Exposed [Book 4 in the Expiring Series]

47 A City for Angels

Iris~~

"Surielius is beautiful."

Brielle, the Preeminence's wife, passes behind me as I lean against the railing, white birds like doves flying past on a breeze that stirs my hair. Spanning across the sides of four mountains, ivory-white buildings gleam as if they were carved and polished for display in a museum. Bridges, of the same color, connect the city, crossing in behemoth arches over the expanse of the vale far below us, the vale shrouded in the mist that swirls and shields the base of the mountains and ground from view.

"Thank you." Brielle places her hands on the railing. "This is only one small part of Surielius, but it is my favorite."

The sun casts shadows of the columns lining the courtyard over the railing, half of one hand caught in the shade, the other in the sun. Children's laughter skips across the courtyard as young Amorians play a game that seems similar to tag.

Jonas and Preeminence Tomen hover near one of the columns in the shade, speaking.

"He doesn't let you out of his sight, does he?" Brielle's brown hair is pinned in a chignon. Loose strands of her hair sway in the breeze.

"We both worry after each other."

"It's not hard to understand after what you've been through."

"You've heard . . ."

"About Clarignon? Yes."

My gaze fixes on Jonas whose black hair is styled up in the front today, his head bent as he speaks with Tomen. His blazer is not as tight as usual, leaving room for the breeze to sweep inside it, lifting it from his torso on occasion. If Odette had known Jonas was Expired, what would she have done to him?

It's as if he heard me say his name. He looksONLYONWATTPADBENDERup and offers me a calming smile before his eyes return to the Preeminence.

When Brielle offered to give me a tour, the invitation was only issued to me, but that didn't stop both Preeminences from being here, and I'm relieved to not be separated from Jonas.

I return my focus to the children. "What made you open this home?"

"I was adopted."

My eyes snap to hers.

"I was relieved to get out of the adocova"—the Amorian word for orphanage—"I had lived in. Even while there, I knew I wanted to build a place for Surielius's children. A place I would have wanted to live. It wasn't until I married Tomen that I had the means to." She pauses. "Tomen told me you were adopted as well."

I tense. "I grew up in an adocova, yes, but it . . . it had to shut its doors before I found a family."

"I'm sorry."

"If I had been, I don't think I would have found the family I have now." And I would not give them up.

Could I build something like this in Elleany? A home for children? For those who didn't want to be told what they had to become or who were told they were limited by their Marks. Where no matter their Expiration Date, they would be loved.

And why stop at one home? Why not two or three or a dozen?

My thoughts turning over in my head, I look out over the city again. The buildings seem to twinkle with an ethereal quality, and I imagine this must be what Heaven looks like. This was a city built for angels. For things that can fly, and the fact that children can play so close to these drop offs that seem to fall into an abyss—even with Marks shielding them from death—unsettles me.