Chapter 58 58
Annabeth's POV:
I waited until Aunt Sarah went to bed around ten, then another hour just to be safe. The house was quiet, that heavy silence that only comes late at night when everyone's asleep and the world feels like it's holding its breath.
I slipped out of bed and pulled on jeans, a hoodie and my old running shoes. Grabbed my keys and my phone and crept down the stairs, avoiding the third step that creaked.
The night air was cold, November cold, and my breath fogged in front of me as I walked to my car. I didn't start the engine until I was at the end of the driveway, letting it roll silently before turning the key.
Marcus was outside the safe house when I arrived. Of course he was. Standing with his arms crossed, watching my car pull in like he'd been expecting me.
"You're early," he said when I got out. "Training was supposed to be tomorrow at five AM."
"This isn't about training."
Something in my voice made him go still. "What happened?"
"The Order." I walked toward him, my legs shaky now that I'd stopped pretending to be okay. "The man from the hotel. He cornered me in a parking lot today. Gave me a deadline."
Marcus's eyes flashed red in the darkness. "Tell me everything."
So I did. The conversation, the threats, the deadline. Tomorrow at noon or they'd come for Aunt Sarah, for him, for anyone who got in the way. By the time I finished, Marcus's jaw was so tight I could see the muscles jumping.
"They've been tracking me," he said quietly. "For months."
"That's what he said."
"Bastards." Marcus turned away, pacing. I'd never seen him like this, agitated, almost scared. "I should've killed the first scouts I found instead of just running them off."
"What do we do?"
He stopped pacing. Looked at me with those red eyes that were so much like mine.
"We stop hiding. We take the fight to them before they can bring it to us."
"How? There were three of them in that parking lot. Probably more at the hotel. And they've been hunting dragons for centuries."
"No," Marcus agreed. "They won't go down easy." He was quiet for a moment. Then: "We need backup."
I knew what he was going to say before he said it. My stomach dropped.
"We need the golden dragon."
"Marcus—"
"I know." He held up a hand. "Believe me, I know how you feel about him right now. But this isn't about grudges anymore. The Order just declared war and we're outnumbered. Kaelen knows how to fight. He's been protecting his siblings from hunters for five years."
My chest tightened at the mention of Marlen and Lucian. If something happened to Kaelen because of me, because I'd dragged him into my mess...
"The Order doesn't know about him," I said. "They didn't mention him at all. If we bring him into this, we're putting him at risk. Putting his siblings at risk."
"They're already at risk just by being in this town. The Order will find them eventually, the same way they found me." Marcus's voice was hard. "Better to fight now while we have the element of surprise than wait until they've mapped out every dragon in a fifty-mile radius."
He was right. I hated that he was right.
"And whether I like it or not," Marcus continued, "he's bonded to you. Which means he's going to get involved whether we ask him to or not. You know that."
I did know that. Even now I could feel Kaelen through the bond, that constant background hum of grief and longing that had been there for weeks. If the Order came for me, he'd throw himself into the fight without thinking twice. He'd die trying to protect me and I'd feel every second of it through our connection.
The thought made me want to throw up.
"Okay," I said. The word tasted strange in my mouth. "I'll call him."
"Don't call. Go." Marcus looked at me. "This is a conversation that needs to happen face to face. And we need to start planning tonight. Every hour we wait is an hour they have to prepare."
I nodded slowly. My hands were shaking again, but not from the cold this time.
I was going to see Kaelen. For the first time since I'd closed the door in his face, I was going to stand in front of him and ask for help. After weeks of refusing to hear his apologies, I was the one who needed something from him.
God, this was going to hurt.
"Annabeth." Marcus's voice stopped me as I turned toward my car. "Whatever happened between you two... he hurt you, I know that. But right now we need him. Can you put the personal stuff aside?"
Could I? I thought about the bond pulsing between us. About Kaelen's face when I'd opened my door four days ago, that desperate hope before I shut him out. About how much I still loved him even when I hated him for what he'd done.
And I thought about Marlen texting me, begging me to talk to him because she didn't know how to help him anymore. About Lucian, who'd hugged me so hard that night at dinner and called me family. About what would happen to them if Kaelen got killed trying to protect me from a threat he didn't even know was coming.
"I can work with him," I said. "I don't have to forgive him to fight beside him."
"Good. Bring him to the clearing. We'll plan through the night if we have to."
I got in my car and sat there for a moment, staring at the steering wheel. The drive to Kaelen's house would take maybe ten minutes. Ten minutes until I had to look at him again, talk to him again, be in the same room with him while pretending my heart wasn't breaking all over again.
But his life depended on this. His siblings' lives depended on this. And whatever he'd done, whatever lies he'd told, I couldn't let him die because I was too proud to ask for help.
I started the engine and headed toward the other side of town.
Tomorrow at noon the Order would be waiting for me.
Tonight I was going to make sure they got more than they bargained for.