Chapter 153: Race Against Time

“Where is she? Where’s my mother?” I pressed my claws against Catherine’s throat.

“Go ahead. Kill me. Won’t save Margaret. Won’t stop the bomb. Won’t change anything.” Catherine smiled. Blood on her teeth. “Four minutes left. Tick tock.”

Thomas searched the soldiers. Looking for phones. Radios. Anything with information.

“Found it!” Thomas held up a phone. Opened it. “There’s a live feed. Showing your mom. And a location tag.”

I grabbed the phone. Saw my mother. Still tied. Still unconscious. Bomb still counting. Three minutes forty seconds.

The location was ten miles away. Old warehouse. Near the docks.

“We’ll never make it in time. Not at normal speed.” I calculated. Running. Driving. Flying. All too slow.

“Then we go not normal speed.” Thomas closed his eyes. Concentrated. Magic built around him. Teleportation magic. Advanced. Dangerous. Difficult.

“You can’t teleport that far. You’ve never done it. It could kill you.” I knew the risks. Teleportation was hard. Long distance teleportation was nearly impossible.

“I can do it. I have to. For great grandma. For family.” Thomas grabbed my hand. “Trust me.”

I did. I trusted him completely.

“Do it. Get us there. Save her.” I held on tight.

Magic exploded. The world blurred. Twisted. Bent.

We appeared at the warehouse. Dizzy. Sick. But there.

Three minutes left on the bomb.

We ran inside. Found my mother. Exactly like the video. Tied up. Bomb strapped to chest. Counting down.

“Mom! Wake up! We’re here!” I shook her. Gently. Urgently.

Margaret’s eyes opened. Confused. Groggy. Drugged.

“Lita? How? Where?” She couldn’t focus.

“No time to explain. We’re getting you out.” I examined the bomb. Complex. Professional. Deadly.

“I don’t know how to disarm this. Do you?” I looked at Thomas.

“No. But I can contain the blast. Shield it. Protect us.” Thomas started building a magic barrier. Around the bomb. Around my mother. Around us.

Two minutes left.

“The barrier won’t hold. Not against this much explosive. It’s too big. Too powerful.” I recognized the bomb type. Military grade. Designed to destroy buildings.

“Then we cut her free. Run. Get as far as possible before it explodes.” Thomas pulled out a knife. Started cutting ropes.

One minute thirty seconds.

The ropes were reinforced. Steel core. Hard to cut. Taking too long.

“Faster. We need to move faster.” I helped. Using claws. Cutting. Tearing. Desperate.

One minute.

Finally the ropes broke. My mother was free. But the bomb was still attached. Strapped to her chest. Locked. No way to remove it without the key.

“We run. Now. Get as far as possible.” I lifted my mother. Still weak. Still drugged.

Thomas and I ran. Out of the warehouse. Toward open space. Away from buildings. Away from people.

Thirty seconds.

We weren’t far enough. Wouldn’t be far enough. The blast radius was too big.

“Put me down. Save yourselves. Run.” Margaret tried to push away. Sacrificing herself.

“No. We don’t leave family. We survive together.” I held her tighter.

Twenty seconds.

Thomas stopped running. Turned around. Faced the warehouse.

“What are you doing? We need to keep moving!” I shouted.

“I’m ending this. My way.” Thomas raised both hands. Power built. More than I’d ever seen from him. More than should be possible.

“Thomas no! You’ll burn yourself out! You’ll die!” I recognized what he was doing. Total power release. Everything at once. Could stop the bomb. But would kill him.

“Better me than both of you. Better one than three.” Thomas looked back. Smiled. “Tell Mom I love her. Tell Dad I’m sorry. Tell everyone I did good.”

Ten seconds.

“Thomas don’t!” I screamed.

He released everything. Pure power. White light. Blinding. Overwhelming.

The power hit the warehouse. Surrounded the bomb. Contained it completely.

Five seconds.

The bomb exploded. Inside Thomas’s power shield. Massive explosion. Huge fireball. Devastating blast.

But contained. Held. Blocked by Thomas’s magic.

The warehouse was destroyed. Obliterated. Gone.

But we were safe. Protected. Alive.

Thomas collapsed. Unconscious. Smoke rising from his body. Burned out. Drained completely.

I ran to him. Checked vitals. Still breathing. Heart still beating. But barely. Nearly dead from the effort.

“Healers! I need healers! Now!” I screamed into my phone. Signal was back. Backup was close.

Within minutes help arrived. Medical team. Healers. Everyone.

They worked on Thomas. Stabilized him. Saved his life. Barely.

“He’ll live. But recovery will take months. Maybe years. He burned through too much power. Damaged himself severely.” The head healer explained. “He’s lucky to be alive.”

My mother was okay. Drugged but unharmed. The bomb was gone. Destroyed. Threat ended.

But Thomas paid the price. Five years old. Nearly died. For family. For us. For love.

“He’s a hero. He saved us. Saved everyone.” Margaret held Thomas’s hand. Crying. “Stupid brave beautiful boy.”

We took Thomas home. Put him in medical care. Round the clock monitoring. Best healers. Everything.

Luna and Derek were devastated. Proud but destroyed. Their son nearly died. Nearly sacrificed himself.

“He’s like you. Like all of us. Too brave. Too selfless. Too willing to die for others.” Luna cried. Holding her son. “I don’t know if that’s good or terrible.”

“It’s both. It’s what makes us Luna Triad. What makes us family. What makes us who we are.” I hugged her. “He’ll recover. He’ll be okay. He’s strong.”

Catherine was arrested. Locked up. Maximum security. No escape this time. Enhanced wards. Constant monitoring. Forever.

The New Order scattered. Without Catherine’s leadership. Without their plan working. They fell apart. For now.

But they’d be back. Eventually. With new plans. New leaders. New threats.

“When does it end? When do we get real peace? Permanent peace?” Luna asked.

“Maybe never. Maybe this is our life. Constant threats. Constant battles. Constant fighting.” I looked at Thomas. Unconscious but alive. “But we keep going. Keep fighting. Keep protecting. Because that’s what we do. That’s who we are.”

Thomas took six months to wake up. Six long months of waiting. Hoping. Praying.

When he finally opened his eyes. When he finally spoke. We all cried.

“Did we win? Is great grandma safe?” His first words. Worried about others before himself.

“We won. She’s safe. You saved her. Saved all of us.” Luna kissed his forehead. “You’re a hero.”

“I’m just family. Doing what family does.” Thomas smiled weakly. “That’s what great grandma Lita always says.”

He was right. That’s exactly what I always said. What I always believed. What I always taught.

Family protects family. No matter the cost. No matter the risk. No matter anything.

And Thomas learned that lesson. Lived that lesson. Nearly died for that lesson.

I was proud. Terrified. Grateful. Devastated. All at once.

Being Luna Triad meant sacrifice. Meant danger. Meant pain.

But it also meant love. Meant purpose. Meant making a difference.

And that made everything worth it. Every battle. Every scar. Every sacrifice.

We were Luna Triad. We were family. We were forever.

And we’d keep fighting. Keep protecting. Keep loving.

No matter what came next.