Page 38 of Iris
I slow to a hard walk as I enter the Upper Side.
Crap, I’m so late to see the Monarch, and now dressed like I’m going to a concert and not meeting with the most powerful Alpha on the island. Hell, most of the world. Heath’s gonna hear about this, which means, I’m going to be getting an earful soon.
Well, if I didn’t want to be chosen as Luxe, I think I nailed it.
I hurry up to the Council building and show my ID. I haven’t checked my phone for the time, but I was late before so I’m in hell’s inner circle’s late now. Fuck.
The security man checks off my name has a face that is all dark clouds before rain. I hurry up to the floor where the Monarch is, and when I reach the long, gaudy hallway, styled in only white-and-black to go with the Season’s theme, I’m surprised to find it completely empty.
No other Omegas around. No mothers.
No one.
“You just missed the last slot,” hisses a voice.
It’s Fredrick, the Monarch’s sidekick and mate, who has the skill of turning politeness into a poison-dipped weapon.
He stands in front of the partly open doors leading into the Monarch’s lair.
I pull out my phone, and he makes another sound, his tongue clicking against the roof of his mouth. Violet would be a puddle of nerves. Mari would have Fredrick in a puddle, melted by her smile.
Me?
I just look at the time.
Fucked doesn’t begin to describe it.
I’ve missed my appointment, something I knew, but I’ve missed the last one, too. By almost an hour.
I crane my neck over him because, through the almost shut doors, I catch a glimpse of a big shadow.
And… Is that a man’s voice?
“Go home,” Fredrick whispers harshly. “The Monarch is not meeting with anyone else for the day. You’ve missed your chance.”
I ignore him as best I can and concentrate on trying to hear. Maybe there’s something I can use to fix this. I don’t need to be Luxe. I just don’t want to harm my family. I’ll never forgive myself if I fuck up life for my younger sisters. Mari’s Season is next and?—
“…numbers ebb and flow, Sophine. But these numbers are a problem. And I for one want more severe measures.”
“By getting rid of the Season? That’d be pandemonium,” she snaps. “Just like your other plans. I’ll think of something to get the numbers up.”
The voices lower, and when I glance at Fredrick, I find him leaning toward the crack in the doors, too.
I point at him. “You’re eavesdropping.”
He turns red and straightens. “I am not.”
“Right…”
From inside the room, a door slams and nearly Fredrick leaps out of his skin.
“Jumpy much?”
He glares at me. “If you don’t go, I’ll call security and have you removed.”
I hesitate, going through my options. Violet had said the Monarch respected Omegas who were themselves, not simpering ass-kissers.
Being myself is something I can definitely do, so I side-step Fredrick and push through the doors. Fredrick yells behind me, but I rush inside, only to come to a stumbling stop in the middle of the grand room.
