An Isle of Mirrors (A Shade of Vampire #88) - Bella Forrest Page 0,24

the ground floor. I fell to my knees, sharp pain shooting up my thighs, but Jericho pulled me up.

We burst through the doors as the entire already damaged structure came down, rubble exploding outward and hitting us all in the back and the legs. Anger coursed through my veins as I whirled around and released the widest barrier I’d ever been able to conjure. It deflected most of the flying pieces of the hospital’s shattered walls, along with the swelling puffs of dirt and dust that inadvertently followed.

My muscles ached, but I was still standing.

A few minutes passed in wretched silence as we watched it all come down, Isabelle’s clone’s room was left in the middle, untouched and safe, while everything else had fallen apart around it. Iron beams had melted, deformed and twisted by the powerful explosion. Most of the bricks had been turned to reddish dust and pebbles. Glass had been sprinkled everywhere, capturing some of the moonlight in its tiny shards. And clouds of powder danced through the clearing before settling in a thick layer over every surface.

This was a piece of The Shade that the clones had destroyed. A part of our lives. They were going to great lengths to wreak havoc and to get Isabelle’s double out of here. It had to mean something.

“Are you okay?” Thayen asked.

I nodded slowly. “Yeah, just worn out.”

“No kidding! That was one hell of a barrier you threw out,” Jericho replied, genuinely impressed. I couldn’t stop myself from blushing.

“Well, at least our precious doppelganger is still okay,” Dafne noted, staring at the box surrounded by rubble and dirt and burnt ruins from which black smoke rose in thin columns reaching for the heavens.

Branches broke somewhere nearby. We turned to see Voss, Soph, and Chantal running toward us. Out of an abundance of caution, I raised my hands and positioned myself in front of Thayen, Dafne, and Jericho. “Stop right there!” I said, loud enough for the three to hear. “Don’t move another inch!”

I wasn’t sure I could push out another barrier, but they didn’t know that.

“What are you doing?” Thayen asked me, his voice low.

“How do we know they’re the real Voss, Soph, and Chantal?” I asked, giving him a nervous glance. He nodded as it dawned on him why I was concerned.

“Whoa. What’s this about? What just happened here?” Voss asked, his eyes widening as he tried to take in the entire scene. It was a lot to process.

Soph frowned in my direction. “What’s up, cuz?”

“As you can see, we’ve had some clone trouble,” I said, my voice trembling. “And we know of four other copies you’ve been dealing with out in the field. Considering how adept they’ve been at infiltrating our ranks, I’m thinking we need to implement a vetting process going forward. You know, to make sure you guys are the real thing.”

“We can start by having Voss spread his wings,” Thayen suggested.

“That might not be enough. What if there are multiple clones with different enhancements?” Dafne replied.

Voss, Chantal, and Soph exchanged curious glances. They were an odd team. Voss was the tallest, having taken after his father, Field. He did as Thayen asked, however, showing us his wings. They looked normal.

Chantal seemed tiny in comparison, her silvery eyes sparkling with concern, and there were a few leaves caught in her pale blonde hair. They’d been doing their share of running through the redwood forest.

Soph stood out—she was a full head taller than Chantal yet at least that much shorter than Voss, with daemon horns and Zane’s vibrant red eyes. I knew Fiona had asked her to come over from Neraka, but I hadn’t had a chance to catch up with her since this whole mess had begun. The only common elements these three shared were the GASP uniforms of black leather, utility belts, and weapons sheathed on their backs.

“It’s not enough,” I told Voss. “Forgive me, we need to do more to protect ourselves.”

“She makes a fair point,” Soph conceded, looking at Voss, then back at me. “I’m told you were able to distinguish the lack of a real soul within Isabelle’s clone. Think you can try that with us, too?”

Thayen leaned in close to me. “While Soul is gone, you’re our only functioning clone detector.”

“Right. Okay,” I replied with a nod, then moved forward. “Soph, you come first. Slowly, please, no sudden movements.”

I hated having to do this, but it was for everyone’s safety. The clones had sown the seeds of chaos in our