A Shade of Vampire 90: A Ruler of Clones - Bella Forrest Page 0,65
parts irritated and bored. “No one has been able to get close enough to kill you, so I figured I might as well let you stew a little before I end you myself.”
“Sister, no…” Myst managed, a single tear escaping her eye. “What did you do to Regine?”
“Got her out of the way,” Hrista replied. “Not much else I can do. Otherwise, I would’ve had you both destroyed ages ago. I knew you two would be dumb enough to follow me out here.”
The more she spoke, the clearer it became that she did not value her Valkyrie sisters. Not one bit. It told me she cared even less about us, the living, and I doubted she gave even the slightest damn about the clones either. To Hrista, beings were either useful or a nuisance. Torrhen had chosen to be the former, while Brandon had risked being the latter.
“You knew we’d be coming,” Brandon cut in, not really surprised but definitely upset. Darkness burned off him in black wisps of anger, spreading and covering his silver and steel armor, then the bits of leather and his bare arms. Bit by bit, it took over, leaving only his strange eyes visible as he readied himself for a fight. “You knew I would bring them.”
“Of course,” Hrista said, slightly amused. The black mist under her control stopped mere inches from my boots. It had to be related to Haldor’s darkness somehow. Its effects were similar, as far as I could tell. I’d only caught snippets of their magic and their capabilities, and it was difficult to form coherent observations without the Berserkers and the Valkyries filling in all the necessary blanks. There was so much we did not know yet, and that was where Hrista had already beaten us. “Why struggle to chase you around when I can just let you be yourselves? The living rats came in looking for their friends and for the truth. What’s the harm in giving them both before I kill them?”
“Torrhen, you betrayed us,” Brandon replied.
“Torrhen did what was best for him,” Hrista shot back before the Berserker could open his mouth and defend himself. The third eye glowed when it looked to us this time. “You should have done the same thing, Brandon. Yet you insisted on thinking yourself smarter than me. You and Haldor, for that matter. Two fools.”
That caught everyone by surprise—except Torrhen. He’d either known or was just excellent at hiding his expressions. “What are you talking about?” Brandon asked, taking a step forward. The black mist covering the grass trembled at his approach, like a live organism reacting to his close proximity. Regine hadn’t moved a single inch, but I’d seen the blue fires burning in her eyes and taken it as a sign of welfare, despite her hopefully temporary paralysis.
“He was always a little too soft on you,” Hrista sighed, leaning against the wisteria-covered railing. “Never followed through with his threats despite your numerous shortcomings and betrayals. Case in point—here you stand, Hammer is still intact, and Haldor… nowhere to be found.”
“You know where he is, don’t you?” Brandon muttered, and I sensed the humor in his voice. He’d figured something out, and he was making the most of this difficult moment. “Let me guess. You know where he is, but you don’t know where he hid Hammer. You gave him leeway on that issue—figured he’d do what he was told—yet Haldor went behind your back, and Hammer is out of your reach while your other Berserkers are doing what, exactly? Torturing Haldor? Trying to get the information out of him, perhaps?”
Thayen gave me a curious look. “Where is he going with this?”
“Oh, I’m going somewhere really good with this,” Brandon replied, almost laughing. It made Hrista and Torrhen turn sullen, but neither said a word. “It means Hrista here no longer has leverage over me. Say what you will about Haldor, but a Berserker of his skill and expertise would’ve caught you all by now, twice over. He never really tried too hard.”
I began to piece together a new perspective from what Brandon was saying. “Haldor never really wanted to catch us,” I whispered. “He made it look like he was, but…”
“Not really,” Hrista said, pursing her lips. “That, I saw coming. I allowed it to happen. I just didn’t think he’d be—”
“Brave enough to play it all the way through,” Brandon chuckled and drew his twin swords. Darkness bounced off the blades with obsidian shimmers, their sharp edges hungering