Se connecterThe alliance call connects at eleven PM. Seventeen faces on screen. Alphas, coven leaders, vampire lords, fae representatives. All of them were looking at Jamie like she’s about to deliver a death sentence.“Sixty days,” Jamie says. “Maybe less. The Shadow Council is planning simultaneous elimination of every dragon bloodline on the planet. Three thousand four hundred families. Active and dormant. They’re calling it the Cleansing.”Nobody speaks for a moment. Then everyone speaks at once.Jamie lets it go for ten seconds. Then: “Quiet.” And they all went quiet.“Panicking wastes time we don’t have.” She pulls up the map Cael provided. Share it on the call. “These are every known bloodline location. Sixty percent we already had. Forty percent is new. All of them are targets.”“How did you get this?” Raina asks.“Fourth Shadow Council member defected. Brought nine centuries of records with him.”“A defector.” Tavish’s voice is flat. “And you trust him.”“I trust the data. Jai has been
“I know what I am,” Cael says. “What I’ve been part of. I’m not here to minimize that.”Jamie keeps her hand near the blade. “Then what are you here for?”“To give you something.” He moves toward the desk. Slow. Deliberate. Making sure she can see every movement. He picks up a drive and holds it out. “Everything. Nine centuries of Shadow Council records. Internal communications. Facility locations. Operative identities. Financial networks the Cayman accounts didn’t touch.”Jamie doesn’t take it yet. “Why.”“Because three members remain. All older than Konstantin. All more dangerous.” Cael sets the drive on the desk between them. “And because they’re planning something that makes every previous attack look minor.”“What kind of something?”“They’re calling it the Cleansing.” His voice doesn’t change but his eyes do. Something old and tired moving behind them. “Every dragon bloodline worldwide. Active and dormant. Simultaneous elimination. Not raids. Not targeted strikes.” He pauses. “T
The grain silo sits alone on flat land. Twelve miles north of the safe house. No cover for three hundred meters in any direction. Whoever chose this location knew what they were doing.“He picked it deliberately,” Kade says, studying the satellite image on Jai’s feed. “Clear sightlines everywhere. Anyone who approaches, he see them coming.”“Anyone normal approaches,” Jamie says. “Pull up the interior layout.”“Converted about forty years ago. Original grain storage on ground level. Three floors added inside. Steel reinforced.” Jai highlights the structure. “One main entrance. Emergency exit on the north side. Both will be watched.”“What about underground?”“Old grain drainage system. Runs beneath the foundation. The access point is about eighty meters east.” Jai zooms in. “Tight. Very tight. But it connects to the silo basement.”“How tight?” Kade asks.“One person. Small one.” Everyone looks at Jamie.“Don’t say it,” Kade says.“Someone has to go in from below while the rest create
The Canada safe house looks exactly as Jamie left it. Quiet. Remote. Three hundred miles from the nearest supernatural settlement.Hemston is waiting on the porch when their vehicle pulls up. Just sitting there in the cold. Watching the tree line. Jamie’s out of the car before it fully stops.“Hey.” She crouches in front of him. “How long have you been sitting out here?”“Since this morning.” He doesn’t look at her. Still watching the trees. “They came back last night.”“In your dream?”“It wasn’t a dream.” His voice is flat in a way that doesn’t belong to a six year old. “I was awake. I heard them outside. Two of them. They walked the perimeter twice then left.”Jamie looks at Kade over Hemston’s head. Kade’s already signaling two wolves to check the tree line.“Why didn’t you tell Meredith?” Jamie asks.“I did.” Hemston finally looks at her. His eyes are steady. Too steady. “She said I was imagining it.”“I didn’t want to worry you,” Meredith says from the doorway. Her expression te
They fly back to Cartagena with Konstantin in silver chains in the cargo hold.“One down,” Kade says on the plane. “Three to go.”“How’s the team?” Jamie asks. She’s holding a cloth against the wound in her side. Dragon bone cut. Burns constantly.“Two injured. Nothing critical.” Kade glances at her side. “That needs proper treatment.”“It needs Meredith.”“Meredith is in Canada with the twins.”“Then it needs time.” Jamie removes the cloth and checks the wound. Deep but not fatal. “I’ve had worse.”“That’s not the comfort you think it is.”Jai patches through before she can respond. “You need to see something. Both of you.”He puts it on the plane’s screen. News footage. Human news. A reporter standing outside a courthouse in Geneva.“Supernatural rights advocates are calling it unprecedented. The Dragon Council, long believed to be a myth, has been named in a formal international complaint filed by the Inter-Species Alliance. The complaint cites crimes against humanity spanning fou
The villa outside Florence looks peaceful in the dark. Stone walls draped in ivy. Olive trees lining the perimeter. A fountain in the courtyard that hasn’t stopped running in three hundred years.Jamie counts twelve guards on the outer perimeter alone.“More inside,” Kade says beside her. They’re crouched in the tree line two hundred meters out. Eight Iron Wolves behind them. “Jai, what are we looking at?”“Twenty three operatives total. Target is in the east wing. Third floor.” Jai’s voice is steady in their earpieces. “The wards are old but strong. You’ll feel resistance the moment you cross the outer boundary.”“Can we bring them down?”“Not remotely. Someone has to touch the anchor points physically. Four of them. Positioned at each corner of the property.”“We take the anchors first.” Jamie turns to the team. “Split into four. Hit all corners simultaneously. The moment the wards drop we move on to the villa.”“And if the target runs before we get inside?” one wolf asks.“He won’t
They meet at the safe house that night. All three teams battered and exhausted."Sixteen families extracted. Four killed. Five remaining." Meredith tallies the numbers. "Sixty-four people saved. Nineteen dead."The deaths weigh on everyone."We did what we could," Briton says, but he doesn't sound
Council headquarters at night is eerily quiet. Quentin's away at a conference. Only skeleton security remains.Perfect conditions for a heist."Everyone in position?" Jamie asks through comms.Confirmations come back. Kade's team securing the perimeter. Briton's team handling guards. Jai and Jamie
Two weeks after the Corvus fight, Jamie holds her first official alliance meeting. Twenty-three representatives gather in a neutral warehouse Kade secured.Pack alphas. Coven leaders. Vampire clan heads. Fae nobility. All watching Jamie with varying degrees of respect and suspicion."Thank you for
Corvus strikes at midnight.No warning. No alarm. He's just suddenly there, in the courtyard, holding three dragon bone blades."Jamie Olive. Dragon Queen. Come out and face me." His voice carries through the compound.Jamie's already moving. Briton grabs her arm. "Wait. This is what he wants.""I







