Colton~~

Golden light from the street lamps casts itself on pink mauve wisterias that sway in the night breeze and cover the flower shop's façade. Lavender dahlias wrapped around the frame of the door remain transfixed. Abella walks under that archway of flowers and wipes the back of her hand against her forehead before her weary eyes settle on my brother. Jonas keeps his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes narrowed and face taut as he speaks with one of the French soldiers in charge of the scene.

Only Abella is here, her twin tucked away in his palace—the situation deemed too dangerous that it'd be a risk to bring both royal siblings.

The soldiers erected a barricade of fence and tape around the area, evacuating the four closest businesses. Anyone who approaches the perimeter is ordered to move on. Mid'haa is in the back of an ambulance. They haven't been able to get her to wake up, and I wonder if Odette gave her some concoction similar to what was in those darts Erik and I were hit with.

Despite the situation, the terse atmosphere, my body is tempted to curl up on the nearest bench and let that breeze lull me to sleep even if my arms and legs won't stop shaking.

Sebastian sidles up beside me, a disposable mug in his hand, the string of a tea bag hanging along the side of the cup. A girl no older than us is beside him, balancing four cups in a drink carrier. Sebastian merely angles his chin in the direction of the carrier and then tilts his head toward me. The girl's eyes are wide as they dart between me, my cousin, and the drinks.

Sighing, Sebastian says, "The plain coffee."

The girl bites her lip as she struggles to keep hold of the drinks while retrieving mine. I step forward and take the one her hand is heading for before the drinks can topple to the ground.

As I raise the cup to my lips, I say, "Thank you" to my cousin who merely grunts and sips from his cup.

With his hands in the pockets of his blazer, Tobias walks up to us, Erik prowling on his heels.

Sebastian doesn't bother with vague head motions and instead asks the girl which cup is which and directs her to give the correct beverages to Tobias and Erik. While Tobias wraps his hands around his mug of juice like it's a hot cider and not a cold—or lukewarm at best—

beverage, Erik pulls a flask out from his blazer and pours it into his latte.

"We'll be here for a while," Tobias says speaking to us while eyeing the girl, distrust lacing his gaze.

"The final drink is for the Preeminence." Sebastian doesn't bother looking at her as he says this, instead pointing to my brother where he stands beside the ambulance.

"The Preeminence?" Her voice wobbles.

"Yes." Sebastian angles himself toward Erik. "Any word on Mid'haa?"

Erik shakes his head.

"I cannot speak to the Preeminence." The girl's throat bobs.

Sebastian rolls his eyes at her. "You spoke to me. I fail to see how that's any different. Go."

Her feet are planted firmly to the cobblestone.

"A waste of my time," he mutters before walking her over to Jonas. I don't have to ask to know it's a coffee with milk only.

Erik rotates his wrist that holds the mug, blending the coffee and whiskey as Vienna slips in place beside me. I take a large pull from my coffee even as my jittery arms and racing heart scream at me not to.

"I tried going inside," she says, "but they wouldn't let me." She eyes my coffee, and I pass it to her.

"Why would they ever let you in?" Tobias taps his finger against the black plastic lid of his drink. "Why did you want to? To deliver information to Odette?"

My eyes narrow. "That's enough, Tobias."

Jonas and Sebastian head toward us, Jonas's expression stern. The face fitting a leader of the Society.

Vienna's fingers curl around the cup, and I wonder if she debates whether to pour it on him—the Undici. "Because Odette wants nothing from me," she says. "What if you walk in there, and you're nothing more than a fox wandering into a trap?"

As Erik gulps down his coffee, he nudges Tobias. "She makes a good point, cousin."

Tobias steps to the side, out of his reach. "She was a rebel," he says just as my brother and Sebastian reach us, and my brother pins Tobias with a stare that's full of wrath.

"Undici, in the future I hope you stop and remember that my own fiancée was raised by rebels before you consider disrespecting Ms. Rosen again."

Tobias presses his lips into a thin line.

Erik pokes his cheek. "And I was a rebel too." A grin spreads across his face that he covers up by taking a sip of his coffee.

Tobias's eyes slide to him, full of the promise of death. A slow, suffering one.

Jonas keeps his attention on the rest of us, ignoring their squabbles. "I don't want all of us going in there at the same time. If it's an ambush, someone has to be safe." The hem of his blazer rises up in the wind. My own blazer hides my gun.

Vienna holds out my coffee to me, but I motion for her to hang onto it. My hands are already shaking enough that it will hinder my aim.

"Beta, Theta, you're coming with me," Jonas says. "Undici, I hope you use this time to settle whatever grievances you have with Ms. Rosen. And from now on, if you distrust someone, you come to me before voicing your concerns around others who are not members of the Society."

Tobias clenches his jaw and bows. "Preeminence."

Sebastian and my brother start to head for the flower shop, and I lay a hand on Vienna's arm before moving to join them, falling in line with Sebastian as we flank Jonas.

"You needn't look so smug," I tell my cousin as I reach for my gun.

He sips his tea, looking out at me from the corners of his eyes. "You do know why he dislikes her, don't you?"

