Iris~~
"Andrew." I don't risk setting the glass down.
"Front door. Now."
"Don't do this." Stay calm.
"They can kill Basile at any moment. There's no Expiration Date to stop them." He's going to take me to the Amoris.
"If you know where they are, we could get the French. Put a stop to them." It would be great if Colton could wake up needing to go to the bathroom right now.
He laughs. "You think they're foolish enough to tell me where their base is?" He sobers his expression. "Front door."
For a moment I think about dropping the glass, letting the shattering signal the household to my plight. But he'll shoot me, and so I gently set the glass down on the counter and raise both hands in the air.
"Please, Andrew," I say as I walk toward the door.
"Jonas would do the same for you—knowing you could be killed instantly. Hell, you'd do the same for him."
A shudder racks through me.
"Be a good girl, and I won't come back and announce to your friends that Jonas is Expired." He can't know that for sure. "Now open the door."
I obey because I can't risk Jonas being exposed. "They'll chain you up if you come back."
He motions with the gun for me to keep walking to where his car is parked on the street. "It would be worth it just to watch them turn on him. Imagine what Colton would do when he realizes all that stands between him and the title of Preeminence is merely an Expired life."
Colton wouldn't do that. He wouldn't. He's . . . he's changed, hasn't he? "He's not Expired. I'm the only one." I sink in the front passenger seat, and keeping the gun trained on me, Andrew rounds the car.
I don't think Andrew would kill me, not when the Amoris want me alive and when Basile's life hangs in the balance. He can still shoot me though.
Andrew gets in the driver's seat, starting up the engine with one hand and aiming the gun at me with the other.
He pulls out his phone and sends off a text.
"I saw his Mark. He thought he was safe in his little swimming hole. He thought no one would dare spy on the Preeminence in his sacred space." Andrew puts the car in drive. "The arrogance."
He drives the car down the street, away from the apartment building, leaving Jonas and the others without a car. "When he didn't die on us on July 28, I convinced myself that his Date must have been misprinted, but then you showed up, the girl who is Expired. You made me realize I wasn't crazy."
I bite my tongue so I won't say something that will cause Andrew to retaliate against Jonas.
My hands shake, and I don't think it's from the shock that Andrew is going to hand me over to the Amoris, but rather with rage knowing that he violated Jonas's private space, the space where Jonas took only me. His cove, surrounded by rocks and trees. A pool of water, filled by the lake water, designed to blend in with nature. Built for generations of Preeminences before him. It's the place he could swim without a bandage, without having to worry it would fall off in the water with others around to see his Expiration Date.
Andrew violated the scaredness of that place. A place where Jonas could be himself, where I realized he had a playful side when he splashed me while I was perched on a boulder. When I joked that I thought he was going to propose to me . . . because why would the Preeminence ever propose to me?
"How long have you been planning this?" I ask, tucking my hands under my legs.
"Isabeau found me while I was out getting supplies." Isabeau—Odette's Tresais.
"How?" My mouth is still dry; I never got that water.
"They've hacked into the surveillance systems across the county."
I wouldn't be surprised if someone on Mid'haa's team was an Amoris sent to spy on the French monarchy.
I keep my mouth shut. He wants me to be a good girl, and I don't trust myself not to slip and say something he'll make me regret.
Eventually, Andrew's arm must get tired because he lowers the gun, keeping it near his door. Any move by me to grab it though, and I know he'll crash the car.
*****
We've been driving for over an hour when Andrew pulls off the road and into the parking lot of a warehouse. Semi-trucks are lined up at the loading dock, their lights off. The only other vehicle in the lot is a black van. Its doors open, and a guard clad in black gear and Isabeau step out.
Andrew stops the car across two parking spots. "Out." He doesn't make a move for his gun. The Amoris will see it as a threat.
I won't beg in front of them. I'll go with my pride intact.
I get out, and Andrew follows.
Isabeau smiles prettily at me. "Raggioet."
I match her smile and tell her to go to hell in Amorian.
"It amazes me how much the Society has embraced a commoner," she responds in the same language.
A second guard comes out from the back of the van, pushing Basile in front of him. From here, he looks unharmed. Could the same be true for Bently?
"Andrew?" Basile sounds dazed. "What's going on?"
"I'm saving you." Andrew sounds breathless, eyes scanning Basile. "Iris." He jerks his head toward Isabeau. My cue to step forward.
What will Jonas think when he wakes and finds I'm not beside him? That I'm not even in the apartment?
Not knowing where the Amoris's base is, he can't come after me. And maybe that's a good thing. He'll stay safe.
The first guard pulls a piece of black silk from his pocket and motions for me to turn around. The tips of his gloves scrape against my skin as he loops it over my eyes.
My arms are pulled in front of me, and handcuffs click around my wrists, digging into the skin.
Is this all necessary, I want to ask.
The guard splays his hand across my back and nudges me forward.
I understand why Andrew's done this. I can hardly blame him, not when if it was Jonas on the line, I'd move heaven and hell to save him. When the rebels took him, I nearly lost my mind.
"Step up," the soldier says and I gather I'm near the van. I put my foot on the bumper, and he puts his hands on my waist to balance me and urges me forward before helping me down into a seat. He's far more patient with me than I expected.
The door slams shut.
I better see Bently at the end of this.