His new stepsister His biggest threat (Claire and Elijah) novel Chapter 259

Chapter 259

Claire’s POV

The tunnel was pitch black and smelled like damp dirt and old batteries. My heart was thumping against my ribs so hard I thought it might actually crack a bone. 105 bpm.

“Keep moving!” Ethan’s voice echoed from somewhere behind us, sounding like gravel in a blender. “Felix, tell me those sensors are jammed!”

“I’m trying, okay?!” Felix yelled back, his voice cracking. I could hear the frantic tap-tap-tap of him hitting his tablet screen.

“The Regency is literally saturation-bombing the clearing. The interference is insane. I can’t tell if they’re tracking us or just hitting everything that moves!”

Elijah didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. His arm was wrapped around my waist, basically carrying me as we sprinted through the narrow stone passage.

I could feel the heat coming off his skin-he was still partially shifted, his muscles feeling like iron.

“Elijah, stop,” I gasped, my lungs burning. “I can’t… I can’t breathe.”

He slowed down, pulling me into a small alcove where the tunnel widened. He turned me around, his hands gripping my shoulders. His eyes were still glowing that scary, beautiful gold.

“Claire, look at me,” he said, his voice dropping into that low, protective growl. “You okay? Did that siphon thing… did it take anything?”

“I don’t know,” I whispered. I looked down at my hands. They were still shaking, and faint blue sparks were still dancing under my fingernails. “I feel like I’m plugged into a wall socket. It won’t stop humming, Elijah.”

“Hey.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his touch surprisingly gentle for someone who just fought a squad of super- soldiers. “We’re going to get you to the Ridge bunker. It’s lead-shielded. It’ll cut the noise.”

“If we make it,” I said, looking back the way we came.

Suddenly, the whole tunnel shuddered. Dust rained down from the ceiling, coating us in gray grit.

“They’re using bunker-busters,” Ethan shouted, catching up to us with Silas and Felix in tow. “They aren’t just looking for us anymore. They’re trying to collapse the entire tunnel network.”

“They’re crazy, Felix said, looking at his screen. “They’re going to trigger a landslide. The whole North Ridge will slide into the valley!”

“Vane doesn’t care about the valley,” Silas said, leaning on his cane. He looked older than I’d ever seen him, but his eyes were sharp. “She wants the Anchor. If she can’t have the girl alive, she’ll settle for the body. The Citadel can still harvest the heart

if it’s fresh.

Elijah’s growl got louder. “Over my dead body.”

“That’s exactly what they’re counting on, son,” Silas said. “Felix, how far to the exit?”

“Three hundred yards,” Felix said. “But there’s a problem. The thermal scanners show a squad of Sentinels waiting at the Ridge trailhead. They figured out where the tunnels lead.”

“How many?” Ethan asked.

“Six. Maybe eight. Plus a drone.”

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Chapter 259

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Ethan looked at Elijah. “I’ll take the front. You keep Claire behind me. Silas, you and Felix cover the rear. We don’t stop for anything. If you see silver, you hit it.”

“Wait,” I said, grabbing Ethan’s arm. “What about Valerius? Where is she?”

“Who cares?” Ethan snapped. “She’s Council. For all we know, she’s the one who gave them the coordinates.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “She helped us. She taught me how to hide. If she was going to betray us, she would have done it at the Manor.”

“We don’t have time for a debate, Claire,” Ethan said, checking the clip on his sidearm. “Move!”

We took off again. The tunnel felt like it was getting smaller, the air getting thinner.

Every time a bomb hit the surface, I felt a spike of white-hot pain in my chest. The Well was buried, but it was still connected to me. It was like someone was pulling a string tied to my sott!.

We reached the heavy iron door at the end of the tunnel. Ethan put his hand on the lever.

C

“On three,” he whispered. “One. Two. Three!”

He threw the door open, and we burst out into the night air. It was freezing, the wind whipping snow into our faces. The clearing was filled with the blinding white light of tactical flashlights.

“Freeze!” a voice yelled. “Hands in the air! Now!”

I blinked, trying to see through the glare. There were at least eight Sentinels in silver armor, their rifles leveled at us. The drone was hovering overhead, its red eye blinking like a heartbeat.

“Step away from the girl, Hale,” the lead Sentinel commanded. “This is a Regency seizure. Any resistance will be met with lethal force.”

Elijah stepped in front of me, his teeth bared. “Try it.”

“Elijah, don’t,” I whispered.

“Target locked,” the drone’s mechanical voice droned.

Everything felt like it was happening in slow motion. The Sentinels started to squeeze their triggers. Ethan was reaching for his gun. Silas was raising his cane.

Then, a sudden whoosh of air came from the trees behind the Sentinels.

A black motorcycle roared into the clearing, skidding sideways and kicking up a massive cloud of snow and dirt. The rider didn’t stop-they threw something into the middle of the Sentinels.

Flash. Bang.

A concussion grenade went off, blinding everyone. I covered my eyes, my ears ringing like crazy.

“Get in the truck!” a girl’s voice yelled through the chaos.

I looked up. It was Valerius. She was off her bike, holding a high-powered pulse rifle, and she was laying down cover fire- not at us, but at the other Sentinels.

“Val?!” I screamed.

“Move, you idiots!” she yelled, pointing toward an old, beat-up 4×4 parked in the shadows. “I can’t hold them forever! My father’s coming with the second wave!”

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Chapter 259

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Ethan didn’t ask questions. He grabbed Felix and Silas, shoving them toward the truck. Elijah grabbed me, throwing me into the back seat before piling in after me.

Valerius hopped back on her bike, revving the engine so hard it sounded like a scream.

“Follow me!” she shouted over the noise of the gunfire. “I know a path the drones can’t track!”

Ethan floored it. The truck fishtailed, tires screaming on the frozen gravel, as we chased the red taillight of Val’s bike into the deep woods.

Bullets whizzed past the windows, shattering the side mirror. My heart was going a million miles an hour. 155 bpm.

“She’s helping us,” Felix panted, clutching his tablet to his chest. “She’s actually helping us!”

“For now,” Ethan growled, his eyes glued to the road. “But we’re officially fugitives. There’s no going back to the Manor. Not after this.”

I looked out the back window. The clearing was a mess of fire and smoke. Far above, more helicopters were descending like

angry wasps.

I looked at Elijah. He was covered in soot, blood, and burns, but he was looking at me like I was the only thing that mattered in the world. He took my hand, his fingers trembling just a little.

“You okay?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

“No,” I said, leaning my head against his shoulder. “But I’m alive.”

“We’re going to fix this, Claire,” he promised. “I don’t care if we have to tear the Citadel down brick by brick. No one is taking you.”

I closed my eyes, the blue light behind my eyelids finally starting to fade. We were deep in the forest now, the trees closing in around us like a shield. We had escaped the Well, but we were running straight into a storm.

“Hey, Felix,” I said, my voice shaky.

“Yeah?”

“How far to the bunker?”

Felix looked at his screen, then out the window at the dark peaks. “About ten miles of the worst road in the world. And Claire?”

“Yeah?”

“Your heart rate is still really high. Try to breathe, okay? If you pop, the truck pops.”

I took a shaky breath. 148 bpm.

“I’m

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