I was sure he would’ve liked to compel her in a more controlled environment and not on the back of a dragon, but Isabelle’s doppelganger did have a way of bringing out the worst in us.
“Where is Isabelle?” Thayen asked.
The clone whimpered under his influence, and he tightened his grip on the back of her neck, too, just enough to make it hurt.
“Where is Isabelle?” he insisted.
“Argh… stop!” she cried out. Jericho growled, his body rumbling beneath us. “Stop, Thayen! Please!”
Thayen wouldn’t yield. “I’ll stop when you start talking. Where is Isabelle?”
“She’s alive… she’s alive…” the clone managed.
“And the object? What is it? Where is it? Where did you get it from?”
“I can’t…” she mumbled, unable to keep her eyes open anymore.
I carefully leaned to the left so I could get a glimpse of her face. Blood trickled from her nose. Thayen was bleeding, too. He’d pushed himself too far again. “Take a break,” I told him. “You’re wearing yourself out.”
“I won’t stop until she tells us everything we need to know!”
“Damn it, Thayen, I’m too weak to help any of you right now. We need you at full power, and the more you push yourself, the worse off you’ll be!” I replied. “Please. Stop. We know Isabelle is alive, and we can get more out of this bitch later, once we reach the Port.”
“She’s right,” Soph chimed in. “You’ve done enough already. We have to save our strength until we get to safety.”
Thayen sighed, releasing Isabelle’s double from his grip. She exhaled sharply and muttered a curse, but she didn’t dare say another word. None of us were pleased with how it had turned out, but we had to be grateful for still having her in our possession. The clones could’ve taken her away. We could’ve lost her…
The fight wasn’t over. The war had just begun, and I doubted we’d won a single battle. But we’d managed to make it this far. With the Port in our sights, I could only hope we’d unravel this mystery before it killed us and all the people we loved. These were dangerous times, and we had to get Isabelle’s clone to talk. Once we knew what she’d taken from us, what that object really was, we’d have a better idea about what the enemy was truly planning.
They’d been brazen enough to infiltrate The Shade. They were determined to kill me. I was sure the problem wouldn’t end with the clones retrieving what she’d stolen. I had no idea where my mom was. I didn’t know if Derek and my dad and the others were okay. I couldn’t even imagine where the other Shadians were or how they were holding up in the face of this bloody onslaught.
I could only move forward with Thayen, Soph, Jericho, and Dafne by my side and hope that we’d reach a safe spot soon. There was still so much work to be done and so little time. Our home had been plunged into chaos, and I had a feeling it would be up to us to pull it back to the surface. It was an overwhelming thought, but it also served to keep me on my toes.
I needed to stay sharp.
Kelara
Soul and I had been sitting here for about an hour, maybe more. Time seemed to flow differently when a Reaper was stuck inside a death magic pentagram. I’d tried everything, including reaching out to other Reapers, but our telepathic connections were still off, courtesy of the annoyingly resourceful clones. I’d tried tapping into my bond with Death, as well. No luck on that front.
“I feel incredibly stupid right now,” Soul muttered, sitting with his legs crossed. We’d seen dozens of clones rush by. Some stopped to grin at us or tease us for our inability to leave. He’d promised each one a disturbing and bloody death, but that hadn’t made him feel any better.
We were trying to figure out how Draven and Serena’s copies had gotten the drop on us. That bright explosion must’ve done more than just blind us. Then again, blitz attacks were designed to disarm a target. In that sense, the clones had definitely done the job right. It was just so embarrassing for the both of us—prime fighters, First Tenners, Reapers with special abilities renowned in our world for all the amazing things we could do. Yet we were stuck in here, unable to get out, our weapons removed.
“It’s the fact that they took our scythes,” I said. “That’s what hurts the