His new stepsister His biggest threat (Claire and Elijah) novel Chapter 265

Chapter 265

Claire’s POV

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The air in the Relay Chamber didn’t just feel heavy; it felt wrong. It was thick with the smell of ozone and that clinical, bleach-like scent that made my nose sting.

In the center of the room, the artificial Well-a jagged, pulsing spire of synthetic crystal-was humming at a frequency that made my teeth vibrate in my skull.

“Claire, don’t listen to him,” Valerius shouted, her rifle steady on her father. “He’s just trying to get into your head.”

Marcus Valerius didn’t even look at the gun pointed at his chest. He was staring at me, his eyes wide with a creepy kind of fascination. “Look at her, Val. You can see it, can’t you? The way the energy is already reaching out to her. You can’t fight physics, daughter. She’s the missing piece.”

125 bpm. I felt it then.

The moment Marcus spoke, the artificial Well spiked. It felt like a giant hook had snagged onto my ribs and was pulling me toward the laser cage. The sapphire light in my chest flared up, turning my vision into a blurry, blue mess.

“Elijah…” I gasped, stumbling.

Elijah caught me, his hands firm on my shoulders. “I’ve got you.

Stay with me, Claire. Look at me, not that thing.”

“She can’t help it, boy,” Marcus said, stepping closer. The guards moved with him, their fingers twitching on their triggers. “Her heart was built for this. It’s not just a pump anymore; it’s a terminal. And right now, this facility is starving.”

“Felix, tell me you’re close!” Ethan roared, stepping in front of us, his Alpha presence flaring to counter the cold weight of the room.

“I’m trying!” Felix yelled from behind a nearby server rack. His fingers were flying across his tablet so fast they were a blur. “The encryption is insane! It’s like trying to hack a living brain! Every time I break a firewall, the Well just… rewrites the code!”

“That’s because it is alive, in a way,” Marcus said, his voice dropping into a weirdly calm, lecturing tone. “It’s a reflection of her. You want to save the North? You want to stop the blackouts and the ‘Cleanse? Then let her do what she was born to do. Let her stabilize the grid.”

“By killing her?” Silas spat, his cane glowing with a faint, dangerous light. “We know how your ‘conduits’ end up, Marcus. We’ve seen the husks you leave behind.”

“Progress requires sacrifice,” Marcus said simply.

Suddenly, the artificial Well let out a high-pitched scream. A wave of violet energy pulsed outward, knocking everyone back a step. The laser cage holding the crystal began to flicker, and the blue sparks under my skin

16:23 Tue, Feb 3

Chapter 265

turned into jagged, painful streaks of white light.

140 bpm.

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“It’s pulling me!” I screamed. The floor felt like a treadmill moving the wrong way. My feet were literally sliding toward the spire.

“Claire, hold on!” Elijah wrapped his arms around my waist, digging his heels into the metal floor. His muscles were bulging, his eyes glowing a fierce, desperate gold. “I’m not letting go! Ethan, do something!”

Ethan lunged for Marcus, but the guards opened fire. The room erupted into chaos-pulses of kinetic energy clashing with wolf-strength.

Valerius was diving between crates, picking off guards with surgical precision, while Silas used his cane to deflect incoming bolts.

But I wasn’t watching the fight. I was watching the crystal.

It was turning black. The sapphire light was being sucked out of it, replaced by a dark, swirling void. The “static” in my head became a roar. It wasn’t just noise anymore; it was words.

FEED ME. ANCHOR ME. FILL THE HOLE.

“No,” I whimpered, clutching my head. “Stop it. Get out of my head!”

“It’s the feedback loop!” Felix screamed over the noise of the gunfire. “The artificial Well is crashing! If it hits zero, it’s going to implode and take the whole Citadel with it!”

“Then shut it down, Felix!” Ethan yelled, throwing a guard across the room.

“I can’t shut it down from here!” Felix cried. “Someone has to manually bypass the core! But the radiation levels are too high! A wolf would be fried before they got halfway!”

Marcus looked at the spire, his face finally showing a flicker of fear. “It’s too soon. The calibration is off…”

“It’s over, Dad!” Valerius yelled, appearing from behind a pillar. She looked at me, her face pale. “Claire! You have to push back! Use the resonance like you did with the drones! You have to be the one to shut it down!”

“I don’t know how!” I sobbed. I was on my knees now, Elijah still holding me, his skin literally smoking from the energy radiating off me.

“You have to find the frequency,” Valerius said, her voice urgent.

“Don’t fight the pull. Ride it. Find the center and stop it.”

I looked at Elijah. He looked exhausted, his face covered in soot and sweat, but he gave me a small, shaky smile. “You can do this, Claire. I’m right here. I’m your grounding wire, remember?”

I took a deep breath. I stopped fighting the “hook” in my chest. I let the energy pull me in, but instead of letting it swallow me, I reached back.

16:23 Tue, Feb 3

Chapter 265

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I closed my eyes and pictured the North Ridge. I pictured the cold, the snow, and the steady, ancient heartbeat of the Hearth Well. I found that rhythm-that slow, deep thump-thump of the earth-and I forced my own heart to match it.

120… 100… 80…

The sapphire light flared one last time, blindingly bright. I reached out with my mind and grabbed the dark void inside the artificial spire. It felt like ice, like a hunger that could never be satisfied.

Enough, I thought.

I pushed the North’s peace into the South’s hunger. I poured the memory of the forest, the wind, and the quiet mornings with Elijah into the swirling black mess.

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