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

by Lan Chan

  Without knowing why, I lifted my head to the sky above the soul gate. Kai hung suspended in the air, his wings defying the laws of physics and allowing him to hover without much effort. Normally he would have been the first to try and intercept the breaking wave of demons. But Kai remained exactly where he was, attention locked on me. Through the link I felt the terrible battle raging inside him. Every protective instinct screamed at him to go and meet the demons head-on, even if it was a suicide mission. But Kai clamped down on it, pushing it aside, because in his very soul, he was once a healer more than he was a fighter. That intrinsic part of him told him I was dying and even his considerable healing ability couldn’t save me. There was nothing he could do about it and it ate at him in a damaging fury that made him lash out at anything that came close.

  And they were too close.

  Drawn by the irresistible allure of a human soul, the demons had followed its origin back to Terran. They sprang from all sides of the soul gate, hitting the barrier, and were flung off. My vision became filled with gaping mouths, vicious claws, and the sparks of the soul gate as it rejected any demons that tried to trespass. The supernaturals around us clashed with the demons while Declan looked on unemotionally.

  “Keep going,” he ordered Simone.

  Blood trickled out of the side of my mouth as I lay there unable to get back up again. Sophie tried to lift me, but I was dead weight. I struggled to maintain consciousness. The world around me became a landscape of pain and explosive sound. Between the supernaturals redoubling their efforts to destroy the soul gate and fight the demons and Simone unleashing human souls, there was not a moment to take in anything else.

  And then there were no human bodies left besides Emily. She struggled as best she could, but she wasn’t strong enough to throw off the two men who held her captive.

  Sophie was sobbing quietly beside me, her hand gripping my shoulder. In my head, I slammed my fists on the grass, got up and kicked some serious ass. In reality, I coughed up more blood and closed my eyes, unable to stand the thought of what was coming. It was a shameful relief when Emily’s crying pissed off one of the men and he punched her in the head, knocking her out cold.

  When Simone reached out for Emily’s soul, the world stood absolutely still. Now more than ever, in the ethereal light thrown off by the dimensional rift, Emily looked just like an angel with her wings clipped.

  But Simone gave no shits about looks or morals. Like the rest of her, Emily’s spirit was gentle to the core. It gave no resistance as it was unclipped and slipped into Simone’s grasp. “Brace yourselves,” Simone said. “She’s powerful.”

  Simone released Emily’s soul into the aether. It sailed up towards the dimensional rift and exploded in a blaze of cosmic lights that would rival a meteor shower. Emily’s soul went supernova inside the rift.

  A roar filled my ears. I was unable to cover my head to stop the sound from coming. It was like the crash of a thousand waves rolling endlessly over each other. Sophie threw herself on top of me as though it would shield me from the inevitable shockwave of Emily’s unmaking.

  I cried out as a pulse of horrific grief smashed into my chest. For a second, it felt as though my soul was once again floating out of my body.

  With Sophie’s weight on top of me and the world looking like it had been hit by a sudden snowdrift, I felt my eyes being compelled open.

  I let out a shocked breath when a figure materialised beside Emily. The two guys holding her upright gave no indication that they sensed another presence.

  The stranger’s mop of black hair was natural on the left side but braided in thick rows on the right. She wore a teal gown that perfectly offset her dark skin and the flat gold bangles at her wrist. At her throat was a gold pendant in the shape of a book. I’d seen her image before in the Nephilim Codex.

  I shielded my eyes and whimpered. “Gabriel.” The messenger. “You’re the one who has been sending Emily visions.”

  She smiled. I wanted to fly into a rage. Here she was, an archangel still firmly seated in the heavenly realm, and she hadn’t lifted a finger to help Emily. Or me for that matter.

  “Unlike my brothers, I cannot speak to humans so freely,” she said in that Caribbean accent that had stumped me all this time. The sound of her voice was like knives stabbing into my brain. “My time here is limited. But know this, what happens today will have repercussions for all the dimensions. Choose wisely. Make the sacrifice.”

