The world started to spin as Thunder's words sank in.

Candy willed herself not to sway and not to pass out, straightening her back on the side of the bed.

"There are plenty of Kades in the world. I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

Night was talking over her. "Maybe that's where he went missing. That's why we haven't seen him."

"Wait, slow down, who's Kade? Do you know him?" Thunder was pulling himself up on the pillows. Candy could tell just by looking at him that he was both curious and terrified.

"He's a Ghostfang my mother - Queen Pua - caught. He was - is our friend and he went missing a few days ago in an explosion."

"A Ghostfang!? How is that even-"

"Thunder, do you remember seeing any sort of Ghostfang or maybe a lanky dude. I'm thinking black hair, expressionless-"

"Guys! I don't remember much at that place and what I do remember . . ." he took a deep breath and shook his head. "I'm just as clueless here."

The three of them sat in silence, thinking. Scorpian mentioned something about the shifters being moved. Where could they have moved them!? Her mind flashed back to Odix (or whoever it was) talking about Ebony labs being unable to move them . . . in the air anyway. She sat straight, turning to Night.

"They couldn't move any through the air because if they did they'd be seen. But what if they didn't need to move them above ground."

"Wait, Candy. Are you saying there could be underground tunnels under the city, specially made for one purpose by Ebony labs?" Night looked confused, but Candy could tell she was getting to him.

"Not that specifically. Maybe Odix knows something about it," she stepped off the bed, encouraging a stab of pain that shot through her leg and made her knees buckle. Night caught her before she could hit the ground, pulling her back to her feet and helping her sit back down on the side of the bed.

"I'll get him," Night smiled and left.

Candy took a deep breath, trying to stuff her annoyed feelings pointed at her leg away. She looked over to Thunder, who was staring solemnly down at his hands.

"If you ever need to talk to someone," she drew his head up, smiling when he met her eyes. "I'm here. Sorry about all the craziness."

He smiled, letting out a small chuckle. Then his face fell again.

"It was the hardest the first day. The first day I . . . see, humans and dragons speak a different language, you know? Of course, you know, but you . . . know."

They both chuckled.

"Anyway, the strange thing was, the first day I was a complete human, I could understand people. I don't know how I just could. They said a lot of confusing things, but the thing that stood out most was . . . well, this one guy - I saw him the most - was right near me, talking to his friend, and I caught a piece of their conversation."

Candy hadn't noticed how much she'd leaned forward in anticipation.

"I don't get it by the way, but all I caught was, 'the dragon should be here by now. He promised new arrivals yesterday, what's taking him so long'. I don't know if that makes a difference in anything."

"No, no - I'm sure it will," Candy racked her brain, trying to discover what the scientist meant. Who was he talking about? Who is he? She remembered Thunder was still sitting there, sad with memories, and did her best to make him feel better.

"Hey, at least there's one thing to be happy about all this," she heard Night and Odix arriving in the hallway. "At least you're just as handsome as you were as a dragon in human form."

Sunshine poured into her insides as his face brightened and his mouth turned into a happy crescent.

"Wait a sec-"

"Candy. There's something you wanted to tell me?" Odix's voice was deeper than she remembered. She shot Thunder a grin before turning to face the other two.

"Yeah . . ." Something looked off about her friend. He stood more guarded than usual - crossing his arms and slightly puffing out his chest - and the permanent goofy smile was gone. She was tempted to ask if he was alright, but a tiny little voice inside changed her mind. 

Instead, she decided to try something - even if she was just overreacting and it really was just Odix acting more guarded and stand-offish than usual. She stood, slowly making her way over to him.

"I . . . was going to ask about that photo you had . . . in your backpack earlier?"

She didn't really know what she was expecting. 

"What about it?"

But that was definitely what she wasn't. Odix would've looked more nervous about it, right? Oh, Candy, you're just being paranoid! If this isn't Odix somehow, then who - or what - is it? Stop pretending like you're in one of those old stories and talk to your friend like a normal dragon shifter . . . but he's not a dragon shifter.

"You called me up for a reason so, what did you want to tell me?" he shifted on his feet.

"You know how I'm new to the whole shifting thing, right? I was just wondering which dragon you turned to on the rooftop earlier," her heart pounded in her chest. That strange feeling about her friend hadn't gone away, and in her peripheral vision, she saw her two other friends tense. They must know what I'm thinking.

Odix - or whoever it was - shifted on his feet again, clenching and unclenching his jaw.

