Athena’s silver nail tapped against the table, echoing loudly in my head as I silenced everything else.
Morse code?
Fuck! I don’t know Morse code.
I panicked, but I didn’t show it, just forcing a shaky smile on the surface.
"Cat, are you okay?" Tori asked, clueless about what was happening.
I gave a nod and replied to Athena the best possible way I could. "Yes."
Athena didn’t show any reaction, sticking to how she was the entire time.... that bubbly persona.
Maybe I said the right reply? There would have been a change or something.
"Go with the flow... it’ll be like you never existed. Even better, like you’re not in the hotel."
I knew she was trying to tell me to enjoy the weekend and let loose, but I could strongly feel there was a coded message in between.
"What do you say, my sweet Cat. Are you gonna go with the flow?"
It’ll be like you never existed. Even better, like you’re not in the hotel.
Wait a fucking minute! Does this mean she bugged my phone or something? Did she by chance listen to the call? Does she know I was gonna sneak out?
Please! I hope she does.
I swallowed a lump in my throat. "Y-Yeah, I think that’s a great idea."
Unless I’m getting this all wrong. Does her coded message mean I should go with Noah?
"That’s better, and ought to work great," Athena said, taking her teacup to sip.
"Okay, you two are taking this too far," Tori said. "I know he’s a butthead for leaving Cat like that, and I agree, but surely drinking yourself to a stupor doesn’t sound like a great idea in this "let loose" whatever. Right Cat? We have to stay alert... I mean like adults."
"Yeah... but what Athena means is that I shouldn’t think about Ares and just live a little, you know."
"Exactly... Cat is in good hands, Tori." Athena kept her eyes on me when she said those words. "She has nothing to worry about."
~☆~
I’m fucking confused.
I kept pacing around my room the moment it got dark. I have lost count of how many times I had checked the clock, and as if time was against me, it was going far too quickly. I thought it went slower when you keep your mind to it? UGH!
My mind travelled back to breakfast, replaying Athena’s words, and the more I did, the more I assumed I had gotten it wrong.
Was there even a message behind it?
What if I’m overthinking all this and somehow I’m gonna follow Noah to God knows where and do shits that will ruin Ares.
I recalled her words about me being in good hands. Unless I’m tripping really hard, it means that no matter what, I’m safe, but I don’t understand if I’m meant to follow Noah or not.
So far so good, there was no change in security or anything, no guard at my door, just like yesterday. Everything was normal.
"Oh god, oh god!" I mumbled as I paced quicker.
Ding!
I jumped, eyeing my phone on the bed before I rushed to grab it. It was Noah.
Unknown: Tick-Tock. Wear an Air Pod. I don’t want you to be constantly looking at your phone and getting distracted.
Oh dear... this is really happening right now.
I took a moment to close my eyes and steady my breathing before walking towards the door. I paused for a moment, nervous, but I eventually stepped out of my room.
I shut the door behind me, leaning against it. I wore my Air Pods, and picked up the call, shoving my phone into my coat pocket.
"I see you."
I froze, looking around the hallway to find the cameras. God, he’s monitoring my every move from now on.
"Now, all you have to do is listen, and I’ll get you out."
"I-I thought you said I should sneak out myself."
"Change of plans. I don’t know what you were going on with Athena King, but I can’t afford to let you slip right now."
I tensed. "I don’t know what—"
"Mrs. King..." There was a darkness to his tone. "You know better than to lie to me."
This means he had someone working for him in this hotel. I searched and didn’t find any suspicious men. It’s gotta be the waiters because they were the only ones who got close enough.
"We were just talking about anything girls talk about. Ares left the city and sent a text only. It was a hot topic that couldn’t be ignored."
"Start moving..." he said, ignoring my explanation.
My nerves kicked in as I did, moving between hallways upon hallways with ease, not until he stopped me.
"Stop!"
I did.
"There are men by that exit. Use the other one; it’s out of service because of the repairs, but you can make a path."
I did as he said, turning on my heels.
"Be quick!" He snapped.
I hustled my way to that area, but the elevator was out of service.
"I-I can’t use the elevator."
"Well, no shit. Use the stairs."
He can’t be serious.
"I’m on the twentieth floor!"
"Then get going!"
Unbelievable.
I raced to the door, and pushed it open. I hurried down and turned, gripped the railing, and saw the whole stairs I had to go through.
"Shit!" I cursed, going down knowing there was no other option.
I don’t know how long it took before I could finish them all, but long enough to feel the strain on my legs. I wasn’t sure I could keep going, but Noah kept doing that Tick-tock shit that unnerved me.
I successfully got to the first floor, but it was crawling with Ares men. This place was guarded after all. Maybe the security was tightened after my possible secret message with Athena.
Noah clicked his tongue. "You lied. Last time I checked, this place wasn’t swamped with Ares King minions."