Chapter Fifteen
“Go faster.”
Rian’s voice was tight, edged with desperation that scraped raw at everyone inside the truck.
“I am going as fast as I can,” Cameron snapped back, hands locked on the steering wheel as the speedometer climbed. “This thing isn’t a fucking jet.”
“What are you feeling?” Joshua asked, twisting in his seat to look back at Rian and Dominik who sat behind him. Rian’s jaw was clenched so hard it looked painful.
Dominik answered instead, his voice low, controlled by sheer force of will. “Pain. A lot of it. Something must have happened. Something’s wrong.”
The words settled like lead.
“We’ll find her,” Joshua said firmly. “Has the weave updated?”
Rian glanced down at the faint glow of the screen in his palm, the tracking weave pulsing softly against his skin. “No. Still shows her on Highway 92. North side.”
Cameron’s grip tightened as headlights flashed past. “Could she have been in an accident?” he asked, flicking his brights at a car that pulled out too slowly in front of them.
“It’s possible,” Joshua said grimly. “She was exhausted.”
“Fuck,” Rian snarled. “How long until we get there?”
Cameron leaned on the horn. The driver ahead swerved left, and Cameron floored it. “At this rate? Half an hour. Maybe less.”
“Fuck,” Dominik hissed. “She could be bleeding out.”
“She won’t,” Joshua said, steady but tense. “If she was that bad, you’d feel it.”
Rian shot him a sharp look. “Still nothing for you two?”
Joshua and Cameron shook their heads in unison.
“Turn off on that road. That one there,” Dominik said suddenly, eyes locked on the map of the GPS he was holding. “Half a mile up. There’s a shortcut. Cuts ten minutes out.”
Cameron didn’t hesitate. Indicator on. Wheel turned. The truck veered onto the narrower road, suspension groaning as the tires hit uneven asphalt. The engine roared as Cameron pushed it harder.
Silence filled the car after that. Not the calm kind...the suffocating kind. Each of them disappeared into their own thoughts, fear gnawing at the edges of their control.
After several minutes, Cameron broke it.
“I’m so fucking grateful to finally be done with this shit once we find her,” he said quietly. “No more leaving her behind to deal with community bullshit. No more choosing between duty and instinct.”
Dominik huffed. “Yeah. I didn’t expect the Queen to do something like this. I mean she saved us once already… and now this.” He shook his head. “Not even asking for a single thing in return. It’s a dream come true.”
“I still think it’s not right to be paid for something we were born to do,” Joshua muttered.
“She’s not paying us for the protection,” Cameron replied. “You heard her Josh. She just wants our mate secure. Secure as in safe, yeah, but I think the biggest driving factor was the money.”
“What do you mean, the money?” Joshua asked gruffly.
Rian answered, voice steadier now, anchored by purpose.
“Exactly what Cam said. She wants Anabelle to never worry about anything. Not bills. Not housing. Not survival.” He swallowed.
“And not us. She literally gave us freedom that came with a pension, just so we can take care of her without ever being pulled away.”
Dominik spoke next, quieter than the rest. “I don’t think it was just about our mate.”
They all looked at him.
“If it was,” he continued, “she wouldn’t have helped us two years ago. I think she did this for us too.” A pause. “Whether because she truly saw us… or because of something else.” His jaw tightened. “Either way...I’ll never stop thanking her.”
Rian let out a breath that almost sounded like a laugh. “Gods. She really is our godmother.”
The truck tore down the dark road, headlights cutting through the night.
“What’s that?” Dominik shouted suddenly. “There. What the fuck is that?”
All three of them followed his gaze through the windshield. Miles ahead, the night sky was torn open.
Light spiralled upward in a violent, impossible column: black and ash-grey threaded through molten reds and burning golds, all of it twisting together like a living storm.
It looked less like fire and more like a hurricane made of raw power, reaching high into the heavens, warping the air around it.
Massive didn’t even begin to cover it.
Rian leaned forward, eyes snapping to the open laptop mounted between the seats, data scrolling too fast to track. “Fuck,” he breathed. “The meter’s gone completely insane. That’s definitely ether. No question.”
Joshua stared out the window, jaw tight. “I’ve never seen ether behave like that. Energy doesn’t physically manifest that way.”
