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“You can trust Ayden.”
Noah shakes his head. “I’m not that stupid. I’ve made far too many mistakes already.”
“What do you mean?” I probe. “Noah, what is it?”
He walks past Rain and takes his key out of his jacket. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this and take my life into my own hands again. It’s something I should have done a long time ago.” A door appears out of nowhere. Noah opens it and glances back at me. “Everything’s going to be different from now on.” And with those words, he enters the Odyss and leaves me standing here.
I’m paralyzed, staring at the spot where he disappeared. My heart pounds in my chest. That went worse than I expected. An icy chill seeps into me, and I shiver. Whatever Noah’s planning, it can’t be good. I can only hope that nothing bad happens to him.
Chapter 10
Istill haven’t heard from Noah,” I say to Kate as I push the pasta around on my plate. I have no appetite. I glance sideways at my phone on the table beside me to see if there are any messages. “And nothing from Ayden either. I’m really starting to worry about him.”
Exhausted, I rest my head on the table and watch Kate studiously piling her mashed potato into a towering mound.
“All this constant worry and fear,” she says quietly. “When will it ever end?”
“I know, right?” I agree.
Noah pops into my head. I messaged him right after he left, and later I tried a couple more times. Is it just that he’s in the Odyss and has no cell reception? It seems more likely that he’s avoiding me. I hope he doesn’t do anything reckless. But given how fired up he was when I last saw him …
“He was so angry,” I say. “And I get it. It’s unforgivable what was done to them.”
“Betrayal is a bitter pill to swallow,” Kate remarks as she decorates her potato mountain with peas. “But there are still so many paths open to them. Which ones will they choose?”
I slowly raise my head and study her face. “Kate, are you okay?”
She doesn’t look at me, nor does she interrupt what she’s doing. “I like the moonlight. Don’t you?” She finally looks at me and smiles.
I frown, trying to figure out what’s up with her. She points with her fork at the window, through which the sunlight is streaming.
“You mean the sun?” I ask doubtfully.
Now it’s her turn to frown. She nods. “Uh, yeah, what else would I mean? It’s pretty hot today, don’t you think?” Now she demolishes her potato sculpture and begins to eat it.
I watch her with concern, but whatever strange state she was in just now seems to have passed.
“I’m sure you’ll hear from Ayden soon. They probably had to debrief straight after the operation. He knows you’re worried. He wouldn’t deliberately keep you in the dark. And as for Noah, it must have been a real shock for him. He probably just needs time to digest everything.”
So Kate was listening to me. She seemed pretty confused just now – or was that a misunderstanding? Am I being hypersensitive because I’m afraid of her condition worsening?
“I know,” I reply. “I’m hoping he doesn’t do anything reckless.”
“Noah’s not stupid. He knows what he’s doing.”
That’s true. But he was so upset that I’m not sure he was in any state to make good decisions.
The bell signals the end of lunch. We gather up our things and make our way to the training hall. Hopefully a little exercise will distract me and take my mind off things.
But training fails to really distract me. I can’t stop my thoughts from returning to Noah and Ayden. At least I get to exert myself physically and vent some of my anger.
After saying goodbye to Kate, I hurry to catch the bus, which I reach just in the nick of time, as usual. There are no free seats, so I stand in a corner and fish my phone out of my pocket. Still no messages from Noah or Ayden. I send another one to Ayden.
“Everything okay? I’m starting to really worry about you.”
When I arrive at the Fabrici house, there’s still no answer. Frustrated, I ring the doorbell, and a staff member lets me in. I make a beeline for the dining room where the family will be waiting for me, but the man stops me.
“Ms. Fabrici requests that you wait in your room. The family is in an important meeting, so the evening meal will be slightly delayed. You’ll be summoned when it’s ready.” With that, he turns and walks off.
