Expiration Date (Books 1 and 2)

7 A Buffer

Iris~~

One moment.

That's all I take. One moment to process that Colton Blackwood was only feet away from me. While I've heard Colton speak on television a few times, unwillingly allowed his annoyingly perfect voice to draw me into listening to his words, never have I heard him anywhere close to begging.

What happened to make Erik, someone so high up in the Society, who would have had to be so ingrained in their ways, turn his back on that life?

The tarnished handle of his bathroom door rattles. "Iris?" Erik's voice is no more than a whisper. I flip the small lock with my thumb, and Erik pushes the door open. He doesn't look in though. Instead he heads for the cot.

"I knew who you were," I say.

He gets down on his knees and pulls a black crate out from underneath the bed. "I know." He tosses clothes out of the bin and tells me to come over.

"Why didn't you say anything then?" I hover over him.

"Why didn't you?"

"I wasn't sure if you knew I knew." Or what he'd do if he knew I was aware of his identity.

He shakes his head, still digging. "I'm basically a prince, dear. I'm pretty damn recognizable." He holds out a pistol to me. "Have you ever fired one before?"

Taking it, I swallow a lump in my throat. The way the gun rests in my hand feels normal. "My dad took me to the range a few times before he died." It's not a lie if I think of Kirk as my dad, and by taking me to the range I meant we walked downstairs.

Setting two more pistols on the ground next to him, he begins pulling ammo out of the crate. What is he expecting outside those doors? Colton? More of his cousins? "Were you any good?"

I'd bet I'm better than him. "I was decent."

"You'll have ten shots." Standing, he brushes his hands over his pants. "You're Expired. When I walk out those doors, whatever my cousin left for me is going to do its best to bring me back to the Society. Bullets can kill you now, so you need to leave immediately. This is goodbye."

"Why the hell would I go first?" Walking out before him, almost guarantees my capture. And besides, I've been given a second chance to ruin the Society, and if anyone can help me do that, it's Erik Blackwood. "I'm staying with you."

He leans toward me until he's mere centimeters from my face. He scowls. "Why?"

Can I go ahead and tell him what it is I want? Is he against his family or only having a temper tantrum?

Before I can answer, he grabs hold of me and forces me toward the metal door.

"You saved me." Sending me out that door will negate everything.

"So?" He lets go of me with one hand. The metal scratches against the floor.

"I just feel like we have a bond or something after that. I can't not—"

He shoves, and I stumble through the threshold. I catch myself, the gun still in my hands, the safety thankfully on.

"That was a double negative, my dear."

I whirl around. "You're scared. You're using me as a shield."

The door slams, and I hear the lock click. I raise my hand to pound on it but remember there are people from the Society lurking about. If I survive the next five minutes, then I can think about what's next.

Erik shoved me into a hallway made of bricks. Concrete steps lead up toward light.

I tuck the gun into the back of the waistband of my shorts and tug my shirt down to cover the handle. I stop before I reach the steps, the light overpowering. Until I climb up these steps, I won't know what waits on the other side. I was never supposed to see sunlight again. The last time I stared into blinding, white light was when I was staring at death.

Now I'm a buffer shielding Erik from family drama.