Almost At The Top- Book Four in the United Series

Chapter Sixteen

Max's POV:

When Jason and I get back to the others, the battle is still raging on.

Jason carefully lands us but my legs are still injured. He wraps my arm around his neck and half-drags, half-carries me away from the battle. We go to the same place Ivan brought me.

"Max!" I hear someone call out to me. I look to my left and see Percy rushing my way.

"Percy, where's John?" I ask him when he stops next to Jason and I.

"He's fine. I was so worried about you," Percy tells me.

"Where is he?" I ask again and Percy points behind him. I jump away from Jason and head to where Percy pointed, the cuts and blaster burns on my legs searing with pain with every step I take, but I don't care. I have to get to John.

I start to sprint towards John, almost collapsing when I finally see him dusting off Mogs with a Mogadorian sword he probably found on the ground.

"John!" I yell out to John, who sighs in relief when he sees me. I take out his red bracelet and throw it to him. He catches it and wears it around his left wrist, then automatically holds his left arm up in front of him and the bracelet turns into a shield that deflects the blow of a Mog soldier's sword. The shield retracts back into a bracelet and John stabs the Mog soldier in the chest, turning him to ash.

I rush up to him and hand him his dagger. He throws the Mogadorian sword on the ground and takes his dagger from me. I take out my dagger and start picking off Mogs that come near John and I. There are a lot more than I remember.

After what seems like hours, the last Mogs are finally turned to ash by Reyna, Clarisse, and I. I didn't know it before, but we make a pretty good team.

"Good job, guys," Reyna tells Clarisse and I.

"Thanks, Rey," I reply. She nods her head and I look around at the injured. Adelina has a blaster burn on her leg, Leo has a long cut on his arm, Adam has a huge bruise on his cheek, Frank was stabbed in the arm, and it keeps going on.

"Alright, everybody. Let's go. Mexico, here we come!" Sandor exclaims, then leads us onwards towards Mexico, where the Loric Sanctuary is. We walk behind the Cêpans and I feel a hand on my shoulder from behind me.

"Max," a voice says from behind me. I turn around and see Ivan slightly smiling at me. He takes a step closer to me and I react quickly. I place my hand on his chest and slam his back against the nearest tree. Then I place my dagger on his neck and keep it there. Ivan looks shocked.

"I thought you forgave me," he tells me.

"I forgave you for the love potion. Not for betraying Nico and I," I reply, then take my dagger off his throat and walk to John. He smiles at me and slings his arm around my shoulders.

"Are you okay?" He asks me. I smile at him and nod my head.

"Yeah. What about you? You don't seem too good yourself," I reply. John chuckles and holds me closer to him.

"Hey lovebirds!" Nine exclaims from behind us, then nearly jumps on top of us.

"God, Nine, what do you want?" John asks Nine, rolling his eyes, but he can't keep a smile off his face.

"I'm bored," Nine whines.

"Good." I reply, pushing Nine away from John and I. Nine groans and walks away to annoy someone else. I chuckle and am about to say something else until Nine pops up next to me again, this time with Leo.

"What now?" I ask him, smiling.

"Like I said, I'm bored," Nine answers.

"Go annoy someone else," John replies.

"Nah," Nine responds, smirking. I roll my eyes at him.

"So, what do you guys want to do?" Leo asks us, smirking along with Nine. I take a long look at him- he's really changed from the first time I met him. He looks older and more mature, his hair slightly longer and shaggier. He has a wistful and deep look in his brown eyes that look like melted chocolate, and I just now notice a small scar on his jaw. I find myself looking for a bit too long.

I shake out of my thoughts and look away from him. Nope, not happening. I already chose John and rejected Leo. Twice. I can't start falling for him again. It's probably just a side-effect from the love potion.

"Get away from you," I reply and hear someone 'oohing' us from behind. I look back and see Adam laughing along with Nico and I smile. I rarely ever see Nico smile, much less laugh.

I shake my head, smiling at my friends. Friends. Just friends.

Percy's POV:

I grin as I see my little sister smiling with the love of her life. John is smiling down at Max like a love-struck fool. My smile fades though as I see Leo, whose arm is wrapped around Calypso's shoulders, jealously staring at Max and John. I know he still loves Max, and he still wishes that she chose him, and that he has Calypso, but I don't think he truly loves Calypso. I sigh and notice a figure walking towards me. I look up and see a tall, muscular, red-haired man striding towards me. I recognize him as Conrad Hoyle, Max's Cêpan. I smile at him and he returns it.

"So. I heard you're Max's older brother," Conrad tells me, walking beside me, and I nod my head.

"Yeah, I am," I reply. I take one last glance at Max, laughing beside Nine, John, and Leo, who still looks slightly heartbroken.

"You better have been taking good care of her," Conrad warns me, but he's still smiling at Max. I chuckle.

"I've been trying my best, Conrad," I respond honestly. Conrad nods his head and gives me a pat on the shoulder before walking beside Sandor once again. I smile warmly and look back at Max, noticing something that tips me off badly.

Max looks at John, in a love-struck way. She obviously loves him. Then Leo taps Max's shoulder and she looks at him- also in a love-struck way? I mean, wow- she never looked at John that way.

Holy schist.

I think Max loves Leo more than she loves John. She never looked at John that way. Her eyes are glued to Leo, her head slightly tilted and looking as if she's about to lean in and kiss him. Her eyes are big and kind of pleading like a baby seal, as if silently begging Leo to just kiss her and take her away from John, but she still looks happy, more happy than she's ever been with John.

I quickly look away, realizing that Max isn't happy with John, but she would be happy with Leo. All I want is for my family and friends to be happy and safe. I know Max will be both of those with Leo, but John on the other hand...

I'm not sure what to do, but I will soon, hopefully.