Chapter 49 49
Kaelen's POV:
Ten days after losing her and I was functioning again, sort of. Going to classes, taking notes I wouldn't remember, turning in assignments that were probably half-assed but at least they were done. Sitting in my Beowulf lecture and staring at the professor's mouth moving without processing a single word he said.
Autopilot. That's what Marlen called it when I came home and made dinner without burning anything, when I helped Lucian with his homework and actually knew what I was talking about, when I did laundry and remembered to switch it to the dryer. Functioning but not present, going through the motions because that's what responsible older brothers did.
I was eating more now, sleeping maybe five hours a night instead of two, had showered this morning. Progress, right? I didn't feel better but I looked less like someone actively dying, which apparently was enough to stop Lucian from asking if I needed a hospital.
The partial bond was still there, still torture. But I'd gotten better at living with it, at feeling Annabeth's pain and anger without completely falling apart. It helped that she seemed less devastated lately, more... I don't know, focused? Like something had shifted in her from grief to determination.
I was walking to my car after class when my phone buzzed with a text from Marcus: "Need to talk. Call me."
My stomach dropped. I hadn't heard from him since that day in the abandoned house, since everything fell apart. I got in my car and called him before I could overthink it.
"What's wrong?" I asked when he answered. "Is Annabeth okay?"
"She's fine. Training with me, actually. Started a few days ago."
Training with him. With Marcus. Learning red dragon fire techniques from her father while I sat here useless and shut out.
"How is she?" The question came out before I could stop it.
"Angry. Strong. Getting better every day." He paused. "You need to stay away from the training, Kaelen. Don't come looking for us, don't try to watch. Your presence will only make things harder for her."
"I wasn't planning to—"
"Yes you were. I know you, know how protective you get. But she doesn't want you there and I need her focused." His voice got harder. "I'm serious. Stay away. Let her do this without you."
"Is she... does she talk about me?"
"No." The single word hit like a punch. "She doesn't ask about you, doesn't mention you. She's compartmentalized you into a box she's not opening right now."
That shouldn't have hurt as much as it did. "Okay."
"Give her time and space. That's all you can do." He hung up before I could respond.
I sat in my car in the parking lot, the phone still in my hand, feeling hollow. She was training with Marcus. Getting stronger. Moving forward with her life while I was stuck in this limbo of waiting for her to maybe, possibly, someday forgive me.
I should've gone home. Should've let it go and focused on my own life, my own responsibilities. Instead I found myself driving toward the woods, toward the area where Marcus would probably take her to train. Remote, isolated, far from hiking trails or casual walkers.
I parked maybe a mile from where I thought they'd be and walked the rest of the way, my dragon senses extended to their limit. I could smell smoke before I saw them, the distinct scent of red dragon fire that was different from mine, sharper and hotter.
They were in a clearing I'd passed before but never paid attention to, deep enough in the woods that no one would stumble across them by accident. I stayed back in the trees where they couldn't see me, maybe two hundred feet away, and watched.
Annabeth was in the center of the clearing, her hands burning red, fire spreading around her in a controlled circle. Marcus stood maybe twenty feet away calling out instructions I couldn't quite hear, his posture relaxed but his voice carrying authority.
She looked different. Still exhausted, still obviously hurting, but there was something else there now. Determination, maybe. Focus. She wasn't the broken girl who'd driven away from me crying, she was someone learning to be dangerous.
Her fire expanded suddenly, the circle growing wider, and for a second I thought she'd lost control. But then it stopped at exactly thirty feet and held there, steady and contained. Marcus said something and she pulled it back in, the flames disappearing until just her hands were burning.
I watched them train for maybe an hour, hidden in the trees like a stalker or a creep but unable to make myself leave. Watched her fire grow stronger with each repetition, watched Marcus correct her form and stance, watched them take breaks where they sat on the ground and talked about something I couldn't hear.
This is what I should've been doing with her. Teaching her, helping her, being part of her life while she figured out who she was. Instead I was hiding in the trees watching her father do the job I'd fucked myself out of.
At one point they sat down for what looked like a longer break and I saw her laugh at something Marcus said. Actually laugh, her head tilting back and her whole face changing. It was the first time I'd seen her smile in ten days and it wasn't because of me, wasn't anything to do with me at all.
The jealousy that hit me was petty and stupid but I felt it anyway. He got to be there with her, got to see her every day, got to help her grow stronger. He'd abandoned her for eighteen years and somehow he was the one she let back in while I was shut out completely.
But even as I thought it I knew it wasn't the same thing. Marcus hadn't betrayed her trust the way I had, hadn't looked her in the eyes every day while hiding something that shaped her entire identity. He'd been absent but not dishonest, and apparently that made all the difference.
They trained for another thirty minutes and then Marcus said something and Annabeth nodded, gathering her stuff. They were leaving. I stayed frozen in the trees while they walked out of the clearing and disappeared, waiting until I couldn't hear them anymore before I moved.
The clearing was scorched, black circles of burned earth showing where she'd been practicing. I walked to the center and stood where she'd stood, looking at the evidence of her power. She was getting stronger. Strong enough to defend herself, maybe strong enough to not need me at all.
I shouldn't have come here. Marcus was right that my presence would only make things worse, and lurking in the woods spying on her definitely fell under the category of making things worse.
But I knew I'd come back tomorrow anyway. And the day after. And the day after that. Because watching her from a distance, even knowing she'd hate me for it if she found out, was better than the alternative of not seeing her at all.