Flashback ( PDFDrive )

“Those shadows you’re fighting are different,” Umber warned. “The
longer they mix with your blood, the more they take over. You have
about thirty minutes before you lose your arm—and half that before
the Vacker boy’s dead. And don’t even get me started on what’s
happening to that special little brain of yours.”
“Your goblins aren’t looking so good either,” Ruy noted.
They weren’t.
Sandor was at least on his feet, pacing around his glowing cage. But
he was bloody and pale. And Grizel and Lovise still hadn’t moved.
Sophie stared at her blue-tinted fingers, feeling the truth in
Umber’s words. This pain was different than the blood and the breaks
—deeper and more defining, like everything the shadows touched was
changing.
And they kept spreading with every heartbeat—the Panakes
blossoms didn’t feel like they were helping.
“You have a choice to make,” Gethen said, flashing a smile streaked
with red as he turned to Wylie. “Surrender now and leave with me
while your Technopath brings the others to a physician. Or you can
have your friends’ losses on your conscience while we drag you away.”
“Don’t do it!” Dex shouted, and Sophie tried to say the same. But
the panic and pain choked off the words.
“How do I know you won’t hurt us?” Wylie asked.
Umber laughed. “We already have. Far more than you realize—or
maybe Sophie does. You can feel the shift, can’t you? The way the
darkness is slowly remaking you?”
“You’re running out of time,” Gethen agreed. “And you’re in no
position to bargain. But since I find these sorts of standoffs to be
rather tedious, let me be clear: I wanted to locate Wylie—and I have.