Book 3: Chapter 51: Annabeth

Book 3: Chapter 51: Annabeth
Annabeth

I walked into the kitchen as I tried to block out the argument Seth and Kris were having upstairs. Lexy and Matt were standing by the window with an air of casualness that I knew neither of them felt. For the first time in years, I felt Lexy's anxiety as if it was my own. Her face was pale, save for the red handprint on her face which was just starting to fade. I didn't know how she was still standing... Not when everything around her was crashing again. I tugged at the backpack on my back, grateful for all she had packed for me. 
She gave me a small smile, one I knew she didn't feel, but I returned it anyway. 
"Why didn't they kill you?" I asked her, uneasily. "They could have easily hid here after they killed you and ambushed the rest of us?" 
Her smile faded and the serious look I had become accustomed to took over. 
"They can't." 
She said it so softly that I wasn't sure I heard her correctly, but I didn't get a chance to ask any further questions as the rest of the group started to file in. 
"What happened?" Alex demanded when he walked in. 
Lexy took a deep breath and relayed whatever had happened while we had been gone. She sounded calm, but that haunted look had returned to her eyes. 
"So, what's the plan?" Jake asked when she finished explaining. 
His eyes darted around the kitchen like was waiting for somebody to jump out at us and kill us all. 
"We need to leave." Lexy responded, her voice steady. 
"And go where?" Alex asked, a frown on his face as he walked. His face had been pale and worried since the moment she had started talking. 
"Well, I was thinking that we go to the border of Gala. We are trying to build that alliance anyway. This camp is as built up as we can get it. We'll add a camp by the border near the Salesdale camp, and we can offer our support and numbers while also protecting our border." 
It had always been the plan. To set up a camp on the border. There was safety in numbers. I didn't think that was exactly what the saying meant, but I was going to use it for that. The fact that Lexy wanted to go now instead of waiting the couple months like we talked about didn't really surprise me at all. She had hardly wanted to wait in the first place. 
"And how do we give the slip to whoever's watching the house?" Matt asked. 
"Well, I was thinking that I'll head toward the usual portal spot, and the rest of you leave from the house. Don't go directly to the border. Bounce around a bit, so they can't track you. I'll serve as a distraction and meet you guys there." 
"No." Calynn protested. 
Lexy had the nerve to look confused, and I wondered if I had really messed her up that bad to think that I'd let her play right into their hands again. The guilt was already eating me alive for punishing her for something she didn't do, I wasn't about to add to it. 
"No?" 
"No." Calynn repeated. "We already lost you once. They came here to threaten you, not us. We're not separating, Lex." 
"But you are in more danger if I-" She couldn't seem to say the words out loud. 
Everything between us was still so fragile. I knew I hadn't helped when I had walked in after Kris. I had seen the way her face fell when she thought I was picking Kris' side. But I was fighting for her. I had gone to the castle to beg for the banishment to be lifted. I had gotten her a true hearing... Not that any of that mattered anymore. 
"You forget that I lost Sari too." Calynn snapped harshly. "I can't lose you too, Lex. I can't." 
Normally, Calynn was so quiet. A perfect child. She trained hard, studied, never getting into any trouble, but she was still a child. She was about the same age as Lexy and I had been when everything had started, and she handled it far better than either of us ever had, but she had been dealt a tough hand, and sometimes it was easy to forget. 
Lexy's eyes met mine, begging me to answer so she didn't have to. She didn't want to let her sister down anymore. I knew it was hard enough without me putting more pressure on her. 
"I agree with Cal." I said finally. "We go together or not at all." 
"But-" 
"It's more dangerous," I cut her off, knowing exactly what she was going to say.  "But it's worth the risk. We travel together from here on out. Losing you isn't worth the risk." 
She gave me a long hard look as if she wasn't sure whether to believe me or not but eventually nodded slowly. 
Calynn let out a relieved breath, but I didn't let my own relief or worry show.  The Lexy standing in front of me was not the same girl I had known 4 years ago. She wasn't the same girl from probably 3 months ago. I couldn't blame her. I didn't know her full story, but I knew she had been through hell and back. The least I could do was give her grace, at least I was trying to.  
"You can't be serious!" Kris argued, crossing her arms angrily.  
"I am serious." I said calmly.  
"She was literally just kissing my boyfriend. Caught in the damn act! She can go rot in hell!"  
"I did not." Lexy said quietly, a pink hue rising to her cheeks.  
"Then be mad at your boyfriend." I chided tiredly. "She was literally just attacked. She packed your bag for you. Be freaking grateful you weren't here when they came."  
Kris alternated between glaring at me and Lexy, but she didn't say anything else on the subject, and I knew to take my win while I could.  
"So, walk us through the plan, fully this time?" Alex asked, and Lexy walked us through every step, so we could make it through together. There was no need to be self-sacrificial at least for the moment. We'd survive all together or not at all.