An Isle of Mirrors (A Shade of Vampire #88) - Bella Forrest Page 0,17

using. It didn’t look like anything we’d ever used or even thought to design—the blade was long and split in three, each extension molded into a different shape. One was long and slim, much like an icepick, while the other two were wider and undulated, with sharp tips. Tiny lights flickered on the handle as the Voss clone kept pressing them in a certain order and cursing under his breath.

“For heaven’s sake,” Astra croaked. “When will this stop?!”

This doppelganger had passed as one of us. That wasn’t supposed to be a surprise, given how well-made Isabelle and Richard’s copies were. They’d fooled us before. But this one had chosen a more covert approach, getting us out of here so he could do whatever he’d been sent to do. From the looks of it, breaking Isabelle’s clone out of that room was still a priority, though he had clearly not gotten the memo on all the magical wards that had been put in place.

He grew still and looked back at us, lights still blinking on his strange instrument. “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” he muttered.

It made me angry beyond belief. Isabelle was the only one they’d taken, while the others’ clones were waltzing around and messing with us. It didn’t make sense. However, it did mean that their maker had infiltrated The Shade more than once, since they’d been able to gather so much DNA material for their fakes. Why had they abducted Isabelle, in particular, then?

Whatever their agenda, I allowed my rage to take over. Voss’s clone was going down. We were getting to the truth today, one way or another. I’d had enough of the mystery and the nonsense, of the unwarranted and inexplicable violence, of the chaos that had infiltrated and turned my world upside down.

I let my claws out and revealed my fangs. He knew things were about to get bad. His expression told me that much as I lunged at him.

Astra

(Daughter of Phoenix and Viola)

What followed happened quickly.

I barely registered the movement as Thayen attacked Voss’s double. The foreign tool ended up on the floor. I snuck around the two-man skirmish and grabbed it before the doppelganger could get to it. Soul stood on the side and watched the fight—he’d intervene if needed, but I had a feeling he wanted to see how Thayen would handle the clone, perhaps whether he’d try to use his glamoring ability or not.

Thayen was thrown against the wall as the clone spread his wings in a menacing fashion. Only then did I see what made him truly different from the real Voss. Each feather had been replaced with stainless steel blades. The sight made my stomach churn because I understood their purpose before Thayen could even blink.

“He needs help,” I said, giving Soul a nervous glance.

He vanished, reappearing a couple of feet behind the clone. Somehow, the clone knew what he was doing, and horror gripped me by the throat and stopped me from warning the Reaper of what was about to come his way. “Watch out!” I eventually managed, but it was too late. The clone had already fluttered his deadly wings. Soul disappeared again, and I wasn’t sure where he’d gone.

“Damn it!” Thayen said, pushing himself back up.

I unleashed my Daughter energy, my hands glowing pink as I pointed them in the clone’s direction. Channeling all the rage I’d been gathering over the past couple of days, I released a flurry of shimmering pulses in his direction. He used his steely wings as a shield, but it gave Thayen the split second he needed to use his glamoring ability.

The clone didn’t see it coming. He froze, grunting as Thayen took hold of his fake soul. It was barely a grip, but it was working. “Don’t move!” the vampire commanded him.

Concentrating an energy pulse in the palms of my incandescent hands, I prepared myself for a devastating attack. Voss’s clone couldn’t move—this was my chance to destroy him before he did any more damage or hurt anyone else. He’d come here to set Isabelle’s doppelganger free, and I would be damned if I was going to let either of them walk out of this place. Enough was enough.

“Do it now!” Thayen called out. “I can’t hold on for much longer. He’s resisting, and he’s way better at it than Isabelle’s copy!”

“That means they’re learning,” I muttered, then let go of the pulse.

Voss’s double couldn’t pull his wings forward as a shield again. Thayen’s hold on him was weak but