Iris~~

Waking up is like trying to break through a wall of ice. With my head.

Without opening my eyes, I know I'm on a stiff mattress and scratchy bedspread.

A pair of purple eyes stare at me behind my eyelids.

It all comes rushing back—the coffee shop, the Amoris.

Breaking through the ice, I open my eyes.

The first thing I notice is that the ceiling looks like a floor with wooden planks laid across it. The second is the panic clogging my throat.

I push myself up on my arms. I'm not tied to the bed at least. I'm in what must be an old hotel room. A bed identical to the twin I lie in is positioned three feet from mine.

I'm alone.

I swing my legs over the side of the bed and stand in the space between the beds for only a second before my legs give out. I hit the carpet, and it scratches against my skin. I expected the Amoris's lair to be a bit more fantastical, something like below the Estate.

Somewhere a door slams.

"Call the Society." That's Erik's voice. "I don't know what the Amoris gave her, but it's probably killing her. Jonas needs to know." His voice is raised, an edge to it.

"Colton took my phone and besides, Jonas would never make it—good lord, is she dead?"

I glare up at Bently; clearly, I'm alive. A part of me almost wants to look at them with unicorns and butterflies in my eyes because they aren't the Amoris. They saved me.

Shocking.

Erik drops to my side and helps me up. Blood rushes to my head.

"What happened to the Amoris?" I ask, and Bently crosses his arms.

"She saw us and ran off."

"She must have managed to slip something in my coffee. She wants me." She killed all these people in that barn to get her message to me. Others died because I lived. I sink down onto the edge of the bed, shoulders heavy. She wants France."

"And you?"

"She wants to know how I lived and also thinks that if she has me, Jonas will help her get what she wants."

Erik grabs the remote off the nightstand and plops down on the other bed. He powers up a TV on the wall across from us.

"Are you four?" Bently asks, settling on the end of Erik's bed.

"TV is for everyone, even stuck-up princes who have sticks up their butts."

"But is it for people who just found out an alien is trying to take over the country they're in and said alien poisoned their friend barely an hour ago?"

Erik flashes me a smile. "He thinks we're friends."

I roll my eyes, turning my attention to the TV as he flips through the channels: soap operas, news, and—he stops on a video of Tobias and Sebastian descending the stairs of an airplane. A red banner spans the bottom of the screen. The writing is in French, but the words Theta and Undici stand out very clearly. Whatever the reporter says causes Bently to grow pale.

I don't need to understand the language to know Sebastian and Tobias are in France.

"France is demanding the Society's help with the murders and a response for our actions," Bently says.

"How does it feel to be hunted by our family?" Erik asks him. Bently whips his head around, sending Erik a glare that only produces a smirk.

"I'll let you know." He stands, sighing. "We need to get out of Paris. And for the love of everything holy, fix your wig, Erik."  

Do you think Bently helped save Iris because he cares about her or because he doesn't want the French Amoris to have her?