Bloodline Legacy: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 4)

by Lan Chan

  Chanelle hovered by the kitchen island with Barbara. Her mouth puckered. The Lodge looked as though it had been hit by a tornado. I scanned the area outside until my sight locked onto a headless figure laid out on the lawn. Bile clogged my throat. Suddenly I was so tired.

  “Please stop,” I told Kai.

  His magic flared brighter. I felt it tug at something rooted deep inside me. A corresponding flare of green that had sunk its talons into me. I couldn’t do this again. Now, more than ever, I knew there couldn’t be a happy ending. The demon’s reaction and Lucifer’s statement made things crystal clear. I was a liability.

  “I said stop!” I choked out. Shoving his hand away, I tried to sit up only to lose my balance and almost topple over. Kai grabbed me around the waist.

  “Andrei,” I croaked. Kai’s whole body stiffened, but I didn’t care. The vampire jumped to his feet, suddenly alert. When Andrei went to help me up, Kai’s arm winched around me. There was a moment when I thought I would have to fight him. And then slowly, he retracted his arm and allowed Andrei to help me to my feet.

  Nobody protested when we made our way up the stairs to the bedroom. I sank down into my bed. “The mage?”

  Andrei shook his head. “Decapitated,” he said. “Nothing can bring you back from that.”

  “But this is a game,” I pointed out.

  “It was a game up until you sacrificed yourself for Kai.” He huffed but there was very little amusement in it. “I think the elite guard shit themselves because no supernatural in their right mind would invite a demon into their body. Then it became a test for you. And then it couldn’t be stopped.”

  “He’s dead,” I repeated. “I killed him.”

  Andrei clasped his hands around my shaking ones. “You didn’t do it on purpose. The demon forced you. Nobody blames you.”

  That was an outright lie. I bet everybody blamed me. It was only right. I blamed myself. After all this time, I was still doing stupid reckless things that were hurting people.

  “If it makes you feel any better, if you hadn’t lured the demon away from him, Kai would have probably died.”

  It should have made it better. I’d traded Kai’s life for a mage I didn’t really know. Would I do it again? It wasn’t even a question. Even now, I would trade anything to keep Kai safe. But that didn’t make it better.

  The first tear rolled down my cheek. It opened up a floodgate. Soon I was sobbing uncontrollably. I buried my head in the pillow and bawled my eyes out. I’d thought there was no more emotion to wring from my broken body. I was wrong. I cried for so long the sky outside was lighting up with the first rays of dawn. Eventually, my sobs turned to hiccups.

  Andrei sat quietly on the bed beside me with a bewildered look on his face. “Hey,” he finally said. “Don’t have a breakdown on me. My world only works if certain things remain constant. I’m the crazy one, remember?”

  When he couldn’t get much from me besides an incoherent grumble, Andrei looked into my eyes. “You need rest. Sleep.”

  I knew it was a compulsion, but I welcomed it. My eyes closed and I took comfort in the darkness.

  There were raised voices when I opened my eyes again. It was night outside once more. Andrei was no longer in the room. My whole body felt stiff and hollow, but I touched my neck and the skin was smoothed over. I was emotionally spent. But I couldn’t lie around forever. Why were we still in the Lodge? Surely the games were over. I just wanted to go home. My first thought was my bed at Bloodline before memory kicked in and I remembered I didn’t live there anymore.

  With an ache in my chest, I grabbed a change of clothes from the closet and went to shower. Fifteen minutes under an intensely hot spray still couldn’t wash the numbness away. I had to stop when my skin turned lobster red and I drew blood with the loofah.

  The voices quietened when I appeared at the railing. All of the other contestants were seated in and around the couches. The Fae and vamp team were missing. The elite guard sat around the dining table with the heads of the Academies. While I had been asleep, everything had been restored. You would never know a fight to the death had taken place. It seemed wrong somehow. Like we were scrubbing their deaths away.