"It was a Novatail," he said. Candy shared a look with Night. She hadn't failed to tell him about the griffin side of Odix when he'd carried her with her broken leg. 

Tension hung in the air, filling the room as the four of them started realizing the truth.

We have to act before he does, Candy glanced at Night again, somehow able to tell him something through just their eyes. In a flash, the stranger bolted.

Night and Candy were on him just as fast. He was fast, but they knew the space better - especially Night - and just as he was slowing to make a corner, Night acted. He jumped forward, full-body slamming the stranger into the wall with a loud thud. 

"Where's my friend!" He shouted. A vein bulged out of the side of his neck as he pressed not-Odix against the wall, leaning most of his weight against the stranger with his forearm. The stranger wriggled underneath his pressure, trying to break free. Candy bit back the pain that now constantly ripped through her leg.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

It was strange to see Odix all red and not their friend, but at the same time, knowing it actually wasn't their friend, it didn't really look like him.

Before Night could react, not-Odix kneed him in the stomach and pushed him away. Candy didn't think about what she was doing and acted before she could stop herself. For a moment the world blurred as she rushed at the stranger, wrapping her arms around his neck and pinning him to the ground.

"Tell me where he is," she hissed. She felt just about every muscle in his neck; tense and angry. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed his elbow coming up, ready to jab her in the ribs. She blocked it with her arm, letting her grip on him lighten for just a second, but it was enough.

She was roughly thrown off him and hit the floor, a painful crack echoed through the hallway as her leg made contact with the floor. When she looked up, he was gone.

She wrinkled her nose in frustration. Down the hallway, she saw Night coming. He looked angrier than she felt. 

As she started pulling herself into a sitting position, something shot through her leg, encouraging a small yelp. Night was there all of the sudden, lifting her to her feet.

"Are you okay?" he looked her over. 

"Yeah, I just hit my leg a little. Hey, what was with that guy?! Where did he come from?" She was curious, but she really changed the subject to take it off her leg.

"I don't know but . . . I think-" he was cut off as someone tore down the hallway. Candy could smell the heat of their anger from where she was. They both looked over to see Odix - she knew it was the real Odix this time - storming down the hallway. A trickle of blood rolled down the side of his head, and there was a scratch under his eye. He was in a fight. I can guess who with.  

Odix walked right up to them, steam practically pouring out of his ears.

"Did you see- wait . . ." without warning, he slammed Night against the wall. Candy lost her balance - not that she really had it in the first place - and fell to the floor, again.

"Odix what-"

"Don't play around! I know it was you that beat me and tried to keep me down, well guess what! I-"

"ODIX!" Candy caught both of their attention. Night's face was turning as red as Odix's. She tried to look at least a little dignified, lying there on the ground. "That's not him. We ran into him a few minutes ago, but he escaped."

The griffinheart looked back and forth between the two of them, his face turning to a more healthy red. Night chocked out a word, drawing his attention back to him.

"Oh, sorry," he let go, backing away. Night doubled over, supporting himself by putting one hand on the wall, taking in big breaths of air. "Here," he walked over to Candy and gently scooped her up. She felt as light as a feather in his arms.

"Can you tell us what happened?"

"By the looks of it, I think I can guess," Night muttered. Odix took Candy back to Thunder's room and helped her sit down on the bed. He and Night both sat in front of the other two. By then, Scorpian and Silver had heard all the commotion and come up. They both pulled up a chair and joined the little group.

Odix took a deep breath, his silvery hair still tousled around, a thick strand was flopping in his face. All eyes were on him as he started.

"I was downstairs, helping Enders and the doctor guy speed-build Candy's metal rod. I told them I needed a drink and left," his brown eyes darted to Candy for some reason in a nervous and mysterious way, "I was in the library, looking for a book when out of nowhere someone hits me on the back of the head. Obviously, it barely did anything, so when I turned around to see who it was, I didn't expect to see Night. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't him after all. 

"Anyway, he tried to tackle me, and I fought back, but he won only because he cheated by smashing a pot over my head. When I woke up, I had a feeling he was close by, so I looked for him, and that's when I found you two."

He gestured to Candy and Night. 

"I don't understand, how in the world could someone transform themselves into someone entirely different," Candy searched her friends' faces for answers. Only a couple of them seemed to know the answer.

"I forgot you guys didn't know. There are dragon shifters, right? And then there are just plain dragons. Or plain griffins. Anyway, people are split into nine categories, just like dragons. Except they obviously aren't exactly the same ries. I'm not sure about the specifics but I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that one of them is the human version of the Chamelokyes. That's who we met today," he added something under his breath but Candy couldn't hear.

