Iris~~

I drive my elbow into the rebel's side before grabbing them by the shoulders and driving my knee into their stomach. They bend forward, and I throw an uppercut into their jaw.

Colton fires a bullet into their leg, and they collapse, crying out.

August pins the only standing rebel against the wall while Seong-ho aims his gun at her. Colton heads for the door.

"Where are they keeping the Preeminence?" August presses her deeper into the wall.

"You can't kill me so why would I tell you?"

"Because," August's voice is a cruel lilt, "we prefer it when you can't die."

Aiming his gun, Colton opens the door. "Take care of her and let's go. It will take too long for her to tell us anything."

August's grip tightens on the rebel. "And we what? Wander aimless—"

Seong-ho fires his gun, shotting the rebel in the leg. August jerks back, and the rebel drops to the ground, letting out a scream and grabbing at her leg in the spot that blood starts to well.

I turn my head away, feeling nauseous.

"Let's go," Seong-ho says.

The four of us find the next bunker empty but bullet marks in the walls prove it's seen action. In the initial push to get inside the base, we were separated from Gwen and Bently.

"Seong-ho, Iris, you're certain you never saw the plans for this place?" Colton asks.

"If I had"—Seong-ho changes out his clip—"wouldn't I have mentioned that before we left the Estate?"

"Well, you didn't tell us about your kids."

I roll my eyes. "Now is not the time."

They ignore me.

"I thought your mission was to gather intel," August says. "What good was it if you can't find Jonas now?" The Delta turns to me. "And you, Iris?"

"If I ever did see any plans, I wasn't thinking I needed to commit them to memory." Back then, I was supposed to die on August 10, 2014. Memorizing plans of bases I had never seen wasn't a top priority. I rub my forehead. "They wouldn't keep their prisoners close to an exit. All I can suggest is to keep pushing farther in."

At the other end of the bunker, the door begins opening.

Ducking behind a crate, I aim my gun at the door, while the Order quickly selects their own shields.

The first thing to come through the door is a barrel of a gun.

I let out a breath, adjusting my own gun.

It's L who steps through the door. Her eyes immediately find mine.

Behind her are the two rebels who were with her at the inn.

I rise, gun trained on L. "You're outnumbered."

"Then shoot me, Iris."

I tighten my grip on my gun. "Lower your weapons."

"Are you really working with them because you're angry we left you?"

I grit my teeth. "L . . ."

"Do you truly believe the revenge of one person is worth betraying the rebellion?"

"I'm here for the Preeminence."

She shakes her head. "It's about revenge—"

"Put the gun down, L." Seong-ho steps out in the open, his guns his only shield. One is trained on Afreen while the other is on Anya. "All of you."

L's lip curls. "Is it still Jay-yeon or should I start calling you Zeta?"

His nostrils flare. "I mean it. Drop. The. Guns."

Anya's finger inches toward the trigger of their gun, and Seong-ho fires, hitting the wall beside them.

"Don't," is all he says.

I step beside Seong-ho. "Lower them. Now."

"We'll put the guns down when you all do the same," Afreen says.

"Colton, August, go." Seong-ho tilts his head toward them. "Iris and I will handle this."

It will be the two of us against the three of them, but every second we stay here is an extra second for the rebels to get Jonas and the Amoris out of the base.

Guns raised at the rebels, August and Colton keep their backs to the wall as they move to the door. Anya trains their gun in the cousins' direction while L and Afreen keep theirs on me and Seong-ho.

The Beta and Delta slip through the door, and L's lips twist into a smile. "If you're feeling nostalgic, you may remember, I prefer fists to bullets."

As we are now, we're stuck in a standoff.

Anya steps closer to L. "A spy and a traitor. I'd much rather do this L's way than let my bullets have all the fun."

Seong-ho lets out a swear under his breath. "Do rebels ever shut up?"

Keeping my gun aimed at L, I raise my other arm. "So we all lower our weapons and kick them out of reach."

There has been the constant ringing of gunfire, but as we all bend to the ground, lowering our weapons to the floor, that ringing in the background seems to dull. Keeping our eyes on each other, we remove any weapons from our holsters. Even as we kick our weapons to the side, it's possible they have weapons still hidden on them.

I do. And I'm sure Seong-ho does as well.

I'm still rising to my feet when Seong-ho and L cut across the room toward each other.

I beckon with my hand to Anya and Afreen. "Coming?"

