Colton~~

Percy catches up with me and Vienna on our way to Jonas's and his . . . his wife's room. Why is that so unsettling?

As Percy rolls up the cuff of his blue silk shirt, he says, "This all seems a bit like a Bently move."

Vienna scowls, the whites of her eyes a bit red. "Bently's on another planet so that's not a helpful comment, Iota."

"I see someone doesn't appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night."

"And you do?" She sounds as if she's the one who's about to point a knife to his throat.

At least their kiss didn't make them magically start liking each other.

"I tend to appreciate some excitement every now and again."

Vienna flicks him off.

Percy ignores that gesture, running his hand through his hair. "As I was saying . . . Bently. Maybe he followed us here. Decided to finally kill her."

I stop walking. "You can't be serious."

Percy lifts one shoulder in a shrug.

Before France, maybe Percy's idea wouldn't sound so farfetched, but things have changed. "They're friends now, cousin, if you hadn't noticed." I smooth out my shirt, making sure I'm presentable and continue down the hall.

Ahead, the door to Jonas's and Iris's room is open. A group of Veil stand outside of it.

"Maybe that's what he wanted her to think."

"That's ridiculous. He—" I bite down on my tongue before I can reveal Bently's feeling. He loves her. He may hate that fact but he does.

"He what?"

"He's fond of her now, that's all."

The Veil let us pass through the doors, and we find my brother and Iris standing near one of the walls, their attention on the Veil.

"Khaleedi?"

Jonas looks up before angling himself toward Iris. A silk robe is pulled tight around her waist, and I can't stop the thoughts that run through my mind about what the would-be assassin might have walked in on.

Vienna steps past me. "Are you both all right? Are you hurt? At all?

"We're fine," Iris says quickly, her hand brushing her lower arm where there's the smallest indentation that there's something there beneath the silk. I narrow my eyes.

Percy doesn't look at Jonas or Iris when he asks, "And the Veil have found nothing?"

Jonas shakes his head.

There's three Veil out on the balcony. One leans over the railing. Two other Veil examine the bed, and four more the space between it and the balcony doors.

I bite back my grimace, certain they're not going to find anything that way. "They are actually searching for the assassin, right?"

Jonas nods, his expression grim. "They're checking all the rooms and the grounds."

"The roof?"

"Yes."

Percy studies his nails. "I was telling the Beta and Vienna that this seems like a move Bently would make."

Iris stiffens, eyes snapping in Percy's direction.

"You really can't possibly be serious about this, Percy." Vienna sounds exasperated.

"He's not." I cross my arms. "He's just trying to divert attention from the obvious."

Percy's brown eyes sharpen. "And please enlighten me, cousin. What is the obvious?"

"That the assassin's Elisana."

Percy flinches, and I know I've hit the nail on the head.

"Where is she?" Jonas asks, his tone cold.

Percy returns to messing with the cuff of one of his sleeves. "Asleep I imagine."

Iris rubs her arms. "I'm fairly certain it wasn't her. I couldn't get too good of a look at them, but the build was different. Their hair was short too."

Jonas nods. "It wasn't her."

"It doesn't mean she's innocent in this," I say.

Percy shoots me a glare and I smile.

"If it would make you feel better, my dearest Iota, we could call Elleany and inquire about our beloved cousin's whereabouts."

Lifting his chin, Percy jaw tightens. "I'd like that very much."

Vienna stifles a yawn. "I didn't know you had such problems with Bently, Percy."

"I don't," he snaps heading for the door. "Are you all coming?"

Iris purses her lips. "Are we all going to be on this call?"

Percy waves his hand in the air. "Might as well. You have a Society's worth of people to tell about your marriage."

*****

When we finally get Bently on the screen in the Preeminence's meeting room, he seems annoyed, and I'm immediately miffed that that's his reaction about getting to see us.

"I'm glad to see that you're both still alive," he says, his tone a bit too sardonic for my taste, "since no one bothered to call any of us to check in except to inform us that you three decided to take on a new career path as the worst stowaways in history."

I side eye Percy. "And you thought Vienna hated her sleep being interrupted."

Bently's expression darkens before he drags his hands down his face. "I wish I had been asleep. What made you call now?"

