Scornful Sadie
Page 9
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The rest of the day was spent decorating and redecorating according to Olivia and Scott’s specifications. Santos and I were put to work outside my parents’ house, while my parents worked on the reception inside. Grandma was with us for the next three days, totally free of council duties. We were just waiting for her to arrive.
I couldn’t wait to spend some time with her…if we ever got finished, that was.
As we worked to get everything ready for the outside ceremony, I couldn’t stop my mind from being freaked out about my brother getting married. Weren’t we children just a day ago? Playing in the sandbox now covered in grass, running around Grandma’s yard as she tended to her garden, and enjoying life to the fullest. Somewhere along the way we’d grown up, changed, and all discovered lives of our own.
Things were going to be different. Being around my loved ones showed me how much I’d missed out on and I vowed to not run from my problems again. Not if it meant losing those who meant the most to me.
When we finally finished, the backyard looked like something straight out of a wedding magazine. An arch adorned with yellow roses stood in the middle, with an aisle created from the porch to it. White chairs draped in netting were on either side. A table set up for registering was on the far side of the house. We gathered inside just as Grandma arrived.
She headed straight for me, enveloping me tightly in her arms. “I’m so glad I didn’t have to come back for you.”
Chuckling, I embraced her back. “Me, too.”
“We’ll talk later,” she whispered, then greeted the rest of the family.
Liv’s mom, Megan, and brother, Kyle, were now a part of the group. Kyle was also an unbound, his vampire half more dominant than sorcerer. He and Olivia came unbound first, Olivia and then him following a few months later, and they were the only beings that split down the middle. All others shared the powers of the two mixes, but not the Whiteheads. Their mom was a full vampire and their dad had been sorcerer before she turned him. I was assuming neither had gained any new abilities, since no one had mentioned it.
“Sadie!” Kyle greeted. “It’s good to see you.”
“You, too,” I said with a polite smile. Aiden and I were the two to find him when he came unbound and terrorized a couple in the park a few miles from my grandma’s house. The weeks that followed involved him being magically locked in a basement, mad with bloodlust.
It hadn’t been pretty.
“How are you?” he asked.
“Doing good. How is the whole chasing unbound thing going?”
He grinned. “It’s awesome! I get to travel for free, and some exciting things have happened.”
“Oh, yeah?” Before I could ask what, Grandma walked up.
“Sadie, walk with me?”
I nodded. “We’ll talk later,” I promised Kyle.
We walked outside, the rush of cool air dancing on my skin. I wrapped my arms around myself for warmth and started down the stairs. The sun was setting, giving the sky an orange red glow as night settled in.
“Are you ok?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said too quickly.
“Your father told me you got upset with them,” she continued.
“I did.”
“Care to tell me what happened?”
Exhaling, I moved my arms and stuck my hands in my pockets. “They were asking a bunch of questions and being completely overprotective like I was a small child. I’m not.”
“I know you aren’t,” she said. “But you have to remember you were still a teenager when you left.”
“I know.”
She stopped, holding her arm out to grab mine. “Your father, well, you know how he is. Give him time and he’ll get over it. He’s happy you’re here.”
I snorted. “Yeah, I could tell.”
She smiled. “You’re as stubborn as he is.”
I said nothing. We walked on, the sound of cicadas and crickets the only thing we heard. Around the block we went, and when we were almost back, Grandma started her interrogation.
“Did they tell you Aiden is coming to the graduation and wedding?”
I nodded.
“Are you ok with how we’re going to get his memories back? It could take a few months.”
“A few months?” I asked. “He’s not going to stay for a few months!”
She smirked. “He will. Are you prepared to help?”
“Two weeks, Grandma.”
“Will you stay if he does?”
Sighing, I shook my head. “My friends are expecting me back. I can’t abandon them. They’ll go after the evil of the world and end up dead.”
“Do you love him still?” she asked quietly as we stopped in front of the house.
“Why does everyone keep saying I loved him?”
She stared at me, raising one brow.
“I cared, and yes, maybe I might still care,” I fumbled out. “But it doesn’t matter.”
She took my hand. “It does. And it will. We’ll talk more after you’ve had time to think and the wedding is complete.”
She left me standing there, slipping in the front door as I thought of her words. Would it matter?