I meet both halfway. Anya throws a punch and I duck to the side, landing a jab to their ribs. Afreen whips around Anya, but I use his momentum against him, grabbing him close to his elbows and flipping him onto the ground.

Out of the corner of my eye, L pins Seong-ho to the ground. I can't worry about him right now. I have to trust he can handle her.

Afreen still on the ground, I lunge toward Anya, intending to grab them by their shoulders and drive a knee into their stomach, but at the last moment they feint to the right instead of the left and it sends me off balance. They hook their leg behind my calf and send me sprawling forward.

I slam into the metal floor, black spots flashing in my eyes. Letting out a burst of air through my nose, I plant my palms into the ground and flip onto my back, driving my foot into Anya's side to keep them from pinning me.

Afreen's right behind them.

Seong-ho cuts toward him and lands a punch to his jaw.

I jump to my feet, dodging Anya's fist.

To the side, L pulls herself to her feet, rubbing her cheek.

"Anya!" Afreen calls out. He and Seong-ho have their arms locked on each other, neither making progress against the other.

I use the distraction to step around Anya and drive my elbow into their back and, with my foot, shove them to their ground.

L frowns at me. "Come back to us. Please."

I step toward her, and she does the same. "I think I've burnt my bridges with the rebels," I say as we begin to circle each other.

"All can still be forgiven."

"Forgiveness is not something I need to ask of the rebels."

"You chose them. How could you choose them?"

I sigh, flexing my hand and eyeing her, searching for her current weak spots. "I was about to move to France when you took him."

"He's the Society."

"He's nothing like the old Order." The Preeminence taught me French. The Theta shared bread with me. The Beta brought me food when his brother was in the infirmary. It was the Order who I sat with in sweatpants, running off of caffeine and desperation to find their stolen family members.

L moves, charging for me. I brace myself as she slams into me and sends me into the wall, knocking the air out of me. I gasp, my ears ringing.

"You had so much potential, Iris." She grasps me by the shirt and tosses me to the side, my face striking the other wall, pain shooting through me. "If it hadn't been for your Date, you would have been an asset."

I feel warmth as blood drips from my nose.

She flips me around to face her. Before I can get my bearings, she punches me, her knuckles cutting into my lips, and like a cornered animal, I sneer at her. She raises her fist to strike me again, but I duck and bring my head up, driving it into her jaw.

Stumbling back, she cups her jaw. "Did I teach you that or Jay-yeon?"

I crack my neck. "It was Y actually." I drive my fist into her stomach, and she grunts. She swings for me, but I step to the side.

Righting herself, she puts up her arms, hands clenched in fists. "You lived past your Date. Do you know how valuable you would be to the rebellions?"

"I'm not interested in being used, L."

Her face turns somber. "I've really missed you, you know?"

I shrug. "You could have fooled me."

She comes at me, swinging her fist, and we begin a dance of dodging and punching, of circling and lunging.

It takes me back to the past, to our orphanage—our home when we'd spar with one another. As I duck under her swing, Colton's voice comes through my earpiece.

"We've found where they are. Three bunkers forward from you and then two to the right and you'll be at the armory. Go left and you'll find us. The cell is only a few bunkers from where we are."

I don't want to know how they got their information. Right now, I only care that they got it.

I hear a thud, but I can't look. L isn't letting up on me. I attempt to back her into a corner, by kneeing her in the stomach. Blood drips from her nose, and the blood under mine is still wet.

A hand grabs hold of my shoulder and pushes me to the side. I whirl, finding Seong-ho panting.

"Go. I'll handle her."

Afreen and Anya are sprawled on the ground, bleeding and groaning. I meet Seong-ho's brown eyes, and he nods.

"I've got this."

I grab my weapons from the floor as fast as I can and step through into the next bunker. I don't finish packing away my weapons into the proper holsters until I reach the bunker after it and find it empty.

I double tap my earpiece to switch channels, so the mic built into it will only send my message to the Order.

"On my way, Colton."

"We're almost to the cells," August's voice says in my ear and repeats the instructions Colton gave.

After fighting L, Anya, and Afreen, any rebels I encounter feel like the level-one enemies in a video game. Now that I know where Jonas is, they come across as mere inconveniences, hurdles on the way to my goal.

