The House in the Woods

Breakfast

SANGS POV

As I move room to room putting out bottles of water and ibuprofen so the boys can take it as they wake up, I think of the irony that the one morning that they will all sleep in, was the night that I slept with Owen. He tried to be quiet when he got out of bed, but I noticed the air shift and woke up before he made it out of the room.

When he saw me sit up, he came back to the bed for a quick hug and kiss before saying, "Good morning, Miss Sorenson. I hope that you slept well."

I responded in a formal, but flirty tone and said, "Yes, Mr. Blackbourne. I always sleep well on the rare occasions that you hold me throughout the night."

He blushes, but the smile he gave me was just a little more than his usual millimeter.

He coughs and says, "I need to take care of some business. The time zone difference with Axel and his team crisscrossing the globe makes it difficult for us to connect."

"Have they made any progress yet? Are there any additional leads on finding Volto," I ask him quietly.

"Not really. Axel and Corey claimed it was just too hot to keep watching Anon. Something about the heat was probably making her delirious and giving her strange dreams. They have moved on to trying to track down the one called Babyluv. She got all these birds excited because she was writing again, but it was 12 days ago. We are not sure whether she went underground, isn't feeling well, or maybe she is Volto, and she is testing out a new combination of mind control and torture by getting everyone worked up to the point that they would deny knowing her to get another part to her "stories".

They also have a mother daughter group that has popped up while some of the others are on the run. Readingisamazing and Northsbaby1. Reading claims that she is only supporting her daughter, but they are turning on the charms with cookies, including M&M cookies," Owen says.

"Northsbaby1, well...she does not know him well if she is making North cookies with chocolate in them," I say in a huff.

"No, but you must admit that she knows that food is the way to most Academy guys hearts. I don't think you have anything to worry about. While North has been talked about, he has only made one appearance in the story. Of course he did take her home on the bike."

I cannot tell whether Owen is serious or not so I let him keep talking. Boys; they sometimes can just run their mouth on and on.

Owen says, "None of that is really important. It is not like this group will be much of a threat if they are recruited, but some of their theories are just plain flawed. They are actually discussing online whether the Volto situation is a test from the Academy for our group. I just don't see it. Raven is having Kayli take a look at the data, but from what I hear he is not really taking it seriously. He just wants Kayli to read the stories by Hephestia to see if they can reenact some of the storylines," Owen replies.

I look up at him, ready to help. "Should I go through the data as well?"

Owen blushes and say quickly, "No. I mean umm... they are in a section that you must be 18 years or older to read, and we also don't want to risk your ghost bird status by joining."

He kisses me again and does not think that I hear him as he leaves the room, "Like we want you to learn by reading. It will be much more fun to show you..."

I'm not tired, so I pulled out my kindle and did some research on foods to help with a hangover. I found a great bacon sandwich that might just do the trick and head off to the kitchen to start cooking.

Slowly everyone starts to join me in the dining room. There is not much talking going on, and the way that most are cradling their hands with their heads, it is a good thing that I put out the headache medicine.