Exported [Book 3 in the Expiring Series]

70 Exposed

I grab hold of his arms and whirl him around so his back his against me.

The woman narrows her eyes but doesn't raise her gun. The man struggles, but I have too tight a hold of him. I twist both of his arms, snapping them with a sickening crunch.

He screams, and I let him fall to the floor. Before he's hit the stones, my gun is in my hand, and I fire at the woman, hitting the same leg again. She collapses under the pain.

I shoot the tranquilizer dart into her chest.

About six feet from me, Iris fights a new Amoris, Colton nowhere to be seen. The Amoris she had been fighting pulls himself up off the floor. I don't have to make eye contact with him to know his gaze is fixed on her. Blood drips from his nose. His hand reaches for his gun.

She can't see him.

I fire at him, but my gun only clicks. Empty. If I fire a tranquilizer dart, it won't kick in fast enough.

I lunge toward them, tackling him and sending us rolling over the floor and into a struggle for control. He manages to pin me down, his hands on my arms and his dark purple eyes hovering over mine.

My heart stops. The noise of the room quiets.

For almost twenty-two years, I've avoided looking into the eyes of every Amoris besides my mother. As a baby, she was the only Amoris allowed to hold me, all so we could protect the greatest secret of Preeminences—their Expiration Date. We had no idea just how important keeping that secret would prove to be.

And now all those years of work have gone to waste in an instant.

His eyes widen as my Date flits through his mind.

Sounds rush back as my heart starts to race.

Though it's empty, I reach for my gun—I can still hit him with it—but can't find it. It must have got knocked away when I tackled him. At the same time, I try to grab my knife, but he drives his knee into my leg, and I let out a grunt. As he goes for his gun, I grip his hand, twisting his wrist. His other hand claws at my face, but before he drags his nails through my skin, Iris slams into his side, knocking him off me. They wrestle, each fighting to be the one to get their bearings first.

She pins him down, slamming the butt of her gun into his head, and I shoot a tranquilizer dart in his chest. He still struggles against her, but Iris clamps a hand on his throat and punches his nose before standing, her gun pointed at him. His movements start to slow, and with my own gun missing, I take his handgun. His arm is turned in a way that allows us to see his Expiration Date. He won't be dying for years.

"You okay?" she asks me.

"Yeah." I don't want to worry her. Not here. Not now. Besides if we make it out of here, who would believe his claims? And there's the chance he won't remember, not after Iris hit him in the head with her gun.

In any case, I can't deal with it right now because if I don't make it out of this room, the Amoris knowing my Expiration Date won't matter.

We position ourselves back to back. I catch a glimpse of Tobias and Erik across the room before my view of them is blocked. I fire at two soldiers headed for us while Iris takes out one across the room.

More soldiers enter the room, and I recognize them as ours.

With her back against mine, I can feel her panting. Odette wouldn't have allowed her to train all this time, and I can't imagine whatever food she might have been served helped much to keep up her strength. But still with three shots, she hits three separate Amoris.