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The only place anyone could go in her room without being recorded was the bathroom. Unfortunately, we couldn’t sneak in there together, because if someone was actually monitoring the bedroom feed at all times, they’d see us doing that and realize we were up to something. As a result, we had to keep finding new and inventive ways to talk without being seen or heard.
“Great.” Zara flashed a bright smile at the two of us. “See you later!”
I scribbled another note on the page in front of me. How long?
Amerie took the page and shook her head. “No, I think it should be a six. Not five,” she said loudly, scribbling a response under the problem set.
She pushed the page back to me. Trust me, Piper goes through five or six cans of Diet Coke a day. Just give it 30 mins. You’ll see ;)
We resumed our studies for a while. Around twenty minutes later, Piper’s door creaked open, followed by the telltale sound of footsteps padding down the hall.
Amerie looked at me, brows raised. I nodded, unlocked my phone, and pressed play on the new app I’d installed recently. Then I stood up. “I’m going to grab a drink. Want anything?”
Amerie shook her head. “No, I’m okay,” she said. Good luck, she mouthed afterward.
I left the room and headed down to the kitchen. Piper was standing by the island counter with a Diet Coke, one finger lingering on the tab as she stared up at the ceiling.
“Hey, Piper. Do you have any La Croix?” I asked.
She kept staring at the ceiling, transfixed.
“Piper?”
She snapped out of her reverie and looked over at me. “Sorry. What?”
“Do you have any La Croix?”
“Oh. Yes. I think we have mango and limoncello,” she said, nodding toward the fridge. I turned away to grab a glass, and she reached out and grabbed my arm. “Wait. Do you hear that?”
I looked at her, brows furrowing. “Hear what?” I asked, pretending the faint high-pitched buzzing in the kitchen wasn’t happening.
“That noise. I can’t figure out where it’s coming from.” Piper whipped her head around, forehead creased in a frown.
“I can’t hear anything,” I said, casually shrugging.
“Seriously?”
“I went to a club last night, and my ears are still ringing from all the bass, so I can’t hear shit,” I said. I cocked my head. “What does it sound like?”
“I don’t know,” she muttered, staring down at her Coke can like she was worried someone had injected hallucinogenic drugs into it. “Just a faint buzzing, I guess. But it’s hard to tell. It keeps stopping and starting.”
“Did you go to any parties last night?” I asked, cocking my head. “Maybe your ears are ringing too.”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just…” She trailed off and shook her head. “Never mind. I think I’m just tired.”
She cast a suspicious gaze at another ceiling vent. Then she scurried out of the kitchen and headed back upstairs.
I waited until I heard her door slam. Then I went over to the coffee machine, opened the bean grinder, and pulled out the small black device I’d picked up at a prank store yesterday afternoon. It continued emitting a buzzing sound until I opened the connected app on my phone and switched it off.
I grabbed a drink from the fridge and trudged back upstairs, lips twisting in a smirk. When I reached Amerie’s bedroom, she glanced up at me with wide eyes. “How did it go?” she asked. “Did you find everything you need?”
“Yup.” I lifted my can and winked. “All good.”
As I slowly sipped at the drink, I wrote out another note to Amerie on a blank page of my notebook. She definitely heard it, and she seemed pretty freaked out.
Amerie scanned the note and snickered. “Good,” she murmured.
Our conversation in the sea caves the other night had given me an idea. Amerie pointed out that the higher-ranking members of the Rosmerta Society had no problem punishing or even killing errant members, no matter what rank they were, and I’d realized we could actually use that knowledge to our advantage.
