The Ones Who Saved Us

Chapter 35

Avalee's POV

It had been almost two weeks since I had gone to school. I had been spending my days mainly with Alessandro and Papa at their office where we could converse freely with pen and paper. Sometimes Leo and Elijah would drop by to check on me during the day, and the twins would swing by with Teddy after school to take me home.

Alessandro and Papa had surveyed our home and every single one of their business properties in search of bugs and cameras. They now knew where they were all located, even the microphones in their cars.

Life had changed dramatically for us. We were careful with what we said out loud. Well, all of us except Teddy, who still wasn't informed of anything. His suspicions were growing each day, especially with how withdrawn I had become with him.

But there were certain things that I didn't want to talk about with Nikolai's ears listening in to every conversation. Teddy and I used to talk about Mom and our life before we moved to New York almost two years ago, but ever since that day when Nikolai lured us to that run-down house, I had avoided being alone with him. But with Teddy's birthday drawing near, things needed to change to ensure that he would be able to celebrate his special day with joy rather than worrying about me.

And that's why I had spent hours trying to convince Alessandro and Papa to let me go back to school today. When it felt like they would never agree, Alessandro and Papa finally relented but with one condition. Matteo would be keeping a close eye on me all day.

I had a plan that would allow my family to talk freely in public places, places that Nikolai had failed to bug. The details of it were written on a piece of paper for my friends in case they too wanted to join. But in any case, I would need their help with providing a distraction for Matteo. There was no way he or any member of my family would approve of this.

Matteo had pulled the car in our school's parking lot, putting an end to Teddy's ramblings of America's most notorious serial killers. As we started walking towards the entrance, Matteo took my backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

"Damn, Aves," he chuckled. "What the fuck are these teachers making you carry in here? Bricks?"

"Something like that," I muttered.

I led my brothers through the never-ending hallways until we reached the library where my friends and I usually met up in the mornings before school started. I grabbed my backpack from Matteo and said, "Could you take Teddy to his first class? I just want some time to talk to my friends. I've barely seen them these past two weeks."

Matteo narrowed his eyes at me as he said, "Sandro wanted me to watch you, not this demon child."

"And you will," I reassured him. "I just want some time alone with them. Please."

"Fine," he sighed. "But I'm walking you to your first period. Dad and Sandro will have my head if something happens because I wasn't with you."

With that, my two brothers left me while I went into the library. Cara, Raphael, Marco, and Jamal were seated at a round table engaged in some small talk. As I approached them, Cara said, "Hey! I heard you were coming back today."

I gave her a smile and pulled her into a hug. "I missed you guys."

Marco walked towards me and wrapped his arms around me. "We were worried about you. But not as worried as someone else. Arya's behind the bookshelf waiting for you."

I dropped my backpack on the floor, but before I left, I pulled the papers that detailed the plan out of my backpack and placed them on the table. My friends sent me a confused look, but before they could confront me about it, I had already left to find Arya.