Before I enter the armory, I change out my clip, and when I step through the door, I find the room empty. Many places on the wall that could hold guns are bare. Boxes are tipped over, their contents of bullets, clips, vests, and knives spilled out on the ground.

I take the door to the left. As I pass through the metal bunkers, I encounter rebels collapsed and bleeding on the ground with no weapons with which to defend themselves. They curse at me, threaten me, as I step around them. I tune them out. I'm not here for the Society. I'm here for Jonas.

I open the door into the next bunker and find more rebels bleeding on the ground, some unconscious. Colton looks up from where he's hunched over Vienna's own unconscious body. He points his gun at me but lowers it once he realizes I'm not a rebel.

The door at the end is open and through it I can see two people chained to a wall. My breath catches. They must be the missing Amoris.

What feels like a hundred questions swirl through my head, but I summarize them all into one question: "Colton?"

He turns his head to look through the door behind him and Vienna. August stumbles past the doorway, followed by Erik who stops in pauses in the threshold.

His eyes meet mine. "I knew you'd risk your life to come for him."

August swears at him, and Erik steps out of my line of sight.

I place a hand over my side where Jonas's bullet passed through and take a breath, steeling my nerves. With my gun aimed in front of me, I pass Colton and Vienna and catch sight of the third Amoris and . . . Jonas. My stomach churns as his eyes meet mine. There's no spark of life behind them. His face is haggard and bruised.

He mouths my name, but I hear no sound.

My ears ring as I enter the bunker. To the left, August and Erik are in a tight scuffle. Neither seems to have the upper hand.

I train my gun on the former Tresais, trying to push aside the thought that I owe my life to him. "Erik." My gun clicks as I pull back the slide.

Both August and Erik freeze.

"I never wanted to fight with you, Erik."

Erik steps away from August and raises his arms. "Do it. Maybe your bullet can even strike true since you're Expired." He lets out a harsh laugh. "Maybe you can change my Expiration Date."

"Is that what you want?"

Erik shifts his eyes toward August. "I think my cousin has been trying to convince me that it's what I should want."

"You hurt her, Erik." The Delta takes a step away from him. "Will Arrietty be your next Molly?" A tremor rolls through Erik. "Will Iris?"

Erik holds up his Marked arm. No longer is there a bandage wrapped around his Expiration Date.

11-15-93

"How is it fair to anyone that I get so many years?"

November 15, 2093

He takes a step toward me. "Compared to me, Molly got nothing." Another step.

I adjust my hold on the gun. "Just surrender, Erik, please."

He keeps coming toward me. "Why does fate dictate our lives. Prove it wrong and shoot me."

"You don't want that. You don't."

He stops. "I've come too far to turn back, Iris. I—"

"Don't make her do this, Erik." Across the room, Jonas's eyes are bloodshot, his voice raspy.

I don't want to shoot him. No matter what's happened since my Expiration Date, he is the reason I'm alive, and he always will be.

Erik curls his hands into fists. "Do you really expect me to surrender?"

"You're outnumbered," August says.

"I'm a traitor to the Society. With you, all I have waiting for me is a cell. Might as well put up a fight."

"I swear"—Colton steps beside me, his gun pointed at Erik—"if you do something to get yourself hospitalized, you can pay your own damn medical bills."

Erik cocks his head. "And will you pay hers?" He looks past Colton to Vienna.

The Beta bristles. "What happened to her? Who took out the rebels?"

Erik shrugs. His gun's tucked in his holster, but I can't put it past him that he won't try to make a grab for it. "I found them like that."

August's nostrils flare. "I'm sure you did."

"I'm telling the truth. You can ask them." He sweeps his arm out to Jonas and the Amoris.

"Erik," Colton's voice is low.

"Colton."

August sighs. "Surrender, Erik, and maybe a cell doesn't have to be your only option."

Erik's eyes widen before he scoffs. "You'll really export me?"

"If Andrew was exported, it certainly seems like it could be a possibility for you." August shifts his weight. "Give this up." He steps toward Erik as I hold my breath. "Do it for Arrietty. She wouldn't want you to get hurt. Neither would Molly."

The moment Erik stiffens, August and Colton rush for him. Erik doesn't have time to react before they pin him against the wall.

"Iris." Colton jerks his chin to Jonas and the Amoris as August pulls a zip tie from his front pocket.

Dropping into a crouch beside Jonas, I set my gun on the ground.

He tries to hold his head up. "You shouldn't be here."

