Expiration Date (Books 1 and 2)

65 She Saved Me

Jonas~~

I sit on the bumper of a van as a medic checks my vitals. On the other side of the van, the sun sets. My Mark has a new bandage wrapped around it. This time it's not to hide it, but to help it heal.

It wasn't long after the rebels threw up their arms in the cell bunker that the call came in that the Society had taken the base.

Some of the Veil work on keeping too-curious members of the public away while others load rebels into vans.

About ten yards away, Iris speaks with her aunt, uncle, and cousin—the one who helped me. Lila, I think was her name.

"Do you have a phone on you?" I ask the medic.

"Of course, Preeminence." She bows and pulls one from her pocket, offering it to me.

"Thank you." I accept the phone, and as the medic leaves to give me privacy, I dial Riley's number.

"Hello?" Riley's voice is hesitant, a bit apprehensive.

"Riley, it's Jonas."

He lets out a breath. "I didn't expect to hear from you this soon."

I wasn't sure I'd ever get to hear his voice again. "I need you to help me with something."

"Anything."

"There are children here."

"All right?"

"Their parents are going to be locked up, but they're only children."

"You want me to arrange for them to go to orphanages then?"

"I want to make them a home. I don't want them locked in cages, but I want them somehow connected to where their parents will be held. To allow for visitation."

"Jonas, with all respect due to your position as Preeminence, those people took you from us and locked you up. They don't deserve anything."

"But the children do. And they did this because they think that the Society is only one thing. Why don't we show them they're wrong?"

Riley is silent.

"Do you think you can handle this?"

"Yes, Preeminence."

I end the call, and when the medic returns, I hand her the phone. "Thank you."

She bows and starts checking my vitals again.

Exhaustion suddenly comes over me like a wave bearing down on me. I'm sure it's a mixture of the past few days and now the pain medication working together. I force myself to stay awake though—to stay aware—and again look over to Iris speaking with her family. Though she faces away from me, I can tell her breaths are heavy from the way her shoulders rise and fall. Her hands are clenched, and her uncle shouts something that's muffled from this distance.

She turns away from them, her gaze falling on me. Some of the visible tension in her dissipates.

She saved me.

And somehow I have to find a way to let her go.