Expired With Me

Chapter Forty-Two

Colton

Someone knocks on the door. Bently looks at me. I look back, roll my eyes. "Are you going to get that?" I ask.

"Why can't you?"

"I'm the prisoner, dear cousin. Wouldn't that be frowned upon?" Bently sighs then stands. The door opens, and Jonas puts the key into his pocket, holding the door open for Iris, then locks it behind him. She sits down next to me on the edge of the bed. Jonas stays standing near the door, arms crossed.

"Tell Colton I love him," he begins. "I always will. And tell him I said goodbye. Quote: Vienna, on the phone to me, Brydan's phone, this morning."

"What do you mean?" I ask, replaying the message in my head.

"Iris, would you like to fill Colton and Bently in on your flawed plan, or shall I?"

"I've got nothing to lose. Vienna is supposed to be at one of Erik's old safehouses in Connecticut. But, this morning she was at Brydan's house, and called Jonas to say goodbye to you."

"What do you mean goodbye?" I ask.

"That's what we would like to know," Jonas says.

"Goodbye, as I never see her again goodbye?"

"I don't know, brother. She is your..." Jonas hangs his head, pausing at the word wife. He still has yet to say it. "Until Vienna is found, we have to assume the worst. I have faith the two of you will use your brains and restrain from running, so I will allow your freedom while in the eyes of the public, but once we are back onto the road..." Jonas takes a deep breath. "Digamma, there is rope in the trunk you can use."

"Yes, Preeminence," Bently says, shocked. Iris' face has gone pale. I squeeze her hand.

"It's going to be okay," I whisper to her, ignoring my brother and cousin.

"How?" She asks.

"Jonas will never hurt you. I won't let him." I hug her.

"I suggest we head down for breakfast," Jonas says, reminding us of his presence. "We should reach the coordinates of their school today. Bently, you will drive. I will stay in the back with Iris and Colton." Without another word, the four of us head downstairs. We eat, listening to the civilians talk about life from back home. It seems quaint, normal. The biggest problem being a calculus test they've missed. One of them asks what's wrong, but I don't answer.

Jonas checks us out of the hotel, and seven of us settle ourselves inside the back of the limo, Bently pausing to open and close the trunk, before handing Jonas a pair of ropes, then heading to the driver's seat. My brother grabs one, untangles it, and hovers his hands over Iris' wrists, not bothering, or having the strength, to look her in the eyes. And I'm the lovesick fool. She looks at him, expectedly, but he shakes his head. I groan and take it from his hand. I shot Vienna, and he can't tie a simple rope around her wrists? I bind her hands, making it tight, but not enough to hurt. Jonas is easily able to do the same to me without hesitation.

The civilians all stare, but don't ask, most likely afraid of being next. Instead, Thea chooses to lean her head on Aiden's shoulder, as Anna and Noah stare out the window.

"Who will you order to kill her?" I ask Jonas when Iris is finally asleep on my shoulder. I can't decide whether I meant it mockingly, or I truly want to know. Jonas looks down at the floor.

"I haven't thought about it."

"Yes, you have." He sighs.

"In my nightmares, it's you. Or Erik. Bently a few times."

"I assure you, Iris will never die at my hands."

"Why not? Finish the job you started long ago." I shake my head, appalled he can even have the thought.

"No," I say, sternly. "I won't do it." Just the thought makes me sick. He nods, not wanted for it to be me either. "Will you watch?" Jonas looks as if he's nauseous. Good, he should be. Jonas doesn't answer, opting to close his eyes instead. "There is another way."

"What is that, Colton?"

"Exportation." He looks at me.

"Because that worked so well with Vienna, and the others. Besides, if you believe I will ever let Alix near her again..."

"No, brother. Not to France." I look at the civilians, all asleep. Jonas' eyes widen.

"You can't be serious."

"Would you rather her dead?"

"I'd rather us on vacation in the tropics. Khaleedi, I'd never be able to see her again."

"Nor would you if she were in a grave. Jonas, fake her death. Have another heir. Raise him to be Preeminence. I will help you find Vienna, and together we can clear all our names."

"Are you thinking you'll be claiming your title back?"

"I'm thinking of living happily with my wife and future children."

"At the expense of mine." He sighs, moving a lock of Iris' hair, most of which is caught between her head and my, now sore, shoulder. "She'd be normal." I nod.

"Most importantly, alive. We all have been through too much for her to die for this. I cannot think of a single person who wants her head, can you?" He shakes his head.

"Do you honestly feel that this is right?"

"She doesn't deserve to die." His chest rises and falls.

"Let us tell her when she wakes."