  My eyes latched on to Jacqueline. She was leaning back against the stone island bench. She smiled up at me. I almost crashed to my knees from running down the stairs. She opened up her arms and I ran into them. I was pressed up against her chest. She rocked me in her arms.

  “Shhh,” she said. “It’s okay. You’ll be okay.”

  It never occurred to me that we had a weirdly close relationship until I finally pulled away and saw the foul expression on Headmistress Carmichael’s face. It was mirrored in the dead glare Chanelle gave me.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “We must decide how to proceed,” Angus said.

  “Proceed?” I wasn’t going to win any Nobel prizes for intelligence, that was for sure. “Aren’t the games over?”

  “Why would they be over?” the vampire asked. I struggled for a name. The head of the Midnight Guard’s forces was named…Igor? Ivan! That was it.

  “I killed someone!” I hissed.

  I steeled my spine, fully prepared to face the consequences. Ivan just shrugged. “This isn’t the first time a contestant has died. Mr. Thompson also killed a contestant.”

  I glanced surreptitiously at Max. It had completely slipped my mind that he’d put down a necromancer in his rogue state. “Why didn’t you do something to stop it?” I seethed.

  “Why would we?” Angus asked. “These games are a test of your fortitude in battle. We recruit only those who are suitable candidates. Remember that we’re at war.”

  I felt combativeness rising. It clawed at my throat and wanted to spew out in a tirade of anger. With a self-control I never knew I had, I stepped away from the danger zone. Max made a space for me beside him. I sank down into it.

  “Thanks for taking me out before I could hurt more people,” he said.

  “Thanks for not killing me.”

  He chuckled. His scars were almost healed. “At this point, I’m not sure that I could.” I scrunched my face and dropped my head back against the couch.

  Max patted the top of my head like I was a cat. I tried to shove him off and it made him laugh. “You acknowledged my dominance,” he said. That’s right, I had done that. By conceding to him, I had effectively given him license to treat me like a submissive pack member.

  “First of all, I’m not a shifter,” I told him. “And second, what happens in the games, stays in the games.” I swatted him off when he tried to pet me again. It was at that point that I became aware of a cold tingle against my spine. I turned my head to find Kai watching us without blinking.

  Inside my head, I snapped at him. Give it a rest, you raging jackass! I killed somebody for you! What more do you want from me?

  To my surprise, he leaned back. The lines of tension in his shoulders loosened.

  “What’s going on?” I asked Max.

  “They’ve halted the games pending a negotiation,” Max said. “Galina and Ben pulled out.” I assumed he meant the missing contestants. “The elite guard want to push forward with the gladiatorial round. So does most of the supernatural community.”

  “I’ll bet they do,” I spat. “Bloody sycophants.”

  I rubbed my palm on my leg. “Why didn’t they just pull people out before they got hurt?”

  “If you don’t like it,” Bradley said, “why don’t you do everyone a favour and quit?”

  By the door, Andrei cackled. “If you’re too chicken to face her in the arena, why don’t you say so instead of making pathetic threats?”

  Bradley surged to his feet. Andrei snapped his fangs. But just like Andrei had pegged, Bradley was all bark. I had no illusions that given the chance, he would try to take me out. In front of the elite guard and with Max, Kai, and Andrei around? He wouldn’t move a finger.

  Max squared his shoulders. “We’re supernaturals,”
he reminded me. “Sometimes, things happen too quickly for an intervention. I didn’t even know I was going to rip out Harley’s throat until it was already done.”

  “They should never have used a demon in the first place.”

  “The challenge was to detain your partner in the throes of their worst selves,” Angus said. “How else would we have triggered Malachi?”

  I understood the crux of his problem. It was a unique situation. There were too many overpowered individuals in the game this year. They had to up the danger scale to make it comparable. That didn’t mean it was ultimately worth it.

  “Mr. Webb is correct,” Ivan added. “If you do not wish to continue, now is the time to forfeit.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Andrei shuffle his body. If I quit, I would take him down with me.

