His new stepsister His biggest threat (Claire and Elijah) novel Chapter 275

Chapter 275

Claire’s POV

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The transport didn’t just stop; it seemed to exhale, the metal frame groaning as the engine died into a cold, hollow silence.

For a moment, the only sound was the whistling wind outside, whipping through the jagged obsidian peaks of the High Spire.

Kael didn’t wait for the Regency’s tactical teams to regroup. He reached down, his fingers glowing with that eerie, silver moonlight, and touched the heavy magnetic bolts holding my wrists to the floor.

The metal didn’t break-it simply unraveled, turning into a fine, black silt that blew away in the draft.

“Can you stand?” he asked. His silver eyes were focused on the darkness behind us, where the flickering searchlights of the interceptors were already swinging back toward our position.

“I… I think so,” I whispered. My legs felt like they were made of lead, the remnants of the sedative still dragging at my nervous system.

Kael didn’t wait for a better answer. He hooked an arm under mine and hoisted me up.

The moment my feet hit the floor, the world tilted. 118 bpm. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic, uneven beat.

“We don’t have time for the transition to wear off,” Kael muttered He pulled me toward the back of the truck.

“The Proctor’s Hounds are already scenting the air. If they catch us on the ridge, there is no shadow deep enough to hide you.”

He stepped out of the transport, dragging me with him into the freezing mountain air.

The wind was brutal, a physical force that threatened to shove us off the narrow cliffside road.

Below us was a drop into nothingness-a sea of grey clouds and jagged stone.

Above, the High Spire loomed like a needle of black glass, its searchlights cutting through the snow like white blades.

“Where are we going?” I gasped, the thin air burning my lungs. “There’s nowhere to run.”

“Look down, Anchor,” Kael said.

He led me to the very edge of the precipice. I looked down, expecting to see a thousand-foot fall. Instead, the shadows at the base of the cliff seemed to be… moving.

They weren’t just dark; they were swirling, a vortex of ink-black hist that clung to the stone.

“The Eclipse Coven does not build on the surface,” Kael said. “We live in the marrow.”

He stepped off the ledge.

I screamed, the sound lost in the gale, but he didn’t let go of my hand.

We didn’t fall. It felt like stepping into a pool of thick, cold water

The gravity shifted, pulling us horizontally into the cliff face. We passed through a shimmering veil of gray static, and suddenly, the wind stopped.

The cold vanished.

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11:18 Mon, Feb 9 DD

Chapter 275

We were standing in a tunnel.

It wasn’t a cave-not exactly.

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The walls were perfectly smooth, made of a dark, translucent stone that seemed to pulse with a faint, violet rhythm.

There were no torches, no lights, yet I could see perfectly. The air was warm and smelled of damp earth and crushed jasmine.

95 bpm. My heart rate began to steady as the oppressive “noise” of the Regency’s tech finally faded.

Out there, the High Spire was screaming with energy; in here, there was only a profound, heavy silence.

“The Veins of the Earth,” Kael said, finally letting go of my arm.

He smoothed his duster, his silver eyes scanning the tunnel ahead. “These paths were carved before the first Wells were tapped. The Regency’s sensors cannot penetrate the stone here. To them, we have simply ceased to exist.”

“And the wolves?” I asked, my voice echoing in the stillness. “Can Elijah find this?”

Kael turned to look at me, and for the first time, I saw a flicker of something like regret in his gaze. “A werewolf’s power comes from the moon and the blood. It is a surface magic, Claire. It is loud, vibrant, and physical. This place… this is the magic of the shadow and the bone. Elijah could stand right on top of this tunnel and he would feel nothing but cold rock. To lead him here would be to invite the sun into a tomb. It would destroy him, and the sanctuary with it.”

“So I’m trapped here?” The panic started to rise again, a sharp, cold spike in my chest.

“You are safe here,” Kael corrected. “There is a difference. Follow me. The High Priestess is waiting, and the Anchor’s light is leaking. If we don’t seal the fractures the Regency made, you won’t survive the night.”

He began to walk deeper into the mountain. I had no choice but to follow.

The tunnel wound down in a spiral, deeper and deeper into the heart of the peaks.

Every few hundred yards, the architecture changed. We passed through sections where the walls were covered in living, glowing moss, and others where ancient runes were etched into the stone, glowing with a soft, pulsing sapphire that made my skin itch.

“These runes,” I said, reaching out to touch one. “They feel like the North Ridge.”

“They are older than the Ridge,” Kael said without turning around. “The Coven was the first to understand the resonance. We didn’t try to build cities with it. We didn’t try to make it a weapon. We simply listened to what the earth was saying.”

We reached a massive set of double doors made of white bone-or something that looked very much like it.

They were carved with the image of a sun being swallowed by a moon.

“Beyond this door lies the Inner Sanctum,” Kael whispered. “Do not speak unless addressed. The High Priestess has not seen

a living Anchor in three generations. She will be looking for the mountain in your eyes, not the girl.”

He pushed the doors open.

The room beyond was a vast, hemispherical dome.

The floor was a mosaic of obsidian and silver, polished to a mirror shine.

In the center of the room sat a pool of black water, perfectly still

And sitting on a raised dais behind the pool was a woman who looked like she was made of smoke and moonlight.

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11:18 Mon, Feb 9

Chapter 275

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