  I was already dying. What more did she want from me? But I didn’t have time to ask because her essence shimmered and disappeared.

  A crunching, creaking sound erupted in the sky above us. The dimensional rift rumbled as white light snapped along the edges of the Nephilim city. And then it began to move. My heart kicked inside my chest as Seraphina slid through the rift.

  Kai finally tore his attention away from where he was ripping a demon in two. The expression on his face stopped me cold. For a fraction of a second, our eyes met, and the carefully cultivated mask he held up for the world slipped. Green eyes saturated in blue as I held my breath and stared into the vulnerable face of a young Nephilim boy who should never have been thrust so brutally into battle. The boy who had given up everything to hold the line while those around him perished, knowing full well that there was no victory, and fighting on anyway.

  History was repeating itself. Despite how hard he had worked, Kai was in the same place. Unable to protect those he loved. The futility caused a lick of angelfire to burn across his shoulders, casting his features in a dark green glow that mirrored the inferno blazing inside of him. With a single tug, Kai ripped off the head of the demon in his grip and launched himself at the soul gate. I felt his intention as plain as day. If he couldn’t help to win the battle, he was at least going to take out Declan. The soul gate had other ideas, grabbing him and throwing him across the lawn.

  Sophie clawed at my arm, dragging my attention away from where Kai landed in the bushes, blood spilling out of his mouth. One of the military idiots had taken hold of a wolf pup. Aisha. Her crown of coarse black hair and the dark freckles on her brown skin reminded me of a doll. I grit my teeth as the five-year-old lay limp as she was unceremoniously dumped on the grass in front of the others.

  “Don’t!” Sophie screamed.

  “Fifteen minutes is up,” the military guy said.

  No, I wanted to tell him. Time is up. In the blink of an eye, I took stock of everything that was happening around me. Seraphina half-hanging out of the dimensional rift, the giant swinging its arms trying to swat at the elite guards, the demon wave crashing around us, my friends trying to stop them from hurting us even though we were the ones protected by the soul gate. Kai pushing himself up and rolling his shoulders, determination etched in every line of his body. Sophie caught in the impossible position of choosing between the lives of two people she loved.

  The military guy raised his rifle. With the last of my strength, I gathered up all the bone magic I could. Then I took Gabriel’s Key and pressed it to Sophie’s hands. I wouldn’t need it anymore and I wanted her to have it.

  “Sophie,” I whispered. “Protect us.”

  Though her body stilled, a pink circle traced around us as I threw out bone magic and grabbed hold of Simone and Declan. A knife stabbed its way down the back of my head. I pitched forward but refused to let go. Declan clutched at his throat. Simone groaned, falling forward amongst the still bodies of those she had killed. She resisted like Giselle had explained to me, but in the end, though I was weakened, I was still Lucifer’s scion.

  “Stop her!” Jessica screamed, scrambling to get to me in time. Sophie used the knife Declan had given us to draw blood from her palm. Gunfire pelted at the circle just as she slammed her hand down on the blood circle. They halted as they hit the side of the circle, burrowing in but unable to get past.

  Closing my eyes, I yanked without any form of finesse whatsoever. That was the thing about power and not giving a rat’s ass about hurting people. It me
ant I didn’t need to be delicate. Declan and Simone cried out in agony as I tore their souls from their bodies, from the Ley dimension, and cast them up towards the soul gate. The tearing of their essences left a gaping hole in the Ley lines that rattled with emptiness. Remembering the way the demon had shaped human souls into a weapon, I shaped their white light into an imitation of Morning Star.

  “Blue!” Kai screamed, charging at the soul gate.

  I didn’t have enough power left to stop him. The tip of the soul weapon hit the soul gate and tore right through it. At the same time Kai slammed into the gate, his angel blade piercing its skin. The gate compensated for the surge in my power hitting it by funnelling it into Kai. He groaned as his body was flooded with energy it was not built to contain. My heart stopped as his soul was torn assumer. The torturous sound he made imprinted on me, drawing tears to my eyes. A flash of pink light engulfed him at the last second before he was unmade. Distantly, I heard Sophie chanting a spell as though through a fog.

