An Isle of Mirrors (A Shade of Vampire #88) - Bella Forrest Page 0,59

were eager to join me in what came next. I looked to Astra. “We need you. Can you do this?”

“Yes. Derek is right. We have to verify more people and increase the defense circle here. We’ll have something safe to come back to this way.” She took Phoenix’s hands in hers. “You have to stay here. When Soul and the others come back, use them. Maybe get Kelara to stick around and send Soul with another small team to gather additional originals. And if we find Mom, I’ll make sure she stays with us, okay?”

Phoenix took her in his arms, hugging her tightly as he hid his face in her bright pink hair. “I will, honey. And you take care of yourself out there. Come back to me. You and your mother…”

Time wasn’t our friend, but at least we hadn’t run out of options. Bracing ourselves for the worst, we bid our elders farewell and headed out, determined to restore the balance in The Shade. Behind us, a thick pillar of orange smoke rose, billowing toward the moon. It glowed from within, like a magical beacon that would easily be spotted from anywhere on the island.

“The beacon,” I muttered, taking a second to admire it.

“It’s starting,” Astra said. “The war we never thought we’d have to fight.”

“Well, I’m the kind who gets bored easily,” Jericho replied. “At least I’ll have plenty of entertainment along the way.”

Dafne chuckled. “You really have found a positive side in all this.”

“You’re a silver lining, too,” Jericho shot back with a wink. It made the ice dragon blush as she looked away, and we left the Great Dome behind.

I had no idea how this would end. But I had one hell of a team to work with, and everything to lose. The clones were up to something. My glamoring would come in handy, provided we managed to take one or more of these fiends alive. As we headed north, back to where Phoenix said his group had fought with doppelgangers, I hoped we’d find Viola, Hazel, and Tejus soon. I hoped we’d get more intel and understand what the enemy wanted. I hoped we’d all survive.

But Astra was right. This was a war we were walking into, and we were blind. I dreaded what would happen once the conflict spilled into the civilian areas. The panic. The suspicions that would lead to tragic accidents. We had to move fast in a thickening darkness over which we had no control.

Astra

(Daughter of Phoenix and Viola)

Dad knew I would stop at nothing to find Mom. I was scared, but I also knew she wouldn’t be easily defeated. A Daughter had some weight in this world, and deep down I doubted the clones would be stupid enough to take her. What truly horrified me was that they might push to kill her instead—but at least I knew that hadn’t happened yet. I would’ve felt our spiritual connection become severed. No, Mom was alive somewhere. I’d find her.

The redwood forest seemed quiet, perhaps eerily so. My senses were going haywire, proof that more shimmering portals had opened in this area. Everything was wrong. It was as if each particle in the air had turned into a needle, pricking my skin.

“Thayen…” I managed, breaking into a cold sweat as we continued to head for the northern edge of the redwoods. “Thayen, there were portals open here.”

“Portals? Plural?” he asked, giving me a concerned look. Our trek came to a halt as the others gathered around me. I had trouble breathing, overwhelmed not only by the sensory supercharge but also by my own emotions. My dad had barely made it out of an encounter with clones. My mom was missing. My grandparents, too. Damn it, the more I thought about it, the more it sank in, wreaking havoc in my soul. “Astra, come on. Take a deep breath.” Thayen encouraged me as he placed his hands on my shoulders. “In and out. In, count to three, then out, count to three.”

I followed his advice, inhaling until my lungs could bear no more. I held it in for one, two… three seconds, then slowly let it out. One… two… three. A few more rounds of this, and the sharp pain in the back of my neck vanished. My skin no longer felt as though it had been set ablaze. I was coming back to something more stable, and I had Thayen to thank for it.

“Yes, portals.” I resumed my earlier statement under Dafne,