“Astra, what’s that light?” Thayen asked. “Is that the Port?”
“I’m not sure,” I replied, glancing over my shoulder just in time to see a black shadow jumping at him. “Thayen, duck!”
He lowered himself as though we were running through an obstacle course, and the creature missed him by inches. We heard it scrambling back into action, however, and it was only a matter of time before it would catch up once more. Energized by the earlier maneuver and determined to get to that light, I cried out and launched another powerful light pulse. It burst in every direction, again revealing the shadowy fiends with sparkling blue eyes. And again, it pushed them back by a few feet, just enough to give us a slightly better advantage.
The figure I’d seen ahead was gone, but the direction in which it had pointed remained at the center of my consciousness. I wasn’t sure if it was an enemy, but I doubted we had any friends in this place. Still, every fiber of my being told me to follow its lead, so we raced down the path and right into a small clearing.
“Left,” I said, my breath ragged.
We took a sharp left turn into the dark woods, the thundering footsteps of our pursuers never too far behind. Sudden silence fell over our group as we came to a sudden halt in front of a cave, nicely hidden between sprawling bushes and thick layers of mossy stones.
“In here,” I added, then ran right inside, slipping through the nook that served as an entrance.
One by one, just like through the shimmering portal, Thayen, Jericho, Dafne, and Soph came in, and we bumbled through the darkness with only the pink of my glowing hands to guide us. We couldn’t make any noise or use too much light, since the purpose was to hide from our enemies and those ghastly clawed creatures.
The silence was pressing, yet I didn’t dare fool myself into hoping we’d lost them. I kept moving through the low and uneven corridors, losing track of where we’d come from. I only had this feeling that we needed to go deep, as deep as possible, for a sliver of safety. We ended up in a small round chamber with a domed ceiling.
Panting, we listened carefully for every possible sound. With the exception of water dripping somewhere nearby, there was nothing to hear. Thayen took deep breaths, analyzing the cold and thin air for any scent that might trigger danger. He shook his head as he looked at me. “I think the coast is clear. I think we lost them.”
The robotic voice couldn’t be heard down here, but I did wonder if the horn that had sounded in this fake Shade had echoed into the real one. The signals we’d heard back home could’ve been echoes of the signals from here. It was only a theory, however, and the absolute least of our concerns.
“Is everybody okay?” Thayen asked, measuring each of us from head to toe.
“For the most part, yeah,” Jericho replied. “Though I prefer flying to running.”
“You would’ve been a… well, a flying duck out there,” Thayen said, holding back a chuckle. “We made do just fine. We’re alive. It’s cool.”
“Claudia’s clone is gone, along with whatever that die thing was. The so-called object, I mean,” Soph muttered, settling on the stony ground with her legs crossed. Sweat dripped from her temples as she worked on her breathing.
It had been a crazy ride so far. “It’s only going to get worse from here,” I said. “But at least we’re at the source of this trouble. The best thing we can do right now is keep investigating. We can’t stay in this cave forever.”
For a second, I wondered about the person who’d guided us here. I wondered who they were. It couldn’t have been anyone from the enemy’s ranks; otherwise, this whole place would’ve been crawling with clawed shadow monsters and killer clones. No, it wanted us safe… maybe I’d imagined it. No one else had seen it, after all. But that, too, was at the bottom of our list of problems. Briefly, I thought of my dad and the rest of our family. They had to be worried sick, not knowing where we’d gone. Mom was nowhere to be found, but maybe the other GASP officers had gotten to her. I only had hopes—the most dangerous thing for me right now, considering how little I knew about this strange dimension.
“Well, Astra, you are officially the fake Shade’s most wanted,” Jericho said. He was trying to be humorous, but the strained smirk on his face told me he was just as troubled about this as the rest of us.
“We’re going to have to find out why,” I replied.
Perhaps that was our best starting point. Studying this alternative island and its clones, figuring out the administrative and military patterns. Understanding their goals and, most importantly, finding their leader. Somebody was pulling all the strings in this place. That somebody had put out a hit on me days ago. That somebody had the answer to every question.
