Page 42 of The Order: Rise of the New Empire

"You think I'd allow you to scream out to them?" she questions, clicking her tongue like a disapproving mother. "I thought you knew me better than that, Fal," she mocks, her tone rigid, so very distant from that girl at the academy.

Pointing the dagger in my direction, she pulls back her hood, letting the sunlight cast rays across her enticing face.

"If I allow you to speak and you try anything stupid, this point will lodge itself in your throat. You should know I keep true to my word," she smiles, pointing to my absent right hand.

Feeling the strain in my throat begin to die down, I cough, letting myself take a step closer.

"What are you doing here, Forest?" I question, shifting my eyes back and forth between her and the cabin. "Xavier and the others are only a few feet away-"

"It's a good thing you're the one I wanted to speak to," she smiles, sliding off the hood of the car, her grin wide and welcoming.

"We never really did get to have a conversation about your betrayal, did we?" she questions, leaning into the vehicle withan unamused expression. "Fucking my sister and using me as a replacement. Didn't think you had it in you, Markswood," she smiles. "I suppose I deserve it for what I did to my bitch of a sister-"

"Dove wasn't-"

Winnowing before me, she grabs my collar, yanking me toward her, all of my limbs rendered useless in light of her Hold.

"Shall I replay the torture she oversaw to Xavier and let you continue justifying her actions to me?" she whispers. "I promise you, the outcome of ignorance like that will not be in your benefit."

Shoving me away, I stagger backward, her eyes lowered with hate.

"I didn't come here to speak about my dearly departed sister, though you clearly have a type, don't you?" she mocks, my face flooding with heat.

"I did love you-"

"Ah, ah, ah," she smiles, waving her finger in the air. "You loved the idea of me. You loved the version of me that knew nothing but you, which, I hate to break it to you, Fallan, wasn't me," she spits, her engagement ring flashing on her finger.

"You really did come back last night," I whisper, her eyes briefly widening at the statement.

"So, Xavier has already told everyone then?" she questions.

"If you mean does Kaiden know, then yes, he does. It would seem your visit has only motivated them to come looking for you-"

"And you, Fallan?" she questions, crossing her arms. "What's your play here? I doubt they forced you to stay in my home. Why the hell are you here?" she pushes, inklings of guilt swirling in my consciousness.

"Regret?" she questions, laughing as if the emotion is comedic. "Perhaps you should have felt some regret with you fucked me and brainwashed me into thinking I loved you," she warns.

"You did love me-"

"No," she smiles. "I really didn't. Xavier was always in the back of my mind, and you hated him and I for that. Do not stand here and act as if you are a man filled with remorse. You got caught. You cannot honestly tell me that the act you were portraying would have lasted a lifetime," she smiles, regret swarming me.

"You think what you're doing now is love?" I push, glancing toward the cabin. "Do you have any idea how much your brother has spiraled? Or Xavier?" I hiss, more emotion breaching through her cold expression.

"I have only ever acted for the people I love," she pushes, sheathing her knife, her cloak devouring her body in black satin. "That's a concept you will never fully understand."

"Then why didn't I kill you?" I push, watching her smile drop at the statement.

"What?"

"If I didn't love you, Forest, if I hated you as much as you think I do, then why the hell did I not kill you?" I push, a smile creeping along her lips once more.

"That answer is simple," she whispers, taking a step closer. "You were a damn idiot."

Reaching her hand up toward me, her fingers graze my cheek, her eyes observing me the closest they have before.

"You will always say whatever you need to stay alive," she says with awe, funneling her Call into my mind. "Redemption is one hell of a thing, sadly, you've exhausted that opportunity with me," she continues on, touching my chin to get me to look down at her. "Though I won't kill you, Fallan," she sighs. "Because perhaps you're right, I did have some love for you," she laughs, glancing at my tattered hand. "Clearly not enough."

"You seemed to have healed nicely," she smiles, looking over her handiwork.

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