Iris~~

Odette pulls out a chair from the table and sinks gracefully down into it. "Well this has turned out dreadfully boring." She speaks in Amorian, and Mid'haa stares at her, eyes wide in confusion.

"You mean I chose the correct one?"

"Or the wrong one depending on how you look at it." She runs her finger over grooves in the wood table.

Isabeau and Anastasie stand near the wall, their lips turned down, looking disappointed.

I take Mid'haa's hands in mine and give them a squeeze. "It's all right."

Odette signals to her guards. "Take them back to the cells."

I twist toward Odette. "You'd risk killing her without interrogating her first."

My words amuse Odette. "I've been interrogating her for years without her knowing. I need no other information from her."

"So you'll still kill her."

Odette stands and walks toward me. I like go of Mid'haa's hands and turn to face Odette.

"Sweet, sweet, Raggioet. If I kill her now, that will be cheating. You won this game after all. Besides"—she looks at Mid'haa—"I can still find use for her." She brushes past me, coming to stand before Bently where he's still held by the guards. "My Order is only comprised of lae, Digamma. One day I hope to have a full Order. I'd like you to be my Delta."

Bently makes a choking sound in the back of his throat.

Isabeau places a delicate finger to her chin. "Wouldn't you prefer your own chambers to that cold cell floor?"

"You'd have so much more power." Anastasie circles around him, eyeing him.

"I have plenty of power."

"But as a Digamma." Odette circles him in the other direction, passing Anastasie. "You could move up two ranks. Do you think that will happen to you in Blackwood's Order?"

"At least my cousin's is a real Order."

Odette lets the insult roll off her. "Perhaps you need some incentive." Her hand reaches out and seizes me by the arm. She drags me against her side, her nails digging into my skin. "Become my Delta, and I won't kill Iris when I'm done with her."

Bently's posture is somehow relaxed. "Why would that be an incentive? I've tried killing her before, but my cousin's a bit touchy when it comes to that."

"You don't think she's beautiful?"

"She's nothing to write home about."

Isabeau snorts.

Odette cocks her head but doesn't look at her. "What was that, Tresais?"

"Only that I agree with him, Preeminence."

I try not to let her comment dig at me as I bite back a retort.

Anastasie sighs. "He's lying, Preeminence. Isabeau meant no disrespect toward you."

Odette sweeps her black hair over her shoulder. "You want power, Bently. You want to be important. Become my Delta. Do you truly have no desire to keep her alive?"

"I might prefer that she lives, but I'd get over her death quickly enough."

Colton said he would come to my funeral but wouldn't cry. As macabre as it is, I can't help but wonder what Bently would do. If I've learned anything about him at all during our time together in France, I'd say he probably wouldn't attend, choosing to drink alone in a room instead. "I've made no promises to her, but I did take a blood oath to my Preeminence, mixing my blood with his, to serve his Order faithfully. I'd rather rot the rest of my life in your cell than serve you as your Delta."

Odette's fingers tighten around the chalice. I don't dare to breath lest the sound sets her off. Bently was one of the Order members who tried changing the rankings where Jonas would have become Douze, the twelfth in line, while everyone else would have moved up. Bently would have become Epsilon. They claimed it was because they thought Jonas wasn't mentally stable when he went after Erik and me. I don't believe Jonas's ability to lead was the only reason they tried changing the Order. They all want power. Even Erik despite not wanting any of it from the Order.

Part of me believed Bently would accept Odette's offer.

But he's not.

He's staying loyal to Jonas no matter what it costs me, and I admire him for it.

Odette's hand flies, and the back of it slams into the side of my face. For a brief moment I see white, and I stumble, my vision blurring and ears ringing.

Bently places his hand on my shoulder and bends down toward me, his hand on my chin, his expression worried.

"I'm fine."

"It seems you do care what happens to her." Odette grips him by his jaw and pulls him away from me. "Maybe you should reconsider my offer, Digamma. Beta, Tresais, escort the Raggioet and Mademoiselle Iman back to their cells."

"Yes, Preeminence," they both say and the guards take me and Mid'haa by the arms. I struggle against them, and their fingers dig into me.

"I'm not leaving Bently alone with you."

Odette tightens her grip on Bently. "You're in no position to order me, Raggioet. The Digamma has grown too comfortable in his cell. It's time he remembers the luxury he's left behind."

Anastasie and Isabeau lead the guards as they drag us from the room and back to the dungeon.

We're locked back in our cells before the leave us alone. Someone has cleaned Ines's blood from the stone. There's a scent of chemicals in the air.

This room has seen countless executions. I've never been much of a believer in ghosts, but now being here without Bently, there's a chill in the air, and I can easily imagine the souls forever trapped in the catacombs, forced to watch as each one of them is murdered.

I'm supposed to be dead. Is it unfair to them that I lived? Don't I owe it to them to destroy Odette?

Mid'haa curls up in the back of her cell, head resting against the stone wall.

I've never wanted to make someone suffer this badly. I'm not going to pretend to be the same girl who was raised a rebel and abandoned—who wanted more than anything to make the Society pay. My hatred for Odette has far surpassed what I used to feel toward the Society. I'm not naive; being a part of the Society has changed me. I only wanted the Society to pay for what they did, to tear down their government. Though there are still parts of the Society I want to demand recompense from, with Odette, I want to plunge a knife into her. I want her to suffer under it. I want to watch her bleed.

The Society is cutthroat, and I've adapted to survive.

