Chapter 25 · The Shadow's Choice

"Ivy, don't look at him!" Rex shouted.

Too late. Aiden was already on his knees, clawing at his chest while white smoke poured into his mouth, his nose, his eyes.

His scream hit me so hard my legs locked. Black veins crawled beneath his skin. The shadow had found him—and it was using my shape to do it.

"Aiden!" I tried to move.

Nothing happened.

Rex grabbed my shoulder and yanked. "Get back!"

My boots stayed planted in the dirt. My arms hung uselessly at my sides, every muscle frozen. The shadow twisted around Aiden's throat and wrists, tightening whenever he fought it.

"I can't move," I said. "Rex, I can't—"

"Then stop it!"

"I'm trying!"

Cain caught my other arm before I could tear myself loose. His fingers dug into my skin. "Don't touch him."

"It's killing him!"

"And it'll kill you if that thing jumps hosts."

Aiden doubled over. His claws punched through his fingertips, long and black. They scraped the dirt, splitting it in jagged lines. Dark liquid welled from the cracks.

"Aiden!