Chapter 60 60
Kaelen's POV:
The drive to the clearing was the longest ten minutes of my life.
Annabeth was in her car ahead of me, taillights cutting through the darkness, and I followed like I'd been following her for weeks now. From a distance, always from a distance. But this time she knew I was there. This time she'd asked me to come.
That had to mean something, right?
The bond hummed between us, her fear bleeding into mine until I couldn't tell whose hands were shaking. Mine, probably. Hers too. We were both terrified and neither of us was saying it out loud.
Marcus was waiting when we arrived, standing at the edge of the clearing with his arms crossed. He nodded at me when I got out of the car, which was more acknowledgment than I usually got from him. Progress, I guess.
"Good," he said. "You came."
"Of course I came."
He didn't respond to that, just turned to Annabeth. "Did you tell him everything?"
"Yes."
"Then let's not waste time." He moved toward the center of the clearing, gesturing for us to follow. "We have until noon tomorrow. That gives us roughly twelve hours to come up with a plan that doesn't get us all killed."
We sat on the scorched ground where Annabeth had been training, the three of us forming a loose triangle. She positioned herself closer to Marcus than to me, which hurt but wasn't surprising. I kept my distance, gave her space, tried not to stare at the way the moonlight caught her hair.
Focus, Kaelen. People's lives are at stake.
"The hotel," Marcus said. "Room 412. How many men did you see today?"
"Three," Annabeth answered. "The one from campus and two others. Bodyguards, maybe. Big guys."
"There'll be more inside. The Order doesn't send a retrieval team with just three people." Marcus rubbed his jaw, thinking. "Six to eight, probably. Maybe more if they're expecting trouble."
"They're not expecting trouble," I said. Both of them looked at me. "Think about it. They gave Annabeth a deadline because they think she's going to show up alone, scared, ready to negotiate. They don't know about me. They don't know you're going to fight back. As far as they're concerned, this is a scared teenage girl walking into their trap with no backup."
Marcus considered that for a moment. "Go on."
"So we use that. Let them think they've won. Annabeth walks in, plays along, keeps them talking while we get into position. And then we hit them before they know what's happening."
"You want to use her as bait."
"I want to use their arrogance against them. There's a difference."
Annabeth had been quiet, watching us. Now she spoke up.
"He's right."
Marcus turned to her. "Annabeth—"
"No, listen. They're expecting me to be afraid. To be desperate. If I show up acting like that, they'll let their guard down. They'll monologue about their plans or whatever villains do. And while they're busy feeling superior, you two can get into position."
"It's risky," Marcus said. Not dismissing her, just... concerned. Like a father would be. "If something goes wrong—"
"Then I'll fight my way out. You've been training me for weeks. Either that training means something or it doesn't."
I watched her as she spoke. She was scared, I could feel it through the bond, but she wasn't backing down. Wasn't letting the fear control her.
God, I loved her. Even now, even when she could barely look at me.
"Fine," Marcus said finally. "But we do this smart. Kaelen, you check into the hotel tonight. Get a room on a lower floor, somewhere you can move from quickly. Tomorrow you position yourself near the stairwell before Annabeth arrives."
"And you?"
"I'll be outside. Watching the exits, making sure no one runs." His jaw tightened. "If they try to take her out of that building, they go through me first."
We spent the next two hours working out the details. Entry points, escape routes, signals. Marcus drew a rough layout of the Meridian Hotel in the dirt with a stick, marking the stairwells and elevators, the rooms on either side of 412. I memorized it all, burned it into my brain until I could see it with my eyes closed.
Annabeth mostly listened, adding details when she remembered them. The man's voice, his mannerisms, the way his bodyguards had positioned themselves. She was good at this. Observant in a way I hadn't fully appreciated before.
By three in the morning we had something resembling a plan. Not perfect, but better than walking in blind.
"We should rest," Marcus said, standing up. "A few hours at least."
Annabeth stood too, brushing dirt off her jeans. "I should go. Aunt Sarah will notice if I'm not there in the morning."
"I'll walk you to your car."
She hesitated for a second, then nodded.
We walked in silence, our footsteps crunching on dead leaves. The night was cold, cold enough that I could see our breath, and I wanted to offer her my jacket but didn't know if she'd take it.
"Annabeth." I stopped walking. She stopped too, a few feet ahead of me, her back still turned. "Tomorrow... just be careful. Please."
She was quiet for a moment. Then, without turning around: "Don't die tomorrow, Kaelen."
I smiled. Couldn't help it. Such a her thing to say.
"I'll do my best."
She got in her car and drove away without looking back.
I stood there watching her taillights disappear, feeling the echo of her emotions through the bond. Fear. Anger. Grief. And underneath it all, something that felt almost like the ghost of what we used to have.
It wasn't forgiveness. Wasn't even close.
But it was enough.
I walked back to where Marcus was still standing, staring at the scorched ground.
"I need to call my sister," I said. "Before I go to the hotel."
He nodded. "Plan B?"
"Yeah."
We'd never discussed it, but of course he knew. He'd been watching us for months before any of this started. Probably knew our escape routes better than we did.
I pulled out my phone and called Marlen. She picked up on the second ring.
"Kael?" Her voice was immediately alert, no trace of sleep. "What's wrong?"
"It's time for Plan B, Mar."
"Where are you? What’s going on?"
I sighed. "I can’t tell you over the phone. Just... take good care of each other, okay?"
Silence on the other end. Then: "How bad?"
"Bad enough. I need you and Lucian to get the go-bags and go to the motel. The one on Route 7, the one we scouted. Pay cash, don't use your real names, don't leave the room until I call you."
"What about you?"
"I have something I need to do first. I'll explain later."
"Kaelen..." Her voice cracked a little. She was thirteen years old and she was about to grab her brother and run in the middle of the night because I told her to. Because that was our life. "Is Annabeth okay?"
"She will be. I'm going to make sure of it."
"Okay." She took a breath and when she spoke again her voice was steady. "Okay. We'll be at the motel in an hour. Be careful."
"I will. I love you, Mar. Tell Lucian I love him too."
"I will. Love you, Kael."
I hung up and stood there for a second, phone in my hand, thinking about my little sister grabbing her bag in the dark while her older brother went off to fight monsters. She deserved better than this. They both did.
"They'll be fine," Marcus said. Not comforting exactly, just stating a fact. "The Order doesn't know about them. Their focus is Annabeth."
"I know."
"Then stop standing there looking like someone died and go check into that hotel. We've got work to do."
I almost smiled at that. Almost. "Yes sir."
He made a sound that might've been a laugh. Or a cough. Hard to tell with him.
I got in my car and drove to the Meridian Hotel, thinking about Annabeth and the look on her face when she'd told me not to die. Thinking about Marlen and Lucian in some shitty motel room, waiting for a phone call that might not come. Thinking about tomorrow at noon and everything that could go wrong.
But mostly thinking about the fact that Annabeth had asked for my help. That she'd shown up at my door after weeks of silence and asked me to fight beside her.
That had to mean something.
It had to.