Page 117 of The Order: Rise of the New Empire

There is no other way.

I've always known this.

And now, it's time to lay in the bed that was made for me.

Grabbing her hand, I narrow my eyes.

"Run."

Chapter thirty-six

Xavier

Wrapping his hands around my neck, Mason makes the foolish mistake of not applying enough pressure.

"Damnit, asshole, I'm not trying to hurt you!" Mason yells.

"Not hurt me?" I scream. "You fucking threatened Forest," ripping his hand off of my throat, I squeeze his wrist as hard as I can. "You are willing to harm not only Forest but my child in order to get what you want," I whisper. Squeezing until I hear bones shatter, a vicious grin tugs up my lips. "And now you try and lay your hands on me as if I won't break the neck of every fucking person who comes near her? You should have stayed in whatever hole your people have decided to hide in. None of you will lay a finger on her-" I force myself forward, sinking my teeth into his shattered wrist. Letting out a yell, he forces me backward with his Hold, unable to stop me from getting a few clean licks of his blood. Wiping his blood from my lips, I grin. "Or my daughter," I finish.

Holding his beaten wrist, his eyes are hot with the gleam of his energy.

"This is only a delay in the inevitable. Forest knows her place, and you know it, too. Nothing we do will stop what has always been the way, Xavier," Mason hisses. Twisting his wrist, I marvel at the way his bones seem to snap back into place, healing with such limited effort. "You can break me over and over again, but it won't change the fact that Forest needs todiein order to save us all-"

"I don't want to save you," I yell as I tug on my blade. Pulling it free from its holster, I gravitate its tip directly toward him. "I will burn you all to the ground if it means keeping my family safe-"

"Well said, Xavier," his hand grips my shoulder. "Why don't you let me deal with the vermin so I can keep our family safe."

Flicking his hand, I watch as Mason collides with a few Revolutionists behind him. Taking a stand beside me, Elyon wears his silver mask.

"At what point were you and her going to tell me about the child?" Elyon hisses.

He knows.

He always knows.

"Can you blame me for not having faith that you'd have her best interest at heart?" I sneer.

"Her?" Elyon smiles. "A little girl."

Unsettled by the eeriness in his tone, I look around at the bloodshed ensuing around us.

"And where is your wife?" Elyon hisses. "Now I know why she has been taking a step back from the violence."

Glancing up at where she was watching us, my stomach drops once I realize she is nowhere to be seen.

"Forest?"I whisper, searching for our connection."Where the hell did you go?"

Met with silence, my priorities quickly shift.

The last place I need to be is here.

Surging forward toward Mason, he cocks his head at me with confusion.

"Where the fuck is she?" I snap. "What did your people do with her?"

Holding his hands up, his eyes lower as he speaks.

"You can't stop what has already started, Xavier," Mason snaps. "Do yourself a favor and stay far away. Your daughter will need you once her mother is gone-"

---