Erik~~

It's morning when we arrive in Cinderville, North Carolina. I made a stop at one of my safe houses to switch cars and gather a few extra supplies.

Vienna sits up in the seat, rolling her shoulders back. "Turn right." She's remained mostly silent throughout the trip, speaking the most once we reached the city.

I follow her instructions, taking a turn at a light and onto a street that features the backs of small buildings on either side of the road. Vienna directs me where to park.

Cinderville seems to be the kind of place you live when you first move out; the place where you'll find thirty options for brunch, but where only ten of them do bottomless mimosas, so in the end you really only have five options because the other half skims on the champagne. All that to say this is not the place one would expect to find a rebel base. I don't know where one would even put a rebel base in Cinderville, North Carolina. The newer looking buildings are few and old buildings don't always make for the best of fortresses.

I follow Vienna into a gym that looks like it doubles as a taekwondo studio based on posters on the windows. As we walk in, the woman behind the desk looks up, her eyes alighting with recognition.

Nearly knocking over her chair, she stands. "Tresais."

Vienna holds up her hands. "It's all right, Edna."

I nod. Would a smile put her at ease or would that look suspicious? I've never pictured rebels doing a lot of smiling. They hate the Society too much to waste time on such things.

My family.

There's no going back after this. If I want to turn back, it has to be now.

I'm not happy with the Society though. I haven't been for a long time. I . . . I need this. I need to be doing something to push forward my goals.

The Society has gotten away with terrorizing others for too long. It's time they realize they can't continue to rule with fear.

"Is Thomas here?" Vienna asks Edna.

My head snaps toward the Beta's ex-lover. She didn't mention Iris's uncle. But then again, I'm sure there is more than one rebel named Thomas.

Edna picks up a corded phone and holds it to her ear. "I'll tell him to come up."

Vienna pulls me into the room with the gym equipment, treadmills, ellipticals, weights, and more. Metal benches are pushed against the wall—I'm sure put there for breaks and now are soaked in sweat. Edna is the only employee I see around, and while there aren't any patrons here, there could have been a few or many people here earlier wanting to get in some exercise before work. I sink down onto one of the benches, hoping Edna wiped this thing down.

The wall across from us is a mirror, and it shows just how tired my eyes look. I'm still in my clothes from dinner, wrinkled but professional. Vienna changed into a pair of sweats I packed from my room, but fresh clothes don't hide the remnants of the dungeon. Dirt, dust, and grime are smeared into her skin and hair. Before a brush passes through her hair, she will need to condition it, no matter how oily it looks.

I tap my foot against the blue mat that makes up the floor. "So this Thomas . . ."

She drags her eyes from the mirror to my face. "Yes?"

"Is it Iris's uncle?"

"Iris doesn't have family."

I forgot we kept that secret.

"Her uncle's name is Thomas Levine."

Vienna's face scrunches. "That's his name."

"You knew his last name and didn't immediately assume he was related to Iris?"

"Do you always automatically assume people with the same last name are related?"

"I've never met a Blackwood that wasn't somehow related to me."

"They're right this way," I hear Edna say. Seconds later she and her guest walk around the corner. Iris's uncle.

I stand, meeting his eyes for the first time since the night he let me borrow his truck to take his niece to dinner and we didn't return.

He crosses his arms. "Erik Blackwood, to what do I owe the . . . pleasure?"

"I want to do what your niece wouldn't. I want to help you."

"You're the Society. We can't exactly trust you're being honest."

I motion to Vienna. "I broke her out."

"A gesture of good faith. An obvious ploy."

"Vienna, tell them."

Before she can speak Thomas cuts in. "You almost certainly have something on her."

"Let me speak, Levine." Vienna stands up from the bench. "If you're familiar with Andrew Blackwood, Erik was his friend. He's had no desire to become Tresais."

"I need to hurt my family where it counts. It was my girlfriend's Mark that caused her Expiration Date. If it hadn't been tattooed to her arm, her death wouldn't have been destined for when it was."

"You'll be able to tell us how Marks really work?"

I don't know why my throat suddenly feels dry and tightens, but I nod through the feeling that I'm slowly being choked. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I hand it to him. He can check it for a tracker, a mic that's turned on, anything that could hurt them. "You can have someone search me."

I want to hurt my family, but how much about Marks am I willing to share?

