A Shade of Vampire 87: A Shade of Mystery

by Forrest, Bella

  “I’m Jericho. Blaze and Caia’s son. Fae-Fire dragon?” He wasn’t done trying to get Dafne’s attention, it seemed, and I tried to hide my amusement as Dafne and I exchanged brief glances.

  “Lubbock was a bit of a handful, but they managed,” I said, drawing the conversation back to the original topic, if only to spare Jericho a potential icy burn of rejection.

  “They went in for the ghoul nest, but there were two poltergeists in the cemetery, as well,” Voss added. “Seeley and Nethissis took out the ghouls first, then assisted Richard and Thayen with the poltergeists.”

  “I’m glad to hear the boys came out of it okay,” Isabelle said. “I guess that’s the downside of the limits on Rudolph’s actions. Poor fella isn’t allowed to eat souls. Otherwise, I’m sure he would’ve loved chomping down on those poltergeists.”

  Chantal came in, carrying a duffel bag on her shoulder. “What are you all doing in here?” she asked, checking her watch. “I booked the training hall for the next hour so I can practice some moves on the heavy bag and the wooden dummy.”

  “That’s not right,” I replied. “We still have another fifteen minutes in here.”

  “Whoa. Hold on, we’re booked for this hour,” Dafne said, her brow furrowed. We all looked at each other in confusion.

  It took us a while to figure it out, but Voss was the first to put it into words. “You all booked with Jovi, didn’t you?” As soon as the girls nodded, he laughed, throwing his head back. “My uncle is absolutely terrible at this stuff. I told Mom not to put him in charge of bookings for the training halls. Not surprised to see she didn’t listen to me, but I admit… it’s a little disappointing.”

  “Ah, damn. So we’re double booked?” Chantal sighed, her shoulders dropping. She must’ve been looking forward to her training session. She’d inherited succubus genes from her father, Bijarki, and was a formidable adversary in any kind of combat because of her ability to mess with people’s hormones and senses. Hell, Chantal had been Hansa’s favorite during her and Jax’s training weeks. Then again, she was also a ruthless perfectionist who didn’t want to rely on her succubus nature, since she’d also gotten exquisite fire abilities from her mother, Vita. Bijarki had often advised her to focus on her fire fae abilities, too, just to give herself an extra edge on the battlefield.

  “We can train together, if you want,” Isabelle suggested. “I don’t mind. Dafne, what do you think?”

  Dafne nodded and smiled. “Me, neither. We can take turns in pairs or spar in threes.”

  “Yeah, that worked out real well for us,” Jericho muttered, giving me a dry smirk.

  “Hey, not my fault I whipped you both,” I replied with a chuckle.

  “No, but seriously, who are you again?” Dafne asked Jericho. It made him blush. I couldn’t fault the ice dragon for not remembering everyone. She rarely came to this side of The Shade. In fact, I’d spent more time in the dragon caves than she had in the redwood forest.

  “Like I said, I’m Jericho. Caia and Blaze’s son,” he replied, not quite able to hide his embarrassment. Every girl on a five-mile radius knew who he was. To see Dafne so unaffected must’ve struck a nerve.

  “The half-dragon, half-fae dude?” Dafne raised an eyebrow.

  “Yes.”

  “Ah, then you’re the scrawny one I saw hanging out with Heath last week,” Dafne said, and I struggled not to laugh as Jericho’s face grew redder with each passing second.

  He didn’t back down, however. I had to give the man credit. “Excuse me, you’re not exactly full size, either.”

  Chantal giggled as she stepped in between them. “You know what? I am super okay with sharing the training hall with you and Isabelle, Dafne. I think we can make it work.”

  “I’ll still raise the issue with Uncle Jovi,” Voss said. “Just so it doesn’t happen again.”

  “Cool. Isabelle, I think we can start…” Dafne’s voice trailed off as she looked to her left. Isabelle had vanished. “Wait. Where’d she go?”

  I turned to look around just as Jericho shouted, “Astra, watch out!”

