An Isle of Mirrors (A Shade of Vampire #88) - Bella Forrest Page 0,36

door, I had to step up.

Astra

(Daughter of Phoenix and Viola)

There was no sight of Kelara or Soul. Either the coin had not worked, or the Reapers were unable to get to our location. Every second that passed made it clear, however, that we couldn’t rely on their assistance.

“I think we can shorten this encounter,” Jericho said as the clones strutted toward us. The sheer arrogance that had settled on their faces made me furious. They’d come prepared—I could tell by their abundantly confident attitudes.

The clearing was small, yet wide enough to be used as a battleground. My muscles were tight and hard, tension gripping every inch of me as I prepared myself for the worst. But Jericho’s suggestion sounded better than how I’d originally envisioned this scene unfolding.

“What, like go dragon and scorch their asses?” Dafne asked, gaze fixed on the clones.

“It’s our quickest way out of here, don’t you think? It’s not like we can fly away and let them do who knows what they’ve come here to do. I mean, we could fly away, but what does that say about us?” Jericho replied, a smile testing his lips as he straightened his back and pushed his chest out, a move I doubted he was even aware of as he moved to assert himself before the enemy. He’d picked it up from his father, Blaze—little things like these made me love my Shadian people even more. We’d come out fundamentally different from our parents, but we’d still managed to adopt some of their gestures and personality traits without even realizing it.

“I agree. It’s worth a shot,” Thayen said. “Just be careful. We don’t know what other tricks they’ve got up their sleeves. The more they fight us, the better prepared they become.”

“Say no more,” Dafne hissed and slipped out of my jacket. It took Jericho a couple of seconds to take his eyes off her as she turned into a majestic ice dragon with black scales and bluish iridescent streaks down her back. Dafne wasn’t big for her kind, but she was fierce.

Jericho removed his robe and shifted, joining her in a full-frontal attack on the clones. Richard’s double was the first to get past the dragons and come right at us, grinning like the devil. Thayen bolted toward him, claws and fangs out, but I couldn’t let him get close to the bastard. The last thing he or I needed was more black spray in our faces.

I threw out a barrier, and it hit Richard’s clone in the side with enough force to knock him over. “Thayen, keep away from him!” I shouted. “We need to stick together and get out of here!”

Thayen started to heed my advice, but Richard’s copy bounced back up. Before I could do anything else, they were tangled in a physical fight, growling and throwing punches and kicks in a struggle for survival.

Jericho and Dafne used their respective fire and ice to hold the other clones at bay. Hazel’s clone was fast, and she dodged the dragon flames with remarkable agility. Tejus’s doppelganger threw barriers that were stronger than my grandpa’s real ones. He hurled them at Dafne with enhanced precision, and they hit her like real punches, knocking the air from her lungs. Every time she tried to bite him, he threw another barrier, flinging her head back.

Jovi and Anjani’s clones were the first to fall as Jericho’s inferno spread out indiscriminately. The fires caught up and swallowed them whole, and they screamed. Thayen fell and cried out in pain, and I could see a dagger in his side. Richard’s clone was about to rip into his throat, but Soph darted in his direction.

Before he could finish Thayen off, Soph rammed into him. They landed in a nearby bush, and I rushed to get to Thayen. He needed faster healing than his vampire nature could provide him. In an instant, I was kneeling beside him, my hand pressed against his wound and glowing pink as I allowed my Daughter energy to seep into the damaged flesh and heal it.

“He’s way faster than Richard,” Thayen grunted as I helped him back up.

Soph was thrown backward, but Thayen rushed to catch her before she could hit the ground and hurt herself. Richard’s clone came right out, eager to take the three of us on. I wasn’t sure if he was suicidal or simply crazy, but when I spotted the black spray device in his hand, I knew at least one of us would be