Chapter 44 44
Kaelen's POV:
The fear that hit me when Annabeth told me about the man was the kind that makes your whole body go cold, primitive terror that overrides everything else.
The Order had approached her. Made direct contact in broad daylight on campus where anyone could've seen. They weren't hiding anymore, weren't being subtle. They wanted her to know they were there, wanted to scare her into coming to them voluntarily.
I paced the living room while I waited for her to arrive, my dragon nature pushing at the surface and making my hands shake with barely controlled rage. Marlen watched me from the couch with worried eyes but didn't say anything, just sat there being supportive in her quiet way. I’d told them that the Order had contacted Annabeth, and at least she wasn’t freaking out. I didn’t know if that was a good or a bad sign.
But I was freaking out. Definitely.
When Annabeth's car pulled up I was out the door before she'd even turned off the engine. She stumbled getting out and I caught her, pulled her against me and held on while she shook.
"You're okay," I said into her hair. "You're safe. I've got you."
She was crying, these quiet tears that soaked into my shirt while her whole body trembled. I just held her and let her get it out, one hand on the back of her head and the other around her waist, trying to be the solid thing she could lean on when everything felt like it was falling apart.
After a few minutes she pulled back and wiped her eyes. "Sorry. I'm a mess."
"You're allowed to be a mess. Come inside."
I led her into the house and sat her down on the couch. Marlen immediately went to sit next to her, taking her hand without asking, just offering silent comfort. Lucian appeared from his room and took one look at Annabeth's face before asking if he should make tea or get her water or do something useful.
"Water's good," I said. "Thanks."
Annabeth told us everything while Lucian got her water, every detail of the conversation with the man. How he'd known her name, known about her mother, asked about the dreams and fevers and changes. How he'd given her a card with a hotel room number like he was so confident she'd eventually come looking for answers.
She pulled the card out of her pocket and handed it to me. Plain white, just a phone number printed in black. No name, no other information.
"Hotel Meridian downtown, room 412," she said. "That's what he told me."
I stared at the card and felt my jaw clench so hard my teeth ached. They were that close, that bold. Sitting in a hotel in town waiting for her to walk into their trap.
"What do we do?" Annabeth asked, looking at me with those eyes that trusted me to have answers I didn't have.
"Nothing. You do nothing. You don't go anywhere near that hotel and you don't call that number." I set the card down on the coffee table. "This is a trap. They want you to come to them voluntarily so they can grab you without a public incident."
"But what if they come for me? What if they show up at my house or at school?"
"Then we deal with it. But you're not going to them, Annabeth. That's not an option."
She nodded but I could see the fear still there, sitting in her eyes and making her hands shake around the water glass Lucian had given her.
"Can you stay here for a while?" I asked. "With Marlen and Lucian? I need to take care of something but I don't want you going home alone right now."
"Take care of what?"
"Just... something. I'll be back in an hour, I promise."
She looked like she wanted to argue but Marlen squeezed her hand and said, "We'll keep her company. Go do what you need to do. Just... be careful and come back... please."
I nodded. Then I grabbed my jacket and keys, gave Annabeth a quick kiss on the forehead, and left before I could see the worry on her face deepen.
I called Marcus to the same number he had used to contact me. He answered immediately.
"What’s wrong?"
"I need to see you. Now. Come to the same spot from the other night."
"Okay."
His car was parked between the trees when I pulled up, and he was standing outside it looking at his phone. He looked up when he heard my car and his expression shifted from neutral to concerned when he saw my face.
"The Order made contact," I said without preamble. "They approached Annabeth on campus today. Some guy who knew everything about her, knew about her mother, asked about her powers. Gave her a hotel room number where she could find him."
Marcus went very still, the kind of stillness that meant violence was about two seconds away from erupting. "Did he touch her?"
"No. Just talked to her and gave her his card."
"They're escalating. Making themselves known instead of watching from a distance." He looked past me, his red eyes calculating. "That means they're confident. They think they can take her whenever they want and there's nothing we can do to stop them."
"Can we? Stop them?"
"Not if they send a full team. Not without revealing ourselves and fighting in public, which would bring every law enforcement agency down on all of us." He focused on me again. "It's time, Kaelen. No more waiting, no more watching from shadows. I need to reveal myself, need to train her properly so she can defend herself when they come for her. Because they will come, and soon."
I wanted to argue, wanted to ask for more time, but I knew he was right. The Order making direct contact meant they were moving into the next phase, and Annabeth needed to be ready.
"How do we tell her?" I asked. "How do I explain that I've known you were alive for weeks and never said anything?"
"That's your problem. You chose to keep my secret, now you deal with the consequences of that choice." His voice was hard, unforgiving. "Tomorrow morning I'm going to that safe house on Mill Road, the one I've been using as a base. Bring her there at ten AM and we'll do this properly. She deserves to know who her father is and she deserves the training that will keep her alive."
"She's going to hate me."
"Probably. But she'll be alive to hate you, which is better than the alternative."
He got in his car and drove away without another word, leaving me standing in the middle of nowhere with the weight of tomorrow pressing down on my shoulders.
Tomorrow morning. Less than twenty-four hours until I had to tell Annabeth that I'd been lying to her, that her father was alive and I'd hidden it from her while she trusted me with her heart.
She'd said she loved me. Just a few hours ago she'd said she loved me while we were tangled together in my bed, skin against skin, her eyes soft and her smile genuine.
And tomorrow I was going to break her heart.
I drove home slowly, taking the long way, putting off the inevitable. When I got back Annabeth was still on the couch with Marlen, looking calmer but still scared. She stood up when she saw me and I pulled her into a hug automatically.
"Everything okay?" she asked against my chest.
"Yeah. I just needed to check on something. Security thing." Another lie. God, I was drowning in lies.
"Can I stay here tonight? I don't want to go home. I don’t want to put my aunt at more risk."
"Of course. You can sleep in my room, I'll take the couch."
"Or we could both sleep in your room. I don't want to be alone."
How could I say no to that? How could I deny her this one more night of feeling safe when tomorrow was going to destroy everything?
"Okay," I said. "We'll both stay in my room."
That night I held her while she slept, her breathing even and peaceful against my chest. I didn't sleep at all, just lay there memorizing the weight of her in my arms, the way her hair smelled like coconut, the soft sounds she made in her dreams.
This was the last night she'd trust me. The last night she'd look at me with love instead of betrayal.
Tomorrow everything changed and I lost her.
And I deserved every second of pain that was coming.