Expiration Date (Books 1 and 2)

61 Hey, It's Arthur Again

Colton~~

The sun was setting when we arrived at the bus station in Colorado Springs. After the staff saw who I was and we showed them our badges with the Society's insignia, we were all but served the security footage on a silver platter. While the staff coward in the corner, Seong-ho and I looked up the exact footage we needed to see—that of the bus arriving. As we watched the riders disembark, we both spotted Iris's red hair and then Erik.

I knew exactly where he would be headed.

The sky now dark, I pull my car up in front of a black gate that hides a mansion. I roll down my window and press the call button on the speaker for the gate.

"What business do you have here?" a voice I don't recognize asks.

"Tell Arthur his second favorite person is here." I lean back in my seat and tap my fingers on my gearshift.

"How do you know this person again?" my cousin asks.

"Relax."

"Colton?" Arthur's voice comes through the speaker.

I can't stop the smirk from running across my lips. "Hey."

Seong-ho eyeballs me, and I roll my eyes at him.

"It's almost midnight," Arthur says.

"You aren't scared, are you?"

There's a pause. "No."

"Can you open the gate?"

Silence.

"You know you don't have a choice."

Erik isn't completely thoughtless. He wouldn't stay with Arthur, but he would pay him a visit. Erik did push his car off a cliff after all.

The gate parts in the middle, opening toward the mansion. I drive forward and park before the door, and as we walk toward it, Arthur opens it, a sour expression on his face.

"It's good to see you too," I say, stepping past him, my eyes sweeping over the interior of his home. Some might call his decorating lavish. Others would say he has poor taste. I'm in the latter group. I haven't been here in over a year, and it seems like he's managed to cram more overpriced collectibles and artwork onto his walls and shelves. "Seong-ho, this is Arthur. Arthur, Seong-ho, the Zeta and my cousin."

"Zeta," he murmurs with a tip of his head.

Seong-ho stands next to the door, his eyes sweeping over the room. He scrunches his lips. "How do you two know each other?"

"Erik and I met him at a dinner party. As I was telling you, the two of us buy our cars from him. Isn't that right, Arthur?"

"Quite." Arthur pushes glasses I've never seen him wear back against his nose. "I need a drink."

We follow him into the kitchen where he pulls a beer from the fridge. I lean against the island while Seong-ho takes a seat on one of the four silver and red bar stools.

"Do you want anything?" Arthur asks. We decline, and he pops the cap off his beer with a crystal bottle opener.

"Erik was in town today."

Arthur takes a long steady drink.

"I know he was in need of a new car. Which one did you sell him?"

He sets his bottle on the counter between us. He studies me.

"You know I like to think of us as friends. But if you can't help me, I may have to tell the Preeminence about this illegal smuggling thing of yours. I am the reason you can get cars from overseas."

"Erik plays his part in that as well."

"But I can put a stop to it."

"He is my friend too. I don't want to get mixed up in your drama."

I frown, tracing one of the designs in the granite. "I would really like to find my cousin."

Arthur looks from me to Seong-ho and back, I think realizing he's trapped. His chest heaves a heavy sigh. "I don't know where he was headed, but I keep tracking devices on all of my cars in the case they're stolen. It's active for three days after I sell a car."

If things keep going this well, I'll have Erik back to the Society and Iris dead before long. But it's usually when things are going well, that they start going bad. "I knew there was a reason we're friends."

Arthur explains to us that the tracking device monitor operates through an app on his phone, and after Seong-ho downloads the app, Arthur gives him the code for Erik's car.

A map pops up with a red light pinging over a hotel downtown. This is Erik's first real blunder—thinking he had time to sleep.

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