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.