  Isabelle bolted toward me with a long, sharp knife. I barely had a second to react and slip out of her way. She did a one-eighty and came at me again. I shook my head in disbelief. What was going on?

  “What the hell are you doing?!” Dafne cried out, genuinely scared.

  “Isabelle, stop!” Voss said.

  She didn’t listen. I didn’t want to hurt her, but she wasn’t leaving me much of a choice. I kept backing away, using my barrier to deflect her knife slashing, but she swung her leg out and tripped me. I fell flat on my back, stunned and unable to understand what was happening.

  She moved fast, and I watched as she leapt in the air. She would land and ram her knife through my chest unless I did something. “I’m sorry, Isabelle,” I muttered and pushed out a violent barrier. It rammed into her with the power of a thousand winds.

  Isabelle was thrown back into the far wall. She hit it with a grunt, but it still wasn’t over. Within seconds, she was running toward me again. Voss tackled her this time, and they both rolled onto the ground. She wound up beneath him, and Jericho pinned her legs down while Voss took the knife out of her hands.

  She had Druid magic at her command, however, and I knew she wouldn’t stop. Allowing my energy to ripple through my limbs, I got up and reached her in a flash, kneeling beside her. Isabelle bared her teeth at me, and there was cold hatred in her gray eyes. I couldn’t understand why this was happening, but I had to stop it. While Voss and Jericho continued to hold her down, I pressed my index and middle fingers against her temple, remembering a knockout technique my mother had taught me. Releasing the energy I’d allowed to flow through me as a Daughter, I concentrated it all into my hand and transferred it into Isabelle’s mind. A moment later, she was fast asleep.

  Silence settled over the training hall, as Jericho, Voss, and I looked at each other, wild-eyed and panting. Dafne and Chantal were speechless and equally baffled. The air felt thick, almost unbreathable.

  “What the hell just happened here?” Jericho breathed.

  No one had an answer.

  Astra

  (Daughter of Phoenix and Viola)

  “Have you two had a falling out or something?” Voss asked.

  “That doesn’t make sense,” I said, shaking my head. “Even if we did argue, regardless of the topic, we would never take it out on each other like this,” I continued, trying to keep my nerves under control. It was increasingly hard to stay calm, because no matter how I looked at this whole situation, I couldn’t figure out what had driven Isabelle to attack me this way.

  “Is she okay?” Dafne crouched down to look at her. A few minutes had passed since I’d put her to sleep, and she was bound to wake up soon. My only hope was that we’d get answers to our many questions about Isabelle’s unexplained assault on me.

  I nodded slowly. “Yes. She’s just out cold.”

  “Is there any way that you can check for a spell that might’ve been put on her?” Chantal wondered, unable to take her eyes off Isabelle. The two had grown up together. They were close friends, and I knew it was hurting Chantal to see Isabelle in this state.

  “I can. But why would anyone do this to her? What would anyone have against me? I mean, out of all the people in the room, I’m the one she came after. Repeatedly. I just… I don’t understand,” I said.

  Jericho put a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s check whether someone tampered with her will somehow. Then we’ll see what we can do.”

  A horrible thought crossed my mind in that moment, but I pushed it away as quickly as it had wormed its way through. I’d thought of Thayen, and I could tell from Voss’s expression that he was thinking the same thing. We’d both promised to keep Thayen’s secret, but if he had something to do with this, I wasn’t sure secrecy would be the best way forward. Why would he, though? What reason could he have to do this to Isabelle? Besides, he would have to be close for his influence to work.
No, that didn’t feel like the right lead to follow.

  These were all good people. Isabelle. Thayen. They had absolutely no motive, no potential for personal gain, not a bad bone in their bodies to drive them to do such things. Jericho was right. This could have been a magical trick. Leaving the who and why questions aside, I kneeled beside Isabelle again and touched her temples first. Mom had shown me how to identify threads of foreign energy before, traces of curses and spells that could have been cast on someone.

  The others stood quietly and watched as I moved my hands over her, hovering inches above Isabelle’s body. I analyzed her from head to toe, and I couldn’t find anything like what Mom had described. There was nothing foreign here. Nothing dark or toxic or out of place. Isabelle was clean, as far as I could tell. “I can’t find anything,” I murmured.

