She tosses her top and bra to the floor, and I see bruises on her ribs from where she must have hit the seat. She must see my wince, and she looks in the mirror.
Cat turns in profile to get a better look.“Well, we can’t just come in here and not get changed. I know you hit your head, but you’re not dense,”she whispers back at me, pulling on her bathing suit.
I hop off the counter and start to get changed too, waiting to hear what she has to say about the situation.
Once she’s done getting dressed, she sits on the closed toilet seat, gnawing on her upper lip and twisting her hair back into a haphazard bun, both tics she has when she’s deep in thought. “Look, maybe you heard things out of context. They have been super nice to us, and you might be reading into it a bit too much.”
I frown at her, surprised that she would take this stance. I expected her to jump out of her skin and want to flee as quickly as possible.She moves on to fuss with her ace bandage, unwrapping it to look at her wrist.
“How badly does it hurt?” I ask, reaching for her hand to finish unwrapping it. Cat rolls her wrist around, testing it for pain, before shrugging.
“I banged it and babied it a little. It’s not like I was actively bleeding likesome people.”
I stick out my tongue. “Rude.”
“I honestly think you might have misheard them. That said, maybe we don’t eat anything in case the food’s laced with narcotics or something.” She nods, liking this idea.
There’s a knock at the door, and we both turn to look at it. I nearly jump out of my skin as worst-case scenarios run through my head.
“I don’t know. Saying that our world looks different now? Sounds like they’re going to lock us all up as sex slaves forever.”
“You’ve been watching too muchCriminal Minds, but we can’t do anything rash, even if you’re right. Who knows how many people he has on staff?” Cat’s still looking at the door. Her eyes get wide. “Oh, duh—he has so many people that work here, there’s no way some serial rapist would have so many prying eyes around. Even if they all had to sign NDAs,I’m pretty sure a mass kidnapping would get a lot of press, and in the case of harm, they could break said NDA. People would be missing us—the bus driver called his dispatch and told them where we are and where the accident was. I think you’re just a little traumatized by the near miss, and your brain is working overtime.”
I narrow my eyes at her, knowing full well that any knowledge I have of serial killers and their behavior is from whatshewatches.
“Catalina? Daphne? Are you two in there? We’re about the head out to the pool,” Zara calls through the door.
“Just a second!” Cat calls out. “Listen, we have a plan. We’re not flying blind. We’ll just stay cautious. We have to eat something so they don’t know we’re suspicious, but we can make it small, like fruit—nothing that was made. If we give it an hour, and we notice that no one else is dropping, we can eat a little more to keep up our strength. We know they plan to keep us till dinner, which sounds like something they want us conscious for, so let’s act like nothing is wrong but stay on guard. We don’t know where we are, and we have no cell service. Maybe we can ask Tiffany where the phone that she used is so we can call for help. Act. Casual. Constant vigilance.”
I hug her tight, and we both groan in pain. I have serious doubts about this plan of action.“I love you. I don’t know what I would do without you. Should we at least tell Zara and Tiffany?” I ask.
She pauses to consider.“I don’t think we should, and hear me out—Zara will totally spill the beans, and Tiffany will have a meltdown of epic proportions that would be counterproductive. Like I said, I don’t think they’re going to do anything with us until dinner, so we should be fine until then. Besides, there’s no reason to turn this into something it’s not.”
“Cat! Daphne! Let’sgo!” Zara calls again.
Cat turns off the water, and I get a look at myself in the mirror. My suntanned face looks like it’s been leeched of all color. The blood has long since been cleaned off my face, but the swelling is still there, and bruises are blossoming on my head and shoulder. I stare into my brown eyes, glad that I can see them clearly. My eye looks better than I expected, given how hard it was to open earlier, and I am no longer cold. I think back to Essos and wonder if he has some sort of motion-activated heating system. Or maybe my paranoia has sunk too deep, or my shock is wearing off. So many unknowns make my head swim.
We follow Zara outside, where everyone is sitting by the pool, enjoying the sun. With all of us in bathing suits, it’s easy to see the damage from the accident in the bandages and the darkening bruises. Even so, the mood around me is buoyant, not at all reflecting the trauma evident on our bodies. Some girls are so relaxed that I’m not sure if it's from alcohol or something more, like what Essos said about easing our worries. I would have thought drugs, but no one seems out of control—just vivaciously enjoying the sun.
All the talk about being on alert seems to fly out the window as Cat approaches me and offers a small plate of fruit. Her shoulders are relaxed as she pops a grape into her mouth and accepts a champagne flute from a passing waiter. She passes me one, and even I slip and take a sip before remembering to stay wary. I do accept some of the fruit and eat some pomegranate seeds, realizing that all I’ve had today is a few sips of coffee. I regret agreeing to minimal food and consider that I might need to see if there’s anything I can eat that wouldn’t be potentially compromising. One hour—that’s how long Catalina thought we would need to watch out.
My skin feels hot all over, and I glance up, my gaze drawn to one of the windows on the second floor. I see Essos in the frame watching us, and my heart catches. Even from this distance I can make out the vivid blue of his eyes, and I’m certain that color is flooding his cheeks. Our eyes hold for only a few seconds before he quickly closes the curtains.
Sybil seems to be more our assistant than his, keeping an eagle eye on us all day, getting any food or drink that anyone wants. They still wear that long dress, despite the sun bearing down on us.
I look away from them and try to clue back into the conversation next to me.
“I couldn’t reach Steve. I could only leave a message to let him know that we’re okay. I guess he’s already in practice. I just hope that he gets it and it doesn’t distract him. He has dreams for the Olympics, and I’m sure that losing here could set him back.”
Another of the girls, Alex, whose boyfriend is Steve’s partner, nods sympathetically. I share a look with Cat behind Tiffany’s back, but we say nothing.
“I’m sure they also know that traffic can be a nightmare getting into LA, so hopefully they aren’t too worried. With any luck, a new bus gets here tonight, and then we can get on the road.”
“I personally wouldn’t mind staying here for the rest of the weekend,” Zara says and sips from the margarita she was able to get her hands on. She’s lounging on her side with an oversized straw hat on her head. “Essos is a thirst trap, and I amherefor it.”
It is a physical effort for me to keep my face from twisting into a scowl. “What does that even mean?” I say from my lounge chair.
Zara tosses her dark hair over her shoulder in a practiced flip. Whenever I spend time with Cat and Zara, Zara is always sure to mention that being pledge sisters created a special bond between them. Her intentional exclusion with comments like that has made it hard for me to connect with her the way I did with some of their other pledge sisters, like Tiffany.