"For the same reason you do."

We step into the shop, and I go on alert, my gun in my hands, while Sebastian continues sipping from his tea, his posture relaxed. The right wall holds bouquets, and the bright lights in the shop make the colors of the lush flowers too vibrant. There's a smell of muddied water in the air. Ivy carefully arranged to not hide the shop's wooden sign grows over the left wall. On a table is a spool of twine beside a digital tablet. I might could find some use for the thin rope if the Amoris make an appearance.

Voices come from deeper in the shop.

"I dislike her for what she did to you," Sebastian says to me. "She turned you of all people into a love-sick fool."

"Please," I roll my eyes even though I know his words are true. Even if they feel like a scalpel slashing at me.

A few feet ahead of us, Jonas rounds a corner.

"She broke you."

"And you care?"

We reach the corner, and I are faced by a stairwell leading down into what looks like would be a basement. This is where Mid'haa was found.

A soldier approaches us and hands Jonas an ivory-colored piece of paper.

"I don't have an issue with you, Colton." Sebastian's attention is fixed on our Preeminence. "We were kids. You insulted my father. I punished you for it and then I got over it. It's time you did too or at least admit that you have a pride issue," he keeps his voice low, mindful of those around us.

Jonas's brow furrows as he reads over the paper's words.

"And what is Tobias's issue with her?" A pride issue . . . If anyone has one, it's Sebastian.

"The night you and Vienna met, Tobias was finally going to ask her out. He'd been eyeing her for months. Talked Enzo's ears off about her and mine as well. And then you two fell into that fountain, and Tobias lost his chance. When her history came to light at that ball, Tobias used it as a way to deflect his jealousy."

His words shock me. I had no idea that Tobias knew of Vienna before I did. I knew her family name, yes, and had met her parents, but Vienna and I were never introduced until we finally met ourselves. Though I have no previous recollection of her before that night, I'm positive I had at least seen her at a distance—never knowing what she would come to mean to me.

Jonas says something in French, calling the man who delivered the paper back over.

Sebastian's expression when he looks at me is a mixture of malice and innocence that I thought only a cat could achieve. "Now that you can't marry her, I suppose she's freed up for Tobias."

He doesn't wait for me to respond, moving toward Jonas. I shake off his words before joining them. Now closer to the paper, I see that the words are written in the traditional Amorian alphabet.

"Down there is an entrance to Odette's fortress." Jonas to the stairwell. "She's waiting for us. That's what it says." He hands Sebastian the letter.

"Is there anything in it about Iris or Bently?" I ask.

"Iris is alive, for now. She made that clear. Nothing about Bently."

"Who owns the shop?"

"They haven't been able to get a hold of the owner, but they believe the owner to be one of Odette's followers." An Amoris then.

Sebastian passes me the letter. "She could have dozens of shops around Paris, hiding entrances to her catacombs."

"Yes." Jonas's nostrils flare as he breathes in the aroma of his coffee most likely to clear his mind. "I don't wish to discuss plans here. Not when they could very well be watching us from behind the walls."

I hand Jonas the letter, and he folds it, tucking it inside his blazer. The man who gave it to him opens his mouth, but one look from my brother and he closes it.

As we exit the shop, Sebastian remarks on how I didn't finish my coffee.

"It wasn't a very good roast."

"That girl can get you something different."

"No need." My body can't handle another. "Who was she?"

My cousin shrugs. "She works for the French government in some manner but didn't seem to be doing anything, so I sent her to the café across the street."

"If she ends up getting in trouble, you're finding her a new job."

He tilts his head, contemplating. "I could use an assistant."

While Erik and Tobias enter the flower shop, Jonas leads us out of the barricade. I barely have time to catch a glimpse of Vienna at Abella's side before they're out of view.

"We can't invade Odette's fortress until Amoria arrives," I say once we're far enough away from people. "They'll have guns like Odette's soldiers used on us when they attacked Andrew." On a planet where everyone has an Expiration Date, killing isn't usually an option in battle. They've had to develop other means to fight their battles.

"I know we can't." Only now that we are away from prying eyes, does Jonas allow any cracks in his armor to show.

Sebastian runs a hand over his jaw. "What if Odette tries to play our hand so we can't wait on Amoria?"

"I don't know," Jonas admits, his voice wavering. "We have our own army and France's. It may be enough, but Amoria is trained to fight against an army like Odette's. We'd be going into her realm, going in blind. I'm not sure how much of a chance we'd stand without Amoria's help." Looking back at the flower shop, his chest heaves.

In her letter, Odette didn't say that she's waiting for our army. She said she's waiting for us as if we're guests she's inviting to a tea party. I'm almost surprised she didn't go ahead and ask us to tea. I'm certain it would be unforgettably macabre with corpses as the other guests.

"Let's return to the palace," Jonas says. "We'll brief Alix and then we need to get rest. I need both of your minds as sharp as can be." He says this but I don't know how he expects us to believe he'll be getting any rest with Iris in the hands of the Amoris.

Sebastian bows low, a good Theta. "Yes, Preeminence."