With the immediate threat handled, I can finally inspect his injuries fully. His face is bruised and bloody, the area around his eyes swollen, but neither are swollen enough to keep me from seeing the blue of his irises.

"Jonas . . ." My throat constricts.

Across the room I hear August say to Erik, "It was the Society's Erik Molly fell in love with, not the rebellious version of you."

"You didn't go to France?" Jonas's voice sounds as if he hasn't had water for days.

I shake my head. "How could I leave?"

Shackles encircle his wrists, but it's his Marked arm that catches my attention. Blood covers the skin the cuff doesn't hide. Skin and not a bandage. Where the 1 and 4 should be, the skin and black ink have been marred, cut, and sliced.

In the distance, I hear the pounding of boots on metal, building like a rumble of thunder, and I turn from Jonas to the door. His fingers grasp mine.

August keeps a hold on Erik while Colton draws his gun. My muscles tighten as I make myself into a shield before Jonas and pick up my gun.

But it's Bently who bursts through the door. Not rebels.

And he's followed by Veil.

My shoulders sag, though I'm careful not to let any of me lean against Jonas. He looks as if the shackles are the only thing keeping him upright.

The Veil will be able to get him out of the chains.

"You're not hurt, are you?" Jonas asks me as I hear Colton ask Bently, "Where is my sister?"

Bently rolls his eyes. "Off having fun without me, I assume. Where's Seong-ho?"

"He stayed behind to hold rebels off." I gnaw on my lip. Who won the fight? At my orphanage, L and Seong-ho had always been evenly matched. But this time, L had Anya and Afreen, and both she and Seong-ho have had time to improve upon their skills. I turn back to Jonas and brush my fingers over his face. "I'm fine. Really."

The Veil set to work freeing Jonas and the Amoris. I remain at Jonas's side, and once his Marked arm is freed, I examine the wounds.

"What happened?"

"Vienna. I asked her to."

My eyes snap to his.

"She tried to look out for me. For us. Erik's the reason she's unconscious."

I return my focus to his Mark. I have no water to pour on it. I'd tear my shirt to use as a fresh bandage if it weren't damp with sweat.

Jonas's eyes flick to something behind me a moment before a hand touches my shoulder. I whirl, my mind saying it can't be a rebel while my nerves say otherwise.

My green eyes lock with the purple ones of an Amorian woman kneeling at my level.

Jonas sucks in a breath, and my heart feels as if it sputters to a stop as her lips part and eyes widen. "Raggioet." The words slip past her lips as a breath. I've never heard the word before but deep down I know what it must mean.

The other Amorians turn their heads toward me. The Veil don't seem to have any reaction to the word.

"Aunt," Jonas says, his plead coming out heavy and labored. She must be Bently's mother.

"It's all right, Preeminence." She doesn't look away from me. "Even despite the danger, you fought for us?"

I nod, not sure if I'd be able to get words out. Plus it doesn't seem wise to tell the Amoris that I'm really only here for Jonas.

"Mother." Bently comes up to us, his gun out and ready for any threat that might arrive, and I pick my own gun up from the floor. His tone is clipped, formal.

"Bently," her tone matches his.

"Are you well?"

She nods.

"Good." He brushes at something on his arm. "Jonas." Bently inclines his head to him. "You've looked better."

At some point, Colton brought Vienna into the room and propped her against the wall. He's now crouched at her side. Her eyes are closed but her head moves as if she's coming to.

For the second time, the rumble of boots in the distance builds.

The Veil fall into position with Colton who covers Vienna. August keeps his grip on Erik, turning his cousin into a shield, while Bently steps in front of his mother. I don't know if Jonas is even capable of standing on his own two feet, so I move in front of him and raise my gun.

The rumbling grows, and I let out a breath, forcing my shoulders to relax.

I can see the outer bunker from where I stand, and when the troops enter it, their lack of concise uniforms marks them as rebels.

There's a burst of gunfire, and I force Jonas and I back toward the wall to shield us, but it quickly becomes clear to the rebels that they're outnumbered. Clangs ring out as they drop their weapons and raise their arms.

Relief fills me. I look at Jonas. "We're getting you out of here."

He raises his hand toward my face but pauses and grimaces before dropping it, letting his hand rest on my thigh instead. He doesn't say anything, and I place my hand on his. "Jonas."

He holds my gaze. "I don't deserve you."