Exposed [Book 4 in the Expiring Series]

7 The Morning Of My Wedding

Iris~~

I wake up the morning of my wedding because of a nightmare, not to an alarm or pre-wedding jitters and butterflies. Instead I woke up in a cold sweat. In my sleep, I watched Odette killing her prisoners in front of me—over and over again—the coldness of the catacombs running through my veins until I was certain I was there. I awoke when she plunged a dagger into Bently's heart, something that never happened. I run a hand over my face before looking at my clock. 7:35. Gwen told me she was waking me up at eight.

I lay back down letting out a deep breath. Bently is alive, and I'm at the Estate. I'm not a prisoner. I'm not in Odette's grasp anymore.

This is one of the only nights since being back that I haven't slept beside Jonas in my bed or his. He's been there to chase the nightmares away, to hold me when I awake convinced that everyone I love is dead.

But Eli insisted it would be bad luck for us to sleep in the same bed the night before our wedding, and when we planned to ignore him, he threatened to get the Society involved, and the few who know that Jonas and I share a bed are already scandalized by it.

I had hoped last night would have been one of the nights I was stronger than my nightmares, that I would have dreamed about my future with Jonas instead.

But Odette still haunts me. I thought I was stronger than the memory of her.

At eight A.M. sharp, Gwen and Arrietty come into my room with Riley's and Percy's sisters, Analiese and Laasya, in tow. Analiese, a year younger than Riley, is shorter than him by at least a foot. They share the same reddish-brown hair, though, and her white skin is sprinkled with freckles along her chest and shoulders. Laasya is taller than Percy by a few inches, and I heard she used to use that to her advantage on her older brother. She and her brother both have the same shade of umber-brown skin that their mother has, though her eyes are a light brown while her brother's are dark. Their father met their mother during a political trip to India when he was eight. Percy likes to recount the story of his parents' love on a monthly basis. The two became pen pals and got engaged once they both turned eighteen. I've heard every single detail at least two dozen times. Maybe he likes rubbing it in his cousins' faces that his parents actually married for love, while some of their parents didn't.

Analiese holds a tray of food, waffles and six, not five glasses, of bellinis while Gwen has a tablet in her hand and looks like she's going to go full on wedding-planner mode today. Laasya has four silky purple-plum robes draped over her arm.

"Where's Naserian?" I ask referring to Tobias's younger sister.

"When we went to her room, she told us to come back in 20 minutes." Laasya lays the robes carefully at the foot of my bed.

Analiese sets the tray on my dresser. "So today's the day. How do you feel?"

I haven't had the chance to become close with Naserian, Analiese, and Laasya or even Arrietty, which is why Gwen advised me against asking them to be bridesmaids, but I think she felt bad that I didn't have that many female friends in the Society and asked them to spend the day with me as I get ready. Jonas has the rest of the Order as his groomsmen. Ten groomsmen to my one bridesmaid. Maybe I shouldn't have let Gwen talk me out of including them in the bridal party.

I smile. "Just ready to say I do."

We all change into the robes and gather on my bed to eat. I won't be using this bed after today. Once Jonas and I return from our honeymoon, I'll officially be moving into his room, which is larger. Plus, he has the comfier mattress, and I swear his curtains do a better job of blocking out the sun. Not that sleeping in is a popular pastime in the Society.