Page 168 of The Order

“You'd do that?” I question sincerely, watching his mood shift as he steps closer.

Touching my face, he runs his thumbs over my cheeks.

“Your life is one I will safeguard. Tell me you’re with me, and this world will never destroy us,” he whispers, his body close, brushing up against mine.

Forcing the broken chain toward him. I hit him along the chest. He winces, his hand clutching the small area I’d managed to cut. I smile at his pain, narrowing my eyes at his agitated figure.

“Fuck you and your pathetic savior complex.” I spit, forcing up the walls in my mind the moment his attention slips.

He feels the blood pooling on his chest at his fingertips, glancing up at me with malice.

“I suppose to see things my way; you’ll need a little push,” he says, waving his hand, the bindings falling free from my wrists.

He moves toward me silently. My hands are forced down to my sides with the invisible strength that our kind have access to. Grabbing my hair, he drags me closer to the cell door, scoffing as I try to break away from his grasp.

“You cannot keep me out of that beautiful mind forever,” he snarls, pulling me free from the murky cell and dragging me down the poorly lit hallway.

Pausing in front of one of the many cells filled with nameless, helpless prisoners, he unlocks the door and tosses me into another confinement area.

Bumping into another body, we both meet the floor, our hands scuffing the ground, my energy dwindling down to nothing.

“As long as I breathe, your strength is mine to take. Had you accepted my offer, the ability to explore your strength would have been limitless… pity I must take it by force,” Xavier mocks, my head pulling up to meet my brother's terrified expression.

“Live together. Fight together. If you do not cooperate, maybe losing what family you have left will give you some clarity...au revoir,Blackburn.”

Slamming the cell door shut, he walks away. My body struggles to move as I make my way to my brother. Pulling me into him, Kai takes a deep breath, his heart racing, his hands shaking.

“Are you okay-”

“They took Valerie and Fallan,” he spits, looking to the empty cell across the way. “They were in there, and they dragged them out. The Officials were talking about bringing in more Unfortunates we know,” he sniffles, sobbing into my shoulder. “They're going after our family, and then they're going after Hunter-” he cries, my arms wrapping around him.

Holding his head to my chest, I comfort him. Looking around the space, my eyes land on a small pool of water that formed in a sunken area of the ground, most likely from the same kind of leak happening in the cell I’d just come from.

There t is in all of Its glory. The reflection that watches me, Its eyes golden, Its hair streaked with light tones, like spun silk.

“Are you with me?”It questions, my heart racing.

“I'm not just with you,”I whisper, all my fears melting.“I need you.”

It laughs, smiling with satisfaction.

“It’s within us that we’ll find the strength to set ourselves free from the wickedness that scorches this earth,”It whispers.“Time to fly, little bird.”

Chapter fifty-five

Andrew

Mymenaresilent,moving steadfast toward a building that has always brought me nothing but considerable trepidation.

Twenty minutes ago, I was urgently asked to leave my office, hauled into the passenger seat of a car with Adam, and driven away with such urgency that I could only assume meant an order had come through from the Commander.

I’m not sure at what point the turns became unrecognizable. Deep within the Untouchable sector, farther out than anyone typically travels, lies a building surrounded by fencing that hides the secrets of New Haven. Only in the drunken hours of the night, after watching the horrific events of the Lottery, have I been here.

In the light of day, I see this place is even more daunting than I recall—a vast, looming structure of cold, gray concrete, and it’s completely devoid of windows.

Drudging past several security checkpoints, I nearly take offense to how the guards handle me, one even going as far as to take my badge, promising its return at the end of the day. Adam stands beside me, letting the guards search him, looking less disconcerted than I am by their need to search us so thoroughly.

“It's just Commander's protocol,” Adam says, shrugging as if this is an everyday thing for him.

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