I just had to survive long enough to get to them. Easier said than done, I realized as I looked around. We were worn out and terrified and utterly confused. Nevertheless, our war had only just begun, and we had enough anger in us to keep the engines burning.
Tristan
After some work, Unending found the runes that had kept the Mixer stuck in the soul fae’s archives. She scratched each of the symbols off with the tip of her scythe while Loren was sound asleep upstairs in his house. We’d tricked him and his people, and it made me feel bad, but we had to get this done for a multitude of reasons.
“This is no longer just about us and our desire to start a family,” Unending said as she destroyed the last of the charms. “It’s about what Anunit’s game is. There’s something fishy going on here, and I intend to find out what the play is.”
“I wholeheartedly agree. And if we complete the trials and get what we’ve come here for, even better,” I replied, watching as she took hold of the Mixer and slipped it into her dress pocket. “I just don’t understand why Anunit wrecked this for us. We were so close to getting this thing out without anybody suspecting a damn thing…”
Unending gave me a fleeting look. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
She put her hand on my shoulder, ready to teleport us out of here, but something hit us with such force that we were thrown against the far end of the tunnel. We hit the floor, limp and breathless for about a minute as we tried to figure out what the hell had just happened. Joy’s voice echoed through the entire underground, and I had my answer.
“You traitorous bastards,” she hissed, giant scythe in her hand as she stormed toward us. “You betrayed us. You betrayed the Reaper order! You took Spirit away from me! You’re consorting with Anunit!”
“Again with this nonsense! Didn’t Death tell you to butt out?” Unending replied, with no patience left for Joy’s volcanic temperament.
“I don’t care! She’s not here! She cannot see your treachery like I can!”
Holy crap. Joy had absolutely lost a few marbles while being stuck here, playing the babysitter to the soul fae. It hadn’t been immediately noticeable at first, but it was impossible to deny now. “You’re not making any sense,” I managed. “If Death gave you an order—”
“She’ll thank me later!” Joy snapped.
“Okay. We’re not getting through to each other, here. If you would just let me explain,” Unending began, but the Reaper wouldn’t have any of it. Her blade sparkled white as it cast a rippling pulse at us. It hit Unending in the chest, and she cried out in pain.
“Stop! Just stop!” I said, raising both hands in a defensive gesture. Joy definitely had the abilities of a First Tenner, considering she was able to hit Unending like this.
“I’ll make Death understand your betrayal,” Joy replied, completely ignoring me as she channeled all her rage at my wife. “I’ve always said you were a bad apple. She told me I was overreacting, that I’d never even met you to truly know you. Well, look at you now, huh? You put Loren to sleep. You’re breaking my seals. You’re stealing! Traitor!”
Joy was about to hit her again, this time from a shorter distance. Unending’s scythe had ended up on the stone floor between us. “I’m not stealing! Our deal with Anunit for a body! Death greenlit al
l of this! It’s not my fault you won’t listen, dammit!” she said.
“You destroyed Spirit!”
“We had no choice!” Unending shot back.
My body reacted before I was even aware of what I was about to do. Joy was too focused on Unending to consider me anything close to a threat, so I grabbed my wife’s scythe and slashed at the Reaper’s stomach.
A glowing cut opened, and Joy screamed with a mixture of shock and pain. I was just as astonished, since I hadn’t seen this coming. I wasn’t even sure why I’d thought I could use Unending’s weapon. My instincts had made that decision for me.
Liquid light poured from Joy’s wound. She dropped her weapon and tried to cover the cut with trembling hands as she stared at me in disbelief. “How… how?” she managed.
Unending scrambled back up, grabbing her scythe in the process. She hooked an arm through mine, and we were gone. Darkness enveloped us both, and only Joy’s wails of fury and desperation followed us away from the village and its underground tunnels.
