A Shade of Vampire 90: A Ruler of Clones - Bella Forrest Page 0,7

Granted, we all felt the same about our beloved half-Daughter, half-sentry. It further served to reinforce my own belief that Astra had to be protected, no matter what. “That is interesting,” the Valkyrie murmured. “Yes, you are integral to this mission, indeed.”

“And you?” Brandon said, looking my way. “What makes you useful? Your vampire abilities are practically useless against a Berserker. I could break you in half right now and not blink an eye doing it.”

Astra frowned. “He can bend spirits. You saw what he’s capable of.”

“I saw his brain nearly turn to mush when he tried to pull that stunt on Haldor,” the Berserker chuckled. “And… sorry to break this to you, but Haldor isn’t even the strongest among those who’ve joined HQ.” He moved his attention back to me. “Maybe you should stay back and take care of Richard.”

“Dafne and I can do that,” Soph retorted. “Thayen leads this team on every mission. He has proven himself more than once. Where the team goes, he goes.”

My heart grew a few sizes in the span of seconds. Their faith in me was a badge of honor, and I intended to wear it proudly. Of course, it was also added pressure on my shoulders, but it was a burden I was proud to bear. The journey ahead was long and rife with dangers. My friends relied on me to lead them through this evil darkness. My parents expected me to carry the Novak name with my head held high and my soul beaming life and light.

I couldn’t let any of them down. “I’m getting better at glamoring. Days ago, I could barely hold on to a living soul like Richard’s. Now, I’m able to pin a clone down. I can even touch a Berserker’s spirit. While I’m not sure how much further I can push this ability, I won’t stop working on it.”

My answer seemed to satisfy Brandon. The faint smile he gave me suggested a degree of trust. I would’ve liked a verbal vote of confidence, but I doubted he’d be so generous. It was odd that I aspired for his and Myst’s approval, though. It was also terrifying that we were about to go up against a bunch of Berserkers, not just Haldor. We needed to avoid alerting them to our presence if at all possible.

“It’s settled, then,” I said. “Astra, Viola, Jericho, Myst, Brandon, and I will be undertaking this mission to rescue our friends from HQ. Maybe we’ll manage to gather more intel, too. There’s so much we still don’t know.”

Myst’s head turned sharply as something outside caught her attention. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I followed her gaze.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. Give me a second.” She dashed out, and we all stood still, not moving a single muscle, listening to every sound that trickled into the cave. My ears twitched, picking up bird trills and leaves rustling. Distant howls of cloned werewolves. Faint echoes of dragon copies flying over the fake Shade, likely searching for us.

“A further word of advice, Thayen,” Brandon said, his voice low so as not to be heard beyond this room. “About taking interest in a Valkyrie: they’re passionate entities. Wondrous things, really. But scorn them, and they break. They lose themselves and turn into something awful.”

“Whoa. Where’d you get that idea—” He spoke over me, firm in his approach despite my horrified expression, since everyone else could hear him, too.

“Listen to me. The Valkyries and the Berserkers are not made for romance. We don’t understand sentiments like love. It doesn’t belong to us, so we don’t know what to do with it when we experience it,” he continued. “The Valkyries in particular, can be very intense. Ultimately, you wouldn’t be able to handle someone like Myst.”

The silence was heavy for several seconds, and painfully awkward. My face burned, and I would’ve liked nothing more than to throw something blunt and heavy at Brandon’s head. Who the hell had said anything about love? Myst was, at best, an ally.

“I see the way you look at her,” he added, further prodding me, though he sounded honest in his approach. “You’re in over your head, kid, in more ways than one.”

“And you’re a colossal jerk,” Astra muttered. The Berserker gave her a confused look, but she didn’t deign to clarify her statement. Maybe he’d figure it out on his own. Or maybe someone would explain it to him, but it certainly wasn’t going to