Expiration Date (Books 1 and 2)

12 She's Alive, Isn't She?

Colton~~

Vienna sits on the ledge of the fountain, the one she fell into the night we met, and where I told her to meet me this morning. Her blonde hair is pulled back with a headband, and she wears no makeup; it's not often she walks around the Estate without it. The hedge maze towers above us on all sides. Birds chirp in the crisp morning air that's tinted with a faint smell of florals and fertilizer.

I wanted to see her before meeting with the Order. She doesn't stand as I approach, her jaw locked and lips pressed into a thin line. She's furious.

"Vienna."

"Did you try to kill her?"

"She's alive, isn't she?"

"That doesn't answer my question."

When I told her I was going after Iris and Erik, she told me she'd never forgive me if I killed Iris even when I explained that it was my duty. Am I to lose her now for only trying?

"I did, but I hesitated."

Her hands wrap around the rim of the stone. "How could you?"

"It was my duty." Doesn't she understand that?

"And it'd be your duty to kill me if I somehow lived past my Expiration Date. Does that mean you'd act on your duty?"

"No." The word comes out quickly, and my heart tightens at the very idea.

"Then why act now?"

"Because she isn't you. I don't love her."

"She's a human being, Colton. What threat does she pose while here? All you had to do was bring her back. There was no need to even harm her."

"Do you think Erik would have let me bring her back? I had no choice." I was doing what was best for the Society. What I was raised to do.

"You always have a choice." Standing, she brushes off the back of her skirt. "Your mother says she isn't Expired. I'm not sure I believe that. Whatever the truth may be, you know it." She passes by me, headed for the path I took to get to this spot. "I suspect I'll see you at dinner."

I reach for her, but she pulls away.

"I love you, Colton, but right now I feel as if I don't know you."

She leaves me standing by the fountain. The birds have stopped chirping and all I'm left with are the sounds of the water bubbling.