If I reveal the Amoris, would anyone believe me? And if they did, would they fear me when they realized how much Amorian blood flows through my veins?

Thomas stares at me, and I'd pay a lot of money just to be able to see the gears turning in his head. Is he even bothering to think about it or is he wasting my time and plans to put me in chains?

Thomas shoves his hands in his front pockets. "I'll have someone search you and then if you're clean, we'll take you below."

It doesn't take long for them to summon another rebel out of the murky depths of their base. The new rebel pats me down and checks my pockets before checking Vienna.

Once we're deemed secure, Edna and Thomas lead us to the front of the gym before taking us into a storage room housing extra weights and towels. Edna steps past Thomas to reach a wooden desk shoved against the wall and places her palm on the underside of the table.

A part of the wall swings open, revealing a tunnel that two people would barely be able to fit side by side in. The walls are made of metal, but the floor is padded and silences our footsteps. Thomas takes the rear, his eyes burning into the back of my neck.

Years ago, when I was eight, the former Order shut down a theme park for the day for their children and let us have free reign. My favorite ride, a space-theme boat ride—don't ask me how it worked; I only know it did—had a line that reminds me of this tunnel. The ground slopes, taking us down below Cinderville.

A rebel base underground.

Aliens underground.

Can't anyone build a sky fortress to hide out in? Make it look like a cloud or something . . . sky-ish—I don't know.

At the Estate, I constantly felt suffocated by my family, and being underground sometimes bring on the same sensation, especially when the walls are close enough that I couldn't spread my arms out without bending them.

At the end of the tunnel, another door awaits us. Edna places her hand on a scanner beside it, and the door unlocks with a click. She pushes it open revealing a bunker with another door at the end. This room is full of weapons, and the floor is no longer padded.

This is what I expected from the rebels. As Thomas ushers me through the room, I take in their supplies, the large quantity and also how new it all looks.

It takes thirty minutes for Edna and Thomas to show me around the base, which I learn is composed of bunkers of various sizes and interconnected by tunnels that are either like a skinny version of the bunkers or like the tunnel we took to get down here. Some of the bunkers are large, reminding me of a cafeteria in a school. The mess hall is one of those rooms, but others are similar in size to what you might find in a doomsday prepper's backyard. It's obvious they don't show me everything. I haven't earned enough of their trust yet, but I know if they're showing me their base, that I must be doing something right.

When we enter an occupied bunker or pass a rebel in the tunnels, their eyes land on me, but they don't say a word. I suspect they were all made aware of my arrival.

Further underground is their holding cell. A clear warning of where I will end up if I betray them. There are no bars in here. Only shackles that are nailed into the far wall and parts of the two that connect to it.

I shudder and hope they don't notice. These cells can only be intended for those involved with the Society.

After I'm given the What's-Deemed-Appropriate-For-Erik-To-See tour, Edna returns to the surface, leaving us in one of the bunkers where they hold meetings.

Vienna takes a seat on the other side of the table while I remain standing.

"What are you doing here, Thomas?" I cross my arms, feeling defenseless without a weapon hidden on me. "What happened to Nevada?"

He stops at the head of the table, standing behind the chair placed there. "This base is one of our largest and it's closer to my niece than Nevada is. It seemed like the right choice."

"Were you behind the threat she received?" I do my best to keep my tone cool. I don't want to start throwing accusations not even an hour into my stay here.

"I was involved with it. I hoped to see my niece again, but Miss Rosen stepped in." His eyes land on Vienna, and she meets his gaze, calmly and with a bit of boredom. "You weren't able to convince Iris to leave with you, I see." The question is directed at me.

"The Society is sending her to France. An attempt to keep her Expired status from getting out to Elleany. They trust her to keep it hidden once there."

Thomas grips the back of the chair. "She's on their side?"

Vienna raises an eyebrow. "The Society didn't ask her to betray the people she lives with."

Thomas's knuckles whiten. "You know, I was surprised to see you here at all, Miss Rosen. I thought you were leaving us for the Society."

"I lost my chance to join them when I decided to help your niece. It's sad you'd rather put her in danger so you can get what you want than let her safely live out her second chance at life."

On the way here, I told Vienna everything about Iris. That she really is Expired. How I saved her life. What happened the night she was shot. Vienna, like for most of the trip, wasn't an active audience.