  And then the world turned into nothing.

  56

  Once, I had been forsaken. My aura had been so bright that it had blocked out the presence of everything and everyone around me. But that had been a single drop in the ocean compared to the fiery ball of unrelenting light that seeped out of every pore in my body as I broke apart.

  As my soul transcended through the veil and there was nothing else in the horizon besides my aura, I finally understood. I was Lucifer’s blood. My unmaking would be as his might be. A destructive force that would destroy this dimension and all others around it. Lucifer’s last practical joke. Every single one of Emily’s prophecies was coming to life.

  The notion settled into place, but it didn’t fit.

  Death was an easy way out. Death had always been in my blood. From Hilary, to my mother, to Azrael. It was almost comforting.

  Azrael. After I wiped out all the lower beings and demons, the archangels would prevail. And even though he was trapped, Lucifer would begin again. He would raise another scion in another dimension to take my place. In death, I would be helpless to stop him.

  Helpless. The word whipped around my soul and caused bitterness to filter through me. No. I could never be helpless again.

  And then it was all drowned out by the touch of a sliver of green angelfire that called to me despite the oppressive forces stealing my soul. Kai was still trying to reach me despite his own unmaking. The depthless despair clouded his soul in darkness. When this was done, he and everything that I loved would cease to exist.

  This is war, Giselle’s voice suddenly reverberated in my skull. What would you do to win?

  How did you win against a seraph? At the core of my being, I was just a human. A hedge witch. A bone witch. The ultimate sacrifice.

  Lucifer, I spoke through the veil.

  He materialised in front of me within the golden glow of seraphim light. You called?

  His essence was completely unblemished despite the destruction that had been wrought on his physical vessel. The only thing that marred his aura were the lines of magic I had used to shield myself from his full glory. Only then did I understand. There had never been anything I could have done to destroy him. He was seraphim. I was a human despite all evidence to the contrary. My power was his and it had been a smokescreen to give me hope that I could one day circumvent the prophecy.

  But sometimes, you just had to take a step back in order to move forward.

  Change it, I asked, knowing now that he had the power to reverse what had happened.

  With an arched brow, he moved towards me. Change what, Alessia?

  All of this, I thought. Change it back to what it once was. All of them will be safe and the humans won’t know of our world. Promise me and I will release you.

  With a smile that lit up everything around it in gold, he shook his head. That’s not how this works, he drawled. The humans are inconsequential. But the supernaturals…they have stood against me. They will continue to be a barrier. I cannot allow that insult to go unpunished. But I promise to give them a fighting finish.

  Once more I saw the field of battle. He would allow the supernaturals to live simply to cut them down for his amusement. It was always about ego with him. Then good luck with your next scion, I thought. You’ve waited for centuries. What’s a few more?

  His grin widened. In the expanse of nothingness between us, he showed me the consequences of my death. The world as I knew it was being obliterated.

  Fifty-percent is still better than nothing, Alessia.

  Fifty-percent. The statistic rolled around in my disembodied mind as his hedge-magic laced aura flickered once more. At half his strength, would the supernaturals be able to hold him off? At this point, I didn’t have much of a choice.

  I agree, I told him.

  Lucifer studied me. You destroyed my lieutenant. It is your duty to take his place.

  He showed me Jacob’s last mission and my soul trembled. Nineteen years ago, Hilary made a bargain with a seraph. I couldn’t help but do the same.

  Lucifer’s ice-capped blue eyes crinkled at the corners when he felt my agreement. So it begins.

  My soul whined. Refoverah. Restore.

  As the Angelical whispered across the veil, I called upon the bone magic and began to weave a web of my own.

