CHAPTER 124: CHAPTER 124: COUNCIL OF SPECIES

ARIA POV

The ground shook as something huge crashed through the trees behind us. I spun around, my heart pounding, expecting to see more Shadow Lords. Instead, a dragon landed with a thundering boom that made my teeth rattle.

"Get down!" I shouted, but the dragon wasn’t attacking. It was bleeding.

A woman slid off the dragon’s back, her clothes torn and covered in silver blood. She had pointed ears and eyes that glowed like stars. An elf, I realized with shock. I’d never seen one before, but the stories were real.

"Are you the Moon Alpha?" she gasped, tripping toward me.

"Yes, but—"

"Thank the old gods," she breathed. "We need your help. The Shadow Lords... they’re not just hunting werewolves."

The dragon behind her let out a weak roar and crumpled. Its huge side rose and fell in ragged breaths. Whatever had hurt it was strong. Very strong.

"Kael, get a healing circle going," I called through our bond. His presence was still weak from whatever the Shadow Lords had done to him, but he was trying.

"There’s no time," the elf said hurriedly. "They’re coming. All of them. Every magical creature is under attack."

"What do you mean?" I asked, but even as the words left my mouth, more shapes appeared in the sky.

A group of vampires flew toward us, their pale faces grim. Behind them came a pack of something I’d never seen—creatures that looked like dogs but moved through the air like smoke. And in the distance, I could see more figures running through the trees.

"The Shadow Lords lied about everything," the elf continued as the others landed around us. "They told each of our peoples that the others were the enemy. They said werewolves were planning to destroy all magic. They told the vampires that elves were taking their blood sources. They told the fae that everyone was invading their realm."

My stomach dropped. "They turned us against each other."

"Exactly. While we were all fighting among ourselves, they grew stronger. They’ve been feeding off the strife, the fear, the hatred."

A vampire with silver hair stepped forward. His red eyes were angry, but not at us. "I am Lord Cassius of the Night Court. The elf talks truth. My people got reports that werewolves were planning to wipe out vampires completely."

"And we were told vampires were working with dark witches to block out the moon permanently," I said, understanding flooding through me.

"The fae received word that both vampires and werewolves planned to invade the Summer Court," said a new voice.

I turned to see a woman who seemed made of light and darkness, her features shifting between beautiful and terrifying. A fae queen, if I had to guess.

"They played us all," I whispered.

"Not just played," rumbled a deep voice. The dragon had somehow changed into a guy with golden skin and fire in his eyes. "They harvested our fighting. Every fight, every death, every moment of fear—it all fed their power."

Through the bond, I felt Lucien and Jaxon approaching fast. Good. We were going to need everyone for this.

"How many species are under attack?" I asked.

"All of them," the elf answered grimly. "Witches, shifters, angels, demons—anyone with magical power. The Shadow Lords don’t just want to rule. They want to swallow everything magical and remake the world in their image."

Lord Cassius nodded. "They’re picking us off one by one. My court has lost half its members in the past month alone."

"The Summer Court is barely holding together," the fae queen added. "Our strongest warriors have fallen to creatures we’d never seen before."

"Shadow-touched," the dragon-man said darkly. "Normal supernatural beings who’ve been corrupted by Shadow Lord power. They look like us, but they’re hollow inside. Puppets."

A chill ran down my spine. "How do we tell the difference?"

"Their eyes," he said. "Always completely black. No eye, no pupil. Just empty darkness."

I thought about Malphas and the other Shadow Lords we’d faced. Their eyes had been exactly like that.

"So what do we do?" I asked. "We can’t fight them separately if they’re this strong."

"We unite," said a new voice. An angel dropped from above, her white wings spanning wider than I was tall. "All species, working together. It’s the only way."

"That’s impossible," Lord Cassius said instantly. "Vampires and werewolves have been enemies for ages. The fae trust no one. Dragons follow no leader but themselves."

"Then we all die separately," the angel answered simply.

The weight of what she was saying hit me like a punch to the gut. Every supernatural critter on Earth was in danger. If we couldn’t work together, the Shadow Lords would pick us off one by one until nothing special existed anymore.

"There’s something else," the elf said quietly. "The Shadow Lords aren’t from our world. They’re from somewhere else entirely. Somewhere dark and empty."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"They come from a place where all the magic died long ago. They swallowed everything in their own realm, and now they’re here for ours."

The fae queen’s shifting features settled into an expression of fear. "They’re not conquering us. They’re fleeing their own dying world."

"Which means they can’t go back," the dragon-man realized. "This is their last chance. They’ll fight to the exact end."

Through the bond, I suddenly felt Kael’s fear. He was seeing something through the pack network. Something bad.

"What is it?" I asked him quietly.

"More attacks," his voice came back strained. "Every pack we’re connected to is reporting the same thing. Coordinated strikes happening everywhere at once."

I shared what Kael had told me with the group. The angel’s face went pale.

"It’s starting," she said. "The final push."

"How long do we have?" Lord Cassius asked.

Before anyone could answer, the sky started to darken. Not like nightfall—like something was blocking out the sun itself.

"Look up," the dragon-man whispered.

Above us, a huge shadow was spreading across the sky. It looked like a storm cloud, but storms didn’t move that deliberately. This thing was heading straight for us.

"They found us," the elf said, her voice filled with dread.

Through the darkness, I could see shapes moving. Hundreds of them. Maybe thousands.

"How did they track us so quickly?" the fae queen asked.

The angel’s eyes widened with sudden understanding. "Because one of us is already shadow-touched."

Everyone froze. We all looked around at each other, mistrust replacing the fragile trust we’d just built.