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Myst had brought us back to the Black Heights. By some miracle, it had worked. She’d never teleported living beings before. She hadn’t thought it would be possible, otherwise we would’ve done this sooner, but that didn’t matter now. It had worked. That was all that mattered, because we were back to a relative safety.

The first thing I did was hug my mother tightly as soon as she came out of the cave. She was quick to heal my thigh injury first. Richard and Soph joined her, looking understandably worried upon seeing our reduced numbers and general poor condition. Hrista had done a horrible number on us, and I worried it was only the beginning. She had worse things planned for me. She loathed me.

“Dafne? Jericho?” Richard asked, while Myst sat down and held Thayen’s head in her lap. Blood had dried around his nose, and his skin was pale. There wasn’t much energy left in me, but I was more than happy to use it on speeding up his recovery. Thayen got up, visibly better and blushing. Rendered awkward by how he’d awakened, he whispered a “thank you” to the Valkyrie and straightened his back, while Richard awaited my response.

“They know to fly back here,” I said. My whole body ached. Regine and Myst had worked so hard to protect me from Hrista’s hateful, deadly blows. I was lucky to be alive. How close I’d gotten to my demise…

Richard kneeled beside Myst and lightly slapped Thayen’s cheeks until his eyes peeled open. “Come on, buddy. Come on, wake up. Yeah, that’s it, come on. Attaboy… Welcome back, buddy!” the wolf-incubus said, chuckling softly as he hugged Thayen under Myst’s emotional smile.

“What… what just… Where are we?” Thayen asked.

Myst told him what had happened, and she detailed our encounter with Hrista for Richard, Soph, and Mom’s benefit, as well. I could tell it pained her to talk about Hrista, but the truth was undeniable. One of her own had broken rank and done absolutely horrific things.

I kept looking around, waiting for Regine and Brandon to show up. I couldn’t even remember how I’d seen them last. Myst’s teleporting had done something to my brain. The wiring felt a bit wrong. There were missing fragments of my memories—nothing too serious, though. It reminded me of the one time I’d taken a softball to the head back in junior high. I’d been a confused zombie for a few days, and this felt oddly similar.

“What about Brandon and Regine?” I asked, my voice low and shaky.

“They should be here,” Myst said, while Soph gave Thayen a few healing-potion capsules. That was a good decision. I might need whatever energy I had left, considering how many layers of crazy this place had. Mom had healed my body, but she couldn’t restore my energy, too. “Damn it, they were supposed to come with us…”

Suddenly, a growl pierced the sky above, and Jericho appeared out of thin air in his full dragon form, spitting fire all around him. Not far to his left, Dafne showed up in a similar fashion, equally flailing and confused. We had to duck, and I threw out a couple of protective barriers to stop the flames and ice from hitting us.

“What the…” Richard’s voice trailed off as he noticed the riders on the dragons’ backs. “Are those…”

“That’s Regine and Brandon riding the dragons,” Thayen mumbled, struggling to see that far. We now knew what had happened after we’d left.

I couldn’t help but smile to see our dragons were okay. “They’re a sight for sore eyes.”

The dragons descended and landed on the ridge to our right, then shifted back and slipped their suits on, while Brandon and Regine came over with the palest faces I had ever seen. My first instinct was to grip the Berserker by the shoulders and make sure it was him. I sank my nails into his firm muscles while I was at it, my fingertips tingling with a foreign delight.

“What the heck happened?” I blurted, pulling my hands back as soon as I realized how much I was enjoying the contact. It didn’t do a thing to wipe the smirk off Brandon’s face, but with everything that had happened, I wasn’t sure I cared about the possible repercussions of our shifting dynamic. “I thought you were zapping out with us.”

“Missed me already?” Brandon replied, biting back a broad grin. I punched him in the shoulder. I didn’t have the strength to make it hurt, but it was enough to make him chuckle. “The dragons were retreating, but there was trouble. I made an executive decision. Since you all disappeared, and Myst didn’t come back crying that she’d killed you, I figured teleportation worked, so Regine and I fought our way out of there and got to the dragons.”

Jericho cleared his throat. “Thanks for that, by the way.”

“We survived thanks to you,” Dafne added, giving Regine a warm smile. “We were suddenly overwhelmed by dragon clones. It was nearly impossible to get rid of them.”

“Hrista planned it all very carefully,” Myst murmured, while Thayen kept stealing glances at her, likely still rattled by waking up in her lap earlier. He was already looking better, the additional healing potions working their way through his system. His reactions around Myst were kind of sweet, though. I might’ve made a joke about it in different circumstances. “She was definitely expecting us.”

“But what was the point of that whole encounter?” Richard asked. It was a good question. I’d wondered the same thing. “To brag that she outsmarted you or what?”

Regine shook her head. “This was never a competition. We never knew she was the enemy. It was a meeting meant to reveal her true intentions. To reset the power balance in her favor. She knew we were here, and she knew we’d eventually find her.”

“She trusted me to lead you to her,” Brandon sighed. “Fortunately, I found the charm she’d hidden on me and broke it. She can’t spy on us anymore. I’m sorry. I did warn you.”

“We still don’t know what she’s planning,” I said. “Only that it was complex. Also, I’m pretty sure it involves that… thing she had Isabelle’s clone steal from The Shade. Kedra’s artifact.” My skin crawled whenever it popped into my head, but I’d yet to figure out how she might use such an object. “What would that be for?”

