Expired With Me

Chapter Thirty-Four

Colton

Five hours. Five hours of my cousin's incoherent ramblings to the princess. After I threatened to throw his phone out the window, he switched to French, but that doesn't hide his arrogance in his voice. All I need to do is finish this drive, get my title back, and find Vienna. Preferably not in that order. I pull down the partition and turn up the radio, taking a double-take when it's Sparrows and Crows, and look into the rearview mirror to see Iris staring at me from next to Jonas. I'm about to switch the channel when all hell breaks loose. I can't tell if people are singing or if my brother just shot a family of geese who are now sobbing over their deceased loved ones. I think I'd rather the latter.

"You know of Sparrows and Crows?" Iris asks the bereaved geese.

"Sparrows and Crows?" Thea asks. "This is Siren of the Heart." I turn my head to look at her, raising an eyebrow. Iris rolls her eyes at me. She's just jealous.

"Colton took me to one of their latest concerts."

"It was a wedding gift."

"For only half of the happy couple?"

"Jonas didn't want to come."

"You took my ticket," he says. I turn to him.

"Would you have gone if I didn't?" Jonas shifts in his seat.

"No," he admits. I grin.

"Iris," Noah says. "Do you know what this means?" I'm sure Iris attempts to raise an eyebrow. "We're besties now."

"You are not her bestie," I say sternly. I am. What? It's either myself or Mr. Romantic over here. Should I tell him I'm pretty sure Abella and Vienna had a thing during her exile? Absolutely not. He can figure that out himself.

***

I pull into a hotel around midnight. Jonas yells at me to go until two, but if I hear another comment out of Bently I will throw him out of this car myself. Because of Iris, the civilians, and my knowledge of his Date, he agrees, and we walk into the hotel lobby. Jonas does the math in his head, then walks up to the front desk, I following him behind. To the public, I am still Beta. I must act the part.

"Hello, what may I..." the employee's eyes are wide.

"Three double rooms, one single." The employee nods, typing the information into the computer.

"Yes, Preeminence. On the house." He gives us the stack of keys. Jonas turns to our group. "Girls in one room, boys in the other. Colton, you're with Bently. I will drive tomorrow. Bently, you're up next."

"Yes, Jonas." We crowd into the elevator, and I turn to Iris.

"May I speak to you in private?" I ask, my volume low.

"Anything you need to say to my wife, you may say to myself, khaleedi." Jonas doesn't even turn to look at me. Iris threads her hand through his.

"Of course, but make it quick." I nod.

"I'll come by your room in five."