Jonas~~

The sun has yet to rise, and the dark sky is cloudy with a reddish orange hue cast over the layers of black as Colton stands at my side in the middle of the blocked off road. Elleany's and Amoria's soldiers line up, preparing to venture down into the catacombs. We're not sending all our troops; that would be unwise. Were we to lose, there has to be someone left to fight. It was also decided in our meeting yesterday not to send France's soldiers down there because they're vulnerable without Expiration Dates. Instead, they're evacuating the Parisians from the area.

A gun is strapped to both my sides, a tranquilizer and a hand gun. A knife hangs from my right. Amoria brought tranquilizer guns to compete against Odette's stock, but not every soldier will have one.

Colton rubs his eyes, and I worry that he's tired before we've already begun. "If our soldiers could die, Odette's army would be able to slaughter us on the stairs."

"I know."

They can still tear into our soldiers. Death isn't the only wound to leave a mark. Knowing only one of their entrances—the entrance Odette wanted us to know about—is a disadvantage to say the least. Especially when her Amoris know the other ways in and out and can flee from the catacombs and into the city if they decide they don't want to fight anymore. We've stationed soldiers around the city in the hope that luck will be on our side, and they'll be near one of our enemy's exits.

Gwen steps up beside me, eyes on the soldiers before us. "Preeminence, Beta." Her face is stoic. Not withdrawn though, not distant. You can't do that before a fight or you'll lose. Your mind has to be constantly turning over your environment, analyzing your enemies. She squared away her emotions, embracing her title of Tresais and setting aside her feelings for us as her brothers.

Tobias steps up behind me and Gwen. "After you rescue the beautiful Iris, will you and your fiancée visit the Eiffel Tower?"

I feel Sebastian hovering behind my other shoulder. "Speaking as Eli, it might be hard to have a funeral all the way up there."

All of us turn to look at Sebastian. I catch the stunned expression on Colton's face, Tobias's look of horror.

Sebastian shrugs. "When all twelve of us aren't together, I like to be the voice of them."

"Okay," Colton says, "but Eli isn't actually speaking through you."

Our Theta stretches his neck. "It's four AM. Forgive me if my censoring abilities have yet to be turned on."

Blinking, I face the soldiers again. She won't be dead. She won't.

Under the sign of an apothecary shop across the road from the flower shop, Erik and Vienna converse. Farther up the road, Alastair speaks with one of his commanders. Abella and Alix remained at the palace. Tucked away. Safe. Mid'haa at their side ready to provide them with updates.

While the twins know the truth, we explained to everyone else that the Amorian troops as an army Elleany has kept secret to hide the true size of our forces. Whether France's or my own troops believe that, has yet to be decided. They might have had the wild thought that perhaps they're aliens, but could they actually find it in themselves to believe that, and if they do, would they actually voice it out loud?

I'm frankly not sure how much longer the Society can keep who we are a secret.

Colton places his hand on my shoulder, and at first I stiffen against his touch, but then I relax. His touch seems to say, I'm here. No matter what, I'm here. Sebastian and Tobias follow suit, and each place a hand near my shoulder blades. Gwen angles toward us, her eyebrows drawn together.

But before she can voice whatever it is she thinks, Alastair gives me the signal.

It's time.

*****

My Order, Alastair, and I stand to the side of the flower shop, wilted plants behind us, watching as the troops venture down the staircase. None of them have Expiration Dates that are today. If any of us meet our deaths today, it's me.

Vienna and Erik are at the other end of the store, waiting to merge into the line when they deem fit. I have no doubt Colton will be slipping in beside her.

We have yet to hear gunshots. The only sound is the pattering of boots like a building rainstorm. Odette knows we're here—it would be impossible not to—so the lack of fighting is unnerving.

She's planned for this. Planned and most likely practiced.

Relax, Colton mouths.

We all have bulletproof vests underneath our shirts, but our heads our exposed. Fate will almost guarantee a bullet won't hit them in their heads, but fate won't be diverting any bullets for me.

There's a scene that keeps playing in my head of me finding Iris, only to be shot at the last second before I reach her.

Vienna dips into the flow, soldiers adjusting to let her in, and as I predicted, Colton merges into the rows of troops.

The two of them don't reach the stairs before the screaming starts. The soldiers sway back—a living wave—trying to halt themselves from moving toward the fight.

Gunfire goes off.

The Amorian troops in the mix, grip their guns and keep going, Vienna and Colton with them, and then they're both gone.

Elleany's soldiers eventually follow, though the screaming, the shouting, only multiples.

Tobias claps me on the shoulder and moves for the stairs.

Sebastian places his hand on my shoulder, pulling me toward him gently. "You go down there," he says, "and you don't get involved in the fight. You just find her. I'm not in the mood for any funerals." He doesn't bother looking at Gwen. For all she knows, he's only referring to Iris.

"She could be miles away from here," I murmur. "It could all be a labyrinth." Panic creeps over my heart and lungs, squeezing, talons digging in. What if it's like the maze at the Estate? What if I get lost and never find her? Am I prepared to be hunted down by the minotaur—by Odette when I can't find Iris?

