"Run!" Prince Veyric shouted. His vampire soldiers closed ranks, forming a protective circle around Serenity and the others. Their red eyes blazed like fire in the darkness.
The thing laughed maniacally, her voice exactly like Serenity's but dripping with poison.
"You can't escape us forever, sister."
"I'm not your sister," Serenity said through clenched teeth.
"Oh, but you are. We shared the same mom, breathed the same air- until you stole everything that should have been mine."
The shadow sisters behind Sable moved closer. Their faces were eerily similar to Serenity's, but their eyes were nothing but black holes. Serenity could not help but feel heartbroken at what Sable has become.
"Enough talk," Veyric snapped. "We leave. Now."
His troops fought the shadow creatures while the others bolted through the castle's back passages. The sounds of battle—steel against claws, screams, and unearthly shrieks—echoed behind them.
"This way." Veyric led them down a narrow staircase. "My carriages are waiting."
But when they burst into the courtyard, the carriages were gone. Only bent metal and splintered wood remained.
"They destroyed everything," Riven said grimly.
"Not everything." Veyric pointed toward the mountains. "There's another way."
"What way?" Kael demanded.
"We climb."
The mountains loomed like black teeth against the starry sky, jagged cliffs stretching into the clouds.
"Are you insane?" Sable snapped. "We'll freeze to death!"
"Better than staying here," Serenity said. She could feel her twin's presence like ice crawling through her veins. "Let's go."
They sprinted across the courtyard as shadow things poured out of the castle. Serenity's power flared, silver light forming a barrier behind them.
"How long can you hold that?" Veyric asked.
"Not long enough."
They reached the base of the mountain and began to climb. The rocks were slick with frost, the wind slicing through their clothes like knives. Behind them, the shadow sisters moved like spiders, fast and relentless.
"Faster!" Riven urged, helping Serenity over a jagged ledge.
"I'm trying!" Her palms bled from the sharp stone.
"There!" Elder Thalia pointed upward. A dark cave yawned in the mountainside, warm light flickering from within.
"Someone's home," Kael muttered.
"Good," Veyric said. "We need shelter."
Driven by desperation, they scrambled upward. Finally, they dragged themselves into the cave, collapsing on the rocky floor.
"Well, well," a voice purred from the shadows. "What have we here?"
A woman stepped into the firelight. Curly brown hair. Olive skin. Eyes burning like fire.
"Asha Linvale," Elder Thalia whispered. "You're alive."
"Aunt?" Serenity smiled gratefully as she moved closer to them, but her face fell when she saw no resemblance to the woman who had saved her and fought for earlier.
"Disappointed?" The witch's smile was sharp, as she faced Elder Thalia, "I let you think I was dead. Easier to work without... distractions." She said the last word as though referring to them as distractions
"Especially from meddling Seers." Her burning gaze landed on Serenity. "I see you've met my sister. She must have told you how related we are."
"You know who I am?" Serenity asked.
"Child, I've been watching you since you were born. Waiting for this moment."
"What moment?"
"The moment you'd come to me for help. Though I must say…" Asha's eyes swept over the group. "You've made quite a mess of things."
Sable stood uneasy as she stared at the exchange between them.
"Tsk tsk tsk." Asha stared at her as though at a naughty school child, "what mess have you made of yourself?"
~~
The cave was massive. Books covered the walls, crystals glowed from the ceiling, and a fire crackled in a stone pit.
"This is your home?" Riven asked.
"For twenty years," Asha said, poking the fire. "Ever since what happened to your parents."
Serenity's heart thudded. "You knew them?"
"Knew them? I was there when they died."
Silence smothered the cave.
"Tell me," Serenity whispered.
"Why should I? You'll only repeat their mistakes—trusting the wrong people, believing in prophecies, thinking love conquers all."
"They were murdered," Serenity shot back. "That wasn't their fault."
"Isn't it?" Asha's voice was bitter. "They broke every rule. Mixed bloodlines that should never touch. Created something the world wasn't ready for."
"They created me."
"They made a weapon. The question is: who will wield it?"
A howl echoed outside. Not an animal. Something worse.
"They've found us," Veyric said.
"Of course they have." Asha didn't even flinch.
"Can you protect us?" Serenity asked.
"I can protect myself. The rest of you…" She shrugged. "Depends."
"On what?"
"Whether you're willing to learn."
"Learn what?"
"Real magic. Not the wild sparks you've been throwing around like a child with a sword."
Serenity's chest tightened with hope. "You'll teach me?"
"I'll consider it. But once you learn, there's no going back. You'll see the lies, the trickery, and the people who want to use you." Her burning eyes flicked to Kael, Riven, and Veyric. "Including them."
"Hey," Riven started, but Asha cut him off.
"The Alpha needs her to break his curse. The assassin needs her to ease his guilt. The vampire needs her to replace a lost love. And she's so desperate to be wanted that she can't see it."
"That's not true," Serenity said, though her voice shook.
"Isn't it? When was the last time someone wanted you for yourself?"
Serenity couldn't answer.
"Exactly."
---
Then Asha pointed toward the cave mouth.
"Your ghost sisters are waiting. My wards keep them out, but the moment you step outside…"
"They'll kill me."
"Or maybe you'll finally learn to fight back."
"You want me to face them now?"
"I want you to stop running. Stop leaning on others. Prove you're worth teaching."
"That's suicide," Kael growled. "She's not ready."
"She never will be if she keeps hiding behind you."
Serenity looked at the glowing crystals, the shelves of books, at Asha—the only one offering answers. Then at Kael, Riven, and Veyric, who all wanted something from her.
"What if I fail?" she asked.
"Then you die. But at least you'll die as yourself."
The howling outside grew louder.
"I'll do it," Serenity said.
"Serenity, no!" Riven reached for her.
"Everything's dangerous. But I can't keep running."
"Child," Asha called as Serenity neared the cave mouth. "One more thing. Your sisters aren't just shadows. They're pieces of you. The parts you've denied. To defeat them, you must accept them—all of you. Light and dark. Good and evil."
"And if I can't?"
"Then they'll tear you apart."
---
The night air hit cold and sharp. Snow crunched under Serenity's boots.
"Hello, sister," Sable purred from the dark. "Ready to play?"
Six shadow creatures slithered forward, their faces shifting between hers and something hungry.
"I'm ready," Serenity said, silver light sparking in her hands.
"Oh, good," Sable smirked. "Because I brought a friend."
From the shadows stepped a woman with silver eyes and black hair—older, wiser, more beautiful.
"Hello, my daughter," the woman said sweetly. "I've missed you so much."
Serenity's chest tightened. "You're dead. I saw you die."
"Did you?" The woman smiled. "Or did you see what they wanted you to see? I've been waiting to take back what was stolen."
"You're not real," Serenity whispered.
"I'm as real as your need for love. As your desperate wish that someone—anyone—would choose you first."
The figure extended her hand. "Come with me, darling. Let me show you true power."
Behind her, the shadow sisters laughed in Serenity's own voice.
And from the cave, Asha's warning drifted out like smoke.
"She's not your mother, child. She's your fear made flesh. Face her and learn your power. Run, and you'll become just another shadow."