Expiration Date (Books 1 and 2)

65 He Totally Hesitated

Colton~~

Seong-ho cracks his neck, I swear, for the fiftieth time, as we walk out of the hotel into sunlight. At this point it's unnecessary.

"Would you stop scowling at me?" he snaps. "It's your fault I was tied to a chair for over half a day."

"I was right there beside you the whole time."

"It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't hesitated." He storms past me for the car. We've been going back and forth on this since Iris and Erik left. We both tried to get free, even resorting to Seong-ho causing his chair to tip over. I have to hand it to Iris—she knew what she was doing when she tied those knots.

Having to remain there until a maid found us wasn't ideal, considering how despite our best efforts during those fifteen hours to refrain from relieving ourselves we failed. I'll leave it at that.

Exhausted, I get in the driver's seat. "I didn't hesitate."

Seong-ho's phone is turned on and in his hands, a charger connected to it. "All you had to do was drag the knife across her throat. Quick. Easy." He says that now, but I know he's relieved I didn't kill her. "I then would have had you to help me overpower Erik." He lets his phone fall to his lap and looks out the window. "They're thirteen hours away, heading west. I don't know how we're supposed to catch them. We'll only be able to track them for two more days."

I try not to let his words worry me as I pull up Brydan's contact info.

"What are you doing?"

"Calling Brydan."

"Why?"

"You can't start blackmailing someone until they know you have stuff on them. You know all about that, right?"

He glares and curls himself into the seat, resting his head against the door.

Brydan answers on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Are you on speaker?"

"No. What do you want?"

"I was just wondering how it feels to betray your best friend and the entire Society."

Silence. I can't even hear him breathing.

"Brydan?"

"What is it you want me to do? I know how this works."

"Erik's heading west. Do you think you can keep Jonas away from that side of the country?"

The phone beeps. He hung up.

"How did that go?" Seong-ho mutters.

"I'm not sure."

A text pops up on my phone.

Brydan: Jonas just walked in. We're at the old Estate so I'm going to need to know which state specifically.

"What state are they in?" I ask my cousin.

"Utah."

Colton: Stay away from anywhere around Utah. Nevada, Idaho, and Arizona should be avoided.

Brydan: Don't make me do this, Colton. Your brother is my best friend.

Colton: Obviously you don't want him to find Erik and Iris, so in a way, I'm helping you out.