Iris~~

A drove of Society members enters the dining room ahead of me. I say a drove because there's some order. They are all being driven by the call of food, of socialization. How am I ever supposed to find Erik and Jonas? Jonas—it still feels wrong calling the Preeminence that.

I rub my bandage, chanting in my head that it's not suspicious. Gwen sent by a maid with a full box of clothes. She even thought to include underwear. Unless Jonas reminded her, which would be . . . unfortunate if I plan to look at him again. Not giving me any underwear though would seem like the next step after spilling wine on me.

However, the longest sleeves that any of the shirts and dresses have come to only my elbows. I wipe my hands on my skirt—Gwen's skirt. I don't know how willing she was in this exchange.

"Iris." Standing by the doors is Jonas, and I maneuver across the crowd to him as gracefully as I can manage.

"I see you found the dining room on your own."

I cross my arms across my stomach, shielding my left one with my right. "It wasn't that hard. I was here for dinner."

"I swear for the first couple of days after we moved here, people were getting lost." He leans down toward my ear, and I feel myself stiffen, his body hovering over mine. "I'm not entirely sure we've found them all." The mirth in his eyes lets me know he's joking, and I allow myself to laugh.

"Are you trying to make me think less of Society members?"

He smiles. "I would never." He offers his arm like his brother did last night. "You don't have to take it, but I think you'll have a lot easier time getting through that crowd."

"Prove it." I place my hand on his arm, and he steps forward. Straightaway Society members create a bubble of space between them and us. "Impressive," I mutter.

His smile widens. "I know."

With Jonas as my personal Society repellant, I'm guided through the dining room. Breakfast has already been set out on every table. Platters of waffles, pancakes, French toast, eggs, and too many pastries to name almost shimmer from their toppings of powdered sugar and syrup and the platters they're set on. There are quiches. Rolls. Fruits. A feast for breakfast.

"Is it always like this?"

He nods.

I'm in Heaven.

I spot Erik toward the end of a table for which we seem to be headed. He doesn't look up as we approach. Across from him are Gwen and Colton. She gives me a dismissive glance and returns to her food. Jonas pulls out the seat next to Erik for me that's at the end of the table. While no one is in the chair on Erik's other side there is a plate filled with food. Jonas takes the seat at the head of the table and begins making his plate.

Erik pushes his eggs and cut-up pastry around his plate, his back hunched over the table. Last night he showed me my room. He didn't talk much after Colton left me with him.

"Is there anything I can possibly do?" I asked him while he traced a knot in the dresser.

"No."

"Erik—"

"I feel like I lost. Fate caught up to me like I always knew it would."

I stepped next to him and watched his finger circling the knot. "Then let's leave, right now."

"You can, but I can't. They have me."

I don't want to admit to him that without him, I have nowhere to go.

He pushed off my desk and went for my door. "You need to decide if people's actions involving you are selfish or pure." He slammed the door when he left.

Maybe he's angry at me for a reason he will never feel the need to share. Maybe that's why he never brought me clothes.

"Erik?"

He turns his head enough to see me. Under his amber eyes that seem dull are pronounced dark circles.

"Did you sleep?"

He snorts. "With a little help."

"From what?"

"A poor bottle of rum." Arrietty takes the seat on his other side. She raises her glass full of orange juice and perhaps champagne to me. "I heard he finished it off like a champ."

Erik rolls his eyes, scooping eggs onto his fork. "It was almost empty." He sets his fork down without putting the eggs in his mouth. Instead he opts to take a sip of water.

I lean toward Jonas. "Does he usually show up to breakfast hungover?"

"I'll just say he's usually moody at most meals."

Erik rubs his forehead. "Of course," he sighs. "Introductions. Arrietty, this is Iris. Iris, this is Arrietty."

"You aren't even going to mention it?" Shaking her head at him and wearing a slight grin, she breaks open the cinnamon roll on her plate.

"Fine." Erik motions to her while looking at me. "Iris, this is Arrietty, my ex."

I haven't had a chance to eat yet, and still I almost choke. "A pleasure," I force out. I don't want to explain to Erik at the moment that it was Arrietty I met last night. To prevent either of them from continuing the ex conversation with me, I start filling my plate before taking a hesitant bite of my food.

The pancakes may top the dinner from last night.

"Iris," Colton says, glass in hand.

I swallow, setting my fork down. "Yes?"

"There's someone I would like you to meet." He gestures to a blonde-haired woman seated beside him. I don't make eye contact with her, but I can see her smiling at me. "Vienna, as you've already heard, this is Iris. Iris, this is my girlfriend, Vienna Rosen."

Based on her smile alone she seems too sweet for him.

"A pleasure," I say again.

"Likewise." She nudges her shoulder against Colton's and tilts her head up at him. "I hope Colton hasn't scared you off."

Before I can answer, Colton cuts in. "You're not going to be drunk for your ceremony, are you, Erik?" He slices off a piece of his quiche.

"I'll be perfectly aware and cognizant. It's afterward I'll get royally drunk."