  “Chanelle didn’t rescue Kai,” I pointed out. “How is that a fair trade?”

  Chanelle hopped off the couch. She had every intention of knocking my block off. Kai stuck his leg out just as she was about to stalk past. It was barely a restraint, but she halted like she’d hit a wall. It made my insides recoil. There was just no way in hell I would ever fall in line like that.

  “This is not an individual game,” Ivan told me. “At least not yet.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “The eight of you are the last remaining contestants. We couldn’t account for the death toll in the last game. After a discussion with the heads of your Academies, it has been decided that we will skip to the gladiatorial round.”

  “Does anyone want to forfeit now?” Angus asked.

  Andrei and I locked eyes. When all was said and done, I’d come too close to back down now. Andrei took in a deep breath when it became clear I wasn’t going to forfeit.

  “Very well,” Angus said. “You have tonight to rest. Tomorrow morning, you will face the arena.” He cast a wary glance at the Nephilim. “I want to remind you that the Lodge is a sanctum. You are not to harm each other within these walls.”

  “Unless you deem it so.” Their heads whipped in my direction. Oops. Did I say that aloud? The elite guard eyed me speculatively. Their expressions ranged from amused to chagrined.

  The adults disappeared through a portal. After they left, a feast appeared on the surface of the island bench. The smell of food made me queasy. As the others gathered around the table, I pushed open the front door and stepped out into the night.

  Andrei found me lying down amidst the daphne bushes about five minutes later. He regarded me with amusement. “What’s the plan here?” he said.

  I closed my eyes. “This makes me feel better.”

  “A dirt nap shouldn’t do that.”

  “Did you want something?”

  He held out a plate. “I’ve been told you’re usually a bottomless pit.”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  That got my antenna wagging. Something was definitely wrong with me. Andrei crouched down and tried to set the plate on the ground. After a few attempts to find some clear space, he lost patience. “This is ridiculous,” he said. “Can you get up?”

  “Well, since you asked so nicely...”

  He showed me his teeth. “You know, if I didn’t know you better, I would think this is a cry for attention. But I do know you better, and I need you to snap out of it. You’ll have time to process this later. Right now, you need to regain your strength.”

  “Great pep talk. You should consider a career in motivational speaking.”

  He huffed. “Guess what, squirt? You’re still a smart ass. Which means whatever is broken in your head isn’t beyond repair.”

  For some reason, that actually made me feel better. I pushed myself to my feet and followed him back to the house. “I don’t want to be around them,” I told him.

  He paused on the front steps and decided this was as good a place as any to sit. I went down cross-legged and placed the plate on my lap. “It’s a sad day when my company is the preferred option.”

  “Who says I want you to stay?”

  He smirked. I managed to get down half of the roast chicken and some of the mashed potatoes before my appetite decided to come roaring back to life. After that it was a no-holds-barred gorge fest. I wanted more. Andrei blinked at me like he couldn’t understand where all the food had gone. “That was some messed-up shit back there,” he said after a while. He scrubbed at his face. “I mean, you stabbed yourself in the neck!”

  “That’s basically my life.”

  He nodded. “You know they’re planning to kill you?” He said it like he was making a comment on the weather. Not spelling out my doom.

  “Refer to my previous comment.”

  He glanced down at his hands. “What’s the contingency? We’re going to have real problems tomorrow. Any way we draw there’s one of them that wants you dead. I can hold one of them off at best given I’m not at my peak.”

  The reason for that hung heavy between us. “We can fix that right now,” I said. “There’s blood juice on the counter.” He immediately shook his head.

  “Not an option.”

  “Why?”

  He glared at me. “You know why.”

  “You resisted last night!”

  “Last night wasn’t real.”

  “It was real enough!” My voice had gained an octave.

  He waved it away. “You know what I meant.”

  I set the plate down and leaned in so I could throw his words back at him. “Guess what, genius. You’re still a smartass. Which means whatever is broken in your head isn’t beyond repair.”

