Thayen
Something was happening in our beloved Shade, and Astra was somehow smack in the middle of it. There were more questions than answers, and the few answers we did get were either puzzling or downright horrifying.
The real Isabelle was missing. Serena and Draven were worried to the point of developing an ulcer, while the pristine copy of their daughter had once again been secured inside the hospital’s west wing. We’d been sitting outside her room for the better part of an hour, watching her as she stared back at us with a triumphant smirk. As though she’d somehow won.
Kailani had locked this entire section down to keep both hallways clear for easy access to the clone’s room, if needed. The security staff numbers had been doubled in the meantime, and we saw them patrolling the entire wing every other hour, clad in their black leather uniforms and sporting GASP earpieces. It all made me feel like we were under siege. The Shade hadn’t seen this kind of security activity for decades, which was proof that whatever was happening here was literally hitting close to home.
My stomach ached as I looked around at those present in the hallway. Rose and Caleb seemed on edge, which was understandable. They’d taken over from Derek and Sofia, and they’d made a promise to keep everybody safe. Lumi was constantly thinking about what had happened and how it could be resolved, keeping her share of wise words to a minimum. She remained baffled at this point, since none of the comprehensive tests they’d put Isabelle’s clone through had revealed even the slightest clue that she might be fake. On the contrary, the doppelganger had even fooled the Reapers with her faux soul.
“We’ll do another sweep of the nearby woods soon,” Kailani said after a long period of heavy silence, and Hunter nodded his agreement.
“If Richard’s clone plans to make a comeback, we’ll be ready for him,” he replied, straightening himself as he got up and took Kailani’s hand. “It’s going to be okay.”
“That’s relatively easy for you to say,” Richard muttered, leaning back in his seat, arms crossed and a muscle ticking nervously in his sharp jaw. “You didn’t come face-to-face with literal copies of yourselves…”
“But you survived. That’s what matters,” Astra told him.
Phoenix and Viola flanked her, the three of them sitting across the hallway from me. On my side, Draven and Serena were quiet, staring through the large glass panel between the clone’s room and us. “Mom and Dad are organizing an emergency meeting in the Great Dome,” I said. “They’re reorganizing the sweep teams to cover the entire island again, but in different groups. Corrine, Ibrahim, and Arwen are bringing their magical A game to the table. Hopefully, they’ll be able to provide some detection methods for these portals. There’s still a lot we don’t know.”
“What about Mona?” Phoenix asked, looking at Kailani. “I know she and Kiev were vacationing on Strava when this nightmare started, and we shut the portal down. Wouldn’t she be able to assist?”
“Mom said she’ll speak to them, but it’s better to keep the portal completely shut for the time being, especially with these shimmering gashes popping up all over the place. Besides, Astra is the only one who was able to sense them,” Kailani added. “What could Grandma Corrine or Mona or anyone else possibly do at this point? Even Viola, a full Daughter, wasn’t able to help.”
Viola sighed deeply. “Well, I have yet to finetune my powers into detecting portals before they open, but I’m sure I can figure something out. Besides, I can still try to help verify souls, as a Daughter.”
“Maybe Corrine and the witches just don’t want to give up,” I suggested. “They’ll keep trying until they find something that sticks. I suppose this whole thing is pushing everybody to newer levels of performance in that respect. If we can’t get Mona involved, too, at least for the time being, it’s okay. I know our people’s safety is paramount, and leaving the island’s portal open might give dangerous opportunities to any clone that might enter the scene, going forward.”
Draven sighed. “If this is really foreign magic—like nothing we’ve seen before—I’m not sure how we’ll be able to detect it. Astra has an uncanny natural ability, and even that is weak. I think we need to focus more on physical defenses. If they cloned Richard, chances are they’ll have cloned more of our people, too. We have to be on the lookout.”
“That’s part of the agenda for the meeting,” I replied. “Supplying our agents with weapons and spells they can use to defend themselves and to capture incoming clones. Gah, I can’t believe this is really happening…”
Kailani offered a shrug, her dark brown curls dancing over her shoulders. “Hey, let them come, if they wish. I’ve got the room warded up like crazy. Only Draven, Serena, me, Astra, Soul, Kelara and Thayen are allowed in. And thanks to Soul and Kelara, we’ve got additional death magic wards to ensure that only the originals can set foot inside. That was no easy feat.”
“Unfortunately, we are all you’ve got in terms of Reaper assistance,” Soul said, joining the conversation as he and Kelara returned from outside. He didn’t look happy. Only the two of them remained, though the entire First Ten crew had been here less than an hour ago. “Our other siblings may be free, but they are still undertaking the occasional task for our maker. They were just summoned back by Death. An urgent matter, she called it, without any regard for what’s going on here. Then again, she did warn us not to get friendly with the living…”
“A force of habit, I presume,” Kelara added. “Soul and I barely convinced her to let us stick around. She wouldn’t tell us what was so urgent, either. Anyway, we’ve reached out to other Reapers but have yet to receive answers. Time wasn’t too happy about being called back. He said I should keep a telepathic line open and reach out if there’s an emergency, and he’ll try to sneak away, repercussions for disobedience be damned. I tried to get Death to send us more people, but she’s not interested in your problems. Not for the time being, anyway. She did ask that I keep her posted.”
“Typical.” I scoffed, leaving my seat and settling by the glass panel. I took a moment to watch Isabelle’s clone. Had Soul not confirmed that she was a fake, I would likely have been ready to accept that our beloved Isabelle had really gone off the deep end. It was a terrible feeling to have, and the guilt only amplified as I wondered where she was. They’d taken one of our own.
The clone seemed calm, hands cuffed to the tabletop with charmed links and a plethora of death and Word spells, just to be sure. I had a vague sensation that this would somehow end up being bigger than all of us, but I couldn’t put my finger on how, exactly, or what the incoming shift entailed. But there was a huge change coming, and I doubted we were ready for it.
“The reorganized patrols will have a redefined scope,” I continued, setting the topic of Death aside as I moved my focus to Rose and Caleb.
“They’ll be combing for portals and any other anomalies. Basically, if there’s anything out of place, even if it’s a crooked blade of grass where there shouldn’t be any, they’ll look into it. Unfortunately, this is the best we can do right now,” Rose added.