Page 100 of The Order

“Because I was like her, Kai, and Fallan was the one who stopped me from meeting the same fate she did. That’s why I got on this tram and why I have been so different lately, because of what happened that night. And if I had to choose between our people or theirs,” I whisper, looking to Mark, “I choose them every time,” I finish, grabbing my brother’s hand, letting it run beneath my hoodie, feeling the abrasive skin of my mark. His hand jerks back but then slides back to the raised flesh that I've hidden for as long as I can remember.

“I’m different, Kai, different gets you killed,” I whisper, letting go of his hand. He keeps his hand on the mark, rubbing his finger along its outline.

“I knew something was off,” he says after several moments of silence.

“How much farther until we reach your sector?” Kai questions louder, finally bringing Mark back into the conversation.

“We're coming up to the gate now,” Mark says.

My brother stands up, bringing me with him as he pulls up our hoods.

“This doesn't change anything?” I question, watching a smile finally meet his lips.

“Rules or not, Forest-”

He moves us closer to the front, cupping my face between his hands like he used to do when we were younger to ease me.

"My loyalty lies with you.” His finger reaches to his chip, pressing down on the small piece of metal, “I didn't sign up to be their test subject, either.”

“None of us did,” Mark starts, letting the tram roll to a slow stop.

“But something tells me your father’s hope in you isn’t misplaced,” Mark utters, making it apparent that we’ve only seen the beginning of this web of secrets.

“What hope? Mark, I’m nobody. I can’t save anyone,” I say, clinging to my brother's hand.

Mark smiles, shaking his head.

“Says the girl, breaking every single one of her people's rules, all for a boy from a group she was raised to hate.”

Kai taps his foot, looking outside at the mangled fence.

“Forest, we have to go,” Kai urges, pulling me down the steps.

The old man's hand comes around my wrist, stopping me from taking another step.

“The Apparatus is close. It will free us from eternal damnation,” he says, his words throwing me back to that night of the Untouchable’s suicide. The exact cryptic words the boy spoke before ending it all.

“Mark, what is that," I grab him. “What is the Apparatus?” I question, thinking of the words written across the scattered papers in my father’s study.

“Our salvation. Beyond that, there is nothing more that I know,” Mark says, letting go of my wrist. I try to return to him, but Kai only pulls me back.

“You must go. I don't know how long Fallan has if Officials are already with him. I will find you soon enough,” Mark says, watching Kai as he hands him back the wallet.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” Kai whispers, letting his hand linger in the old man's grasp.

“It wasn't your choice not to have me in your life. It never was your choice.”

They exchange looks; years of regret expressed between them in this one moment together. I let Kai pull me away from the man, giving Mark one last look before letting my feet hit the muddied ground of the Unfortunate sector.

Chapter thirty-two

Fallan

Thethreemenlingerin my living room, looming over the space with equal looks of distaste. I thrash my arms against the binds of the chair they put me in, making sure to glance at Hunter every few moments, watching him tug at the cuffs holding him to the metal frame of my barred window. They dragged him in here moments ago, wasting no time at delivering multiple blows to his face, getting him in the same vulnerable position they had forced me into. I sit in the middle of my living room, unable to move from my position in the chair they’d tied me to. My body aches from the beating I’d taken so far, my mind drained, unable to reach out to Forest through the connection. Andrew and Adam pace around the area, scanning my things, waiting for me to say something. The blonde, Xavier, observes me. Even from here, I can smell her scent on him. He’s leaning against my wall with a detached look on his face that only makes me want to rip his head off the longer I navigate his head space. Each one of his thoughts is revolved around her. I hear her gentle breaths in his mind, caused by the pressure of his lips exploring her neck. I thrash against the binds, focused solely on him.

“Finally ready to admit what you did?” Adam questions, hitting the back of my head with his hand. I lean forward, keeping my gaze toward the ground.

“Adam, no hands on him unless you have to. I doubt you'd like to clean up yet another mess,” Xavier says, looking to Andrew for support in his command.

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