"Just tell yourself that if you don't find her, she dies. Trust me, you won't let yourself fail then."

"That's not how that works," Gwen says drily to him before shifting her eyes to me. "I'm expecting a very expensive bottle of wine after all this is over." Her lips inch into a smirk as she grabs her gun and moves into the rows of soldiers.

Alastair's eyes don't leave her until she vanishes down those stairs.

I take my own gun in my hands. "Theta."

He smiles. "Preeminence."

And with a nod to my cousin, I head for the stairs.

They're a pasty white and look brittle like chalk. The light from the shop doesn't reach far, and soon I'm bumping against soldiers as the stairs become hard to see. There's a mustiness around us, and it's as if there's no air. It's hot. The soldiers moving too slow. The space too crowded.

The stairs end, and the walls on either side must narrow because I'm suddenly pressed even closer to the soldier beside me. Up ahead is an amber glow from where the gunshots and shouting come.

You are a Preeminence, I tell myself. No matter what happens, I will go down with my head held high.

My Mark begins to itch, and I brace myself for what's to come.

I'm almost at the end of the hallway. As the light penetrates the gloom, I can make out that the floor has changed into a creamy stone that doesn't look so brittle.

This is the moment fate either rights itself or shows us that I am supposed to be Preeminence.

Only a few more feet now.

I tighten my hold on my gun and feel warmth creep over my Mark.

The hallway ends, and the ceiling soars above me, the amber light glowing across the massive room. Soldiers on both sides of the room hide behind columns for cover. I duck behind the nearest with three other men.

I lean around the column to fire at an Amoris. Their knees buckle, and I spare a second to look for the exits. There are three. One to my right, which is closest. One on my left. And one straight ahead.

The right it is.

Soldiers are fallen around me, some clutching wounds and crawling for cover, and others asleep, shot with a tranquilizer.

I have to get out of this room before I'm hit with either bullet. Dead or asleep, I'd be no help to Iris.

I lean around the column a second time, taking down two more Amoris with my handgun before I dart for the next column

Again and again, I lean, shoot, dart, making my way from column to column until I can duck through the archway, entering into another hallway.

On the ground are our Amorian and Elleanian soldiers, some bleeding but all asleep. I step around them, following the twists and turns of the hallway, my way lit by torches ensconced in the walls.

Back when Colton still liked to talk about the current book he was reading, he'd had to explain to me this concept of mates if I was going to stand a chance at understanding the plots of the werewolf novels he tore through. Apparently, the connection between two mates was a tangible entity, a bond they could tug on and sense if the other was alive and could follow that bond all the way to their soulmate at the end.

I would give much to feel that now, to have some idea which path to take, to be my ball of thread.

To tug on it and feel the string go taut and know she is still on the other end.

About a dozen feet ahead where the hallway goes both right and left, a figure steps out into the open. "Jonas."

"Bently," I breathe.

He looks frantic, though I can't see a scratch on him. I expected to find him bruised and bloody.

"Why aren't you locked up?"

He glances behind him. "That's a long story neither of us has time for." He beckons for me to follow before taking off down the hallway. I rush after him.

"Where's Iris?"

"Still in her cell. Odette went for her."

My blood turns to ice.

We approach an opening in the hallway, and he slows down, checking that it's clear before speeding up again.

"Either to kill her or smuggle her out." His words cut into me.

Up ahead on the left is an iron door that's cast open. Bently only nods, confirming that this is what I've been searching for.

My breath catches, my heart picking up speed. Iris is in there. Alive or dead. Unless Odette's already dragged her away. If Odette is in there . . . My hand goes to my knife. Expiration Date or not, she'll come to regret every single thing she's done in her miserable existence.

Two figures step out from an alcove, and I recognize one as Odette's Tresais, Isabeau.

The other female shakes her head at Bently, her long brown hair pulled into a ponytail that sways from the motion, while Isabeau clucks her tongue.

"Such a shame," Isabeau muses. "Our pretty, pretty Delta still only a Digamma after all."

For a fraction of a second, too fast for me to stop it, my mind hones onto the word Delta and what that implies.

"Go, Jonas," Bently says through his teeth. He aims his gun toward them. But there's two of them. He can't aim at both.

They lunge, and Bently throws himself forward giving me the chance I need to slip through the iron door.

I realized I forgot the anniversary of Expiration Date, which was August 1, 2020. I started writing it six years ago back when I was sixteen--back when the main characters were older than me and not the other way around. Thank you for an incredible six years. I never thought this story would change my life the way it has. All I knew was that there was this girl named Iris who was going to survive her Expiration Date with the help of this boy named Erik. I had no idea he was the Tresais or even in the Society. And then I met Colton and Jonas, and I fell in love with all of them.

And tomorrow on August 10, it's the anniversary of Iris's Expiration Date.

So cheers to the girl who is Expired. And cheers to all of you who make my dreams come true every single day.