Chapter 123: Shadows on the Highway

The estate had never felt so restless. Everyone had eaten, but nobody had really eaten. There were half-finished sandwiches on the kitchen counter, mugs of cold coffee on the table, boots left by the door. The air was filled with a low, constant buzz — the sound of people waiting for the next thing to hit them.

Aidan was bent over the map table with Callum, drawing lines with a black marker. Ethan sat at his laptop, fingers moving but eyes unfocused, like his brain was still three steps ahead of the screen. Elena leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, hair still damp from the shower she’d taken after the fight at the campus. Echo stood near the window, completely still, like a bird that hasn’t decided if it’s going to fly.

I walked in quietly. No one noticed at first.

“Any news on the vans?” I asked finally. My voice cut through the silence like a blade.

Ethan looked up. “Three of them,” he said. “Two headed south on Route 11. One veered west toward the industrial zone. Same pattern: no plates, no logos, tinted windows.”

“Who’s inside?”

“Hard to tell. Could be hybrids. Could be students. Could be both.”

Elena pushed off the wall. “So what’s the plan? We just sit here and hope they write us a postcard?”

Aidan straightened. “No. We follow them.”

Everyone looked at him.

“You’re serious,” Elena said.

He met her gaze evenly. “Do you have a better idea?”

“Yes,” she said. “Pizza. Then a nap. Then we follow them.”

Despite myself, I laughed. It was small, but it was there. “She’s not wrong about the nap.”

Aidan’s mouth twitched but didn’t quite make it into a smile. “We don’t have time. The westbound van is heading into the industrial zone. If they’re transferring people, that’s where they’ll do it. We can catch it before it disappears.”

“I’m in,” Echo said simply.

“I’m in too,” Rhea added from the doorway. She was clutching the Harbinger journal like it might break if she let go. “Galen’s in that van. I’m sure of it.”

Elena groaned. “Fine. But if we end up in a horror-movie warehouse with flickering lights and ominous barrels, I’m blaming all of you.”

“Noted,” Aidan said.

I looked at each of them. “Then we move now.”

\---

We loaded into two vehicles. Aidan drove the lead car; I sat beside him, with Rhea squeezed into the back between Echo and Elena. Ethan took the second car with Callum to run digital interference. The engines roared to life. The estate shrank behind us in the mirrors as the night opened up ahead.

The highway stretched out like a strip of ink under the stars. Streetlights flickered past in a slow rhythm. The windows were down just enough to let in the scent of pine and diesel. No one talked for the first ten minutes. The only sounds were the tires on the asphalt and the low murmur of Ethan’s voice over the comms.

Finally Elena leaned forward from the backseat, her chin on the edge of my seat. “So,” she said brightly, “what’s the over/under on us getting shot at tonight?”

“No betting on that,” Aidan said without looking at her.

“Okay, then how about the over/under on creepy warehouses?” she tried again.

Echo rolled her eyes. “You’re impossible.”

“I’m delightful,” Elena said. “You’re just grumpy.”

Rhea hugged the journal tighter. “Could you two not?” she muttered. “This isn’t a road trip.”

“Everything’s a road trip if you play the right music,” Elena replied.

I reached for the dial and turned the radio on low. A soft old rock song filled the car. It didn’t match the mood, but it filled the silence. Aidan glanced at me, and for a moment his mouth softened.

“You always do that,” he said quietly.

“Do what?”

“Find ways to make noise when it gets too quiet.”

“Noise means we’re still alive,” I said.

He didn’t argue.

\---

Ethan’s voice crackled over the comms. “We’ve got eyes on the van. Industrial zone, Dockside 12. It’s slowing down. You’re five minutes out.”

Aidan tightened his grip on the wheel. “Everyone ready?”

Echo checked her knives. “Ready.”

Elena cocked her crossbow. “Born ready.”

Rhea swallowed hard. “I’m ready.”

I adjusted the strap of my pack. “Let’s end this.”

\---

Dockside 12 looked exactly like every movie warehouse ever made. Corrugated metal walls. Rusted staircases. Crates stacked in neat rows. Flickering security lights. The van was parked near a loading bay, its back doors open. Two men in black gear stood nearby, rifles slung over their shoulders. Another figure—a woman—was talking to them, her back to us.

We parked behind a stack of shipping containers. Ethan and Callum stayed in the car, running interference. The rest of us moved in on foot, keeping to the shadows.

“That’s not Creed gear,” Echo whispered. “Too clean. Too new.”

“Who are they then?” I asked.

“No idea,” she said. “But they’re not amateurs.”

Elena nudged me. “So what’s the plan, boss? Walk up and say hi?”

“No,” Aidan said. “We watch first.”

We crouched behind a container, peering out. The woman turned slightly, and the light caught her face. I froze.

It was Selene.

Not in some projection. Not in a vision. In the flesh.

My heart thudded once, hard.

“She’s here,” I whispered.

Elena’s mouth fell open. “That’s her? That’s her?”

“Yes,” I said.

Selene gestured to the men. They opened the van doors wider. Inside, shadows moved. Figures. Students. Hybrids. Their eyes caught the light like cats.

Rhea’s breath hitched. “Galen,” she whispered.

Aidan’s hand closed over mine. “We move on my signal.”

\---

We waited. The seconds stretched. The smell of oil and metal filled my nose. My pulse was so loud I was sure they’d hear it. Selene stepped closer to the van, speaking to one of the hybrids inside. I couldn’t hear her words, but the hybrid’s posture changed—relaxed, obedient. It stepped down from the van and knelt at her feet.

“She’s not just transporting them,” Echo murmured. “She’s recruiting them on the spot.”

Aidan gave the signal. We moved.

\---

It happened fast. Echo darted left, silent as a shadow, taking out the first guard with a strike to the throat. Elena fired a bolt into the second guard’s shoulder, dropping him before he could raise his rifle. Aidan and I went straight for the van.

Selene turned. Her eyes found mine. She smiled.

“Roxanne,” she said softly, like we were old friends. “You made it.”

I didn’t slow. “Let them go.”

“Let them go?” She tilted her head. “They’re not prisoners. They’re volunteers.”

“They’re children,” I snapped.

“They’re lost,” she corrected. “And I’m giving them a home.”

I reached the van. Galen was inside, chained. His eyes widened when he saw me. “Roxanne,” he whispered. “She said you’d come.”

Selene took a step closer. “And you did,” she said. “Because you always will.”

Aidan raised his blade. “One more step and—”

She laughed softly. “And you’ll what? Kill me? In front of them?” She gestured to the hybrids in the van. “In front of your own?”

“They’re not mine,” I said.

“Aren’t they?” she asked.

For a heartbeat, no one moved. The hybrids stared at us with wide, uncertain eyes. Selene smiled like she knew the ending already.

“Choose, Roxanne,” she said. “Fight me, or join me. But do it now.”

I felt the weight of every eye on me. Aidan at my side. Rhea clutching the journal. Echo ready to strike. Elena with her crossbow aimed. Galen chained in the van. And Selene, patient as a predator.

I took a breath.

And stepped forward.