  The messed-up thing was that the heavens felt like they opened up and showered light upon him. Good or bad, the Ley dimension saw only the return of a sovereign. Something inside my soul snapped shut as, one by one, the bindings the seraphim had placed on Lucifer unwound. A wave of unbearable grief and terror sank into my heart. Before my connection to everything I had ever known retracted, I sent one last message. And then he was whole again. Devastatingly beautiful and terrifyingly fearsome.

  Lucifer snapped his fingers and reality did his bidding. My eyes closed and I was taken by the darkness.

  I blinked and the room spun. For a second, the soft linen around me reminded me of being inside Seraphina. But the quality of the light was all wrong. There was a distinctly red tinge to the sunlight streaming through the window. Not to mention the window itself being situated up too high. A soft voice and even softer hands soothed me.

  “It’s alright, Alessia,” the woman said. “You’re safe.”

  Turning, I forced my eyes to remain open and found myself staring right into the light green eyes of a dead woman. Rebecca Pendragon.

  I shot upright and scampered back in the bed. In my hurry, I twisted the sheets around my ankle, and it threatened to send me head over ass onto the floor. She stood up and grabbed hold of my arm before I toppled. Her touch was solid.

  Eyes wider than canyons, I stared at the spot where our bodies touched. “I’m dead,” I said. After all that, I ended up dying. Staring down at my body, I saw that my clothing had been stripped and I was lying there in just my underwear. Urgh.

  Her gentle smile didn’t even lift her cheeks. There was something about it that reminded me so much of Kai that a lump formed in my throat. “No, you’re not,” she said. “Neither am I.”

  All of my questions bottlenecked on my tongue. Before they could spill out, the enormous golden door creaked open. A creature with the overly muscled body of a gladiator and the head of a bull stepped in. Its private parts were covered by a leather tunic, the straps leading up its chest and shoulders to create the world’s gaudiest costume.

  Too weak to fight but too terrified not to try, I cast about the room for something to use as a weapon. Rebecca sat back down on her chair, her features drawn tight.

  “The master wants to see her,” the bull gladiator said. At least that was what I thought it said. Its voice was like gravel going through a rock crusher. Some things just weren’t meant for speech.

  Rebecca straightened her spine. “She’s not strong enough yet.”

  The bull lowered its head and gave a short, groaning roar. “Now!”

  Though she didn’t move a muscle, I felt a spike of apprehension radiating from her before
she walked slowly to another set of doors that turned out to be a closet.

  Before opening it, Rebecca turned to the bull man. “She needs some privacy.” Her poker face was terrible. If Kai lied that poorly, he would have been dead a hundred times over. It reminded me that his kin had been made to heal. Once upon a time, they would have been the ones sheltered and protected by Michael’s bloodline.

  The bull man crossed his muscled arms. Or at least he tried to. The bulk of them meant his elbows could barely bend. His nostrils flared as steam billowed out of them. Rebecca and I both got the message quick smart.

  She rummaged through the contents of the closet and pulled out a preppy eggshell-blue dress. All I needed was a cardigan slung over my shoulders and I would be ready for an Ivy League university visit. “I don’t think so,” I said.

  “We don’t have time for an argument about fashion.”

  Moving back towards me, Rebecca helped me to my feet. Her touch was deft and gentle as though I was some kind of princess wrapped up in cotton wool. Pendragons! Were all of them going to treat me as though I was fragile?

  It was only while she was slipping the dress over my shoulders that her grip on my waist suddenly turned to iron. The pinch was a surprise and it made me gasp aloud. When my gaze snapped to hers, there was wetness in her eyes. It dawned on me that she was trying to make me appear meek for some reason.

  The thing was, I felt perfectly fine. Looking down at my hands, I saw that they were steady. For months now, they had been overtaken by tremors that hadn’t hindered their function but kept throwing reminders in my face that I was unwell. Now they felt like my hands again.

  When he saw that I was ready, the bull man marched out the door. Determining that I was meant to follow him, I stepped lightly behind and started walking. Rebecca trailed after us, her attention boring into my back.