Now, how to get out of this?
The smile fell off her face as she looked around her room. They were all situated in the beach house beside their venue for the night.
Both the Ravens and Lions. And Cameron was neither, which made this even more difficult. She turned to him, her eyes narrowed in concentration,
“Did you do it?” she asked tentatively, her hands moving slowly. The question had been haunting her for days. Ray had been worried especially for him, not knowing how difficult it could be for him because he was deaf. But Cameron, had proven himself over the years. He might be deaf, but that never made him a liability. But with no way to contact the people she knew without getting into trouble, Ray hadn’t had the chance to know if their plan had begun working or not. They’d all simply left it up to fate.
Cameron didn’t sign a word. Just nodded.
Ray breathed out, relieved. They were already in play, and now, only the days ahead would determine if it would all work or not. With that final thought, Ray looked up at him, her back straightening. Whatever he saw on her face had the miserable confusion diffusing immediately. She breathed out, forcing herself to calm down and think this through as she moved to grab her bag off her table.
She looked in the mirror one last time. Blinked at the stone confidence that she’d learned to carve in her eyes. It gave her the strength to continue after so long. Every single day. Ray wasn’t looking at him when she tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and removed her phone.
“You lost your way. I found you out on the patio.” She signed with one hand, her free hand typing similar words to Verana. Ray looked up at him, her chin tipping upwards as she did so, “You’ll say hello to Verana Smith with a charming smile and immediately find your crowd.”
He nodded and she stepped forward, her heels clacking against the marble floors as she placed her fingers around the knob of her door. Before she turned it and opened the doors, Ray turned over her shoulder, her gaze soft,
“It’s good to see you Cam,” she signed and heard his relieved exhale. He nodded, bowing his head as he did so.Same, he seemed to say. Her eyes glazed over for a second, nostalgia and grief hitting her as she turned away from her best friend. So long, she couldn’t help but think, it had been so long since she’d seen either of them.
Maybe it was because she was so invested in her thoughts that she didn’t notice him when she opened her door.
“Hello, storm.”
His voice came like a thunderclap, snapping her out of her daze as her hold on the door froze.Shit, she swore in her mind as her surprised eyes rose to his. Thankfully the door was open only halfway, so Cameron was well hidden behind her.
As fast as she could, Ray morphed her expressions into nonchalance and took a step out of her room, signing secretly with her hands for him to stay put as she closed the door behind her. Her eyes were back to normal when she saw Angel Santos lean back against the wall with a drink in his hand and a secretive grin on his face.
“What?” she snapped with more bite than she’d intended and reprimanded herself for it. Angel chuckled though and pushed away from the wall, swirling the glass in his hand as he took a step closer to her,
“Feisty today, aren’t we?”
She had the smallest notion that this might have something to do with her little outburst before. God damn it, she cursed silently and willed her mind to calm as she took a deep breath,
“What do you want?” she asked, this time more nicely.
His eyes flashed in that show of annoyance. She was so used to it by not that she couldn’t really bring herself to care in the slightest. Was just worrying about what to do about Cameron when he spoke,
“I come in peace.” He said, raising the glass up to his lips and downing the liquid in it.
She kept her eyes on him when he gulped, his throat bobbing as he did so.
He was wearing a white shirt with a black vest on top of it. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows, showing the ripped golden skin of his lower arms. Had paired it off with black trousers and a black tie. This close, she could smell the faint whiff of coffee and whiskey tossing around him,
“I’m simply here to offer an arm to the lady with no date to the event.” He continued, not having noticed her ravishing stare.
Angel was turning back and forth, looking for a place to keep his empty glass. She knew exactly what he was doing. Ray sighed, even as her heart beat wildly in her chest, and took a step forward. Angel paused and looked back at her, his eyes shining with faint amusement and a hidden challenge as she grabbed the glass out of his hands and turned to face her closed door.
She didn’t hesitate. Hoped to God that Cameron would stay hidden as she twisted the knob and opened the doors. Kept them wide open as she stepped into her room and placed the glass on the empty table right in the middle. When she turned, she caught Cameron’s golden hair under the white light but didn’t dare turn to look at him. Instead, she kept her eyes on Angel as she stepped through and out the doors of her room.
This time, she didn’t turn to face the door as she pulled it close behind her. Instead, she was looking up at Angel’s amber eyes flashing in the white light as she said, “I don’t need a date to the event.”
His lips turned into a smirk just as she heard a pair of footsteps turn around the corner of the hallway they were standing in. Their gazes didn’t break though. Not as she stepped closer and let go of the knob. Left the door slightly open for Cameron to escape.
There are no CCTVs here, Ray was thinking when she heard Kyle’s voice echo through the corridor,not when it was me who installed them in the first place.
Me, who changed their images every second of every day.
“Raylene!” Kyle said and finally, Ray let a faint smile touch her lips as she gazed up at Angel.