His ceremony is only two days away.

Jonas drops his napkin on the table and stands. "As insightful as this conversation is, I must admit I don't have the appetite for it at breakfast. I'll see you at dinner tonight." He looks down at me. "Can I show you the maze?"

Erik and Colton, while possibly listening, aren't looking at Jonas. They're too busy glowering at each other. Erik's hand tightens around his knife.

I'm going to leave before the knives start being thrown. "Absolutely."

By this time, most people are seated, which makes exiting the dining room easy. He leads us down a set of stairs and to the back of the mansion. At the first set of French doors we come to, he opens them and motions for me to step out ahead of him.

"Should we be worried Erik's going to stab your brother?" I ask as I walk out into the sun, the maze before us.

Jonas shrugs, a twinkle in his eyes. "He'll live."

The hedge wall before me must be around eight feet tall and stretches on for what seems like forever to the right. I've heard stories of this maze. Mainly from those jealous at the Society's wealth.

Jonas and I walk down the path to the left until the wall of the maze ends. Before us is an immense patio of terracotta pavers and shimmering blue water.

"This is your home." I don't mean for it to sound like a question, though it does.

His hands are clamped behind his back. "I'm proud to call it home." He inclines his head. "This way, please."

We round the corner of the hedge and come to the entrance of the maze.

"You aren't planning to leave me in here, are you?"

"What kind of gentleman would I be to do that to a guest?"

"Remember that."

As we walk, I never let him be more than two steps ahead of me. He never has to hesitate even when we come upon multiple options for routes.

"What's your home like?" he asks, his hand running over the leaves.

"I don't have one. I moved out the day of . . ."

He nods, understanding.

The path opens up into a courtyard of flowers with willow trees drooping over the pathway and cherry trees sprinkled throughout the area. I'm sure in the spring, their leaves cover the pathway. As foolish as it is to wish, I would love to see that.

"What was it like?"

"Rundown. There was a pool. Nothing like yours. It was drained before I even moved in. I never actually saw it because it was on the roof and no one was allowed up there."

"Why?"

"One of the tenets jumped off the roof on his Expiration Date. From what I heard, the landlord was dating the guy. He apparently turned it into a memorial for him that only he's allowed to see." I push strands of a willow tree's leaves to the side, letting it sway after I pass by.

"What do you plan to do now?"

I don't know anymore. I don't know if I leave and one day in the future Erik finds me, and we finally get to enact our plan. "I guess get another job since I quit my other one thinking I was going to die." I can't go back to Baltimore. People there know I should be dead. Maybe I'll try the west coast. No one there would know me.

"You can't do that."

"Why not?"

"The employer would need to verify your ID." Meaning they'll ask to see my Mark.

I stop, but Jonas keeps walking. I wipe under my eyes, careful to not trigger any tears to fall. It hit me when he said that—that I'm not longer independent.

"Iris?" Jonas has stopped and is staring at me now.

I wring my hands. "I'm fine."

"Do you have family who can take you in?"

"They're dead." I walk past him and swallow the lump in my throat.

"You can stay here."

I nearly stumble but catch myself before facing him. "You can't mean that."

He places his hands in his pockets. "Why not? There's plenty of room and rooms."

"I'm . . ." I don't want to say it, even here closed in among the hedges.

"Your best bet at keeping your secret is being here. I don't want you to die, but as Preeminence it's better the Society be the ones to find out rather than the outside world."

I can't hold that against him even if the Society finding out means my certain death. He's the leader of the Society, coming into a legacy his father and uncles left of an Order of tortures in the street—deaths when Expiration Dates permitted it. I always wondered if his father hesitated when he gave the command for my orphanage to be burned.

We fall back into step with each other and enter back into the trails of hedges.

"Think about it. Really think about it."

"I will."

We walk in silence for a few minutes before he speaks. "Lunch is almost sure to be another stare down between my brother and Erik."

"I wouldn't be surprised."

"I'm going to be in town for a meeting. Do you want to meet me there for lunch?"

"Are any other members of the Order going?"

"Just me."

Only me and him. That sounds suspiciously like a date. "Why are you asking me?"

He squints up at the sky. "To spare you from drama at lunch."

"Why do you care to spare me from it?"

"Well I did spare your life."

I stare at him, unamused.

"I want you to stay here, and you won't if you're uncomfortable."

"You want me stay here after you told Erik I don't belong at the Society?"

With a sigh he comes to a stop. "I didn't know you were Expired, but now that I do, I have to take responsibility for that." He gestures to my bandage. "Besides"—he starts walking again while I remain in the same spot—"it's a third-party food vendor. It's less likely to be poisoned."

Shaking my head, I follow. "You're ridiculous."

Thank you so much for reading Expiration Date. You all are making my writing dreams come true. I really hope you know that. This wouldn't have been a pilot for SYFY without you, and my short story "Of Sirens and Beasts" wouldn't have been published in Wattpad's Once Upon Now anthology if it weren't for readers like you.

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