Expiration Date (Books 1 and 2)

47 Confessions

"The twins are girls. Can't they overlook—"

"I want my sister to be Tresais. Do you think I don't want my cousins' and brother's future daughters to be in the Order?"

"And"—Iris doesn't meet my eyes—"yours?"

"I don't know if I'll live to have children."

"Your family isn't going to let the rebels take you."

He shakes his head. "They're not who I'm scared of. There are traditions that apply only to the Preeminence of Elleany. We hide our Expiration Dates, and we ensure that the Amorian blood in us is always stronger than our human blood. And we do that by marrying an Amoris."

She blinks and takes a step back. "If you—if you marry an Amoris, they'll know your

Expiration Date. They'll—"

"It's hard to say what would happen. If they turn me in, they're no longer the wife of a Preeminence, but if they don't, they're betraying the Society. This was never supposed to be something I had to think about. I was going to die and then it would have been on Colton."

"So he was never really going to be able to marry Vienna?"

I shake my head. "We couldn't tell him." When I was born, my parents didn't know Colton would exist. They followed the tradition of keeping my Expiration Date a secret. I would at least be Preeminence for a few days. I don't know why once Colton was born, they didn't keep his Date a secret and reveal mine.

Maybe it was because of tradition. The first Preeminence of an Order is the only one who keeps the secret. If the Beta suddenly did so as well, everyone would be expecting the Preeminence's death.

It's a lot to ask one person to hide their Expiration Date while surrounded by Amoris. You can't ask twelve.

And I can't begin to imagine what it's like for Preeminences on Amoria.

"When do you have to be married?"

"Before next August. The rest of my Order shortly after that." To my left a car drives up the hill to the guard gate. I focus on it while I say, "I know you won't believe me, but I never intended to lead you on. Before Erik took you from the Estate, I didn't realize I was developing feelings for you. I thought wanting to spend every chance I got with you was simply because you were like me. It wasn't until we were on this roof that it came crashing down on me how much I wanted you. And then you were gone."

"And then I came back and decided to go to France."

I nod, feeling helpless. "No matter what happened with my feelings, you'd be gone. And I'd be left with the memories.

Iris looks down at her feet. "We were never supposed to meet. Never supposed to marry anyone. I shouldn't be alive right now to have the chance to feel angry."

But she should be angry with me.

"Did Erik ever tell you about the paths of fate?"

Her brows furrow. "No."

"It's how Amoris are able to know Expiration Dates. Everyone has a path that leads them to the end of their life. It's not something from which you can diverge. But since my Expiration Date, it's something I've thought a lot about."

A hint of a smile touches her face. "I didn't realize you were also a philosopher."

"To be fair the Order does have to study it extensively."

"And what did you philosophize?"

"Our paths are created, laid out based on who we will be throughout our lives. Maybe it's possible to veer off your path for a few seconds by doing something unexpected—out of character. Something fate couldn't predict."