Page 116 of The Order: Rise of the New Empire

"What the hell is going on?" I whisper. "Where am I?"

"Have you hit your head, dear? You're in New Haven."

Swallowing dryly, I look around.

Prosperous in all the ways it should be, the great divide between the population is nowhere to be seen.

"The Unfortunates-"

"Unfortunates?" she laughs. "I haven't heard that term in years-"

"The people strung up, they aren't Unfortunates?" I question with confusion.

Shaking her head, she looks at me as if I am deranged.

"Filthy Marked," she hisses. "The real scum of our society."

Shaking my head, I run my hands over my stomach, feeling nothing.

"Where is she?" I whisper.

"Where is she-"

"Up there," Rowan's voice utters. "I'd say she went down with the first wave of Marked, assuming Elyon let her live."

No longer surrounded by patrons, it is just me and Rowan in the middle of New Haven's town square.

Pointing to the swinging bodies, vomit threatens to breach my throat.

"Welcome to your child's future if Elyon is not dealt with," she hisses. "A future in which the man in the silver mask has taken it all. He may have made you think one way, Forest, but I've seen it. I've seen it even when I have tried not to. There is no future so long as the silver mask remains."

Touching my temple, I glare at her.

"How are you showing me this? How the hell do I know this isn't just some mind trick-"

"Trust me, Forest, if I wanted to play mind games I wouldn't be wasting them on you," she whispers. "Believe it or not, I have faith in the cause you created, and now, I am doing all that I can to ensure our kind lives. That includes your daughter."

"Where is she-"

As if she was never gone, my bump returns, giving me some sense of relief.

"I don't know why I see it," Rowan's voice is solemn. "I don't know why I am burdened with it. Some pictures are clearer than others. It drove Elyon mad, not knowing how I was able to see afuture he could not," she takes a look around, tucking her hands in her pockets.

"I am haunted by what I have seen. For years I have seen this reality, analyzing it well before you all found me in the compound. If there was another way, I would have figured it out by now."

Feeling her hands move away from my temples, we are both thrown back into the present, silent in the midst of chaos ensuing below us.

Pointing to my stomach, she lets out a shaky breath.

"Let's save her," she whispers. "Then, you save us all."

Extending her hand out toward me, she waits for my response.

"Save them all?" I whisper.

"There is no other way."

Rubbing my hand over my stomach, I stare at my engagement ring.

---