exhaust yourself in this pursuit. Take it easy; give your ability time to expand and grow without it whittling away at your health. There is no point in you glamoring a clone if it eventually reduces you to a bleeding mess.”
“What am I supposed to do? Give myself a day or two? Kick back with a book?” I was irritated by my inability to overcome these physical limitations. What good was a Reaper’s power if I couldn’t use it like a Reaper could?
“Maybe start with a deep breath,” Astra said, eyeing me worriedly. “Unwind for a moment. Stop assuming it’s your responsibility to fix everything. Isabelle’s clone will cave in eventually. Whether it happens in the next few hours or days, it doesn’t matter. It will happen.”
“What about Isabelle? She’s still out there somewhere,” I insisted.
She looked down, as if uncomfortable to hold my gaze. “If she were dead, I’m sure we’d have found her body by now.”
“What if they took her body to wherever the clones came from?” I asked.
“Whoever is pulling the strings here already knows we have their clone. I think we would’ve come across… the real Isabelle if that were the case. They would have no reason left to hold on to it. Given how practically evil they are, as evidenced by our ‘friend’ here, they would probably throw her back into this world just to get back at us for taking their clone,” Astra replied.
I didn’t like the sound of Isabelle’s body not having turned up so far, but I had to admit it was a solid line of reasoning. A mild sense of peace came with it—a faint reassurance that maybe Isabelle was very much alive and waiting for us to save her.
“Let’s not mention any of this to Draven and Serena,” I said. “The corpse part, I mean. They’re dealing with enough as it is.”
Voss came down the hallway, carrying a duffel bag on his shoulder. “Hey, you two!” he called out. “Sofia and Derek want you back at the Great Dome. They couldn’t get through to your comms pieces. Apparently, your Telluris connections aren’t working, either. I was on my way to start the patrol shift, passing by the Great Dome, when they called out to me. My comms aren’t working, either, it seems…”
“So, they only sent you?” I asked.
Astra tried her earpiece first, then Telluris. “I’m not getting an answer.” She gave me a concerned look.
“No. They told me they sent Chantal and Soph ahead, too. They’re not here?” We shook our heads, and he pursed his lips as he reached us and dropped the bag on the floor. “There’s something funky going on here... I obviously have no way of reaching the girls now…”
I tried my own comms lines and Telluris, but just like Astra, I wasn’t able to contact anyone. It bothered me. Something was definitely about to happen. I could feel it in my bones. And I didn’t want it catching us split up like this.
Astra gave me a curious look. “Do you think we’re dealing with more clones?”
“I wouldn’t put it past them. Dad did say we should expect more fakes, though we’re not yet sure how many of us they were able to replicate, in the first place. Not to mention how,” Voss replied. “It’s all very confusing to me. I wish things were normal again.”
“Things were never really normal here, though.” I said as I got up. “But this warrants further investigation. Before we head for the Great Dome, Astra and I will rush over to the terrace and pick the others up. We’ll have Stan and Ollie come over to keep you company and make sure no one tampers with the doppelganger’s room. It’s virtually impenetrable, anyway.”
He eyed me intently. “Yeah, I’ll hold down the fort here, but hurry. The fact that our comms are down is a major issue. We need to get ahead of this quickly.”
“I know. Like I said, we’ll grab Lumi and the gang and we’ll head back to the Great Dome. You’ll have some ghoul backup soon enough,” I said, patting him on the back as I walked toward the exit with Astra. “The clone’s in deep sleep for now.”
“Just be careful, okay?” Voss replied, taking my seat.
I gave him one last look before we went through the double doors. Astra had a permanently raised eyebrow, as if something had been bothering her for a while. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing. I just think we’re missing a crucial piece of