Breakfast was quiet while we all stuffed our faces. I was hungrier than I had expected to be, and the food was delicious.
In shorter time than I really thought possible, the giant stack of pancakes and pile of bacon and eggs was gone.
We all leaned back in our chairs, and Victoria groaned. "I need to get going, but I'm not sure I can move after that meal."
I laughed. "Yeah, I might need a nap to recover."
"Nap on the way to the lake," Allan suggested, grinning. He and Ed stood and cleared the table, both waving me and Victoria back to our seats when we tried to help.
"Lake?"
"It's going to be hot. Perfect day to go swimming."
I did remember Ed telling me to bring a swimsuit and sunblock. I glanced at Victoria since she had packed my bag. "You didn't happen to throw in my swimsuit, did you?"
"Shoot. I got you covered with some sunscreen, but I wasn't thinking swimming last night. I'll get the sunblock out of my car."
"We've got some old swim trunks you can wear," Allan offered. "Do you have a sports bra?"
"With me?" Again, I glanced at Victoria.
"I may have grabbed one. You'll have to look. Sorry."
"Hey, least of my worries. If it comes down to it, I can wear a T-shirt. Are you sure going swimming is safe?"
"If you mean from the assholes from last night, they'll leave you alone when you're with us," Allan said.
"That's what I meant."
"We need to come up with a plan. We can do that after we swim." Ed grinned, sky-blue eyes shining with excitement.
"If you're up to it," Doc said.
"I should be all right."
"You'll probably want to do something with that cut on your back before you get in the water," Victoria suggested.
"We'll take care of it," Doc answered for me.
"Great, well, I'm going to get on the road. Sofia, come with me and get that sunscreen."
I followed her out of the cabin to her car.
"You good?"
"In general, or staying with them?" I smiled at her concern.
"Well, both I guess."
"No, I'm terrified, but yeah, I'm good staying with the guys."
She grinned. "I want details."
Laughing, I gave her a quick hug. "Thanks, Victoria. I'm sorry I dragged you into all this."
"Girl, this just tells me all the battles I'm fighting are worth it and totally necessary. We'll be okay. Remember, see if you can get them to teach you how to fight. At least enough to get out of a tight spot. I'm not expecting to come home to an MMA champ or anything. Maybe Doc can give you some magic pointers too, even though he's apparently not a mage."
"I'll ask."
"Cheer up. You get to spend the weekend with a bunch of hot guys."
"Speaking of hot guys, I need to check on Alex." I felt guilty about leaving him. Doc had assured me a couple of times that he thought Alex was okay.
"Text me a few times this weekend," she requested as she got into the driver's seat of her car. "I'll worry about you otherwise."
"Hey, you, too. I know I don't know your family, but tell them I said hi anyway."
She grinned, handed me the sunscreen, and shut her door.
I stepped back from her car and waved as she drove off. For a minute after her car was gone from sight into the trees, I listened to the silence and inhaled the sharp pine scent that filled the air.
After another few moments, I went back inside and sprawled on the couch. I really didn't understand how life could get so complicated so fast.
∞ ∞ ∞
"Where's my purse?" I straightened when Doc and Ed came into the living room from the kitchen.
"Left it in my truck," Doc answered.
"Got it." Ed raced outside.
Doc sat on the other end of the couch and Allan came into the living room from the other hallway and tossed a pair of swim trunks at me.
"These should fit. There's a drawstring so you can tighten them."
"Thanks, Allan."
"Sure." He smiled.
Ed returned and handed me my purse. I dug out my phone and charger and Doc pointed at an outlet when I looked around.
"Thanks."
Ed took my spot on the couch when I got up and plugged my phone in. Amazingly, the screen wasn't cracked. It was going to take a few minutes of charging before I would be able to turn it on.
"Shoot, I need to warn Victoria about Ash." With everything else, I had forgotten.
"Ash?" Allan asked.
"He's in some of our classes. Apparently, he's some sort of mage. Anyway, he was the one who took Alex out. I didn't see him after that, but he's obviously with the mafia."
"Think he'll come back to classes?" Ed shifted on the couch.
"I doubt it," Doc answered.
"It's weird. Alex said he was a friend when we all went out last weekend."
"Some friend," Ed muttered.
I shrugged and hit the power button on my phone. It chimed and went into its startup sequences. "I didn't really think of this, but I guess I'm lucky I had cell reception last night. I didn't have much."
"The coverage in the valley is pretty good," Doc explained. "Guys, why don't you go hook up the boat while Sofia checks her phone."
Ed and Allan sprang up and went outside.
As soon as my phone was powered on, I texted Victoria to stay away from Ash and then checked my other messages. It looked like I had a couple of voicemails and some texts. I looked the texts first. They were all from Alex trying to get in touch with me. So were the voicemails.
I didn't listen to them after checking the phone number they had come from, I just called him after a hesitant glance at Doc.
He watched me, expression neutral.
"Sofia!" Alex said when he picked up. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. You?"
"Yeah, whatever they did to me, I woke up crammed in the back seat of my car parked on the side of
