Changes by Sara Snow

Author:Sara Snow [Snow, Sara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-02-07T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

Caroline opened her eyes and blinked. Her eyes felt dry and sore as though she’d been crying. Leaning up on her elbows, she looked around to see her friends fast asleep. Nadine and Fleur were asleep sideways on the bed by her head. Corbin was asleep in the chair by the window, his head resting back against the wall. Laurent and Tilda were cuddled up together on the carpet. Aldrick sat on the floor, his back against the wardrobe and his chin resting on his chest.

As quietly as she could, Caroline slid off the edge of the bed and tiptoed towards the bedroom door. Pulling it open only enough to squeeze through, she snuck out into the hallway. Caroline grabbed the doorknob and pulled it towards her, but before she could close it, a hand from inside reached out and pulled it back. Aldrick stood there, his face slightly puffy and creased from sleep. Without a word, he stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind him.

“Where do you think you were going to sneak off to in the middle of the night?” he asked quietly.

“I wasn’t sneaking off…”

Aldrick raised his eyebrows as though daring her to lie.

“Okay, fine. I was sneaking off. But only because I don’t want to involve you guys more than I have to.”

“So what part about you being in danger do you not understand? Or that it’s not safe for you to walk around on your own?”

“I know, but…”

“No, Caroline. You need to listen. We’ve all put our necks on the line for you because we’re your friends, and we want to help you. But going off on your own is disrespectful to all of us and belittles our friendships and the risks we’ve taken. Everyone in there deserves better.”

For the first time since she’d been at the academy, Caroline felt the full two years younger than Aldrick as he chastised her, but even as her eyes stung with tears, she knew he was right. She was selfish.

“I’m sorry, you’re right.”

“So, where were you headed?”

“I wanted to try and see if I could get into my aunt’s office. You know, now that I have the powers of three factions, I figured it should be a piece of cake,” she answered playfully, hoping to lighten his anger. He chuckled softly, “Okay, lead the way.”

“Really? You’re not going to tell me to get back into my room?”

He shook his head, “We’re already up now. We may as well let everyone get some rest while we get your curiosity out of your system so we can do the same.”

Together, they walked in silence, sticking to the shadows as best they could until they reached the foot of the spiral staircase. Caroline hesitated, and Aldrick placed his hand reassuringly on her shoulder, giving it the faintest squeeze. Conscious that he was right behind her, she crept up the stairs, not daring to go too fast in case she made too much noise. She was just about to see over the top of the stairs when she heard hushed but angry voices.

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