Exported [Book 3 in the Expiring Series]

53 Chancing Fate

Iris~~

Bently has been singing those songs where you countdown starting at ninety-nine and work your way to zero. He's only at fifty-six on this current rendition. If I wasn't sure of this before, I am now: being attractive does not mean you're going to sound like a siren when you sing.

At least he's whispering now as he drags his finger along the bars.

Ines stares at the wall in her cell. Every so often she's started humming.

The cell door opens with a bang, and Odette strolls in, flanked by Anastasie and Isabeau. I think it's been about a day since I stabbed Odette during her dinner. None of them look at us.

A few seconds later, Mid'haa is shoved through the door, her hands tied behind her back. Two guards grip her arms while another follows them inside. She struggles against them, but they easily manage to deposit her in the cell next to Ines's.

Capturing the head of France's central intelligence is a win for the Amoris.

One of the guards unlocks Ines's cell while she scrambles to the back of it. The guard drags her out of the cell as she screams, and he positions her in front of Odette.

My stomach churns, and it takes all my willpower to keep the oatmeal/soup mixture they fed us down. I know what's coming.

Bently slips his hand through the bars that separate us. I thread my fingers through his. Squeezing his hand is a way for me to channel my anxiety and dread.

Ines pleads with them, her hands clasped in front of her, as Odette takes a knife from one of her guards.

Mid'haa yells something in French.

Odette shushes Ines and grips her by the neck.

"Preeminence, please." I bury my fist into the folds of the dress she made me wear to her dinner.

She ignores me, whispering something in French to Ines and plunges the knife into Ines's human heart.

With a cry, Ines legs give out, and Odette rips the knife from her chest. Ines hits the stone ground, blood pooling around her. Tears flood my eyes, and Bently's glisten with tears of his own. It's a sight I never thought I'd see.

How many times? I mouth. How many times did he watch Odette commit murder?

"I stopped counting," he murmurs.

The guard who gave Odette the knife lifts Ines's body in his arms and leaves, blood dripping to the floor from her chest as he walks away.

"You're a monster," I seethe at Odette in Amorian. "Not a leader."

She twists the blood-covered knife side to side. "Oh, Raggioet, you've seen nothing." Her dress whips around her as she turns to face Mid'haa, who trembles with what must be rage, her jaw locked tight. Odette speaks to her in French.

It's only a few minutes later when a guard opens the door, and Odette leaves without another word, Isabeau and Anastasie at her heels. The guards trail closely behind the Order.

Mid'haa grips the bars, her tawny-beige skin on her fingers turning white with the strain with which she grips the bars. "Digamma. Mademoiselle Levine. Explain. Please."

Between us, Ines's blood stains the stones.

Bently looks me in the eyes, and a silent conversation passes between us. He nods and faces Mid'haa. As he speaks to her in French, I catch words like Amoria and Amoris. There's no use in hiding the truth from her. Not when she's already here in this Amorian dungeon. I am surprised though by Bently's willingness to speak to her when he would hardly mutter more than five words to Ines. Maybe it's because of who Mid'haa is. Maybe he also believes that because of who she is Odette doesn't plan to kill her.