CHAPTER 71: NEW CREATURES

Eleanor’s POV

We were slowly getting surrounded, the rogues closing in with terrifying speed.

"Are you going to accept or not?" he demanded.

Take the lead! Beatrice roared, her excitement a wild echo of my own pounding heart. Now!

"Okay," I breathed. In a frantic scramble, we moved. Maxwell slid out his door as I unbuckled and launched myself over the center console into the driver’s seat.

He was in the passenger side just as my hands found the wheel. My foot slammed on the accelerator, and the car lurched forward, smashing through the closest rogues. The impact was jarring, but a fierce, thrilling energy surged through me.

It felt... natural. Like my hands and the steering wheel were made for each other. The fear was still there, but it was overshadowed by a wild, eager joy.

Ahead, the track itself began to warp, the asphalt rising into a steep, sudden hill. I didn’t slow down. I pushed the car harder, feeling it climb, the world tilting at a crazy angle before we shot over the crest and flew down the other side. My thumb found the weapon button, and I fired at the rogues waiting below, the shots feeling like an extension of my own will.

Mr. Maxwell’s voice crackled through the comm, laced with pure bewilderment. "Is this truly your first time driving like this?"

"Yes," I said, the word bursting out with a breathless laugh I couldn’t contain. Because it was. And it was the most alive I had ever felt.

Then, a new voice cut through the adrenaline-fueled haze in my mind. It was ancient, rasping, and utterly alien.

My master...

It wasn’t Beatrice. It was external and chilling.

I have prepared a more challenging path for you. To make you stronger.

"Did you hear that?" I yelled to Maxwell, swerving around a rogue.

"Hear what?" he snapped, his focus on the road. "Just drive!"

Then, the air in front of us shimmered. A figure materialized out of nothing, levitating above the track.

It was draped in tattered, flowing black robes that seemed to drink the light. Its face was a void of shadow.

"What the heck is that?" I gasped.

It raised a skeletal hand, and a ball of roiling fire materialized, hurling directly at us.

I wrenched the wheel, the fireball screaming past the car and exploding against the asphalt behind us. "Maxwell!"

"I see it!" he shouted, his voice tight with a new kind of alarm. "This is new! This has never happened before!" He was already on the comms. "All units, beware, we have an unknown hostile creature! Take everyone to safety!"

More of the robed figures appeared, hovering in the air, launching volleys of fire.

I was now in a deadly dance, dodging fire from above while still managing the rogues swarming the track below. My mind raced, a frantic loop. Why is this happening?

"You won’t be able to handle this" Maxwell yelled as a near-miss scorched the side of the vehicle, making it shudder violently. "I have to take back the lead!"

But he couldn’t. We were in the middle of a storm of fire and monsters, and I was the only one with my hands on the wheel, my body moving on an instinct I didn’t know I possessed. I was trapped in the driver’s seat of a nightmare.

My mind narrowed to a single, primal objective: get to the finish line.

It was the only way out of this chaos.

"Sir Maxwell," I yelled, swerving around a fireball, "do you know what those things are?"

"I’m not certain," he barked back, "but they look like warlocks! Some kind of spellcasters!"

"How do we stop them?"

"Most casters have a power source! It could be anywhere on them, or something they’re carrying!"

My eyes scanned the hovering figures as I dodged another attack. Then I saw that each one held a faintly glowing orb in their free hand. The orbs pulsed with sickly energy. That should be it

But the car’s firing power can’t reach that high.

I saw a jump ramp and a crazy, desperate idea formed. I aimed the car straight for it.

"Eleanor, what are you doing?" Maxwell demanded, bracing himself.

"I don’t really know!" I admitted, pressing the accelerator to the floor.

The car shot up the ramp, becoming airborne for a heart-stopping second. My thumb slammed down on the weapon button. A burst of fire tore from the car, and I watched, as the projectiles fired until they found their marks, shattering the glowing orbs. The warlocks dissolved into clouds of black dust.

"Target the orbs! The orbs in their hands!" Maxwell roared into the comms. The sound of drones now joined the cacophony as I could see the finish line ahead. I pushed the car as fast as it would go, weaving through the remaining chaos.

The moment our tires crossed the line, I stomped on the brake. The car screeched to a violent, shuddering halt.

We sat there for a second, panting. Then, as we climbed out on shaky legs, we watched the finish line shimmer. The remaining warlocks in the distance crumbled to dust, track smoothed back into its normal form.

Sir Maxwell walked over to me, his helmet off, revealing a face etched with a mixture of shock and newfound respect. He looked at me, then back at the now-quiet track, then back at me.

"I have to admit," he began, his voice gruff but less stern than before, "I can’t believe you drove like that. If I hadn’t seen it myself, I wouldn’t have believed it." He shook his head slightly. "You think fast on your feet. You saw the orbs, you used the ramp... you didn’t panic and freeze up like I expected."

He crossed his arms, his gaze appraising. "So, maybe you’re not as bad as I thought. Maybe I’m starting to see a glimmer of the reason you were allowed on this track in the first place."

Then he pointed a firm finger at me.

"But don’t let it get to your head. You’re still a novice. You have a mountain of training ahead of you. What you did was instinct and luck. Surviving out here takes more than that. It takes skill, discipline, and a hell of a lot of practice. So be prepared."

"I will," I promised, my voice steadier than I felt. "I’ll work hard. I won’t disappoint you."

He gave a curt nod and turned, and I followed him away from the track. The team workers were already swarming the damaged car, assessing the burns and dents. My adrenaline was fading, leaving a hollow, shaky feeling in its wake.

The moment we entered the paddock, Mira and Roxy descended on me.

"I saw what happened," Mira said, her eyes wide. "Warlocks? That’s completely new."

Roxy clapped me on the shoulder, a sharp, approving grin on her face. "And we saw you climb out of the driver’s seat. So you were the one piloting that metal coffin through all that? That’s impressive, newbie. Even for me." She looked me up and down. "I thought you said you’d never raced before."

"I haven’t," I confirmed, my legs feeling like jelly.

Mira’s expression turned serious. "Alright, let’s get back to our conversation. The one that was so interrupted hours ago. You still haven’t told us why you’re living with the Vexxon triplets."

I looked at their expectant faces. There was no easy way to say it. I took a deep breath.

"I believe," I said, "that I’ve found my mates. And it’s... it’s the Vexxon brothers."

Their jaws were practically hit the floor.

"The help I need," I continued, the words tumbling out in a rush, "is advice on how to convince them to reject the bond."

Mira’s eyes, wide with shock, slowly narrowed as a knowing look dawned on her face. "I had a hunch about that," she murmured, "but what I didn’t expect is to hear that its all three of them."

Next to her, Roxy let out a low whistle, her gaze turning speculative and utterly impish. "Okay, so if that’s what’s in your mind, what’s in my mind is how is Eleanor going to be shared between the three when it comes to the part of having... you know." She waggled her eyebrows. "Boombayah."

"Heyy!" Mira and I said in unison, my cheeks flaming a brilliant scarlet.

Don’t bother playing the blushing virgin with me, Beatrice slithered through my mind.

I’ve seen the fantasies you try to bury. So tell me, little liar, why run from a bond that would give three god-like men the singular purpose of ruining you in the most exquisite ways?

Why and how did i end up with this wolf?