I study my cousin. The dark circles under his eyes, the slouch to his shoulders, his wrinkled shirt and ruffled hair. "Someone tried to kill them tonight."

"In your style, Bently," Percy adds. I wouldn't say trying to kill someone once while they were asleep in bed gives someone a style or means that it's exclusive to Bently considering I did try to do the same thing, but Percy isn't mentioning that.

The Digamma pales. "Are you suggesting—"

There's a thud off screen followed by "I knew it."

Twisting to the side, Bently swears, and a woman appears on the screen shoving a finger into his chest, giving me a view of her profile. Her brunette hair tinted in rose gold curls down the back of her white sweater. The one brown eye of hers I can see from this view is a mixture of triumph and horror. She's vaguely familiar, but I don't think she's a member of my extended family.

"You did have something to do with Amoria—"

Bently slaps his hand over her mouth and tugs her against him so she can't pull her mouth free. "That is enough from you." He looks back at the screen. "I'm so sorry about this thing."

Vienna's face is pinched as if she's trying not to laugh. Both Iris's and Jonas's expressions are furrowed, and Percy drums his fingers against his arm.

"Bently," I draw out his name. "You should know better than to—"

"Damn it, Tella!" My cousin yanks his hand away from the woman's mouth. He shakes his hand. I assume she bit him.

The woman—Tella—looks at the screen. "Preeminence." Her peachy skin flushes around her cheeks. "I believe the Digamma was behind your arrest."

Bently looks like he's three seconds away from losing his temper and going fully apocalyptic tyrant. "Apologies," he bites out. "This girl is convinced I worked with Amoria to have you locked away, never mind the little fact that I didn't know you were Expired because someone decided I was the only member of the France trip who didn't need to know that fun little secret, just because I was the one who was stuck in the catacombs with a murderer the whole time.

I shift my weight. "It's not really little."

"Or fun," Percy adds.

Bently looks unamused.

"I don't think this is going to make you feel any better, but Percy"—Vienna jabs the Iota in the side with her elbow—"did think you were on Amoria to kill Iris."

Bently blinks.

Percy rubs his side. "I didn't really."

"Well, I'm here in Elleany. Convinced of my innocence, cousin?"

"If it gets the attention off me"—Percy jabs his finger at Iris and Jonas—"they're married."

Bently stiffens. His mouth opens before he shuts it without saying a word. Beside him, Tella's eyes are on him. "I suppose," he says at last, "it was going to happen eventually, right? Congratulations."

"Wow." Jonas glowers at me and Percy. "Someone knows how to react to good news."

"You're the one who's calling it good." Percy glowers, his cheekbones becoming more pronounced.

"Please remember we have company." Bently's tone warns we're on thin ice, but I'd like to see what he can do from another planet. According to Percy, that is plan an assassination attempt and be the one to carry it out.

Tella glares at him. I'd just like Bently to explain who the hell she is.

"Have you seen, Erik?" he asks.

I nod.

"How is he? I'm sure Uncle Raoul and Aunt Georgiana will ask once they learn about this call.

"He's fine," Percy mutters and taps a button on a device on the table, ending the call.

I whirl on him. "What was that for?"

"We got what we wanted out of the call, didn't we? I see no reason to prolong it."

"You're bitter you were wrong."

Percy rolls his eyes. "Please."

Vienna shakes her head. "I think it's best if we all started sleeping in the same room again."

Two weeks of it on the ship was torture. But it makes sense. At least for while we're all still in Acquaellia. Percy, Vienna, and I don't have any say in where we go next. That's up to Leorus. We won't even know our destination.

Jonas rubs his face. "We'll stay in Colton's room. Vienna and Iris, you can take the bed."

"Why is mine being volunteered?"

Jonas pats me on the cheek. "Because you love me." He walks for the door, and Percy falls into step beside him.

"This is exactly how you imagined your honeymoon going," Percy asks, "isn't it?"

Jonas lets out a long-suffering sigh. "I should have expected it." 

I finally finished my second edit of the rewrite of Expired. Once I make some changes to Exported and Exposed to make them all line up, I can finally share it. I also finished the first draft of a fantasy novel I've been planning for years. I'm really excited to start sharing it.