A Lonely Road

Peanut Butter Solves Everything

Before he went up to her room, Jace decided it was probably a good idea to take her something to eat. She had not eaten during the flight, and had fallen asleep when they had gotten to the chateau. She'd ordered them food at the cafe, but she hadn't really touched any of it, it seemed like she was more intent on pulling it to pieces than she was in eating it. That was another clue to him that something was wrong. Kaelie loved food, she loved to eat, and so to see her actively not doing that was strange.

Jace headed into the kitchen, happily surprised to find it fully stocked with a note from the caretaker on the fridge to enjoy in messy handwriting. Jace smiled to himself at the momentary stroke of luck. He made Kaelie a peanut butter and honey toast sandwich, something his mom always made him when he was tired or sad. She said peanut butter could solve anything. He felt a pang of longing for his mother's warm smile, and another for his dad. He died when Jace was little, of cancer, but Jace could still remember him tossing him around in the air and showing him how to make the most mess in the mud that he possibly could. Jace smiled to himself sadly as he trudged up the stairs and down the hall to Kaelie's room.

He knocked but Kaelie didn't respond. Tentatively, he pressed his ear against the door, but he heard nothing. Praying Kaelie wouldn't hit him when he barged in, he turned to door knob and stepped in, body tensed. Nothing came. In fact, it was too quiet in the room, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that Kaelie wasn't there, a breeze from the open window the only indication of her departure. For the second time that day, Jace felt his blood run cold, and panic filled his veins.

He knew that Kaelie could handle herself, but she wasn't herself right now. She was hurting and sad and angry, and Jace had no idea what she would do. She could go charging into what she thought was the lab, if she managed to find it, she could get into another fight at a bar, the new Hunters could find and kill her, she could get herself killed trying to fight off her bad memories. His heart clenched. He couldn't let anything happen to her, he'd never forgive himself.

He was down the stairs and out the door before his mind caught up and registered that he'd moved. He hadn't told Michael that he was leaving, nor had he mentioned that Kaelie was gone. There wasn't time, he needed to find her. His gut was full of a dark, sick feeling, and he couldn't help thinking that if he didn't find Kaelie fast enough, something terrible was going to happen to her. When he reached the end of the bridge, he saw the motorcycle still standing where Kaelie had left it, the keys on the seat.

Jace was suddenly very grateful that he had gone through a phase where he thought he was a badass and had begged his mom to get him a bike. She'd agreed as long as he got his motorcycle license and wore his helmet, which he only wore when she was home from a work trip. He'd left his behind when everything happened and he wasn't allowed to go home. He grinned at the power of the machine under him, and when he went tearing down the road in the direction Kaelie had gone to the town earlier, the wind in his face exhilarated him. He'd missed this.

When he neared the town, he slowed, and rumbled through the streets trying to find any sign of Kaelie's red hair, or a flash of her mismatched eyes. She had not put her wig or contacts back in when she left, they were still by the door, and so Jace knew her vulnerability to discovery was extremely high if the Illusion had any spies in this town. He rounded a corner and ended up at the bottom of a hill. He was blinded by the wash of light at the top, and when his eyes finally adjusted, he noticed the vague outlining of a building, large, but squat and low to the ground. He could tell that it was bustling with movement and energy and he was hit with the strange feeling that this must be the lab that they had all been trying to find.

The energy around it reminded him of the energy he often felt radiating off of Kaelie's skin. He shut off the bike, to get anywhere close to that place, he was going to need to go in quietly. He crept up the hill at a crouch, suddenly wishing he had any one of Kaelie's knives that she always seemed to materialize out of thin air. He didn't really know what to do with one, something he figured he was going to have to get Michael or one of the others to teach him, but it would make him feel better.

Jace was only a few feet from the top when he heard the familiar lilt of Kaelie's laughter, though it sounded cold and empty compared to her usual carefree chuckle. It chilled Jace, even though the Paris air was warm. He ran then, as quietly as he could towards the sound, he needed to get to Kaelie. He was at the top of the hill now, and edged around the building, doing his best to stay clear of the pool of light that bathed the area. They would know Jace didn't belong there, and he couldn't afford to get caught.

He knew Kaelie was just looking for a fight, but if he didn't find her and get her away from here, she would get all of them into trouble. To take this lab out, Jace knew they were going to need all six of them, including Ben, and they couldn't go rushing in with some half-assed plan. They needed to actually think it through, or they would die. Or worse yet, Kaelie would end up captured in a lab again, and it made Jace nauseous to even think of what they would do to her, to think of her hurting like that.

He turned another corner, and saw Kaelie standing a few feet away, a knife in one hand, knees bent in a defensive stance. There were two people collapsed on the grass next to her, and another with a sleek pistol in one hand aiming at Kaelie's head. Jace again noted that Kaelie didn't looked phased, or scared. She looked calm, despite her stance, and Jace was struck hard by how terrifyingly beautiful she was. He took another step forward, forgetting for a moment about Kaelie's freaky sense of hearing. She didn't give any sign that she heard him other than the tilt of her head in his direction and Jace knew she was going to yell at him for putting himself in the middle of something again when they made it out of here.