what is easy. Only you can decide where you draw the line.”

  For some reason, I didn’t think she was only referring to Kai and me anymore.

  Somebody knocked on her door. “You’ve got that call with the board, Headmistress,” Alex said. I got up to leave. Just before I reached for the door handle, she called out.

  “Oh, Lex. Can you please let Professor Mortimer know that his request for special dispensation has been approved but that he needs to be cautious? I might be with the board for a while.”

  I nodded and left, my head full of more questions than answers.

  Professor Mortimer was just as cryptic about the message I passed on. “Excellent.” We set up spell ingredients on his front lawn. “If I had known it would be this easy to get approval for things, I would have gone to the elite guard earlier.”

  Over on the tree stump by the house, Tyler huffed. “It’s not a free-for-all,” he said. “Only because of the unusual circumstances.”

  “What’s he talking about?” I asked.

  Professor Mortimer shook his head. “Put it out of your mind. We’ll try things the conventional way and hope that works.” He crossed his legs and sat down on the grass. I did the same.

  “Please tell me we’re not going to just meditate all semester. I’m not sure if I can handle that.”

  He laughed. “We’re not even going to meditate today.” My relief was palpable. “But I do need to discuss something with you.”

  Uh oh. “For the past two years, we’ve focused on trying to learn the basics of arcane circles.” He scratched at his beard. “We really should have redirected your studies after the Terran beach incident, but nobody could have predicted your magic advancing so quickly.”

  “Also, the Lucifer thing.”

  His mouth tipped down. “I won’t lie to you. Some of the board were hesitant to progress your learning for fear of what might happen. It’s short-sighted but that’s what tends to happen when people are afraid.”

  “What made them change their minds?” I picked at the grass.

  He counted off on his fingers. “One, you willingly invited a demon to possess you to save Kai. Two, you let Andrei bite you even though most of the population think he’s out of his mind. And three, you died.” He smiled. “I’ll wager that throughout it all, you haven’t even considered that your abilities make you one of the most dangerous people in the world. Based on your performance, the elite guard decided that the more you know, the greater an asset you will be.”

  “How very clinical of them.”

  “We’re all assets in this war.” He dusted his hands together. “Up until now you’ve concentrated on protection and invisibility circles that have managed to keep things away from you. Let’s try and see how you go when we refocus on keeping something contained.”

  “I’ve been doing some summoning. That’s containment, right? The runes are different.”

  He blinked slowly, eyes unfocused as though lost in unpleasant memories. I swear I heard the snap of undead teeth and shuddered. “Yes, I know. But the spirits that you are trying to communicate with are perhaps a little different to trying to contain somebody who doesn’t want to stay put. The other issue with your current form of arcane circle is that they are defensive in nature. As long as the circle is complete, you are protected. If the circle breaks for any reason or you run out of stamina, you’ll be too exhausted to defend yourself.”

  With my interest thoroughly piqued, the professor stood and moved five paces away from me. He crouched down onto the grass again.

  “Let’s begin with something small.”

  A palm-sized flame ignited in the grass. I yelped. “Contain it.”

  The circle was already drawn. Growing up in Australia, the sight of flames on landscape made my hair stand on end. The blue and black circle engulfed the flame. It continued to burn but didn’t manage to spread. “Show me the runes.”

  I squatted down on my knees and funnelled magic into my fingers. When I drew the intersecting lines for the summoning containment runes, they lit up to match the glowing circle. Granted they also didn’t affect the flames at all.

  Professor Mortimer came down on one knee beside me. “Hmm. How are you feeling? Any fatigue?”

  This early? “No, sir.”

  “Extinguish the fire for me”

  I hit a brick wall. “How do I do that?”

  “You’ve spent two years learning about runes and sigils, Alessia. What’s the first rule of arcane magic?”

  “Thought over deed,” I repeated from memory.

  “Apply that here.”

  He was assuming I’d forgotten what the runes meant. It was a simple magic system that spawned hundreds of words and symbols in all manner of ancient languages both dead and living. Most magic users often only specialised in one or two branches of runes because of the sheer number of them. Once you learned the basics, a creative and powerful magic user could bend the meaning of the symbol until it became their own.

  Professor Mortimer literally lit a fire under me. The flames inside the circle roared and expanded into burning bush territory. My magic circle expanded to compensate. He flicked his fingers again and the flames grew bigger. They licked at the sides of my circle. Phantom heat crawled up my arms. My eyes widened as the red and orange flames began to erode the circle. It was slow at first, but before long, it would eat up my magic.

  “You see what I mean?” the professor asked. “Keeping something out is very different to keeping something in. Something inside your circle is able to corrupt it. Extinguish the fire.”

  I didn’t need to be told twice. The heat on my arms was beginning to scorch.

  Without thinking too much about it, I drew out the symbols for air and for silence. As I completed the last line to connect them both, I thought of the oxygen the flames required to grow. I imagined it leaching from the circle until there was no more fuel. When I slapped my hand down over the runes to complete the spell, the flame inside the circle snuffed out.

  Professor Mortimer patted my shoulder. “Very good.”

  Buoyed by the compliment, I was determined to continue my winning streak. Over the course of the lesson, I managed to stop a rain cloud from drenching the ground and to contain a minor explosion.

  “I see you’ve kept up with your studies this summer,” the professor said. My e
lation dimmed. The smile I returned was brittle. There was no way I would ever forget the sight of those runes and sigils that covered the walls of the Academy but didn’t manage to keep the demons out. Each and every one was etched into my brain. As was the sound of crumpling metal as Bran’s armour crushed him before he died.

  Shaking myself out of grief, I eagerly anticipated the next challenge. That was until Professor Mortimer motioned for Tyler to join us.

  “You’ve done well with containment of inanimate objects,” the professor said. “But most of the opponents you will face won’t just stand still while you work a spell. Tyler has volunteered his services to help you practice on a living opponent.”

  My lips pressed together for a moment. “Ummm...don’t you think I should start somewhere smaller than an elite guard?”

  I had seen them in training and held no illusion about how I would match up against one. Especially since Tyler was half-mage. “Humour me,” the professor said.

  He would be laughing by the end of this alright.

  Tyler stepped onto the slightly charred, wet patch of grass. “Whenever you’re ready.” There was no need for that smile.

  I huffed and drew a circle around him. His smile brightened. Seeing my mistake, I retracted the protection circle and inverted it. Force of habit. Most of my life had been about trying to protect myself. It would take some time before my instincts changed.

  Once the containment circle was in place, Professor Mortimer stepped back a few paces. Alarm feathered through me. You know what they say about blunt instruments? The elite guard were the very definition of it. Without waiting for any kind of signal, Tyler clapped his hands together. The air temperature inside the circle dropped. Frost grew within its confines, perfectly outlining the usually invisible sphere that my circles created. Snowflakes bloomed in a breathtakingly beautiful pattern. It would have been delightful were it not sapping the warmth from my body at the same time. I could no longer feel the tip of my nose.

  “What the hell?” I spat.

  Professor Mortimer tapped the side of his head. “Concentrate.”