A Shade of Vampire 90: A Ruler of Clones - Bella Forrest Page 0,60
thing to do. The World Crusher had lost herself, desperate to make a new home in Purgatory—the one place where she didn’t belong.
Gazing into Tristan’s wide and worried eyes, I knew how lucky I’d been that the World Crusher and I, we were nothing alike. Death and I, we were nothing alike. It was time for me to stop seeking comparisons of any kind. What had happened to the World Crusher could have been avoided if Death had been more careful.
Astra
Brandon had offered to show us that Hrista was, in fact, behind the fake Shade’s creation. While Myst had seemed more willing to consider the possibility, Regine was still adamant that Hrista would never have degraded herself to such levels. “First of all,” the youthful-looking Valkyrie had said, “leaving Purgatory is a horrendous crime by itself. Our kind belong there and nowhere else. Second, building this place and creating clones of living people requires knowledge and expertise that even a Valkyrie as gifted as Hrista isn’t supposed to possess.”
“Someone would’ve had to help her,” I said.
“Someone did help her. I’m not sure who or how, but someone definitely helped her,” Brandon replied.
Regine remained stubborn in her response, though I knew it was only as a means of coping with this new and harsh reality. “I’ll believe it when I see it. Your kind was never trustworthy.”
I would’ve rolled my eyes at the statement, but I imagined their discord ran deeper than the handful of Berserkers who’d come over to work with Hrista on this plane. There had to be ancient history between the Valkyries and the Berserkers, the kind of history that didn’t disappear with time. Brandon had mentioned there was no sense of time in Purgatory, merely a hint of its passing as a means for them to fully take in their surroundings. “Had we been born timeless creatures, we never would’ve cared,” he’d said earlier. “Alas, we all lived and breathed and saw the sun rising, the moon glowing… Purgatory wants us to forget that, but it’s hard. So, in turn, we choose to never forget anything, including even the smallest of disputes.”
Following that logic, it meant that whatever had pushed the Valkyries and the Berserkers away from one another may not have been something big. It had just stuck around, like a shadow looming and reminding them that they weren’t friends any longer. I’d wondered if that had impacted their duty in Purgatory, but Brandon had said no. “Whether we like each other or not doesn’t matter. We do what we’re meant to do.”
To put this Hrista issue to rest, Brandon had offered to prove her betrayal. Myst sensed that she was here, and he knew where to find her. For such an operation, we needed a plan, especially since Isabelle, Voss, and Chantal were still recovering from the foreign medication they’d been sedated with. Regine and Mom’s combined efforts had not fully purged their bodies of those chemicals, though they had sped the process up slightly.
“I will stay with Richard, Isabelle, Voss, and Chantal,” Mom said. “I can teleport them away at a moment’s notice if they need another safe haven.”
“We have enough tricks up our sleeves to get ourselves out of danger, if needed,” Thayen replied, showing her a red stick. “Including flares. Just keep an eye on the skies. If you see the red flare, it’ll mean we need you to zap on over and save our skins. Think you can do that?”
“Absolutely,” Mom said, smiling. “I would come with you, of course, but I feel like the more vulnerable need me by their side in case anyone shows up here. I will stand by the cave opening and keep watch.”
I hugged her tightly, feeling Brandon’s curious gaze on us. “I know. You’re doing the right thing. Besides, we’ll only use the flare if we don’t have any other way to lose our pursuers.”
“We each have five in our bags,” Thayen reminded us. “They’re part of what we took from the armory before blowing it up, so it’s a limited supply. We agreed to use them wisely.”
“It’s fine,” Mom replied.
Richard frowned, crossing his arms in protest. “I’m okay, though. I could go with Thayen’s crew. Believe me, I’m much more alert than, say… yesterday.”
“You were an actual zombie yesterday,” Jericho chuckled. Richard wanted to contradict him, but Thayen threw an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into a tight bear hug.
“I need you to stay here and keep the others safe. Viola is