Regine glanced up, frowning at the empty night sky. “Likely a source of power. Most of our magic requires energy. It doesn’t matter what realm it’s from, it’s energy. Like light energy or dark energy, though Hrista is clearly capable of manipulating both—gah, I have so many questions! How could she fly under the radar with this? How could we exist in such blatant ignorance of her plans? I feel so foolish.”

“Imagine how I felt when I was told I’d have to do her bidding,” Brandon muttered. “I’ve been trying to understand what Hrista wants to do, but I’ve come up short.”

Thayen finally found the strength to get up, letting out a deep breath as he regained his composure and glanced at Myst, who refused to take her eyes off him. “We need to figure out what her endgame is,” he said.

“Replacement,” said Haldor’s voice, startling us all.

In an instant, we were on guard and ready to fight again, though I doubted any of us would be able to stay strong before a Berserker like Haldor. But there was something different about him this time, and it became obvious to everyone quickly. He didn’t have his shadow hounds with him. Or if he did, they weren’t visible or itching to kill us. The air was clear and breathable. There wasn’t even a whiff of immediate danger.

Brandon was the first to point that out. “Let me guess. You escaped your captives and have come to us in peace?”

“It’s not my fault Hrista caught on faster than you did regarding my intentions,” Haldor grumbled, slowly raising his hands. “I’m not here to attack anyone. I actually do come in peace.”

Then what Hrista had said earlier was true. Haldor had been stalling and doing things his way, much like Brandon. His threats to destroy Hammer had been empty all along. So much was happening at once, I was struggling to keep up. Everything about Haldor had screamed danger and death, yet now… crickets. Chirping crickets.

“Where is he?” Brandon asked.

Haldor frowned. “He’ll find his way back to you soon. I promise.”

“That doesn’t answer my question!”

“I couldn’t get to him myself! I sent one of the misfits to get him out. Hold your horses, he’ll find you!” Haldor snapped, then looked at us. “As I was saying—replacement. That’s her plan.”

We exchanged glances, but none of us were illuminated. Richard raised a hand. “Excuse me, major noob here, still wrapping my head around this fresh hell. Did you say the misfits went out to get… who?”

“Hammer, my Aesir,” Brandon replied, slightly amused as he gave me a lingering look. “Misfits are clones that didn’t adhere to HQ rules. There aren’t many, maybe one or two small tribes, tops. I think you crossed paths with one of them, if I remember correctly.”

This told me that the clones we’d run from—Ida, Laurel, and Missa among them—were, in fact, more friend than foe. They’d chased us a while back, but they had never followed through. Caleb’s double had belittled them plenty, but I still had a memory of their contempt toward him and the authority of this place. Haldor had clearly gotten further with them without anyone else knowing. I had to admit… Haldor was turning into an admirable surprise-partner-in-crime.

“Hold on, bigger question here,” Thayen interjected. “Replacement?”

Haldor shook his head. “You can’t stop it,” he said. “She’s been at it for months. A certain number of portals had to be opened. A certain temperature must be reached. A certain number of clones… It’s a complicated recipe.”

I’d heard something similar before. “What is this about?” I asked, the blood freezing in my veins. Putting the word “replacement” in the same pot as “clones” spoke easily of body-snatchers lore, of foreign invaders who stole the real us and sent in their mannequins to act like us in order to fool an entire world. Judging by the level of complexity of the doppelgangers’ appearances and abilities and mimicry, it was clear that Hrista had everything she needed to pull off such a feat.

What horrified me were the consequences.

“She means to replace you all,” Haldor finally said, and I heard myself breathe out. It sounded so different when it was said out loud, when it wasn’t just a theory in my head or a crazy thought. It sounded awful as the truth. “And you can’t stop her. It’s too late.”

Brandon scrunched his nose. “Then why are you here?”

“Huh?”

“Why are you here and not licking her boots?”

Haldor narrowed his glowing blue eyes at him. “That’s a dumb question. Why aren’t you with her, licking boots? I played my part from the moment she ordered me to take Hammer from you because it was the only way to keep Hammer safe. My tricks would only have worked for so long.”

“Thank you for that,” Brandon replied, suddenly more relaxed, even smiling.

“It would’ve been a shame. Hammer is a good boy,” Haldor grumbled.

“So, the entire hell you put us through, that was just for show?” Thayen blurted out, irritated and for good reason. Haldor had become the source of many nightmares for us in a short span of time. “Just to make Hrista and your Berserker buddies think you were serious?”

Haldor nodded once. “It’s a complicated situation. If I ever get the chance to explain, I’ll—” he froze as a horn sounded in the distance. It rang across the entire island, making me shiver with its ear-piercing tonality. Three times we heard it, and three times I trembled with dread. “It’s starting.”

The replacement. He’d been right. We were too late. We wouldn’t be able to stop it. Lights burst below and around the Black Heights. Shimmering portals by the dozens. I would’ve bolted toward the nearest one, but Mom caught my wrist and Brandon agreed. “I don’t think it’s a good idea,” he muttered. “This is happening for a reason.”

“We could just go through and get back home!” Richard replied, determined to climb down the ridge, but Thayen slipped an arm 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.