SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan) novel Chapter 170

Chapter 170

The first explosion rocked the cabin, sending dust raining from the tunnel ceiling. Alexander and Stefan pressed forward, fighting against the urge to retreat. Behind them, the passage began to collapse.

"Move!" Alexander shouted as they burst through the exit into the stormy night.

Rain hit their faces like tiny needles. The boathouse stood twenty yards ahead, its weathered blue paint visible in the lightning flashes. Two armed men guarded the entrance, their attention fixed on the main cabin as it began to burn.

Alexander signaled to his team, spreading them into position around the clearing. Stefan crouched behind a fallen tree, his heart hammering against his ribs. From inside the boathouse came the sound of raised voices.

"The boat won't start!" a man yelled.

"Fix it!" Rose's voice, sharp with panic. "We need to leave now!"

Alexander caught Stefan's eye, mouthing the words: _Three. Two. One._

The team surged forward. The guards spun, raising their weapons, but Alexander's men fired first, non-lethal rounds that dropped both men to the wet ground.

"Breach!" Alexander ordered.

The boathouse door splintered inward. Inside, the scene unfolded in chaotic snapshots:

Rose standing on a small dock.

A speedboat bobbing in the water.

Three more guards, weapons ready.

And Camille, her wrists bound, her face bruised, but her eyes fierce with defiance.

"Down!" Alexander shouted as gunfire erupted.

Stefan dove behind a stack of old barrels, the smell of long-ago fish bait stinging his nostrils. Alexander and his team returned fire, the space filling with the deafening crack of weapons and shouts of pain.

Through the chaos, Stefan saw Rose dragging Camille toward the boat. Camille fought back, making herself as difficult to move as possible, but she was weakened from captivity.

Without thinking, Stefan launched himself from behind the barrels.

He stayed low, using the firefight as cover. Neither Alexander nor Rose noticed him skirting the edge of the dock, moving closer to where Rose struggled with Camille.

"Stop fighting me!" Rose hissed, yanking Camille's arm. "This is your fault! It's always your fault!"

Camille twisted, trying to break free. "It's over, Rose. It's been over for a long time."

Rose's face contorted with rage. She raised her hand to strike Camille just as Stefan reached them.

"Let her go!" Stefan grabbed Rose's arm.

Rose whirled, shock flashing across her face before hardening into hate. "You!" She kicked at him, connecting with his stomach. "You chose her too!"

Stefan stumbled backward but kept his grip on her arm. "Rose, stop. There's nowhere to go."

Behind them, the gunfire slowed, then stopped. Alexander's team had subdued Rose's men. Only the storm's rage filled the sudden silence.

Rose glanced around wildly, seeing her escape route vanishing before her eyes. She reached into her pocket with her free hand, pulling out a small pistol.

"Get back," she snarled, pointing it at Stefan, then swinging it toward Camille. "I'll kill her! I swear I will!"

"Rose...." Stefan began.

"Shut up!" She was unraveling now, her voice climbing higher. "I should have killed her properly the first time. I should have watched my men kill her myself."

Alexander appeared at the edge of the dock, weapon raised. "Put it down, Rose. It's finished."

Rose laughed, the sound brittle and broken. "It's not finished until I say it is." She pressed the gun harder against Camille's temple. "Drop your weapons, or I paint this dock with her brains."

For a moment, no one moved. Rain poured down, soaking them all. In the distance, the main cabin blazed despite the downpour, flames reaching high into the stormy sky.

Alexander slowly lowered his weapon.

"Smart man," Rose smirked. "Now back up. All of you."

Alexander took one step backward, never taking his eyes off Rose. His face showed nothing, but Stefan recognized the tension in his body, a predator preparing to strike.

"You too, Stefan," Rose ordered. "Move away from us."

Stefan stood his ground. "Let Camille go first."

"Why?" Rose demanded. "So you can have her back? So you can play happy families again?" She shook her head. "I deserved everything she had. Everything."

"I never took anything from you, Rose," Camille said quietly. "You always had a place. A home. A family that loved you more than me."

"Loved me?" Rose spat. "They needed me to be perfect! To be everything you couldn't be!" Her grip on the gun trembled slightly. "Why can't you be more like Rose, Camille? Rose gets better friends. Rose is more social. Rose doesn't embarrass us."

Stefan saw Alexander inching to the side, using the distraction to get a better angle.

"Good," Camille said. "Feel that. Stay angry. Stay here."

Alexander knelt beside them, shrugging off his jacket and pressing it against the wound. "Medic's on the way," he told Camille. "Two minutes out."

Behind them, Rose's shouts filled the boathouse as the security team dragged her from the water and restrained her. She thrashed and screamed, wild-eyed with fury and defeat.

"Look at me," Camille said to Stefan, ignoring Rose's cries. "Just at me."

Stefan fixed his gaze on her face. Despite everything, the bruises, the exhaustion, the ordeal of her captivity, she looked stronger than he'd ever seen her. Not the woman he'd married and betrayed, but someone forged in fire, tempered by pain.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "For everything."

A sad smile touched her lips. "I know."

"I didn't deserve you." Blood stained his lips now, making it harder to speak. "I never did."

"Hush," Camille said, pressing harder on his wound. Pain sparked through him again, keeping him conscious. "Save your strength."

Rose's voice rose in pitch, her words becoming incoherent. The sound of a helicopter approached, its rotors beating against the storm.

"Stay with him," Alexander told Camille, standing. "I'll handle her."

Stefan watched through dimming vision as Alexander strode toward Rose. The two security men holding her stepped back, still keeping a firm grip on her arms.

Alexander leaned in close, saying something to Rose that Stefan couldn't hear. Whatever it was made Rose go still, the fight draining from her body. Her shoulders slumped. Her head bowed.

"Stefan, focus," Camille said, drawing his attention back. "The medics are almost here. Just hold on."

Stefan reached up with his good arm, his fingers brushing her cheek. "You found your strength," he murmured. "The strength I was too blind to see."

Camille caught his hand, pressing it against her face. "Yes," she said simply. "I did."

The boathouse filled with new activity as medical personnel rushed in. Someone gently moved Camille aside, replacing her hands with professional pressure on Stefan's wound.

Through the crowd of people now surrounding him, Stefan caught a last glimpse of Rose being led away, her head still bowed, the fight gone out of her. The sister who had tried to destroy Camille, now destroyed herself.

As darkness finally claimed him, Stefan's last thought was of the wooden fishing lure in his pocket, the symbol of a childhood Camille had once cherished. A childhood before Rose. Before him. Before all the pain they'd caused her.

He hoped she would find that innocence again someday.

And he hoped, whatever came next for him, that he had begun to make amends.