Page 177 of Iris
But as much as I wished and hoped one of my devices would ping with a message from either Killian or Xavier, they both remain silent. And I can’t bring myself to be the first.
Maybe it’s better off this way.
At breakfast, I sit with the family at the long dining table, but I can barely eat my eggs, bacon, and toast. Heath sits at dad’s place at the head, with Mom on his right and Rue on his left. Dahlia is next to her, and between me and Mom is an empty seat—Violet’s that none of us could ever stop setting, just in case of an impromptu visit. And then Mari is on my other side.
Everyone is chatting about the excitement from yesterday, and according to Rue, Stitch is going crazy, talking about theNightshades, the Alpha troublemakers, and me almost being burned alive.
Dramatic much?
But I’ve just been poking around my plate, my appetite gone and my heart hurting.
With all the chatter, I completely miss the sound of Derrick—Reece’s older brother and another one of our servants—enter the room with an envelope in hand. He hands it to Heath. The Council’s seal is printed on the front.
“What’s that, dear?” Mom asks, and a hush falls over the table.
Heath opens it, and after his eyes flick over the words, he jumps to his feet. “Iris,” he snaps. “You’re needed at the Council building immediately. The Monarch is demanding your presence.”
Panic grips me. “Me? Now?”
Demanding? Not requesting? That can’t be good.
“Right now.”
This time, when I arrive at the Council building, there’s no waiting for me. I’m led straight into the grand room where the Monarch waits.
As I enter, Sophine’s hardened gaze sweeps over my clothes. I didn’t even bother wearing something formal or flashy, just my usual fishnet stockings, sparkly silver blouse, and boots.
But to my surprise, she doesn’t comment.
Reaching over to her side table, she picks up a sheet of lined notebook paper and holds it up for me to see. It’s my letter, the one I wrote to her in haste before running to the Lower Side. “Ifyou think I can be bribed with expensive liquor, Miss Gardener, then you’re wrong.”
“I thought it could maybe soften you to human,” I say. I should probably watch my mouth but?—
“You can take this as your official release from my society. You can no longer count yourself among the Upper Class Omegas and a participant in Season.” Standing, she sweeps over to the window. The outfit she has on is full-on evil empress, complete with a long coat that touches the ground, cutting away at the front to reveal pants and a top in the same material, a bronze that shimmers.
“As long as my sisters and my family are left alone, I don’t care.”
“And,” Sophine goes on as if I haven’t spoken at all, “you’ve admitted here in your letter that you’ve been a member of Nightshade all along.”
Even though my heart thuds I nod. “But you know they didn’t do anything wrong. They helped put out the fires and save the Lower Side. They are peaceful. They just want change?—”
Her gaze snaps to me. “They want to abolish the Council.”
“No, they just want change,” I say. “We want to be able to determine what happens in our own lives. We want to love who we want to love, and we don’t want that kind of stuff chosen for us or predetermined all because of who we are at birth. It’sourlives.”
“It’s not that simple,” Sophine says.
“But why?” I push back. “It sounds pretty simple to me. Let Omegas work or go to college. Let people mate with whoever they want. And not just because‘biology’ says one thing. Hearts can say something else.”
Glancing down, Sophine shakes her head. “Miss Gardener, do you know why we seek to keep things as they are. Alphas with Omegas, Upper Side and Lower?”
“The status quo? Grow the rich?”
She laughs, and the sound is a whip. “How naïve. Of course not. The Seasons are cherished and Omegas are celebrated because their numbers are dwindling. So are Alphas. If the low birth rates continue as they are, the population will be wiped from existence by the end of the century. It is a real crisis we are facing.” She taps her nails on my letter. “As I’ve told you before, the bare faced facts are that Alpha and Omegas always beget Alphas and Omegas, and to save our species, the law must stay.”
Gliding back over to her chair, she sighs and sits. “You’re a problem, Iris. There have been rumors of you being mated to two Alphas without your family’s knowledge or consent. Is that true?”
Shit.