  Isabelle stirred, prompting Dafne to take a step back. Voss and Jericho were quickly on their knees, flanking Isabelle, ready to restrain her if needed. She slowly opened her eyes and took a deep breath. “What happened?”

  “You don’t remember?” I asked.

  “Why am I on the floor? Which one of you knocked me out? Is this how we train these days? Last mouth-breather standing?” Isabelle responded, making Jericho chuckle.

  “I think she’s okay,” he said.

  I wanted to feel relief, but I couldn’t. We still didn’t know why it had happened. “Isabelle, you tried to kill me.”

  She looked horrified. “Wha… what?!”

  “We all witnessed it,” Chantal replied, wearing a concerned frown. “Don’t you remember anything?”

  “Help me up,” Isabelle said. Jericho and Voss held her as she pulled herself up into a standing position, her knees shaking slightly. “Wow. Okay. Yeah, this feels better,” she murmured, stretching her arms and moving her head to relieve some tension in her neck. “Back to the issue at hand… I tried to kill you?” she asked me, and I nodded once, my cheeks burning. This was such an awkward conversation. “Obviously, I failed.”

  “Yeah. Thank the stars.” Voss sighed.

  “Thank the stars, my ass. I need to finish what I started,” Isabelle shot back and raised her hand. A green fireball erupted from her palm and hit me right in the face. I screamed from the sudden burning pain that spread through my face.

  “Isabelle, no!” Jericho snarled.

  I heard the struggle. Voss fell to the ground. Dafne growled but failed to contain Isabelle. I was tackled and thrown like a tree in a hurricane, my bones aching under the unexpected pressure. But my instincts were quick to kick in. I had no way of getting out of this alive unless I unleashed my Daughter nature upon my attacker. It would put Isabelle at risk, but what other choice did I have?

  Like wildfire, the forces of Calliope burst through me, pushing back on the burning sensation that had covered my face and my neck. My eyes peeled open just as Isabelle was about to choke me to death. My windpipe was nearly crushed. I released the energy inside me in a blinding wave of light. It threw Isabelle back, and I sucked in a breath, wheezing and coughing as I struggled to regain my senses.

  “Hold her down!” Chantal shouted.

  The next time I saw Isabelle, the side of her face was flat against the floor with Dafne’s knee pressed into the back of her neck. Voss had found a pair of charmed cuffs in his duffel bag and used them to completely immobilize Isabelle. The look in her eyes, though… It scared me. It spoke of murderous thoughts and a tacit determination to destroy me, one way or another.

  “Seriously, what the hell?!” I managed, inhaling deeply in order to get my inner glow to subside. My eyes were probably bright pink, and I was shining like a lighthouse on fire at this point. Chantal rushed to my side, carefully checking me for injuries.

  “Are you okay?”

  “No… What is happening here?” I cried out.

  Isabelle struggled against her restraints, but there was nothing she could do. The cuffs cut off both her Druid magic and her sentry abilities.

  “Why are you doing this?” Voss asked her, but she didn’t respond. She stopped talking altogether, focused solely on giving me the death stare of the century, confirming that I had been her target all along.

  Angered by this development, I got myself back up, my torso still burning. I doubted I’d broken anything, but my Daughter genes were remarkably quick in the healing department. Voss and Jericho both looked worried as they pulled Isabelle into a standing position. I reached her in seconds, channeling my frustrated rage into something more productive.

  “What are you thinking?” Dafne asked me.

  “Maybe it’s not Isabelle at all,” I said, cupping Isabelle’s face. My hands lit up pink, my skin pricking all over as I tried to read her physical and genetic material. I caught the dark intensity of the sentry inside. The green and lush energy of the Druid.

  “Well?” Jericho asked, impatient for answers.