Colton's hatred for the rebels stems from when they hurt his mother. I think I finally understand how he could want to torture someone.

*****

I'm almost certain I've dozed off once or twice by the time the dungeon door opens, and two guards lead a stumbling Bently through it and into his cell. I scan him for any signs of new injuries, but the blood has been washed off him, leaving his bruises and cuts easier to see, though I don't know if they are new or not. He's changed his clothes, now dressed in loose blank pants and a clean, wrinkled cotton shirt.

The guards lock his cell behind them and leave. Bently lies on his back, his arms flung out to the sides.

I move across my cell to the bars that separate us. "What happened? What did she do to you?"

He lifts his head toward me, the muscles on his neck straining as his back remains on the ground. "Oh hello, Iris." He laughs. "You've got something on your face." He raises a finger toward his own face, and I think he means to aim above his eyebrow but pokes his cheek instead.

"Are you drunk?"

"Gloriously so."

"I thought you handled your alcohol better."

"They kept giving me more and more wine, and you know how persuasive Odette can be."

"They? You mean Isabeau and Anastasie?"

He nods, his head scraping against the stone floor. That can't feel good. "And others. I met so many Amoris. They're not all nearly as devilish as Odette."

"About your family-level dark?"

He laughs again and rolls onto his side, propping himself up on his arm. "Yes, and yet incredibly more fun."

I squint at a red spot on his neck. "Is that a hickey?"

"Did you know that before tonight I'd only ever kissed one girl?"

I bite my lip, my eyes narrowing. I swear, if he kissed Odette after watching her cause some many deaths, I'm going to make them both wish it were their Expiration Dates. "You never found any reason to mention it before, but I assumed that was the case considering when you usually meet someone for the first time, they want to punch you after hearing whatever comes out of your mouth."

He rolls his eyes. "Don't tell me that a girl wouldn't find it a pleasure once I started kissing them. Besides neither she nor I would have to hear the other speak once we're in the heat of the moment."

I can't help the snort that escapes my nose. "I thankfully wouldn't know."

"I kissed five girls tonight. Odette kept throwing Amoris with red hair like yours my way. I even kissed a guy. I didn't not like it, but I wouldn't really say it was my thing. I believe she was trying to convince me that I didn't want you to die so that I'd join her Order."

"By kissing girls and a guy who what? Looked like me?"

"Don't look so grossed out. I only imagined one girl was you—just to know what it'd be like, and I immediately regretted it. If anyone has a right to be grossed out, it's me. You wouldn't be a very enjoyable person to kiss."

"Like you'd know." I wasn't expecting to deal with a drunk Bently when or if he returned.

From her cell, Mid'haa clearly listens to us, and I know her English is good enough to understand everything we say.

Bently shifts onto his back again. "I would write home about you. Sure, you're beautiful"— he shrugs—"but it wouldn't be for that reason. You amaze me, Iris. I don't understand how you're one of us now. You saved my mother. I . . . I can't remember if I ever thanked you. I always thought my Order would be just like my father's, and I didn't mind. It's what I thought I wanted. But it's not only Jonas who you make want to be a better man. It's me. And Colton. And Seong-ho and even Eli. You've made us all a little more like Riley."

I angle away from him, wiping at a few tears. Hopefully, he's too drunk to notice. "The only member with any chill, you mean?"

He chuckles.

"Did you manage to gain any intel while you were kissing and drinking?"

"I gathered they plan for France and Elleany to invade soon."

"Does that mean they know where we are?"

He makes a humming sound. "I don't think so. I think Odette is going to tell them."

And then there will be a slaughter. Odette has been planning this for years. France has barely known about the rogue Amoris for a month—and they only just learned that the rogues are aliens. The French soldiers don't have Marks. They can be killed. And if Jonas joins the fight so can he. I know Jonas; I'm engaged to the man. He'll be joining that fight.

"Cheer up." Bently's back on his side again. "Mid'haa is alive and other than her, there are no other prisoners to depress us." He lets out a tired groan. "How I wish you were drunk. You'd be much more fun to talk to."

"A part of me wonders if you're trying to lull me into a false sense of security only to kill me when I'm not expecting it."

He sits up suddenly. "There." He points at me. "That's the kind of humor I was missing."

"You've got a dark sense of humor just like Erik."

"Oh don't bring him up. He's such a depressing subject. Wouldn't you rather hear about those kisses?"

"Absolutely not."

He huffs. "At least you'll be happy to know I still turned down Odette's offer. Then again, maybe not since she'll kill you."

"Thanks for the reminder."

He waves his hand. "I'm one hundred percent certain you'll figure out a way to live." Yawning, he eases back down to the floor and closes his eyes. "You always do."

I frown and lean back against the wall, knees pulled toward my chest. Whenever the Society arrives, I have to be ready. Not only to keep Jonas alive but to prevent Colton, Vienna, and Erik from being irreparably harmed.

"Would you come to my funeral, Bently?"

"Definitely not." He doesn't open his eyes. "I'd drink alone and pour a glass for you."   

When I first wrote Bently into the story, I never imagined him having a heart-to-heart with Iris while he was drunk in a cell in France. Though when I wrote the first draft of Expiration Date, I hardly knew what was going to happen in each chapter. When Erik first entered the story, I didn't even know he was going to be from the Society. I got the idea after a few chapters with him and was basically like that could be cool. Can you imagine if he wasn't from the Society?

I desperately want to write a one shot of Iris and Bently. Any ideas for possible scenarios? It doesn't even have to be set in this world.