We appeared in the middle of the woods about three miles south of the soul fae village. I wondered about Loren and Sissa, about how their lives would turn out over the years. Clearly, I was no longer welcome among them—not to mention Unending. We’d just stolen Death’s artifact, and we were about to hand it over to Anunit.
And for some reason, I’d cut Joy, actually inflicting a wound. A very strange wound, like nothing I had seen before.
“Can you tell me what just happened?” I asked, giving my wife a concerned look.
She grunted softly, straightening her back. At least Joy’s rippling pulses hadn’t completely debilitated her. “I honestly don’t know. I’ve never witnessed that type of injury before. But she’ll be okay. I’m sure of it.”
“How so?”
“She’s as powerful as any of the First Tenners,” Unending said. “And you’re just a vampire who was somehow able to wield my weapon. There are some limitations on what a living creature can do with a scythe.”
I sighed, the adrenaline finally wearing off. My legs were shaking. “Does this mean I’m going to be a Reaper after I die?”
“That wasn’t the case before, but maybe things have changed. I don’t know,” Unending said. “First of all, I need to tell Death what happened. We just got into a whole lot of trouble with Joy and the soul fae. She’ll clear it up with the Reaper and the village, but still… she needs to know everything that went down here, in clear detail. Maybe now she’ll consider retiring Joy and tasking another Reaper to guard the soul fae. It’s insane what happened.”
The time we’d spent among the soul fae had helped Unending through some internal thoughts of her own, I realized. Not that our priorities had shifted, but the way we were going to approach the rest of our journey certainly had. “You should also double check that we are still to deliver the Mixer to Anunit, before the Reaper gets here. Won’t Joy find a way to come after us?”
“No. She’s not allowed to leave the village,” Unending replied. “Death clarified this earlier, during our last quick chat. She used some mojo of her own to make sure Joy doesn’t up and leave.”
“When did Death clarify this, exactly?”
“You know, after I knocked Joy out. It’s like Death knew that telling her to back off wouldn’t be enough. She was trying to comfort me with this idea that… if we leave the village, Joy wouldn’t come after us. Sheesh.”
Good. The last thing I wanted was another confrontation with an exceptionally angry and powerful Reaper. Unending closed her eyes for a moment, reaching out to Death through their telepathic connection. I gazed around, watching as the jungle became aware of our sudden presence, the foliage veins glowing green.
The wind blew through the trees, its whispers making my ears twitch. I worried Joy might yet find a way out of the soul fae village, but that fear subsided more with every minute that passed without a violent Reaper attack.
Unending scoffed, opening her eyes again. “I swear, I don’t know who’s playing whom here, but I get the feeling we are both just pawns in this game.”
“What happened?” I asked, carefully analyzing her expression.
“I told her everything that happened: our basement fight with Joy, you being able to cut her, and me having to put one of her precious soul fae to sleep. I didn’t expect her to be so calm. She actually said, and I kid you not, to stay on track and give the Mixer to Anunit just like we agreed.”
I was confused. “Huh? Well, look who’s mission-oriented all of a sudden.”
“Right? Just give the Mixer to Anunit, she said, and go through the rest of the trials,” Unending replied, taking the artifact out to study it more. “No explanation. She just wants me to keep her in the loop, and I find that rather… odd, that she didn’t have more questions, or at least a mild scolding about what I did to Loren…”
“What if it turns out Anunit is plotting something against Death?”
She raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical. “I doubt it. I’ve actually considered every possibility. Even with the Mixer, she can’t do anything other than piss Death off more. Sure, Anunit can inflict some damage on our society, but nothing our maker can’t handle. Nah, there’s something else going on here, but if Death won’t tell me what, despite me repeatedly asking, I’m not sure we have any choice other than to see this through.”
We had to get to the end of our journey if we wanted a shot at the whole truth. I didn’t like being in the dark like this. Neither did Unending, but considering our present circumstances, she was right. It was our only choice.
“So, we’re giving this to Anunit,” I concluded, nodding at the Mixer.
