Chapter 9 · Don't Let Him Take It

"Mom?" The word ripped out of me before I could stop it.

The speaker crackled. Her voice cut through the hum of restored power like a blade through skin. "Evie. Step away from him."

Kane's hand was still locked around my wrist. His grip burned. Not hot. Wrong. Like ice that seared instead of froze.

"I can't," I said. My throat closed around the words. "He's—"

"Bleeding out," Kane finished. His voice came rough, scraped raw. "She knows."

He let go. Stumbled back three steps and hit the metal railing behind the breaker panel. Blood soaked through his shirt, spreading dark and fast across his ribs. The gunshot wound from the wedding wasn't closing. Wasn't even trying.

"Don't come closer," he said.

I didn't move. Couldn't. My wrist still throbbed where he'd held it, the mark underneath pulsing in time with my heartbeat.

The speaker hissed. "Evie, listen to me. He doesn't remember because it's not him when it happens. The thing inside him takes over. It's already started."

"What thing?" I asked. My voice shook. I hated that it shook. "What are you?"

Not what are you talking about. What are you.