Chapter 43 43
Annabeth's POV:
I was sitting on one of the benches outside the science building studying for my Biology exam when the man sat down next to me.
At first I didn't pay attention, just kept highlighting passages in my textbook about cellular respiration. The bench was public property and people sat there all the time. No big deal.
Then he said my name.
"Annabeth Clarke, right?"
I looked up. He was maybe mid-forties, wearing clothes that looked out of place on a college campus, dark slacks and a button-down shirt with a jacket that looked seriously expensive. His hair was graying at the temples and his smile didn't reach his eyes.
Every alarm bell in my head started ringing at once.
"Sorry, do I know you?" I asked, keeping my voice neutral even though my heart was suddenly pounding.
"Not yet. But I knew your mother. Sammy, beautiful woman. We were friends years ago, before she passed." He said it smoothly, practiced, like he'd rehearsed this conversation.
He was lying. I knew he was lying because Aunt Sarah had told me about all of my mom's close friends and there had never been any mention of a middle-aged man in expensive clothes. Plus the way he said "before she passed" was wrong, too casual, like he was reading from a script.
"I don't think my mother knew you," I said carefully. "You must have me confused with someone else."
"No confusion. You look just like her actually. Same eyes, same bone structure. Though I bet you've noticed some differences lately, haven't you? Things that don't quite make sense?"
My blood went cold. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"No? No unusual dreams? No unexplained fevers or moments where you felt like your skin was on fire?" He leaned back, still smiling that creepy smile. "No strange encounters with people who seemed a little too interested in you?"
He knew. He fucking knew about my powers, about the dragon stuff, about everything. And the only way he could know was if he was part of the Order or working for them or watching me closely enough to notice things no normal person would see.
I forced myself to stay calm, to keep my expression confused instead of terrified. "I think you have the wrong person. My name is Annabeth but I don't have any of those symptoms. Maybe you should talk to someone else."
"Or maybe," he said, his voice dropping lower, "you know exactly what I'm talking about and you're scared. Which is understandable. Finding out you're not entirely human is a difficult thing to process alone."
Not entirely human. He'd said it out loud, confirmed what I'd been trying so hard to hide. I stood up, shoving my textbook into my bag.
"I have to go. I have class."
"Of course. But before you do..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card, plain white with just a phone number printed on it in black ink. "If you ever want to know the truth about your family, about what you really are, you can find me. Hotel Meridian downtown, room 412. Anytime."
I took the card because refusing it would've looked more suspicious than accepting it. My hands were shaking and I shoved them into my pockets so he wouldn't see.
"I'm not interested in whatever you're selling," I said.
"I'm not selling anything. I'm offering answers to questions you've been asking yourself for weeks now. Questions about why you're different, why you can do things other people can't, why your mother really died giving birth to you."
That last part hit like a punch to the gut. He knew about that too, knew my mom died in childbirth, knew way too much about my personal history.
"Leave me alone," I said, my voice shaking now despite my best efforts. "I don't know you and I don't want your help."
"Fair enough. But you'll come around eventually. They always do." He stood up and buttoned his jacket. "It was nice meeting you, Annabeth. I'll be waiting when you're ready to talk."
He walked away without looking back, disappearing into the crowd of students like he'd never been there at all.
I stood frozen for maybe thirty seconds, my brain trying to process what just happened. The Order. It had to be the Order. They'd found me, they knew who I was, they were making contact.
And I was standing here alone in the middle of campus completely exposed.
I ran. Literally ran to the parking lot, my bag bouncing against my hip and my breath coming too fast. People stared but I didn't care, just needed to get to my car, needed to get somewhere safe, needed to call Kaelen.
My hands were shaking so hard I dropped my keys twice before I managed to unlock the car door. Slid into the driver's seat and locked the doors immediately, my heart racing so fast I thought it might explode.
I pulled out my phone and called Kaelen, pressing it to my ear with shaking hands.
He answered on the second ring. "Hey, what's up?"
"Something happened." My voice came out high and panicked. "A man approached me on campus, he knew my name, he knew about my mom, he asked about the dreams and the fever and he gave me his hotel room number and said I could find him when I wanted answers and Kaelen I think it was the Order, I think they found me."
"Shit. Okay. Okay, breathe. Are you safe right now? Where are you?"
"In my car. In the parking lot."
"Good. Don't go anywhere else. Come straight to my house right now, don't stop for anything, don't go home first. Just drive here as fast as you can safely drive."
"I'm scared."
"I know. I know you're scared but you're gonna be okay. Just get here and we'll figure this out together, alright? I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."
The certainty in his voice helped, made my breathing slow down slightly. "Okay. I'm coming now."
"Drive safe. Text me when you're close."
I hung up and started the car, my hands still shaking on the steering wheel. Pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward Kaelen's house, checking my rearview mirror every few seconds to make sure nobody was following me.
The card was still in my pocket, that plain white card with just a number and a hotel room. Evidence that the Order knew exactly who I was and where to find me.
And they were waiting for me to come to them, confident that eventually I'd want answers badly enough to walk right into their trap.
But at least he hadn't mentioned Kaelen. Hadn't asked about my boyfriend or his siblings, hadn't seemed to know anything about the golden dragons living on the other side of town. That was something. If the Order only knew about me, maybe I could keep them safe.
Maybe I could protect them the way Kaelen had been trying to protect me.