Expiration Date (Books 1 and 2)

66 What Do We Do With Erik?

Colton~~

I sit beside Vienna. Shoulder to shoulder. The van is empty save for us but will soon be loaded with prisoners. Once we made it outside, I had a medic check her. Apparently, she was knocked out by Erik with some kind of gas.

She's been mostly silent, but not in a way that I feel she doesn't want me here. It's more like she doesn't know what to say.

I hardly know either.

From the bits and pieces I've gathered, Erik knocked her out because she was between him and Jonas. Does that mean she was the one to incapacitate the rebels we found outside the cell bunker?

"If you tried to help Jonas there might be a way to keep you out of prison."

She looks up from staring at her unbound hands. "You want me to leave the country?"

I sigh and look forward. "No matter what you did for my brother, you betrayed us. There are only two options: prison or exile." I can't bring myself to say exportation. Not right now, not right here. She's more than an object. "The latter is up to Jonas."

"No matter what"—she frowns—"I'm glad I get this chance to see you."

"Don't do that."

"What?"

"Act like this is it."

She raises her hand to my face but hesitates and lets it fall before she can touch me. "My side lost. You'll carry on with your life and fulfill everything the Society requires of you." Get married. Have an heir.

"Why did you help Jonas?"

She shakes her head. "I don't know, Colton."

"Yes, you do."

She rubs at the skin between her eyes, her shoulders hunching forward. "He's your brother. I care about him. Do you really think I faked it all? That I didn't love you?"

Before I can answer there's a knock on the van door. Gwen.

I open the door.

"They're ready to start loading the prisoners in here." She doesn't look like she feels bad for interrupting us. Her opinion of Vienna is ruined, and she doesn't think her twin should be talking to a traitor. The latter point is evident on her face.

I step out of the van and turn back to look at her—Vienna—to remember how she looks in real life. Not in a photograph. Her blue eyes meet mine and something in them flickers before she turns her gaze back to her hands.

I walk away then, leaving Gwen in charge and find where my cousins have gathered.

Erik sits in the bed of a truck, his hands in cuffs rather than the zip ties August used. Both Bently and August rest their hips against the tailgate while Seong-ho's in the truck bed with Erik.

"Oh joy, I was just getting bored," Erik says as I approach.

"Do you regret any of it?"

"Not the parts you want me to."

I keep a healthy distance from the truck, my hands itching to punch him.

Seong-ho rolls his eyes. "You'll never grow up, will you?"

Erik holds his stare.

"Whether it's prison or being Exported, at least I won't have to see any of you."

August glowers at him. "I'm glad you hate us enough that a damp musty cell sounds more appealing than the Estate."

"Beta." A Veil approaches me. He bows before turning and addressing August, Bently, and Seong-ho, offering them each a bow as well. "How would you like the former Tresais to be transported?"

I look at Erik. "If he doesn't want to be a part of our family, throw him in with the rest of the rebels."