“Yes, you are,” Anunit cut in, appearing next to us with a broad smile on her face. I worried she might’ve overheard us, but the satisfied look she wore said otherwise.
Unending grabbed her by the throat with lightning speed. The Reaper didn’t stand a chance, suddenly caught in a chokehold. “What the hell are you playing at, Anunit?”
“Whoa… whoa!” she croaked, trying to set herself free.
My wife’s grip was ironclad. There was no escaping it. I had to admit, seeing Anunit like this did give me some satisfaction, considering the harm she’d done to my relationship with the soul fae. They were such interesting creatures. It really annoyed me that I couldn’t go near them without Joy’s permission—and I doubted Death cared much for my anthropological aspirations.
“Why did you show up at the village?” Unending demanded, her tone clipped.
“I had to speed things along…”
“We were in the middle of getting the Mixer!” I snapped. “You nearly got us in a whole world of trouble because Joy is unstable!”
“Death will hear about this,” Unending added, playing her part in this deception towards Anunit. After all, Death had already heard about this, but Anunit couldn’t know we’d been the ones to tell her maker the whole truth. “She’ll have me hunted down. Do you have any idea what a monumental mess you’ve made?”
“I’m sorry!” Anunit cried out, struggling against Unending’s hold. “I just… I wanted to see how you’d react in more dire circumstances! At that point, you had the choice to turn against me, and you didn’t. I couldn’t think of a better way to truly test your resolve. I knew that if you were determined to go through with this, I’d find you here now. If you’d turn against me, I’d be here on my own, knowing you’ve given up.”
“What, the trials weren’t enough?” I retorted, crossing my arms.
“Again, I’m sorry! I’m paranoid about this stuff. But you’ve earned my trust. I promise, I won’t interfere with the upcoming trials. My word is my bond!”
Unending let go, and the Reaper coughed, taking a moment to regain her senses. My wife and I exchanged glances. “I’m not buying her excuse,” I told her through telepathy.
“Me neither. Or maybe it’s just part of the truth. We have two options going forward. I torture the whole story out of her, or we play al
ong and see where it takes us,” she replied.
We still had two trials to go through, and we couldn’t risk losing Anunit’s favor altogether. I certainly didn’t want her skipping out on us. “I think we have a better shot if we keep her on our side,” I suggested. “At least for now. If she does anything else that’s… alarming, then we can reconsider our strategy.”
Unending exhaled sharply and pushed the Mixer into Anunit’s hands. “Here. And next time, stay out of our way. Tristan and I know what we’re doing, and we don’t need your ‘impatience’ or ‘distrust’ to screw us over. Okay?”
“Yeah… It’ll go differently, from now on. I’ve gotten my assurances. You did well,” Anunit replied, her voice shaky as she regarded the object with genuine admiration. “Oh, my… it’s a work of art…”
“I’m going to have to think of ways to get Death off my back,” Unending said, crossing her arms. “That stunt with Joy will be an issue. You’d better not make things harder going forward. We still have a long way to go here.”
“On that, we agree,” Anunit murmured, slowly raising her gaze from the Mixer. “Two more trials. Are you ready?”
We both nodded. Sure, we were. I doubted we were ready for any other bumps in the road, though. I didn’t trust Anunit. She had a side plan, for sure. She’d messed with our soul fae strategy on purpose. Her excuses didn’t hold any water. What troubled me more was Death’s willingness to part with one of her precious artifacts. Why was she so cool with handing the Mixer over to the one Reaper she wanted most?
It didn’t make sense. Once again, I found myself circling back to Unending’s earlier conclusion. We would have to see this whole thing through in order to get to the truth. Our love was strong enough to overcome anything fate might throw at us. I just wasn’t sure what that “anything” might entail.
Both Death and Anunit were keeping things from us. Then again, I was perfectly fine with playing dirty, too, if the situation demanded it. This whole thing had turned out to be a lot more complicated than we’d originally thought, and it only made me want to get to the bottom of it faster.
A Shade of Vampire 88: An Isle of Mirrors Page 23
