Change of Darkness (The Change Series Book 3) by Jacinta Jade (best new books to read txt) 📕

other Siray merely laughed at her. A light but derisive laugh. ‘We’re in our mind, you mean. But we’re not alone.’

Siraay blinked. ‘What?’

A long, high cackle sounded from close by in the darkness, and Siraay spun in the direction of the noise in unison with her other self.

It was a long moment before the laughter trailed off completely.

Long enough for Siraay to realise that whomever it was that was laughing was truly mad.

She and the old Siray now stood almost shoulder to shoulder as they scanned the darkness that swirled around the small, lit area.

‘What did you think happens when the mind loses itself during a Change?’ hissed the old Siray fiercely, without turning her head. ‘Sometimes you just stay as an animal—and sometimes the mind automatically locks on to the last form it remembers.’

‘We’re not a yeibon, if you haven’t noticed,’ Siraay whispered back angrily.

Her other self snorted. ‘By the Mother, I almost forgot how arrogant you are. No, you half-grown tree root—the mind can lock on to its last form, or it can try to find the correct personality template.’

Siraay frowned. Her mind hadn’t done that either. ‘And if it does neither of those things?’

The other Siray was quiet for a moment. When she spoke again, her voice trembled. ‘Then it creates something new. And in most cases, it doesn’t put the new version together correctly.’

Siraay felt her stomach getting heavier as she realised what her other self was trying to get at.

‘You mean, that out there, that is …’ She trailed off, not sure she wanted to finish the sentence.

But the other Siray did it for her. ‘Our there, somewhere, is a broken version of us. Not me, not you, something else.’

Siraay felt her skin go cold as another cackle broke through the darkness, behind them. A moment later, she heard it again. From another direction. ‘Not something else,’ she murmured in a horrified tone. ‘A Lost One.’

She and her other self moved back to back, not speaking as they shifted instinctively into the position of greatest defence.

Siraay felt like her eyes might water, so hard was she trying to pierce the darkness that still surrounded them. ‘What does she want?’ Her whisper was just loud enough that she could be sure the other Siray would hear her.

‘What you wanted,’ came the whispered but curt reply. ‘Control over our body. To live.’

Siraay swallowed dryly. ‘Can she do that? Take control, I mean?’ She felt her companion turn her head slightly behind her as she answered.

‘Possibly. There are enough of her kind to show that it’s—’ Old Siray broke off with a gasp, and new Siraay whirled.

To see a third version of herself step out of the blackness.

And smile.

***

The darkness seemed to curl around the lower legs of this newcomer as she slinked towards Siraay and her former self.

She felt old Siray stiffen and knew what memory this new version of them had forced her other self to recall. Could also access that memory.

About twenty paces away, this new version of them stopped and tilted her head.

Siraay had the impression of an animal assessing its prey—a dangerous animal.

Because, while the features and physical traits of the female across from her and her former self were the same, the way the thing positioned its body, the expression that held both interest, madness, and a predatory look, were something completely unknown to her.

‘What’s she doing?’ Siraay whispered.

‘You think I know?’ snapped her former self, the answer just as quiet, while the eyes of the broken one moved continuously between the pair of them.

Siraay felt fear stir in her and quickly quashed it. She was a Lady of Xarcon. And it was she that was to be feared. She stepped forwards, slightly ahead of the old Siray, asserting her dominance. ‘What do you want?’ she demanded of the third, keeping her chin raised.

The broken Siray tilted her head again, her mussed-up hair swinging to one side. She was wearing what appeared to be bits and pieces of various clothes. Some parts, like the green pants, despite being ripped, were clearly from a Resistance uniform, while the open black jacket definitely had a faded gold X on one shoulder. But the dirty white shirt and the band around the broken one’s forehead and bare but dirty feet were seemingly random.

And the scars on her face, the same ones across Siraay’s own cheek, somehow only added to the savage look of the female.

‘Want …’ The words came out of broken Siray in a drawn-out sound, with the t strongly pronounced at the end. Almost as if she was testing out the letter … or trying to imitate Siraay’s voice. The head tilted again—to the other side, hair partially obscuring the staring eyes. ‘Want to leave this place. Join others.’

So, the former Siray was correct, Siraay thought. This broken version of them would fight for control. ‘That’s not going to happen,’ she told the mad being before her. ‘I’m in control here, so you can just fade back to wherever it is you came from.’ Siraay saw her former self turn her head to look in her direction, but she ignored her as she continued speaking. ‘I already have this one to deal with,’ she continued confidently, nodding towards old Siray, ‘and I don’t need another personality hanging out in here.’ She straightened her spine, giving the broken Siray an imperious look, one that had caused Xarcon servants to flee before her in recent days.

But this third version of herself merely continued to look back at her, that curious and hysterical smile still on its face. A long giggle escaped the curving lips. ‘You will fade.’

Siraay felt her body go tense, a hot anger rising inside her. It was the same anger, the same driving force, she knew, that had helped her slaughter those Resistance members.

And it would help her destroy this broken female before her.

She began striding purposefully towards the third female. ‘You should disappear before I make you—’

Her words were