 "Wait, so you're saying that humans can shapeshift basically?" Thunder's eyes were wide.

"Guys, how do we know if it's really all of us here? I mean, how do we know it's really us?" Candy searched her friends, hoping the stranger wasn't still here.

"Oh, that's easier than you might think," Scorpian said. They all waited for her next words until she noticed and continued. "Well, take a Chamelokye for instance. If - let's say Candy - tried to look like another dragon, she'd be pretty convincing at blurry glances and a good distance. But if you looked close, there'd be differences. If Candy tried to look like the best sept of all, in other words, the SandSkinks," she earned herself a few teasing glares, "it would be convincing right up to the point that you say she really didn't have larger ears than other septs or thicker eyelids."

"I think I get it," Night's eyebrows furrowed together.

"Are you saying Candy can shape-shift?" Thunder's voice wavered. Scorpian smiled, shaking her head. 

"No. It only works that way for humans that aren't dragon - or griffin - shifters," she said. Candy didn't know how to feel. As far as she knew, her parents weren't capable of anything but smiling and breathing. 

"But . . ." all eyes turned to her now, giving her the feeling she hated so much. "The queen and king of Nigintia . . . as far as I could ever tell, they were harmless."

"Oh, I've seen plenty of harmless non-dragon shifters in my day. If the queen and king were in any rie, they'd be in the Speakhearts. Those are the type of people who can talk to animals, any other language, and even dragons."

"I heard a legend once there were a rare few able to talk to trees," Silver stared blankly at the bedside, deep in thought even as he spoke. Scorpian rolled her eyes at the comment, but Candy believed it.

"Anyway, if there's a Changeheart among us, we'll be able to tell. Look, look at Candy. She has a broken leg, right? Changehearts are the worst at imitating injuries," Odix said.

"Great, so you're saying we all just have to seriously hurt ourselves and we'll be fine," Night narrowed his eyes sarcastically. Candy smiled, turning back to Odix.

"No. Anyway, the biggest giveaway is their eyes. As powerful as Changehearts are, they've never been able to change their eye color from their original," Odix said matter-of-factly.

"You could've led with that," he shot Night a warning look. Candy squashed a grin and cleared her throat.

"So do we know what color his eyes are?" she was thankful when Night spoke, turning the attention away from her.

"I got a glimpse when I pinned him to the wall-"

"Just a glimpse? You pinned him to the wall, how did you just get a glimpse?" Candy wasn't sure if Odix was intentionally annoying Night, but whether he was trying or not, Night was annoyed.

"As I was saying, his eye color is like a dirt-brown, muddy, boring grey color, kind of like yours actually, Odix," he turned his head to his friend, who was already glaring at him.

"Guys, can we please be adults again, for like, two seconds?" Scorpian spread her hands. Odix and Night shrugged, giving each other one last look.

"The thing about Changehearts, their eyes are always an unusual or even vibrant color. Like yellow, or even red sometimes," Odix said.

"Again," Night began sardonically, "Couldn't you have led with that?"

Odix stood from his chair, towering over Night, who was just "slightly" less muscular. Scorpian tensed to stand but Candy shook her head. Instead, she stood (sort of) even as her legs wobbled. 

That got both of their attention, and Night and Odix moved to help her.

"Odix, switch places with Silver," Scorpian wiggled her finger back and forth between the two. Odix said nothing, taking a seat where Silver had been. "If you guys are gonna act like two-year-olds, at least wait until we're not talking about something important. Okay?" she looked back and forth between them until she was satisfied.

"Where could he have gone?" Thunder stared at the window as if their identity thief was out there. 

"And we're sure it wasn't a she?" Candy asked. Scorpian and Odix shook their heads. 

"Like I said, there's still a difference between the real you and the not you. A Changeheart can only alter their appearance, they'll still have the same build and body, they'll just look different. If he tried to change into one of you guys," he gestured to Scorpian and Candy, "it would be really, really obvious. Picture an attempt at Candy's face on a man's body."

The thought was disturbing, to say the least. It helped to see Night's horrified expression. Odix looked deep in thought; his hands on his waist even sitting.

"I wonder . . . remember how Enders wanted Night and Silver to help him with something? He was talking about a case we've been working on for a long time," for some reason, he turned right to Candy, staring her dead in the eyes. Something told her she already knew what he was going to say. "I think it has something to do with the murder of the queen and king of Nigintia."