Expiration Date (Books 1 and 2)

14 Headaches

Jonas~~

I managed to sleep, albeit fitfully, for a total of two hours, but knowing it was after three in the afternoon, worrying Erik won't show up, and thinking about how that woman is Expired made me too anxious to sleep any longer.

After not having been able to get a hold of my brother and asking a maid if she had seen him, I found him by the pool. He's currently propped up on a chair, Vienna, his girlfriend, on his right, and Gwen, his twin, on his left. August, my Delta, is in the pool, shielding his sister from the splashes of our young cousins. August is my father's cousin's son, and while that cousin is technically my cousin as well, I call him uncle like I do with all the former Order members, besides for my father of course. My Order's parents are more like aunts and uncles to me than cousins.

Various family members are divided between the pool and the patio. They're all able to somehow relax while Erik is out there driving around with a woman who's Expired. Though if they knew about her, they would organize some type of search and kill team, in other words, a mob. No, a team. A mob is chaos. A team is chaos systematized.

I take a seat at an empty table, for a moment taking in my family, especially the ones who aren't a part of the Order. I wouldn't say they look care free while they play and talk and relax, but they seem content. They don't have a country on their shoulders. They don't have world leaders watching their every public move.

Tobias, my Douze, pulls off his shirt and tosses it onto a chair, leaving him in his swim trunks. Seeing him reminds me how painfully wrong I'm dressed for being out by the pool with everyone. Dress pants and a button up shirt aren't ideal for sunny days and wet patios.

He dives into the pool. He seems to be handling his position well. As the twelfth member of my Order he was initiated second after me and because of that we've had our positions for about the same amount of time. Except he's twenty-two and I'm twenty-one giving him more time to prepare than me. It's not the Douze's twenty-first birthday that signals the new Order. It's mine.

I call my brother over. He gives Vienna a kiss on the forehead and takes the seat across from me.

"You look well rested."

I pin him with a glare.

He leans back. "I'm simply trying to have fun with my khaleedi. Can you hate me for that?"

"No." I let my forehead fall in my hand. "But please don't start going around saying I hate you. You'll sound too much like Erik."

"I thought you'd want me to remind you of him. Make it seem like he's actually here."

Even though I know the amount of Veil I left behind with Erik will be enough to bring him in, I can't help but worry. He's good at slipping through cracks . . . He once managed to get out of Gwen's seventh birthday by feigning a stomach bug. He got to do whatever he wanted in his room while the rest of us of the future Order and our siblings were forced to attend her tea party.

"Why did you call me over here?" He spares a glance at Vienna.

"At Brydan's . . . there was a woman with Erik," I say, and he raises an eyebrow. "The one he helped. When you saw him, did you see her or any indications of her?"

"I did not. But the reports I received from the Veil I left behind did. They mentioned there was a woman, and that when she was confronted, Erik got her out."

"Why didn't you mention this to me?"

He traces his finger over the intersecting iron lines of the table. "You have enough on your plate. I didn't want to add more by having you worry that Erik hooked up with someone. Not when the purpose of the act would have been to get at you—us, I mean."

"Erik snubbing tradition isn't exactly surprising. Regardless it was your job to mention her to me."

"I'm not your Beta yet," he says, his tone layered in arrogance and humor. "I mean no disrespect when I say that for now I will do what I deem best. Once your Beta, everything I am is yours. Your will, my command, brother."

I let my shoulders sag, my focus seeming to be on the pool but rather my hearing is trained on every movement of his. I have to play this right if I'm going to find out if he knows Iris is Expired without raising his suspicions. Even if he gets her name and looks her up, he won't be able to see she's Expired. The first thing I did when I arrived home was to change her Expiration Date in our database of all our citizens. Only initiated members of the Order have access to it, unless an individual has my permission. Now I can only hope that Erik isn't foolish enough to bring her here. Maybe that's what is really bothering me. Not that he won't show up, but that he'll show up with her, and she'll be killed.

"Is something else wrong?" he asks.

Just the question I wanted to hear. "I think I'm coming down with something," I lie to urge the conversation where I want it.

"That's unfortunate." He sounds amused.

I roll my eyes. "Your sympathy is appreciated."

"Symptoms?"

"I had a terrible headache earlier." I have to massage my forehead simply thinking about it.

"Headaches don't necessarily mean you're sick. My head was bothering me yesterday, so I had some caffeine. You're overexerting yourself." Yesterday he was with Erik as well and unknowingly around her.

"You're saying I need to take a break?"

"Of course not. You have a job to do."

"When did your headache happen?"

"When I drove all through the night for you."

"For our family," I correct.

"Whatever you say, khaleedi. I promise you didn't catch your headache from me." He looks around. "Are we done here?" I nod, and he stands. "The Veil will make sure Erik arrives tonight. Maybe you should catch up on sleep. You need to be on top of it when Erik gets here."

"I know."

He returns to his seat between Vienna and our sister, Gwen. Vienna turns away from the sun to give him a lazy smile. He takes her hand in his and presses a kiss to it. Happy. He's happy. He doesn't know anything about there being a living Expired. If he did, he'd be hunting her down, not lounging by the pool.

Keep her away, Erik. For all our sakes.

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