Cameron swallowed. “Do you think… that’s her?”
“Yes,” Dominik said without hesitation. “Without a doubt.” His voice sharpened. “Get ready to jump out. I don’t think it’ll hurt us, on a biological level, she wouldn’t be able to do it.”
Joshua barked a humorless laugh. “That’s rich. She literally blasted us across the fair.”
“No,” Dominik snapped. “She didn’t. She pushed us back. Her intent wasn’t to hurt...it was to create space.” He shot Joshua a look. “Just get fucking ready.”
“I am ready,” Joshua growled. “We all are.”
They closed the remaining distance fast. Cameron slammed on the brakes as they pulled in behind a car crumpled against the guardrail, metal twisted grotesquely, glass glittering across the asphalt.
The light towered only meters away now, its brilliance so intense it forced them to shield their eyes.
Up close, the storm resolved into something even more unsettling.
Four walls. Four separate barriers that rose from the ground in a square, overlapping one another as they climbed higher and higher, walls of raw ether layered and reinforced instinctively. What had looked like chaos from a distance was, horrifyingly, structured.
“Fuck,” Rian muttered. “Can anyone see what’s happening on the other side?”
“No,” Joshua said grimly. “It’s like staring straight into the sun.”
“Cam,” Dominik called over the roar of the energy. “Any spell that could take this down?”
Cameron didn’t answer.
He took a step closer, meant to inspect the barrier further, when he heard crying. Broken. Panicked.
Cameron snapped his head toward the car and bolted, skidding slightly on loose gravel as he reached the back door. Inside, a small boy sobbed hysterically, words tumbling out in incoherent fragments. Cameron yanked the back-door open, and Emmett immediately screamed.
Cameron froze instantly, hands lifting in surrender. “Hey...hey,” he said softly. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m here to help.”
The boy’s chest hitched violently.
Cameron’s eyes swept the car, taking in the blood smeared across the front seats, the spiderwebbed windshield, the way the metal had folded inward. His hands clenched at his sides.
“Emmett,” he said gently, using the boy’s name like an anchor. “You’re okay. You’re okay. Breathe for me.”
Emmett sobbed harder.
“What happened?” Cameron asked carefully. “Where’s your sister?”
“He...he...she...” Emmett gasped, tears streaming down his face.
“Hey,” Cameron murmured, crouching slightly. “Breathe, little man. You’re doing good. I just need you to tell me so we can help her.”
“The monster,” Emmett cried. “He… he made us crash. He wouldn’t move out of the way. Then he took her.” His voice broke. “Sissy—”
Cameron pulled him gently into his chest, rubbing slow circles on his back. “Shh. Shh. It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
Emmett sniffed, words tumbling out between sobs. “Sissy fell asleep in his arms and then...then she woke up and screamed so loud I thought she was...she was—” He shaked his head, not wanting to finish the thought.
His small hand lifted, pointing shakily toward the towering barriers of light. “And then...then...she threw her hands up and… and…”
Cameron went still. Slowly, he lifted his gaze back toward the blazing walls of ether. Understanding hit him like a punch.
“Okay,” he said softly, voice steady despite the fear clawing at his chest. “Okay, little man. This is what we’re going to do.”
He pulled back just enough to meet Emmett’s eyes. “My brothers are right behind me. They’re going to take you to our truck, play you some music, give you snacks...whatever you want.”
Emmett hesitated.
“You can take anything you want from the car,” Cameron added gently. “Your toys. Your bag. Everything.”
Emmett nodded shakily.
Cameron squeezed his shoulder once. “I’m going to go get your sissy. Alright?”
Another nod.
Cameron stood, then spun on his heel, turning back toward the wall of light. Toward Anabelle and whoever was inside there with her. “Dom! Come with me. Now.”
Joshua and Rian were already moving toward the car, instincts snapping into place.
“Josh, Rian stay with her brother,” Cameron barked. “Get everything transferred to the truck. Don’t leave a single thing behind.”
Dominik was at Cameron’s side in the next breath. “What is it? What do you need?”
