Chapter 36

Zoey, Not-Zoey, Rosalie, and Delta walked into the boss room.

A breathtaking chamber spread out before them. Arched pillars with carved marble decorated a circular arena surrounded by columns that reached high into the domed ceiling. At the center was a bed, complete with silk sheets and a thick mattress. A large mirror hung on one wall, reflecting the scene.

“Any guesses what the bed’s for?” Delta asked dryly.

At each corner of the walls sat massive statues depicting ... them? The statues were nude women, with her, Delta’s, and Rosalie’s visages plainly etched into the stone. They stood in various sensual poses. Rosalie’s statue cupped her breasts, while Delta’s held her hands behind her back, leaned forward with a smirk. Zoey’s statue, on the other hand, had her hands on her hips, chest thrust out, and looking almost arrogantly confident.

The stone had an otherworldly luster to it, almost glowing under the lights inside the domed chamber. It made Zoey shiver—the otherworldliness, the elegance, and the fact it was their own faces on the statues.

“Well,” Not-Zoey sighed, “I guess it’s time for the big reveal.”

“You’re the boss,” Rosalie said. “I’m shocked.”

“Absolutely floored,” Delta said.

“Huh?” Zoey said. “Wait, what?”

“I guess fooling one of you’s not so bad,” Not-Zoey said.

“Doesn’t count,” Delta said. “She’s new to this.”

“Wait—wait,” Zoey said. “No, that can’t be right.”

“Don’t be upset,” Not-Zoey said, turning to her, and she seemed genuinely distressed. “Our talk wasn’t fake. Everything I said, I meant, and I am you—just ... not entirely.”

“Your talk?” Delta asked.

“We did some self-reflecting together,” Not-Zoey said. Concerned green eyes flicked to Zoey, and she insisted, “and it was every bit real. I’m glad we could have it.”

“You’re—you’re the boss?” Zoey’s head spun. “What are you?”

“A reflection,” Not-Zoey said. “For a lack of a better term.” She waved a hand in front of her face, and in a chilling display of what she meant, Not-Zoey’s face morphed into ... Not-Rosalie. Her body shrunk, appropriating Rosalie’s diminutive but powerful frame, Zoey’s generous curves melting into Rosalie’s smaller, just-as-enticing ones. “I’m hollow. I take in other people. There’s really not much of me,” she admitted. “Whoever I’m wearing, takes up most of who I am. So I was you. It wasn’t a lie.” The words came in Rosalie’s crisply enunciated voice, now, not Zoey’s.

“But ... you knew...”

“Our circumstances?” Not-Rosalie asked. Her lips quirked. “I did. The memories come with the face.” She turned to Rosalie. “Which, let me tell you, is always interesting. Everyone’s secrets, poured out for me to see.”

Rosalie stiffened at the implication, eyes widening.

Not-Rosalie laughed. “The best part is,” she said tauntingly, “I bet you think you’re the one with bigger things to hide.”

Which was a statement that drew two pairs of eyes—Rosalie’s and Delta’s—to Zoey.

Zoey didn’t have a response. For multiple reasons. The first being the obvious—how to respond to an accusation like that. ‘Yeah, I’m from another world, guys.’

The second reason, that she was still reeling from how Not-Zoey (Not-Rosalie?) was the shard’s boss monster. Her interactions with Not-Zoey had been so ... genuine. Regardless that both Rosalie and Delta had alluded to not trusting Not-Zoey—and Zoey herself for that matter—immediately upon seeing the two of them. Still. She felt ... betrayed. Silly as she felt to admit it. Of course something weird was going on with Not-Zoey.

Not-Zoey’s personality, perhaps expectedly considering who—or what—she was, had shifted as soon as she changed skins. Rosalie’s confident demeanor now draped across her shoulders, and she smirked antagonistically at her fox-eared counterpart: Rosalie, in Delta’s body.

“Some honesty would go a long way, you know. Why hide? At least Zoey has good reasons for it. Better than yours, at least.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Purple eyes—Delta’s, but Rosalie’s—flicked between Zoey and Not-Rosalie.

Zoey crossed her arms. “She doesn’t have to share anything she doesn’t want to.”

“And our gallant hero rises up,” Not-Rosalie said, rolling her eyes and turning back to Zoey. “You two are lucky I’m keeping your confidence. There’s a lot of really interesting conversations I could force out, knowing what I know.” She turned to Delta. “I wonder, is it three for three?”

Delta stiffened as Not-Rosalie’s features shifted. An orange tail sprouted from her tailbone, and Rosalie’s blonde hair shifted to orange, a pair of ears popping out from her head.

Not-Delta’s head tilted.

Her nose wrinkled.

“Wow,” Not-Delta said. “How boring.”

“Yeah, fuck you too,” Delta said dryly. “Not all of us can be secret royalty.”

Not-Delta laughed. “Fair enough.” Dismissively, she turned away, facing Zoey, long orange tail swishing in amusement.

“How’s your particular style of ‘fighting’ going to work?” Zoey asked. She asked as much out of genuine curiosity as to steer them away from the sensitive topics Not-Delta had chosen to play with—Rosalie’s and Zoey’s secrets.

“Hm,” Not-Delta said, tapping her lip as if considering the question. With her adoption of Delta’s body, she’d taken a playful, irreverent demeanor. “Let’s start with some good old fashioned fun first. It can’t all be fucking and frolicking, can it?” Her lips tugged down, her eyes locking with Zoey’s. “Though, I’m sorry about this next part—but your team’s weak point is pretty obvious.”

Ah, Zoey thought. Rosalie had said the bosses would be smarter.

The reflection—the body-shifter—fought with all three of their styles, abilities, and tendencies. Her body morphed between Delta’s, Rosalie’s, and least frequently Zoey’s, as appropriate to the situation. She fought with just as much deadliness—and intensity—as any of them.

Rosalie was hard-pressed to keep Zoey protected from her onslaught. Rosalie was, after all, defending Zoey from herself. The reflection’s brutal elegance in combat matched perfectly with Rosalie’s own, and worse, exceeded it; the reflection-monster was faster, stronger, and just as skilled as whoever’s body she inhabited. With her teammate’s natural prowess, it was a distinctly more threatening situation than most tier two shards would present. A counter, so to say, specifically to them: whose unusual talents should have meant they were safe in such a low-rank shard.