A Shade of Vampire 90: A Ruler of Clones - Bella Forrest Page 0,91

around his waist and pulled him away.

“No, we don’t know what this is! We don’t know where it’ll take us!” Thayen said. It took some convincing, but Richard ultimately gave up, cursing under his breath.

I understood why he was so desperate to leave but considering how insane our entire stay in the fake Shade had been, we had every reason to be skeptical of shimmering portals and anything else that came from Hrista’s magic. She’d revealed herself to us as the enemy. Why would we risk playing into her hands after we’d barely escaped with our lives?

“It’s coming,” Haldor breathed, the last of the black mist disappearing from his arms and legs. “It’s done.”

“Can’t we stop it?” Mom asked.

“We don’t even know what it is we’re trying to stop,” Myst sighed, lowering her head in defeat. It wasn’t enough, and I wasn’t pleased with this outcome. No, I wasn’t ready to quit, nor was I willing to submit to Hrista—ever.

I turned to Brandon. “How do we undo what’s about to come our way?”

The light from the portals shone brighter and brighter until the entire island was bathed in a sea of white that nearly blinded us. It dissolved every wisp of shadows on Brandon’s broad shoulders and handsome face, the warmth covering us like a summer’s day. I felt his hand catching mine and holding tightly.

“You’re a survivor, aren’t you, Pinkie?”

I wanted to reply with a resounding yes, but I ended up wrapped tightly in his arms as the light intensified and screams erupted around us. It was so strange and difficult to even describe. As if two worlds were spilling over and bleeding into one another.

In the belly of the white light that had swallowed us, I could see our Shade—the real one.

Sofia

We’d been caught off guard just outside the Great Dome.

A shimmering portal had opened while we mobilized and prepared for an incursion. And not just one portal, but hundreds at once. Kailani was ready to zap us to the nearest opening when another glowing gash burst mere feet away.

My heart stopped in that moment. Every fiber in my body told me to go through and damn every risk to hell. Derek squeezed my hand, and I was thrilled to be reminded that we were in this together and that we were both ready to get our son back. Rose and Ben were ready too, their pulverizer weapons locked and loaded. Kailani had an arsenal of white witchcraft and Word magic at her disposal, skin glowing with her patron’s power as she reacted to the portals.

Esme and Kalon were the first to step toward the newly opened shimmering portal when Kailani held them back. “Wait. There’s something fishy about this,” she said.

I was almost dizzy. We’d been waiting for this for so long. Thayen was somewhere beyond this portal. We had to go. We had to get our kids back. I wanted to move, but my mind had caught on to something that my other senses had completely missed. “Derek, what’s happening?” I asked as the light from the portal intensified.

On the other side of the portal, a horn blew three times. It was distant, but we all heard it.

“There are hundreds of portals opening,” Safira said, appearing beside us. She seemed alarmed and worried. Worse even, she looked utterly confused. I had never seen a Daughter of Eritopia at a loss for words like this before. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“They’re getting brighter, too!” Kailani observed as the light brightened sharply, spilled out into our world like a bucket of white paint splashed against The Shade’s green canvas. Her grandmother’s voice came through my earpiece, shaking with concern and shock.

“Sofia, are you seeing this?”

“I am… What’s going on?!” I managed.

Derek held me close as we tried to find shelter from the growing light. The portals seemed to be screeching, growing unbearably loud. The brightness was so dense and thick and difficult to move through.

And then we couldn’t move at all. It was as if the nearby portal had swallowed us. Through the confusion, I heard us give a collective scream, unable to help ourselves.

In the middle of this whiteness and beyond it, I could see it. The Shade… or something eerily similar. It didn’t make sense. Nothing did.

But then we faded. The Shade faded.

I woke up on the ground, every bone and muscle in my body aching. I remembered being blinded. A familiar smell invaded my lungs. The crisp dance of redwood leaves overheard, whispering and rustling. I