Chapter 105: LINES DRAWN
Chapter 105: Lines Drawn
The portal spit them out onto frozen ground just as the sky started bleeding purple. Darius rolled, pulling the hybrid children close as reality shook around them.
The scaled girl was unconscious now, her network link flickering like a dying lightbulb. The other kids crowded together, their mixed-blood powers crackling weakly.
"Where are we?" Luna gasped, blood magic still smoking from her hands. "Neutral territory," Death answered, his shadows wrapping around the children like protective blankets.
"For now." But even as he spoke, the horizon burst with light. Not the warm glow of morning – this was harsh, artificial, angry. Council enforcement ships hung in the air like metal vultures, their speakers blaring across the desert.
"ATTENTION ALL SUPERNATURAL BEINGS. BY ORDER OF THE HIGH COUNCIL, MARTIAL LAW IS NOW IN EFFECT ACROSS ALL TERRITORIES. SUBMIT FOR REGISTRATION OR FACE IMMEDIATE PURIFICATION." Celeste spat blood into the snow. "They’re moving faster than we thought."
"What’s purification?" asked the wolf-eared boy, his teeth chattering from cold and fear. No one answered. They all knew.
Darius’s phone buzzed with emergency messages. Pack after pack sending desperate notes. Some asking for help. Others... "The Moonridge Pack just surrendered," he read, his voice hollow.
"So did the Silver Valley wolves. And the Crimson Fang vampires." "They’re smart," Death said without feeling. "The Council is offering survival to those who kneel."
"And slaughter to those who don’t," Luna added bitterly. The scaled girl’s eyes fluttered open. "The network... it’s breaking. Too many hybrid children are getting dark. The Council is collecting them." "Where’s Liana?" Celeste demanded.
"If they’re moving this fast, she needs to know." Darius tried calling. No answer. Tried the pack ties. Nothing but sound. "The Council is jamming supernatural communications," Sera realized, checking her own devices.
"They’re cutting us off from each other." Above them, more ships appeared. These ones were different – slimmer, deadlier. And they were going straight down. "Purification squad," Death noticed. "We need to move." But the hybrid children couldn’t move far.