Cameron’s eyes never left the blazing barriers. “If I’m right… she put this up to protect Emmett from the ‘Monster’.” His jaw clenched. “Whoever attacked them made them crash, she trapped it in here with herself.”
Dominik’s gaze sharpened. “It had to be a demon.”
“Yes,” Cameron said grimly. “He would’ve recognized dragons. Wolves. Any other shifter. He must have been in demon form, horns out, enough to scare the boy.”
Dominik swore under his breath. “You think it’s the same one we’ve been tracking?”
“Possibly,” Cameron said. “And if it is...we need to get in there.” He stepped closer to the nearest wall of light. “Give me a second.”
“Wait,” Dominik snapped. “What are you doing?”
“I think the barrier’s directional,” Cameron said quietly. “She didn’t want anything inside to get out. She didn’t care if someone came in.”
He extended his hand. The light swallowed it.
Dominik sucked in a breath. “Cameron—”
Cameron didn’t hesitate. He stepped forward and crossed through. What he saw stopped him dead.
A heartbeat later, he felt Dominik appear beside him. They both froze.
“What the fuck,” Dominik breathed.
At the center of the space stood Anabelle.
One hand was outstretched, fingers trembling, aimed at the remains of the demon they had hunted for weeks...
now nothing more than scorched bones and twisted horns, the rest of him reduced to ash.
Her other arm was lifted high above her head, palm open, feeding raw power into the barriers around them.
Her eyes. Gods. They burned with swirling colour: black, grey, red, gold: ether churning so violently within her that it painted her gaze with the same storm that roared overhead.
She looked ethereal. And terrifyingly powerful.
“Gods, she’s going to burn out,” Cameron said hoarsely. “She can’t hold this.”
Dominik moved instinctively toward her.
Cameron shot out an arm, stopping him. “Don’t. She won’t recognize anyone right now. You’ll only trigger something worse.”
“Then what the hell do we do?” Dominik snarled, panic cracking through his control. “I’m not letting her burn herself alive.”
“I didn’t say we would,” Cameron replied. “Give me a minute.”
He closed his eyes. Reached. The earth answered him instantly.
Flowers erupted behind Anabelle: thick, soft blooms pushing up from cracked asphalt, forming a dense bed of living cushion. At the same time, Cameron summoned a thick root from the nearest tree, snaking it across the ground with careful precision.
The root caught Anabelle behind the knees. She staggered and her concentration shattered. She fell backward, landing gently on the bed of flowers. The effect was immediate. The power stopped, the barriers collapsed inward and dissolved like smoke.
The world fell eerily silent.
Then Cameron ran. The instant he reached her, everything shifted. Gravity reoriented. The world tilted and locked. Everything, everything, suddenly revolved around the woman lying before him. The bond slammed into place so violently it dropped him to his knees.
“Gods,” he gasped. “Mate.”
He gathered her carefully, cradling her head. “Anabelle. Talk to me.” His voice broke. “Open your eyes for me, baby. Come on.”
A groan answered him. Her eyelids fluttered. Relief tore through him so hard his hands shook. “Oh gods,” he whispered, sagging closer. “You’re okay. You did so good. You protected him. You protected Emmett.”
She blinked and then sat up so fast she looked winded. “Emmett?”
“He’s okay,” Cameron said quickly. “He’s with the others. You’re safe.”
She sucked in a shaky breath and looked around. Her gaze landed on the charred bones. She swallowed hard. “Did I…?”
“Did you protect yourself and your brother,” Dominik said from a few steps away. “Yes. You did.”
She closed her eyes. A single tear slipped free. Cameron brushed it away with his thumb.
She opened her eyes again. “What’s going to—”
Her sentence cut off as her eyes closed and her body swayed. She collapsed backward as Cameron caught her instantly, easing her back onto the flowers.
“Anabelle?” Dominik’s voice cracked. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine,” Cameron said, pulse racing as he checked her breathing.
“She collapsed from exhaustion.” He looked up.
“But we need to move her Dom, get her to a healer as soon as possible. I don’t know what kind of strain that put on her system.
I would do it, but I don’t have my herbs with me for the spell. ”
Dom swallowed, nodding once. “Okay.”
Cameron lifted her gently into his arms.
“Let’s go,” Dominik said.