“If you’re heading to the kitchen, get out the things for breakfast. He’ll have time for pancakes, won’t he?”
Kota smirked and shook his head. “Don’t go all out.”
“It’s my day off. If I want pancakes, I’ll make them. I just need to know if you’re running out the door like usual.”
Kota sighed. There was never an easy way to explain. His mother knew they belonged to an Academy, and that they sometimes disappeared without warning to deal with ‘school stuff.' He suspected she was much more aware of what they really did than she let on, and turned a blind eye on most of it. She might not know everything, but she was smart.
Not to mention, this Academy paid for things like his little sister’s education and had been helping to support them ever since...
He shook off the painful memories of his father finally leaving. He had no time to think about that now.
“We’ll stay for breakfast. I’ll start in the kitchen as soon as I can,” Kota said.
“And wake up Jessica.”
“Okay.”
“And my closet door is squeaking something awful. I thought maybe you could look at it. Do that thing you did before to make it stop.”
Kota’s smile tightened. Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue, even if Victor was on his way to take the two of them off for an appointment. If Sang wasn’t upstairs, he could probably have fit all that in just fine.
“Sure,” he said, and then hurried off upstairs with the towel and Sang’s clothes bunched up inside.
He stood at the top, wondering how he was going to manage things with Sang likely waking up and wandering around alone if he was downstairs doing a list of chores.
He put her clothes away in his closet for now to hurry along, and then moved to the bed, hovering over her. He made up the pull-out bed and gently put it back into place. When she didn’t stir, he watched her for a minute, thinking he could lock the door behind him, deterring his mother from going up. And then if she started down, it would maybe give him a chance to hear her jiggle the handle. He would have to explain her appearance then.
Then, there was the issue of going to their scheduled appointment, leaving her to fend for herself and return home. He couldn’t just run off.
He’d have to catch Victor on his way in and convince him to help.
Would Victor insist they call in the Academy? That it would be best to perhaps let a female group handle Sang’s situation?
Kota hoped Victor would understand and wouldn’t press for them to hand off her situation. Sang had started to open up to him. He felt a connection to her already. It would mean another job on top of the one they were doing, but he’d know if it would be too overwhelming to ask. He wouldn’t let it take over the high school job they were working on this year. Anyway, she was going to be at that school, so it just made sense.
Kota looked over Sang one more time as she continued to sleep. Even if a girl team came for her, he’d still want to at least be friends.
He had promised her, after all.
He went down the steps again to rush through his few chores. He carefully locked the door behind him to keep Sang safe. He would always keep her safe.
♥♥♥
Next Up—Meeting Sang: VICTOR, free for newsletter subscribers.
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Also by C. L. Stone
Meeting Sang - The Academy Ghost Bird Series
North Shore
The Academy
Ghost Bird: The Academy Omnibus Part 1
The Academy - The Bird and the Beetle
Ghost Bird: The Academy Omnibus Part 2
The Academy - Bonus Materials
The Academy - Touch of Mischief
The Academy - Sound of Snowfall
The Ghost Bird Series
The Academy - Friends vs. Family
The Academy - Forgiveness and Permission
The Academy - The Other Side of Envy
The Academy - The Healing Power of Sugar
Love's Cruel Redemption (Coming Soon)
The Scarab Beetle Series
