Obediently, they formed up; she offered her hand to each man that entered, and each woman gave her the respectful brush of the cheek. Her smile remained serene as she took note of their names, greeting them and sending them off in sequential order to the individual rooms. As soon as the last one was sent off, she quickly clicked on the notification she wanted, her expression finally becoming grim now that they were all behind closed doors.
You have touched a Doppelganger, Siphon activated. Assessing stats and experience...
Choose a stat to siphon: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Magic, Charisma, or Luck.
Choose a skill to siphon: Aura Manipulation, Deception, Mimicry, Stealth, or Transformation.
Silently, she clicked on her options, wondering how they would translate to non-species specific abilities.
Siphoning complete. Assimilation of Constitution and Transformation from Doppelganger underway.
Once that was done and she felt the itching start, she turned to Ammon and Christopher as she probed, “What can you tell me about monsters that appear to be human?”
Christopher and Ammon now both looked extremely serious. “Are you saying there’s a monster among my men?” Ammon was now glaring suspiciously at all of the doors.
“I’m telling you there’s someone who isn’t human among your men, yes. He looks and acts exactly like a human, but he’s not. Now, please tell me what the possibilities are.”
Christopher was the one who answered this time, “There are a couple of monsters that can disguise themselves as humans. There are fairies who can take the form of a human, but they can’t change their appearance, and Nix are water spirits who have the same limitation. The Seelie are higher Fae who look like humans aside from having pointed ears, but they’ve also got a powerful glamor, so they could look like just about anything. The Djinn likewise have illusion magic that could disguise their skin color, which is their largest physical difference. There are vampires, but they’re nocturnal, so I think we can safely rule them out. Doppelgangers take on the appearance of their last victim. Mermaids have a human appearance out of water, but unless they came from the river, they’re also unlikely, since they can’t change their appearance otherwise either.”
Jade studied them thoughtfully, processing the information. How was she supposed to say she knew exactly what it was without giving away her ability that literally told her? Finally, she said simply, “It wasn’t illusion magic, so most of those are ruled out. It was a very good mimicry of human biology, but it wasn’t human. Of the options you just gave me, that sounds the most like a doppelganger. Tell me. Has Phillip Dureau been acting strange recently?”
Ammon looked grim, then walked over to the first door and opened it, calling the man inside out, who she recognized as the commander of the unit. Ammon brought him over to Jade before saying simply, “Tell us everything you know about Phillip Dureau.” Meanwhile, he also had guards move closer to “Phillip’s” room, as well as stationing them closer outside the window unobtrusively.
It was time to see if they’d noticed anything fishy.
Chapter Thirty-Four – Trap
The unit commander, Baronet Anthony Hewett if she recalled correctly, looked a bit confused at their line of questioning. “Phillip? There’s not much to say, really. He’s a decent chap, rather quiet, keeps to himself mostly. He was sick and missed a muster the other day, but apart from that, he’s a reliable guard, if a bit average.” He saw the glances Ammon and Christopher were exchanging before he turned to Jade and asked quietly, “Is there something wrong with him?”
She nodded. “In all likelihood, I’m guessing the real Phillip was killed the morning he didn’t show up for muster. There’s a monster in that room, probably a doppelganger.” Anthony blanched, his weathered skin becoming white, and Jade sighed. Ammon and Christopher were shifting, like they wanted to attack right now, but thinking back to the mesmer, she wanted the doppelganger kept alive a little bit longer, if possible. Selfish, but true.
“Before you go trying to kill it, I’d like to clear the building of the other men, if possible. They’re expecting to be here a while, so it shouldn’t suspect anything. I’d like to do the rest of my rounds, send those men out, and then you can move in. It will also help with morale, since the unit he’s in won’t see you killing their ‘Phillip.’ I don’t want them to panic.”
Ammon, who was practically chomping at the bit, ready to go attack the doppelganger himself, settled down with visible effort. He nodded, obviously restraining himself. “I understand. Go ahead and start then. The sooner this is over with, the better.”
Jade smiled sedately at him, although her heart was pounding. It had been doing so ever since she’d touched the creature. What if it had realized she knew what it was and attacked? Still, it appeared her bluff and deception skills were useful, and she could at least pretend she was calm. Smiling at Anthony, she touched his wrist and spread her magic as she asked simply, “Have you been injured by a mesmer before?”
It turned out Anthony and the next three men of his unit had never fought a mesmer, so her routine check didn’t turn out anything more than a few training bruises, which she took care of, feeling like it was at least a little compensation since she’d taken over their morning. At the fourth room she entered with Ammon and Christopher on her heels, she smiled as she asked, “Hello, Blake, was it?” He nodded and she smiled again. “Have you ever been injured by a mesmer before?”
He nodded. “Yes, miss. I had my arm slashed up pretty good by one of the creatures about seven months ago.” She nodded as he indicated his left arm.
“May I?” He held out his arm, and Jade touched him to spread her magic, seeing through her mind’s eye. On the surface, he seemed perfectly healthy. It wasn’t until she started searching more deeply for what she remembered, the sickly sweet viral infection she’d shoved out of her own body, that she finally found it. What surprised her was that it hadn’t spread from his arm, instead staying in a contained area. It didn’t seem able to multiply, which was comforting, but strange. She likened it to a tiny homing beacon. It was there, but didn’t do anything unless the signal was nearby to bounce off of it.
With a concentrated inspection, she nodded, then glanced around. “Give him something to bite on, a rag or something. This is going to hurt, and I don’t want you screaming and startling everyone else, biting your tongue off, or shattering your teeth.”
He looked a little wary at her blunt analysis but took out a handkerchief from his jacket. She examined it briefly, determined that it was thick enough if he folded it a few times, then handed it back to him and commanded, “Bite.” He did so, and she glanced at Christopher as she muttered, “Maybe you should hold him down too.” Poor Blake was feeling fairly alarmed, as were Christopher and Ammon, but they obediently did as she asked.
Once he was secured, she sighed, closing her eyes, and called to the blood. She could hear Blake grunt in pain as his muscles tensed. There was blood beading like sweat along his arms, and that sickly sweet scent was in the air again. She made sure she got every last bit of the virus, then called the blood so it drew away from his skin, forming a little ball of infected blood in the air above her hand. She pulled out the large glass jar Kaylee had passed her and stuck the blood inside with her own. Re-sealing the lid, the smell dissipated and she smiled at Blake, patting him on the shoulder.