CHAPTER 125: CHAPTER 125: THE HIDDEN ARCHIVE

ARIA POV

"That’s impossible," Lord Cassius said. "I would know if—"

He stopped talking. His red eyes were turning black.

Not just the eyes. Everything. Just like the Shadow Lords.

"Cassius?" I called out, but he wasn’t Cassius anymore.

When he smiled at us, his fangs were longer and sharper than before. And behind those completely black eyes, there was nothing but hungry darkness.

"Too late," he said in a voice that wasn’t his anymore. "They’re already here."

The shadow above us suddenly dropped like a falling mountain, and I realized we weren’t looking at our possible ally anymore.

We were looking at our executioner.

And the real Shadow Lord army was about to land right on top of us.

The wall exploded inward just as I grabbed the old book.

Stone and dust flew everywhere as something huge smashed through the apparently impenetrable barrier protecting the Archive. I rolled behind a huge bookshelf, clutching the leather-bound tome against my chest.

"Aria!" Kael’s voice rang out through our bond, filled with fear. "The entry is sealed! We can’t get to you!"

Of course it was sealed. The Keepers had told us this would happen if anyone tried to steal from the Archive. But I hadn’t stolen anything—I’d traded my memories of the triplets’ first kiss for entry to the forbidden section. It should have been a fair trade.

Apparently, the Archive’s guardians differed.

Through the settled dust, I saw what had broken through the wall. It wasn’t a Shadow Lord or a Devourer. It was something I’d never seen before—a creature made completely of living darkness, but not like the shadows we’d been fighting. This thing sparkled like it was full of stars.

"You cannot take the Last Record," it said in a voice like faraway thunder. "Too many have died for that knowledge."

"People are dying right now!" I shouted back, holding the book tighter. "If this has information about stopping the Shadow Lords, I need it!"

"The Last Record speaks of the Final Sacrifice," the creature said, moving closer. With each step, the temperature dropped. "It is not knowledge meant for the living."

I pressed myself against the shelves, my heart pounding. The book in my hands felt warm, almost alive. Through our bond, I could feel the triplets trying everything to break through the magical barrier, but it wasn’t working.

"What is the Final Sacrifice?" I asked, trying to buy time.

The thing stopped moving. "You truly do not know?"

"Would I be asking if I did?"

For a long moment, there was silence. Then the thing spoke again, and its voice was sadder than before.

"Long ago, when the Shadow Lords first came to this land, there was another Moon Alpha. Her name was Luna Starweaver, and she was the most powerful of her kind. "

My blood went cold. I’d never heard of another Moon Alpha. "She discovered the same truth you seek," the creature continued. "The only way to send the Shadow Lords back to their dying world. But the cost..." It shook its starry head. "The cost was everything."

"What do you mean, everything?"

"To open a rift between worlds large enough to send all the Shadow Lords back, someone must support it from this side. The magical energy needed would burn through any normal supernatural being in seconds."

I swallowed hard. "But a Moon Alpha could survive it?"

"No," the thing said simply. "A Moon Alpha could control it long enough to finish the ritual. But the effort would consume their life force totally. There would be nothing left. Not even a soul to pass on."

The book in my hands suddenly felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. Complete death. Not just dying and maybe seeing loved ones again someday, but total erasure from reality.

"That’s why this is the Last Record," the creature stated. "Luna Starweaver wrote down the ritual, did it, and saved her world. But the knowledge was so dangerous that the Keepers hid it away, thinking it would never be needed again."

Through the bond, I felt Jaxon’s sudden understanding. He’d heard everything through our link.

"Aria, no," his voice came desperately in my mind. "Whatever you’re thinking, no. We’ll find another way."

But what if there wasn’t another way? What if this was our only chance to save everyone?

"Show me the ritual," I said to the creature.

"I cannot. The book will only reveal its secrets to one who has already accepted the Final Sacrifice. If you open it now, knowing what it costs, the information will burn into your mind forever. There will be no going back."

"And if I don’t?"

"Then the Shadow Lords will consume this world as they consumed their own. Every supernatural being will die, and then they will move on to the humans. Within a century, this entire realm will be as dead and empty as theirs."

I closed my eyes, thinking of everyone counting on me. My pack, the other Moon Alphas, all the supernatural beings who had just agreed to work together. Even the humans who didn’t know magic existed.

Could I really sacrifice myself to save them all?

"There’s something else," the creature said quietly. "Something the Last Record doesn’t mention."

I opened my eyes. "What?"

"Luna Starweaver was not alone when she performed the ritual. She had three mates, bonded to her soul. When she died, they died with her. The Final Sacrifice claims not just the Moon Alpha, but everyone connected to their life force."

My heart stopped. "The triplets?"

"If you perform this ritual, Aria Blackwood, you will not die alone."

Through the bond, I felt the exact moment when Kael, Jaxon, and Lucien understood what the thing had said. The wave of feeling that hit me nearly knocked me over. Fear, love, hopelessness, and something else—determination.

"We accept those terms," Lucien’s voice came through the bond, steady and sure.

"No!" I said out loud. "You don’t get to make that choice!"

"Neither do you," Kael answered firmly. "We’re linked, Aria. That means we face everything together. Including this."

"Besides," Jaxon added, and I could hear his grin even through the mental connection, "you really think we’d let you have all the glory of saving the world?"

Tears burned my eyes. They were willing to die with me. Actually willing.