An Isle of Mirrors (A Shade of Vampire #88) - Bella Forrest Page 0,44

Chantal. She was trying to reach me when it hit her. She fell, and I wanted to move, to get to her, but I couldn’t. Richard collapsed, his face bruised by some of Serena’s doppelganger’s barriers. She got on top of him, her knees digging into his back. He growled and tried to wriggle his way out, but the doppelganger jammed a needle into his shoulder. Richard said something, slurring his words as he passed out.

“No…”

“We wanted to let you kids go, but we changed our minds,” Draven’s copy said. “We could use some of you as leverage later.”

“No… Don’t…” I whispered, my mouth drying up.

He stung Chantal with something that looked like a needle, and she fainted. I was the only one left awake, but I was useless, boiling on the inside as the clones got up and high-fived each other, smugly satisfied with themselves. Their grins were cold, their eyes devoid of any emotion. And yet they looked so much like the real Draven and Serena. It was disturbing on many levels.

“Why are you doing this?” I croaked, my voice weak and scratchy.

“Because we can,” Draven’s copy replied. “Because it’s what we’re meant to do.”

“Do we take him, too?” Serena’s double asked him.

He shook his head. “Nah. He can stay behind and tell the others that there’s no point in fighting us. Sooner or later, we’ll have them all. We will replace them, whether they like it or not. This world is ours, darling. It was meant for us.”

My stomach churned as Serena’s copy gave me a brief glance. I could almost spot a glimmer of pity in her eyes as she grabbed Richard’s legs and started dragging him away. Draven’s copy threw Chantal over his shoulder like a rolled-up rug and proceeded to follow his fake wife. The urgency of this situation overrode whatever Druid magic he’d dosed me with, and I started moving, much to my surprise. I managed to shakily stand.

“Wait!” I called out, my wings flapping uncontrollably but without the strength required to lift me off the ground. All they did was raise the dust around me, pushing me into a violent cough.

Draven’s clone looked back at me, a sneer slitting his face. “Stay down. Be a good boy.”

“No!”

I wanted to fight. I just wasn’t sure how much of their attacks I could still take. My vision was not steady, blurring every other second, making it harder for me to focus. He’d done quite the number on me already.

“Hm. Okay. I’ve changed my mind, then,” he shot back and threw a shimmering ball of energy at me. I barely saw it coming. It hit me right in the head, heat burning through my mind as darkness returned to wrap me in its cold arms.

“No…”

“That’s a good boy!” he said, as though I were a dog. “Let’s just hope the other two handled the Reapers properly. You heard the bosses… No loose ends. No interference.”

“We’re modeled after the same material and we’re doing all right,” Serena’s copy replied, her voice muffled in my head. Their exchange made me think that there were more Serenas and Dravens out here—not just these two. But I was useless and definitely their prisoner now.

There was no strength left, only darkness and emptiness as I succumbed to a deep sleep. My thoughts scattered, leaving me helpless, like a fallen leaf lost with the deluge. No…

Tristan

Sissa and Loren were not in any way frightened or intimidated by Joy’s presence. After all, she’d been assigned to protect them many eons ago. But they didn’t look comfortable either, and I wondered why. They didn’t seem to like her very much, though they both put on dry smiles whenever she looked at them.

I, on the other hand, was quaking in my boots. I didn’t show it. Unending had taught me a long time ago that Reapers took one’s fear and used it as a weapon if given the opportunity. Of course, in this case the chances of actual conflict were relatively slim—assuming Joy wasn’t some blundering psychopath. Death hadn’t been notified of our discovery of this place, nor of our presence. This visit hadn’t been sanctioned, and I knew Unending would reach out to her if push came to shove.

“Stay calm,” she told me telepathically. “We want to keep Death out of the loop for as long as possible so we can figure out what this place and this particular Reaper are all about.”

I agreed. Death had a bad habit of keeping secrets, and