  “It’s her,” I murmured, unable to hide my disappointment. Moving back, I tried to think of other ways to test her, but my Daughter abilities had yet to fully develop. Mom had told me that it would take years for my personality and my power to synchronize properly, so I wasn’t sure what worked and what didn’t until I tried. So far, I’d been able to grow entire gardens with a mere touch. I’d healed severe wounds on pretty much any creature they’d brought before me. I’d fired energy pulses and sentry barriers. I’d even managed to glimpse a couple of minutes into the past once. My parents had often discussed the scope of my hybrid nature, but we’d all agreed that only time would tell what I could or couldn’t do.

  I was still growing into it all, which sure didn’t help in these particular circumstances. I wanted more answers before raising the issue with Isabelle’s parents. “How the hell are we going to tell Draven and Serena about what happened?” I asked, looking at the others.

  “Well, we just relay exactly what happened. Besides, we’ve got it on camera,” Chantal replied, pointing up at one of the training hall’s corners. Jovi had set them up about five years ago, for the purpose of replaying sparring sessions with his students and pointing out where improvements would be necessary.

  “This is going to hurt them,” Voss muttered, unable to look at Isabelle anymore. “Draven and Serena spent the past twenty years making sure their daughter got the best of both worlds.”

  “At the risk of repeating myself, this doesn’t make sense,” Jericho said.

  “None of us are equipped to properly investigate this issue,” Dafne replied. “I’m afraid we have no choice but to take Isabelle into one of the holding cells. Ideally, the ones in The Shade’s hospital, in case she needs medical attention.”

  It hurt me to agree to Dafne’s proposal, but it made the most sense. Isabelle was still giving me murderous looks, and no matter how hard we tried getting through to her, she refused to speak. Whatever was behind this behavior, we needed our parents and GASP superiors to investigate.

  “Yeah, let’s do that.” I sighed.

  “I’ll reach out to Draven and Serena,” Voss said, while Jericho took hold of Isabelle and escorted her out of the training hall. Dafne and Chantal joined him, but I stayed behind—I needed a few minutes to just breathe and accept the painful reality of what had just happened.

  “Are you okay?” Voss asked me, and I gave him a faint nod.

  “I just… I just don’t understand. This is so completely unexpected, and it’s unlike Isabelle. I may be a hermit by nature, but I honestly can’t remember ever giving her reason to hate me like this. In our big family, we talk about things. We hash them out. Maybe we fight in the training hall until we’re too tired to feel angry, but never this.”

  “I know. None of us understands,” he replied. “But if there is one thing I know about our Shade and our people, it’s that we don’t stop until we get to the bottom of any issue, no matter how small.”

  “Ugh. I already feel bad for Draven and Serena. Dad’s going to blow a fuse…”

  “You and Isabelle are cousins. You grew up
together. So for her to turn around and try to kill you, it’s shocking. There’s bound to be tension and lots of uncomfortable questions,” Voss said. “But at the end of the day, you’re family. Serena and Phoenix are tight. You know they’ll both keep their heads screwed on while they figure this out.”

  Voss had a point. The bond between my dad and his sisters was unbreakable. Their very souls were in perfect sync, and something like this would never cause strife between them. Besides, until we all had a better understanding of how this had happened, no one could point any fingers.

  Maybe Isabelle was just really mad at me about something, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to this than met the eye. That something more sinister lurked beneath the surface.

  Serena

  As soon as we got word from Corrine, Draven and I slipped right through the portal, leaving Calliope behind. My heart raced as we made our way to The Shade’s hospital, and a thousand thoughts darted through my head at once. It was hard for me to talk. Our daughter had done something reprehensible, something completely unlike her, and I couldn’t wrap my head around why.

  “I don’t understand,” Draven muttered as we climbed the stairs leading to the hospital’s second level, then followed the hallway leading into the west wing, where the padded holding cells had been incorporated. “Why would Isabelle do this?”

  “They don’t have any answers,” I replied, hearing the tension in my voice. It took a lot of effort to keep myself calm when we knew absolutely nothing about our daughter’s motives for trying to kill Astra twice in the span of minutes. “All Corrine told me was that she is secured in one of the medical cells, and she’s calm and quiet.”