Exposed [Book 4 in the Expiring Series]

52 Cheese. Iris Likes It.

Iris~~

The rest of Surielius's Order arrives in the city in time for dinner. Tomen decided to hold the multi-course meal on the roof of his house. Heaters have been brought out, a countermeasure against the wind.

As attendants serve the first course, Jonas squeezes my hand. "You look radiant, love."

"Only because you shine so bright."

Jonas chokes on a laugh. "Something must be wrong if you attempted something that cheesy."

I shrug, taking a sip of my water. "What can I say? I do like cheese."

"A pity Tomen didn't mention any being on the menu."

From the other side of Jonas, the aforementioned Preeminence leans forward. "I heard my name."

Brielle, seated on my left, looks our way briefly before returning to her conversation with a wife of an Order member.

Jonas turns from me to Tomen. "It's only that I suddenly find myself with a craving for cheese."

"Then it's lucky that dessert tonight includes sweet cheese."

"Wonderful," he says to Tomen and squeezes my hand again.

I steal a glimpse at Elisana who's positioned herself as far away as she can get from us at the table. Ever since she saw who our new Veil is, we've not had any encounters with her. I'm certain Percy's upset, but he doesn't show it. At least not to me. Maybe to Jonas. Since the rest of the Order arrived, I have not seen one glimpse of him

Ean "stands guard" behind us, his brown eyes covered by purple contacts, and the lower half of his face covered by a black mask. Even if he hadn't met all the Order members at one point or another, the moment they saw brown eyes rather than purple they would know he was human. And with Amoria's official human population being two, they'd immediately know who he was.

I take a long pull of water as I study the Order members Jonas and I must win over. The attendants had offered wine and champagne, but I refused. I need my head as clear as possible tonight.

The Order is young, though not so much as Jonas's. They're all probably in their late twenties—in Earth's years that is. They do not seem cold like the Morettis or tired like the Torellaes or sincere like Odalia's Order. Rather Tomen's Order is vibrant, but there's something swirling underneath that vibrancy. They laugh loudly, and their eyes almost seem to gleam. When they speak, they gesture with their hands to stress their words. But in each of their expressions, behind the smiles, is something cutting. A wickedness maybe.

I slice my food, a mixture of fruits and vegetables in blues, reds, oranges, and yellows. Only the fruit looks appetizing, but I eat all that's on my plate even knowing there will be more courses.

"I heard you eloped, Blackwood," says a man from one end of the white and gray marble table. A servant reaches past me, grabbing my plate, as I tense. He didn't use Jonas's title. Has he already made up his mind? It takes me a moment to recall his name and position. Aries. The Tresais.

Jonas reaches for his champagne. "You heard correctly. We didn't want to risk another wedding being interrupted by having guests."

"I'm sure your mother will be disappointed though."

I place my hand on Jonas's arm and incline my head to Aries. "We plan to have another wedding once we return home, Tresais."

"I hope we receive an invitation to this one."

"Tresais." Tomen's tone reminds me of lightning cracking across the mountains, but even so, Jonas offers the Tresais a gracious smile.

"We'd be honored. Once our mission on Amoria is complete, we will return home and will have those invitations sent to you."

Aries holds up his glass and bobs his head, looking satisfied in Jonas's answer.

Dinner passes rather uneventfully, and desert is at last brought out, a selection of sweet cheeses and fruit that reminds me of strawberries and bananas in appearance but tastes sweeter, with a hint of maple.

It's taken almost all of dinner, but I've determined that most of the tension in my back and neck does not come from the Order but at having Ean stand behind us. Jonas is convinced that Riley will be enough of a deterrent for Ean not to hurt us. Even Percy is of the same mind; though, he was not pleased when he woke up the other night and met Ean at the same time he learned that he had drugged his coffee.

Percy now understandably refuses to accept any coffee that is not made by him. Even still, I've caught glimpses when he thinks no one's looking where he stares at his coffee as if he's waging battle with it.

As desert isONLYONWATTPADBENDERcleared away along with the rest of the dishes, Elisana excuses herself and makes a hasty escape to the stairs passing by a servant who holds a tray in his hands, a deck of cards resting on the silver platter. The servant stops before the Beta who plucks the cards off the tray.

"Must we, Alee?" Brielle asks, wariness weighing down her voice.

"Need you really ask?" The Beta shuffles through the deck. "We have guests."

"Who probably do not even know how to play."

I lean forward. "What game?"

The Beta offers me a charming smile as if the cards he holds are actually the secret to unlocking a fortune. "Tela."

I feign a look of confusion, tilting my head and frowning. "What's that?"

Jonas's brows furrow. "I must admit, I've never heard of it."

Alee, the Beta, seems all too happy to explain the rules; a player needs three cards to make a set and must pass a card clockwise to the next player to take a new one. Listening to him, you'd think the game is simple, even when he touches on how each player has a second and that the winner of a round will issue the second of the loser a challenge. He doesn't expound on that part, making the dares seem harmless. "Will you play, Preeminence Blackwood?"

Jonas looks at me, and I place a hand on his arm.

"Actually," I say, "I think I'd like to give it a try. If that's all right, that is." I offer the Order the demurest smile I can manage. "I tend to be rather good at cards." 

I wasn't able to finish this chapter where I originally wanted to. I've been a bit under the weather and also working to finish up a special project. As it's been awhile since the last update, I decided to divide the chapter up. Especially because in the next part, I've decided I want to try to add in a Bently scene.