An Isle of Mirrors (A Shade of Vampire #88) - Bella Forrest Page 0,60

Jericho, Soph, and Thayen’s watchful eyes. “Multiple. I think we’re looking at way more clones than our worst-case scenarios so far.”

Jericho frowned. “They’re probably spreading out. And I doubt they’re all looking to attack the Shadians; otherwise, we would’ve heard plenty of commotion already.”

“Sparky’s right,” Dafne said, drawing a raised eyebrow from the dragon-fae. “I think they have specific targets and missions for this invasion, and not all of them are about a weaponized offense.”

“We should stick to our to-do list, then,” Soph said.

“Yes. It’s still our best way forward,” Thayen replied. “And since we are heading north, we should certainly check the Vale. It’s mostly human, and I wonder if the clones have any interest in it. To this point, they’ve attacked the hospital because of Isabelle’s clone, the terrace alley where some of our GASP officers were gathered, and the Great Dome where the GASP founders were meeting. I’m not sure about other places yet, but I can definitely see a pattern.”

Resuming our fast walk through the redwood forest, I began to see what Thayen was conveying. “They’re attacking GASP objectives, right?”

“We’re the primary armed force here. The defenders. If they want to attack The Shade, they take out the military spots first,” Thayen said.

There were only theories and spoken fears for us to contend with, and we had these for company on our way to the Vale. Naturally, we were tense and on edge by the time we got there. It looked peaceful. Quiet. Too quiet, much like the woods. As if The Shade itself had caught on that something awful had happened, and something worse would soon come.

The humans were mostly out and about, clustered closer toward the town center. The streetlamps flickered in the darkness, their amber light cast over the cobblestone streets. Houses rose ahead, lining the sidewalks with manicured gardens and open windows. It was nice and warm outside, like every other summer evening. The cafés were open around the central plaza. Beyond, I could see the schools and the administrative buildings silhouetted against the dimly lit starry sky.

If this were any normal day, I would’ve liked nothing more than to stop by the ice cream shop and spend forty-five minutes simply trying to decide which flavors to get. Simpler times were long behind us, however, and nothing our eyes registered could truly be trusted.

“It seems okay,” Dafne said quietly. “Though I don’t know as much about the humans’ social life as I probably should.”

“Since you’re half human yourself?” Jericho chuckled.

She shrugged. “Yeah. I spend most of my time in the Black Heights. My parents are there. My whole ice dragon clan is there.”

“Just because it seems okay doesn’t mean it actually is,” Soph warned. “They could all be clones just waiting to pounce on us.”

At first look, no one was paying attention. People were just walking up and down the street, stopping by shops, laughing, exchanging greetings, and forming groups to head into town for the night. But Soph had a point. It could be an act. Or maybe the paranoia had finally gotten to us. There was no way for me to tell without checking each of the humans, and that involved way too much contact for my safety.

“We should definitely head to the armory behind the training halls sooner rather than later, and grab some pulverizer weapons,” Soph said, eyeing the passersby. “I know we never used them on the island, but clearly times are changing. How many do you keep in the armory?”

“About a dozen. But if the covert ops have instructions to use pulverizer weapons in case of an invasion, there might be more stored elsewhere. Listen, let’s do a tour of the Vale and see what it’s like, first,” Thayen suggested. “We’ll pay attention to every single gesture. Anything that’s out of place, we check it out.”

“And if they seem normal?” I asked, wondering if it would come down to me to verify everybody from the Vale. I was already tired, and I didn’t even want to know what toll such an operation would take on my rapidly depleting energy levels.

“We select a group of humans and bring them into the loop so they can keep an eye on things around here, then head for the armory and grab the weapons. Soph’s right about them,” Thayen replied. “If crap hits the fan here, at least a handful of the humans will know what to expect, and they’ll head straight for the Great Dome to join the central