An Isle of Mirrors (A Shade of Vampire #88) - Bella Forrest Page 0,80

is getting annoying!” Isabelle’s clone snapped from her position pinned under my body on the dragon’s back.

Ahead, we watched as a long and slender arrow shot from below and struck Dafne in her wing. The dragons cried out, and we all fell. I shot through the branches, snapping some of them off. The cool air filled my lungs as gravity pulled me down. Instinctively, I grabbed whatever I could as I plummeted, but everything broke under my sudden weight. I got cuts and bruises on my way down, though I did manage to slow my fall—enough to soften the force of a landing that would’ve crushed me otherwise.

I couldn’t breathe for a good minute. Finally, my lungs filled with precious air, and my ribs ached, sending waves of hot pain through my torso. “Gah…” I managed, wiggling my toes and fingers first to make sure my spine was still intact. We only had seconds before the clones would reach us.

“For cryin’ out loud!” Isabelle’s doppelganger moaned from a few feet away from me. I raised my head and found her on her back, twigs and leaves poking out from under her. One stick had punctured her side, and blood was seeping into her blouse like a crimson rose unfolding its petals.

A loud thump made me jump. Jericho had landed about ten yards to my left, the metallic arrow stuck in his wing. He roared from the pain, shifting back to his humanoid form to better deal with his injury. The arrow had gone through his bicep. Dafne wasn’t too far away, either. I could see Astra and Soph getting to their feet. The ice dragon must’ve softened their fall.

Rushed footsteps echoed in the night, and I knew we had a battle coming. The problem was that we were all injured in one way or another. I doubted we could hold our own against the incoming hostiles.

“Astra. Soph. You okay?” I called out, pushing myself into a standing position. As soon as I straightened my back, I felt my spine crack. It wasn’t broken, but it had taken some damage. I needed at least half an hour to get back to full strength—wishful thinking, since I could already see the bastards coming, silhouettes dashing left and right between the old redwood trees.

Half a mile behind me, the Port waited.

Isabelle’s clone’s snicker got on my nerves as she stood and pulled the stick out of her wound. “You’re so screwed.”

“It’s not over yet,” Jericho replied, gritting his teeth. He used his fae fire to melt off half of the arrow. I ran to his side and helped pull the rest out of his arm. He snarled and released a slew of expletives while I used the incandescent end of the arrow to help close his wound and cauterize it at the same time.

I caught a glimpse of Astra doing some healing on Dafne’s shoulder, her hands glowing pink as she struggled to breathe. There was no energy left in the Daughter, yet she kept pushing herself in order to help others. Soph had draped Dafne’s jacket around her, and she was running over to give Jericho his garment, as well.

The fire dragon grabbed it and quickly got dressed. Soph and I positioned ourselves in front of Isabelle’s double. “There’s no other way,” the daemon breathed. “We have to fight them.”

“I don’t have enough strength to do another curtain of fire,” Jericho said, flames bursting in his hands. “But I can still torch a clone or two.”

Astra helped Dafne up. The ice dragon’s injuries had not fully healed, mainly because Astra was spent, but at least the bleeding had stopped. They reached us at the same time as the clones, and the air thickened with hostile tension as the creatures surrounded us with devious grins on their faces. Nausea caused knots to form in my throat, but this was it. This was our only option.

My claws and fangs were out, skin tingling as I got ready to use my glamoring ability in combat. I’d yet to perfect the technique of casting my influence against a moving target, but I would have to try.

“How’s Dafne?” I asked, my gaze fixed on Hazel and Tejus’s clones. They were slightly closer than the others. What were the odds I could glamor them both at once? Slim to none, I figured, as Hazel’s clone threw a barrier out.

Astra gasped and launched one of her own. The air ripples clashed and burst into a soft pulse that nudged