The Bait They Didn't Expect
940 Words
The house didn’t make a sound.Not the walls.Not the floor.Not even the air.It felt like the kind of place where noise didn’t belong where everything was built to hold still,to listen,to wait.And right now?It was waiting on me.
No one moved after Jace’s last words.*For them to come closer.*The promise sat in the room like a loaded trigger.
I exhaled slowly,folding my arms not defensive,just steady.“You’re assuming they will.”
“They will,” Kael said without hesitation.
That certainty again.Sharp.Cold.Unshakable.
“And if they don’t?” I asked.
Silas tilted his head slightly,eyes locked on mine.“They already have.”
A quiet chill curled through me.Because he wasn’t wrong.
“They came close enough to be seen,” Luca added softly.“That wasn’t an accident.”
I paced once across the room,then stopped.My thoughts weren’t scattered anymore.They were aligning.
“You said they expect movement,” I said.
Kael’s gaze sharpened.“Yes.”
“Then we give them one.”
Silence.
Not confusion.Not surprise.
Recognition.
Jace straightened slightly,interest sparking.“Now we’re talking.”
“No,” Ronan said immediately.
I turned to him.“Why not?”
“Because that puts you in the center,” he replied.
“I’m already there.”
That hit harder than anything else.Because it was true.
Ronan’s jaw tightened.“That doesn’t mean we make it worse.”
“It means we stop pretending it’s not happening,” I shot back.
Kael watched me closely now.Not interrupting.Not shutting it down.
Thinking.
“Say it,” he said finally.
So I did.
“We let them think I’m alone.”
The words dropped into the room like a spark.
“No,” Ronan said again,sharper this time.
Jace smirked.“That’s a terrible idea.I like it.”
“Of course you do,” Luca muttered.
Silas didn’t speak.But his attention?Fully on me.
“You said they want movement,” I continued.“So we give them something real.Something they can’t ignore.”
“And you think they’ll come to you?” Kael asked.
“Yes.”
No hesitation.No doubt.
Because I could feel it.
That pull.That attention.
They weren’t watching randomly.
They were watching me.
“They’ll come closer,” I said quietly.
“And when they do?”
I held Kael’s gaze.
“You’ll be ready.”
Another silence.
Heavy.Measured.
Because now this wasn’t just theory.
This was a plan.
“You’re asking us to use you as bait,” Ronan said.
“I’m choosing to be.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“It is if I decide it is.”
The tension snapped tight.
Ronan took a step forward.Close enough now that I could see the conflict in his eyes.
“You don’t understand what that means,” he said.
“Then explain it.”
“It means if something goes wrong”
“It won’t,” I cut in.
“You don’t know that.”
“No,” I admitted.
That stopped him.Just slightly.
“But I do know this,” I continued.“They’re not going to stop.And hiding isn’t going to change that.”
Silas’s voice slipped into the space between us.“She’s right.”
All eyes turned to him.
“They’ve already crossed the first line,” he said.“If we stay passive,they control the pace.”
“And if we push?” Kael asked.
Silas’s gaze flicked back to me.
“Then we control it.”
A slow shift moved through the room.
Not agreement.Not yet.
But something close.
Kael stepped closer.Not invading.But near enough that his presence pressed into the moment.
“You don’t do this halfway,” he said.
“I know.”
“If we move forward with this”
“I’m not backing out.”
His eyes searched mine.Testing.Measuring.
For fear.For doubt.
He didn’t find it.
“Fine,” he said.
Ronan turned sharply.“Kael”
“It’s the best option,” Kael cut in.
“No,it’s the fastest option,” Ronan snapped.“Not the safest.”
“We’re past safe.”
That ended it.
Because we all knew it was true.
Jace pushed off the wall,energy shifting.“So what’s the move?”
I took a breath.
Then said it.
“I go back.”
Silence.
“Back where?” Luca asked.
“Campus.”
Jace let out a low laugh.“Bold.”
“Dangerous,” Ronan corrected.
“Effective,” Silas added.
Kael didn’t look away from me.
“You think they’ll show up again?”
“Yes.”
“And you think you’ll see them first?”
A pause.
Then
“Yes.”
Because somehow…I just knew.
Kael nodded once.Decision made.
“Then we prepare.”
The word felt heavier now.
Real.
“What does that look like?” I asked.
Kael’s expression sharpened.
“It looks like control,” he said.“You move like you normally would.”
“And you?”
“We disappear.”
That made my chest tighten.
“You won’t be far,” he added.
“Not far enough,” Ronan muttered.
I ignored that.
“Then when they come closer?”
Jace’s smile returned.
“We close in.”
The plan settled into place.Clean.Simple.Dangerous.
I exhaled slowly.
“Then let’s do it.”
Kael’s gaze held mine for a second longer.
Then he nodded.
And just like that
Everything shifted.
Again.
Because this time…
I wasn’t just being watched.
I was stepping into it.
Willingly.
And somewhere out there
Whoever had been watching me?
They were about to find out…
I wasn’t as easy to follow as they thought.
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