Page 130 of The Order

“I should have figured you’d be away from everyone else. Fancy pushing another person off my roof?” Josh whispers. My shoulder nudges him away.

“You know I didn’t push him, Josh,” I whisper, turning to face him.

His hair is styled back and away from his face, his golden skin shining with a healthy glow in the dim light.

“Maybe,” he says, taking a large swig from his glass. “But it’s fun watching how you flinch when I bring it up,” he says, my head shaking.

“Why do you taunt me? You should know by now that I won’t tolerate it,” I say, watching him lean into the wall next to the window.

“Our buddy Max is going to be admitted into the Official's training programs tonight,” Josh says, finally grabbing my attention.

“That's not possible, his Judgment Day-”

“The Commander and my father decided to move him forward before his Judgment Day,” Josh says, as I scoff loudly.

“My father gets the final say in who joins his team,” I state, turning back toward the window. “There’s no way he would’ve approved that,” I clarify, watching Josh toy with a string on the front of his dark suit jacket.

“Maybe people are tired of Andrew Blackburn running things around here,” Josh says.

I look at him, half expecting him to take back the statement. Instead, he watches me, waiting for me to challenge him. I feel the other part of me reach out, stepping into the light, taking over me in the moment.

“Maybe people are tired of the Order,” It speaks for me, my voice just a vessel for its rage.

“You don’t believe in the Order?” Josh questions, my mouth curling into a smile at the notion. I feel it working inside of me, throwing caution to the wind as it assesses the man in front of me.

“I don’t believe in anything that has to be forced on us.”

Its presence ebbs back into the shadows of my mind and releases control to me.

His mouth stays still for a moment, his body unmoving, unsure what to say. A few Unfortunates move into the space, offering us small finger foods. Josh snaps his fingers at the woman in the corner of the room who’s wearing an ‘Event Coordinator’ badge. She’s from this sector, so she must be in charge of the rest of the staff.

He grabs her hand, his mouth set in a scowl.

“Where is the Unfortunate I requested to be here tonight?” he questions, toying with the mic wrapped around the girl's ear.

“He’s in the kitchen-”

“Well, bring him out. The last thing I want to see is your face at dinner,” he hisses hatefully, my hands clenched, stopping me from dragging him to the floor. Quickly, she nods, fearfully moving away from him.

“You requested specific Unfortunates be here tonight?” I question him.

“I thought you'd be thanking me,” he says, slapping my back hard. “One of them is that boy toy of yours,” he finishes, my stomach churning.

I hadn’t been able to reach Fallan after the incident during the solstice celebration. I’d assumed he’d been caught up in the chaos from earlier but had still exhausted myself trying to connect with him. Today was turning out to be nothing short of a nightmare.

Josh's hand lingers on my back, running his fingers along my exposed spine.

“Maybe it isn't such a bad thing we had to wait until tonight to come to this dinner,” he says, his eyes taking in all of me. “At least you look pleasant in a dress that revealing,” he mutters, his hand moving lower than I’d like. I feel a small wave of panic pass over me.

“You requested me?”

Fallan lingers in the doorway. His hands clutch a bottle of champagne. His hair is a ruffled mess of black curls. An earpiece dangles from the side of his head, and his eyes are dead set on Josh.

At the sight of Fallan, Josh moves closer to me, tugging me into his side.

“Why don’t you reconsider where you've got your hands,” Fallan says, taking a few steps further into the room. I look around to see if anyone’s watching, but we’re the only ones here.

Josh laughs, goading Fallan to do something. I yelp as I feel his right-hand slide down to my ass while he wraps his left arm around my front so I'm flush against him.

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