Page 57 of The Order: Rise of the New Empire

"Forest, I'm not letting you hide-"

"I'm not hiding!" I snap, tears rolling down my cheeks, pain festering in my soul.

Letting several seconds of silence span between us, the man reaches for my face through the dark, wiping my tears free from my face, his lips kissing my salty cheeks, his forehead pressed to mine.

"Then why did you run?" he questions, clarity something he deserves more than anyone. "Why are you running away from me? Why are you working with Elyon?" he pushes, cupping the back of my neck, his body leaning closer.

"Xavier-"

"I won't stop until you're home, Forest," he pushes, my mind bouncing back and forth, struggling to do what is best in this situation. "There is no resting until you are home-"

"Xavier," I sob, cupping the man's face, all of my coldness fading away.

"Listen," I say with regret.

"What-"

"Just listen," I push, laying back down, my hands shakily putting the man's hands over my firm torso, both of them large enough to cup the entirety of my larger stomach.

As if the nausea never even existed, a bright warmth burns within me, the unease in my stomach fading away, a pure ecstasy flooding through me. As if my energy had never left, something within me lights to life, his hands rubbing slowly over my stomach, the darkness the only thing stopping me from breaking down.

Seeing his face now would be detrimental.

"Another Marked is in the room," he whispers, both of us picking up on the sudden energy. "What the hell-"

Faint and strong, the noise fills our ears.

Thump, thump, thump.

A heartbeat.

The same heartbeat I have been hearing for weeks.

One so very different from my own.

Drowning out his questions with the sound, his hands freeze in place, his head shakily lowering, his ear pressing to my stomach, my lip stuck between my teeth.

All I have felt is unease.

Now, with him here, everything feels complete.

"I-Is that-"

"Her heart," I sob, finally acknowledging what it is. "It's your daughter's heart," I gasp, hearing the words out loud for the first time. "I'm pregnant, Xavier."

Petrified and stuck in place, his head remains plastered on my stomach, his hands slowly dipping under my back, wrapping around my body.

"Xavier-"

Tears coat my stomach, silent sobs breaching the man's lips, my body paralyzed from emotion.

"You're pregnant?" he questions, anger the last thing to ride his tone. "You're carrying our child?" he pushes, my only response a nod he cannot see.

Stuck on the moment with him, I want nothing more than to allow him to take me home, keeping this child safe, never allowing her to see the pain of this world.

But this is no dream.

Reality is not safe.

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