Chapter 45: DESPERATE ATTACK

Joyce's POV

We made it to Portland in thirty-two minutes.

Taylor drove like a demon, running red lights while I gripped the door handle and tried not to think about what was happening back home. Mark rode in the back with four other wolves, all of them silent.

My phone buzzed.

The warehouse on Pier 9. Come alone in one hour, or Eleanor dies. Then the Megan goes next.

I stared at the message. Vane.

"What is it?" Taylor glanced at me.

"He wants me at a warehouse on Pier 9, in one hour time, alone, or he kills Eleanor and detonates the bomb."

"It's a trap."

"I know."

"Then we don't go."

"We have to." I looked at the message again.

Taylor's jaw clenched. "Dalton told me to keep you alive."

"Dalton's not here. And if he dies in the next fifteen minutes, none of this matters anyway. The bomb goes off whether Vane presses that button or not."

We pulled up to a residential neighbourhood on the outskirts of Portland. Megan's house sat at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac. Every light was on.

"No. That's my sister in there. I'm not sending anyone in ahead of me."

I pulled free and headed for the front door. Taylor and Mark fell in beside me despite my objection. The Blackwood wolves watched us approach but didn't move. They had their orders. Let us in, keep us trapped, wait for Vane's signal.

The front door was unlocked. I pushed it open and stepped inside.

The house looked normal at first glance. Family photos on the walls. Megan's jacket hung by the door. But the living room had been turned into a command center. Elias had set up laptops and communication equipment on every available surface. Three of his wolves stood guard by the windows.

"Where is she?" I asked.

Elias appeared from the hallway. He looked exhausted, dark circles under his eyes, his shirt stained with sweat. "Upstairs. She's been asking for you."

I took the stairs two at a time. Megan's bedroom door was open. She sat on her bed, knees pulled to her chest, staring at the wall. When she heard me, she looked up.

"Joyce." Her voice cracked.

I crossed the room and pulled her into my arms. She clung to me, shaking. My little sister. The person I'd spent my whole life protecting. And I'd failed her.

"I'm here," I whispered. "I'm here now. It's going to be okay."

"It's not okay. Nothing about this is okay."

I pulled back to look at her. She had a bruise on her left cheek and her wrists were red. Rage burned through me.

"He came three hours ago. Right after sunset." Megan's words tumbled out fast, like she'd been holding them in too long. "I was making dinner. Just a normal Wednesday night. Then I heard glass breaking downstairs. I tried to run, but they were already in the house. Four of them. They grabbed me before I could shift."

"Did they hurt you?"

"Not really. Just enough to scare me. They tied me up and brought me back here. Made me sit on this bed while Vane set up his bomb which Elias had found.” She looked at me with teary eyes. "He said the bomb was for you. That it would only go off if you or Dalton died. But then he said if I tried to leave Portland, if I tried to run, he'd detonate it manually and kill everyone within a mile radius."

Elias appeared in the doorway. "I've identified three of the seven trigger mechanisms. But the primary detonator is encrypted with a code I can't crack."

My heart sank. "So we're out of options."

"Unless you can get Vane to give you the override code, yes."

I checked my watch. Forty-three minutes until Vane's deadline. Somewhere back home, Dalton was fighting for his life against fifty Blackwood wolves. And here I was, staring at an impossible choice.

Save Eleanor or save Megan. Save Dalton's mother or save a hundred innocent people.

"I'm going to the warehouse," I said.

Elias grabbed my arm. "Joyce, he'll kill you."

"Maybe. But if I don't go, he kills Eleanor and detonates the bomb manually anyway. At least this way I have a chance to stall him. Buy you more time."

"You're going to trade your life for his mother."

"I'm going to try and save everyone."

Taylor stepped forward. "Then I'm coming with you."

"No. Vane said alone."

"And you believe him?"

"No, but if I show up with backup, he'll press that button immediately. This is the only play we have."

I turned and headed back toward the stairwell before anyone could argue. My radio crackled.

"Joyce." Elias's voice. "If you get that override code, transmit it immediately. I'll input it remotely."

"Copy that."

I took the stairs two at a time, my mind racing through scenarios. Vane wanted me alive. That was the one advantage I had. He'd gone through too much trouble setting this up just to kill me outright.

But what he wanted me alive for, I didn't know. And that terrified me more than anything.

The parking garage was dark when I emerged. I climbed into one of our vehicles and started the engine. Pier 9 was fifteen minutes away.

My phone buzzed again.

Clock's ticking, Joyce. Tick. Tock.

I threw the phone on the passenger seat and drove.