Exposed [Book 4 in the Expiring Series]

8 The Wedding

Jonas~~

As I walk down the aisle, my mother on my arm, my eyes are fixed on the altar at the end. The same brass bowl that was used during our initiations into the Order is underneath the archway. My mother squeezes my arm.

"I don't know how to tell you how happy I am," she says, her voice a whisper. "I never thought . . . that we'd be here."

I smile at her and notice the tears in her eyes. Reaching the front of the aisle, I lean down, kissing her cheek before she takes her seat beside my father.

I step in front of the minister and watch as my groomsmen, save Colton and Seong-ho, walk down the aisle, followed by Gwen, holding a bouquet of baby's breath and dark purple flowers. Seong-ho carries Cassia on one hip and Ana on the other, flower petals are clutched title in the twinss hands.

I swallow the lump in my throat knowing what seeing the flower girls means.

That the bride comes next.

From all the way at the end of the aisle, Iris smiles at me, her arm linked through my brother's.

How did I actually think I'd manage to get through this without crying? I struggle to hold the tears back, but eventually I have to wipe at them, which only brings a bigger smile to Iris's face, and I realize that I am about to marry someone who very well might be sadistic and that at this moment I'm okay with that as long as I get to call her my wife.

Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpse Alastair shaking his head from his spot near the front. He makes a grab for one of the Amorians he traveled here with as the Amoris steps out into the aisle in front of Iris and faces me.

He takes three steps forward, until he reaches the first pavers of the terrace. Alastair grabs him by the shoulder, yanking him back.

"Stop this," the heir hisses at the Amoris.

He tries shaking Alastair off. "I'm under orders, and you've let this go on long enough."

"He has their permission."

"That was before his arrest warrant was issued."

My knees weaken, but I manage to keep standing. "What is this about?"

He frees himself of Alastair. "You're accused of being Expired."

For a moment I can't hear anything but the beats of my heart, and the world around me seems to come to a standstill. The next moment, when my hearing comes rushing back, it sounds like a tidal wave, and the Amoris has moved toward me. Gwen stands between us, a knife at his throat.

"Step away from my brother." A drop of blood hits the silver of her blade, and I dimly wonder where she had been hiding the knife.

At some point, Iris dropped Colton's arm, and now they both rush toward me, past the murmuring of my family members—the Society—bearing witness to what is about to be remembered as my fall.

Alastair grabs hold of the Amoris again. "That is a baseless accusation made of a prisoner, Alessi."

"Your father ordered you to arrest him." His throat scrapes against the knife as he talks. "But you did nothing."

"I told you I would handle it, and in a manner better fitting the situation than this spectacle of yours." He turns to me. "I am sorry, Preeminence."

"What were your orders exactly?" I ask him as Iris reaches me, taking hold of my arm and angling herself between me and Alessi.

"To look at your Mark and look into your eyes if needed." Iris's Mark was printed wrong. They know that. A Mark no longer is the absolute truth it once was. Amoria, though, doesn't know the state of my Mark. "By order of the head Preeminence," Alastair says, because his father is the only one who can command a Preeminence to reveal his most guarded secret.

Out of his suit jacket's inner pocket, Alessi withdraws a piece of paper and shows it to me, his neck still taut from the blade where it presses against the blade. It's the head Preeminence's orders, signed by the entire head Order.

I look to Iris, a silent request to let go of my arm. She tilts her head, pressing her lips into a thin line—a warning. I give a small nod, and she releases my arm, but she doesn't step back.

I reach for the hem of my sleeve.

"Khaleedi, you don't have to do this," Gwen says.

"The head Preeminence commands." I push up my sleeve, revealing the mutilated skin with the black lines and curves interspersed throughout it, the remnants of my Mark. "When I was captured by my cousin, I was left with no choice but to destroy my Expiration Date to protect the Preeminences' greatest tradition. Am I to break that tradition now?"

In the front row, my father has his arms wrapped around my mother, keeping her from interfering.

A muscle in Alastair's jaw ticks, and he looks away. "I am sorry, Preeminence. I must look into your eyes. Alessi has also been given authorization to do so. It's written out on this paper. Signed by the Head order." There's a second message hovering right there in his words. Alastair's father doesn't trust him to do this right.

"This is my wedding, Alastair." I'm grasping at straws. Anything to stop this fate I'm barreling toward. "Is your father prepared to pay for this grievance?"

"He is. If you are not Expired, your heir will become Preeminence." A fist tightens around my heart. His father truly believes I'm Expired if he is offering that. He's believing the words of a prisoner. Have I really lost Amoria's trust this soon into my reign? A reign that's about to be cut short. I shouldn't be shocked. I allowed Iris to live. I was going to break tradition by marrying her over an Amoris. My former Tresais betrayed the Society, and I asked Amoria to allow Gwen to be my Tresais, making her the first female member of an Order—another tradition broken.

I hold up my left hand. "Gwen, put down the knife."

"Khaleedi . . ."

"It will all be fine." A lie. Such a lie. I know I should feel anger, panic, or at least fear, but I'm numb. Numb because I'm watching my future unravel before my eyes, and I know there is no way out. Not this time.

I knew our own prisoner must have told the truth to one of his fellow Amoris. I just wished I had more time. Only a day more.

"Can we finish this first?" Glancing toward Iris, I lower my voice so only those around me can hear and not the audience.

Alastair looks remorseful. "I'm sorry, Preeminence."

I sigh. "Then meet my eyes."

I lock my jaw as Alastair's light purple eyes meet mine. They widen but then they move to Gwen. His throat bobs. When his eyes return to mine, I know he's about to lie, but Alessi won't except it and insist on looking into my eyes himself. On the Preeminence's orders, he'll say. And when he exposes my secret—because he will—not only will he shame me, but he'll drag Alastair down in the process. If Alastair does tell the truth and reveals I'm Expired, that will ruin him in Gwen's eyes, and I know she cares for him. I can't see that destroyed for her. I won't let it happen.

I know I'm not walking away from this without being exposed. Colton, Iris, Bently, Sebastian, Tobias, and my parents know that as well. But at least I can save Alastair's reputation and, in the process, save him in the eyes of my sister. At least I can go down with my head held high.

"Iris and Gwen do not know my Expiration Date. Gwen is only defending me as any Tresais would do for their Preeminence. I have kept it a secret as is required of the Preeminence."

Iris clasps my hand, shaking her head. I lean down, kissing her on the cheek. I feel her shaking underneath me. "I'm sorry we didn't have more time."

I pull away and stand before my family, before the Society. I look out at them, for the first time really looking at them, with no worry that I'll make eye contact with an Amoris.

These are my people, and this ruse has gone on longer than I ever expected. And for that I am blessed.

I take a deep breath.

"I'm Expired."