Vienna places her arms on the table and leans in Thomas's direction. "If revealing her Expiration Date is what you want, you'll have a hard time getting the public to believe it. The Preeminence told the Society her Mark was misprinted." She sighs. "And just so you don't ask, I'm not here to help any of you. I've given enough to the rebels, including my future. I'm only here because Erik broke me out of my cell and insisted I take him here."

Thomas's nostrils flare.

"If you haven't noticed, she's wildly in love with my cousin." The moment the words leave my mouth, I know they weren't the right words to say, but when I see chaos brewing, I can never resist stirring its pot.

Vienna pushes back her chair and stands. "If the rebels would risk their family to get what they want, they're not the kind of people I thought they were. If there is one thing you can say about the Society, it is that they're loyal to family." Her gaze cuts to me. "I guess you're in the right place." She heads for the door, while my fingers dig into the sides of my chair.

"What about your family then?" I ask.

Her hand hovering over the handle, she freezes.

"They took you in," I continue. "Gave you a home, and you joined the rebels."

"They were rebels before they adopted me." She yanks the door open, but her way is blocked by Iris's aunt and cousin. Behind them are more rebels, arriving for a meeting about me.

Clenching her hand, Vienna steps to the side as the rebels enter.

Did she ever want to be a part of the rebels? Did she ever agree with their mission? Was she truly ready then to step out of the Society's outer circle and into the title of a Society member?

The Society couldn't find any evidence that connected her family to the rebels, but will they keep looking and eventually find something?

If it comes down to her family versus the Society, will she choose the family that chose her or the one she chose for herself?

As Beth and Lila take seats near Thomas, they look at me, Beth's eyes wary while Lila seems excited.

Vienna slinks into a seat near the back.

The door opens again, and three more rebels enter, and I'm certain I've seen them before.

The one in the center has long black hair, her brown eyes cold as they look at me. She takes a seat at the end of the table next to Vienna. Her two companions sit on her other side.

Vienna glances at the woman beside her and rolls her eyes.

"Vienna."

"L."

Iris spoke about an L. The three of them are the rebels from the inn then. I didn't have the best opportunity to study their features in the fight, but I'm sure they're the same. L was one of the ones Iris blames for leaving her behind when she was seventeen.

But why are they here? The rebels aren't one big group. They are supposed to be in factions. Are they here for the same reason the Levines are?

I'm sure Iris will be delighted to know that her family is conspiring on her behalf.

Thomas calls for attention. "You all already know why we're here. Erik Blackwood, the soon to be ex-Tresais I imagine, is offering us his help.

L props her elbow on the table. "And I suppose you already have a big, glorious plan that is sure not to fail."

Placing my hands on the table for leverage, I stand. "No one can guarantee success. But I am certain I know my family better than anyone else in this room. Well, except for maybe Vienna." I look at her out of the corner of my eye, and she makes a choking sound. "We have to strike the Society where they will feel it. The blow you need is the Preeminence."

Vienna's eyes widen before narrowing.

"Take the Preeminence prisoner, and you have bargaining power."

"They'll just make his brother Preeminence," one of L's companions says. His name started with Af . . . Afreen; that's what it was.

"The former Preeminence would never stand the indignity of his son being in your hands. He'll make sure Colton brings Jonas home. It wouldn't hurt to get proof of when Jonas's Expiration Date is either." The Society has always feared their enemies learning the Date of their leader. "We can sell proof of his Expiration Date to the highest bidder."

"Like Britain?" Beth asks.

I nod. The physical borders of Elleany might be closed, but they didn't close the virtual ones.

Vienna props her elbow on the table and rests her chin in her hand. "Please do tell us how you plan to kidnap the Preeminence of Elleany."

"Right now, the French Prince and Princess are here, and security is tighter than usual, but in two days, they will be leaving on a short trip. Security should go back to normal during that time. I don't know what precautions they may put into place now that I've left."

"You want to launch an attack on your home?" a rebel near the middle of the table asks.

"Our current Estate has never been my home. There have been plenty of attacks launched on our Estates. I don't know which groups have and have not managed to attack us, but is this group capable of doing so?" For claiming it's one of the largest, it better have the means.

Thomas finally takes his seat. "We do."

I cross my arms, making sure my bandaged arm is in the front. "Then let's make the Society pay."