  He smiled then. It showed me his fangs, but I realised the deranged quality was gone. After a couple of minutes lost in thought, Andrei got up to leave. “It would be nice if you didn’t die tomorrow,” he said.

  “I’ll try my best.”

  By the light of the roaring fire behind his back, I studied Chanelle, Bradley, and Barbara. They sat huddled together speaking softly but urgently. I hoped my best would be good enough.

  52

  When we stepped onto the mats of the arena, I was glad I had decided to skip breakfast. My stomach was a knot of caterpillars. If somebody so much as breathed in my direction, I was going to throw up.

  The stadium had been converted from an outdoor amphitheatre to a sports arena with tiered seating all around. The arena itself was warded off from the first tier of seats and there was a physical barrier that blocked off the splash zone.

  While only the most important guests had been present at the opening ceremony, today’s fight was the main attraction. I guessed the Academies wanted to ensure there was as much seating as possible.

  Andrei whistled from my right. “It’s packed,” he said.

  “Isn’t it always?” I shot back. The replays I’d seen in the MirrorNet had always been chock full of spectators.

  “Not like this.” He pointed to the very top of the seats. There were winged supernaturals hovering above the stadium. “I’ll bet the ones who can’t fly are fuming.”

  I didn’t like the feel of any of this. “Lex!” Charles shouted my name. I turned towards the sound of his voice and couldn’t help smiling. They sat three tiers from the mats. He and Luther were positioned on either side of Cassie and Maddison. Even better, on the row behind them sat the rest of my friends, as well as Nanna and Basil. They all waved at me with mixed expressions on their faces. Cassie looked a little green. After everything that had happened to us, I wasn’t surprised.

  “Is there a rule against speaking to spectators?” I asked Andrei.

  “I don’t think so.”

  That was all I needed. I raced over to them and gave as many hugs as I could in the short amount of time I had. Nanna didn’t want to let go. “Are you okay?” she asked. I clutched her jittery hands. We were both thinking of last night’s possession.

  “I’ll be fine.”

  Sophie squeezed me hard. There were tears in her eyes. “This is so crazy,” she said.

  Basil gripped my wrist. “They’re
not going to go easy on you,” he said. Something appeared in my palm. I stared at the enchanted orb. I raised a brow at him.

  “You’re encouraging me to cheat?”

  “I’m encouraging you not to die.”

  “I think I have enough motivation for that.”

  He grabbed me by the shoulders. “I see you, Alessia Hastings,” he said. The look he gave me was soul-searching. I wanted to lower my gaze, but he refused to let me. “I know deep down you want to save everybody. But some of those people won’t give you the same consideration.”

  It was Maddison who knocked the wind from my sails, though. “If it comes down to the wire,” she said. “Kill that bitch.”

  I choked. I didn’t think I heard right. “Wah?”

  There was no give in her eyes. “Not all of us agree with her bonding with Kai. These Games have just proven she’s not worth a damn.”

  The magical mirrors blared a warning. “All contestants to the mats.”

  I sucked in a breath and made my way back into the spotlight. At least I was in a comfortable pair of jeans today. I had woken up to an assortment of my own clothing and shoes inside the closet. I chose the jeans I used to spar with in Ravenhall, a black singlet, and a pair of well-worn but sturdy boots.

  The boys and Barbara were in sweats. Chanelle had on her games uniform that somehow managed to be a fashion statement and utilitarian at the same time.

  Jacqueline, Angus, and Jordan Knight made their way from the holding area to the middle of the mat.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” Jacqueline said. “May I have your attention, please?” The whole stadium quietened down until you could hear a leaf drop. “Welcome to the final trial of this year’s Unity Games. I trust that you have found it as enlightening as I have.”

  The roar of applause was deafening. Interspersed with the clapping was the raucous stamping of feet, whistling, chanting, and encouraging screaming.

  Somebody shouted my name to the left. I had been trying to block out as much of the crowd as I could. I had only so much will and I didn’t want it to be compromised by other people’s opinions.