23: Choosing Sides

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I crept down the stairs in the silent house, avoiding the stairs I knew creaked. I was tired of having to sneak around my own home, but it couldn't be helped. I had successfully avoided Sara for days, and I didn't plan to break that streak anytime soon. I was counting down the days until she would go back to the coven, so I didn't have to worry about her anymore.

When I reached the kitchen without encountering anyone, I heaved a sigh of relief and headed to the fridge in search of food.

"She's not here. You can stop sneaking around like a burglar."

I spun around with a yelp and smacked my uncle's shoulder. "How the hell did I not hear you coming?"

He chuckled at my reaction with a shrug of his shoulders. "Because I haven't moved. I was standing here when you snuck in. You were so focused on not making any noise, you didn't even notice."

I grabbed some leftover pizza out of the fridge with a roll of my eyes, not even bothering to heat it up before shoving it in my mouth. Holding a coke with my free hand, I sat on a barstool at the island. We still hadn't replaced the table since the incident a few days before.

"Where is she?" I asked after washing the bite down with a swig of Coke, planning to enjoy a little break from my floor while Sara was out.

He shrugged and dropped onto the stool beside my own. "Not sure. She went somewhere with Julian and River." He smirked when worry seeped onto my features. "They didn't have any bags, and she doesn't have any problem with them. They aren't in any danger."

"Right. She's only a danger with me," I said bitterly.

"Eh. Not really. You could take her," he said confidently, making me choke on my next bite of cold pizza. Laughing, I shook my head at him. "I haven't talked to you in a few days. How are you handling everything? Lucien said you seem to be holding it together."

I shrugged. "Oh, you mean being lied to my entire life about basically everything by everyone I care about? I'm just great," I said sarcastically.

"I'm sure you've got a lot of anger. That's understandable," he said carefully, and I nodded in agreement. "For what it's worth, I don't agree with how they went about it all, but they had good intentions. They might have kept a lot of things from you, but do you honestly think you could have handled all of this when you were younger? They always planned to tell you when they felt you could handle it, and they never once slacked on preparing you. Everything they did, every move they made was to protect you and prepare you for what was coming."

Thinking about it, I realized he was right. I was well prepared to protect myself if anything happened, but that still didn't make up for all the secrets. Especially the one about Dante. I was angry at them for not telling me, and I felt guilty for being angry at the people who were murdered because some sick family was searching for me.

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