Page 190 of The Order

Filled with the need to keep them all safe, I follow my sister's command, forcing Hunter and Valerie along with me, burying my fears of what lies beyond the ash lands along with every rational thought of self-preservation.

Faintly, I hear her voice, unable to stop my attention from moving behind me, my sister's soon follows.

Standing in the distance, I see her cry out, her hands covering her mouth, screaming at us to run. She holds one of the Official's pistols, her hands shaky, bruised, and covered in wounds that indicate she’s been in a fight. We don’t pause. Forest continues moving, her eyes watery, locked dead on my mother's figure as she uses herself as a human barrier between the Officials and us. With a vengeance written in her expression, she fires round after round with precision. My mother takes down several approaching Officials, holding back what reinforcements could have stopped us had they gotten any closer.

“Don't come back!” my mother screams, both Forest and I unable to stop from flinching, my sister's feet coming to a standstill. Moving past the invisible barrier of the ward, I inhale my first breath of rebellion, the ash making the air dense, my first taste of freedom, not the sweetest. I cough uncontrollably alongside the others, reaching back for my sister's hand as she stays glued to the threshold between our old life and an unknown one. Helping me hold Fallan, Valerie and Hunter scream for Forest, my focus on my sister and my mother.

“Forest-”

“I can’t lose them both!” Forest screams. “Go without me, I'll find you-”

My mother's figure stills, her screams silenced with a sudden jolt to her body. My heart shatters as she looks at us, her clean palm now tarnished by the blood seeping from her lower stomach. Letting out a silent scream, her knees hit the ground, a wave of black-clad Officials approaching her from behind in the dozens.

Forest backs away, crossing the barrier into the ash lands, her eyes void of any emotion.

Grabbing Fallan, she holds her lower stomach, joining us in the cloud of thick ash. A stare so distant from reality masks her face.

Lowering her eyes, Forest faces ahead, determined to move forward into the desolate terrain ahead.

Like a warrior moving steadfast into the fray, she prowls forward silently, her shoulders stiff and stride steady.

There is no more time for tears. No more energy for regrets and what-ifs.

All that remains is the barren land in front of us.

And the hope that that's not all that remains.

Chapter sixty-one

Katiana

“Theymadeitpastthe ash, sir,” two Officials quietly utter, both their heads down, unable to look Xavier in the face.

Xavier watches me, and I know his patience is threadbare. He waves his hand over the wound in my stomach to check how severe it was. He’d requested it be bandaged as soon as I was dragged into his office.

My wrists are bound, his knee pressed to my thighs, keeping me planted firmly in the seat he’d forced me into. Unable to look away, I glance at the body covered up on the floor next to his desk, my stomach churning at the way the shoelaces are double laced.

Just like my Andrew ties them.

“You're telling me Katiana’s little diversion was the reason that five people were able to slip away from dozens of Officials just like that?” Xavier questions. Both men swallow nervously, unable to keep their composure.

“The Markswood boy Winnowed, sir, and we’d thought you-”

Xavier is away from me in a matter of seconds, his hand wrapped around the man's throat, forcing his neck down into his desk.

It’s not just Unfortunate and Marked blood Xavier has spilled. Anyone who got in his way was at risk. He has no side to which he truly stands loyal to.

“You thought I’d what?” Xavier questions, his hand wavering over the man's forehead, smiling as he siphons the man’s thoughts

“You thought I'd be stronger than her little boy toy,” Xavier says after a few moments. No one else would dare answer him out loud, even though it didn’t matter; it was pointless to hide anything from him.

“I didn't think-” the man begins, ready to beg for mercy.

“You did,” Xavier snaps, twisting the Official's neck, plastering on a fake pout as the man slumps to the floor.

Not daring to move a muscle, I watch the other Official begin to shake, unable to hide his trembling hands as he shifted awkwardly on his feet.

“A tragedy occurred tonight. A group of deviant, nasty Marked, utilizing their heinous gifts to disrupt the order I’ve created,” Xavier begins, mocking the irony in his statement. “I want every chip on every Official and citizen activated. As far as they know, Forest Blackburn and everyone associated with her are now public enemies. If they are spotted within our sector again or someone so much as utters her or her friend's names anywhere in New Haven, I want them brought to me immediately. As far as anyone knows, they are murderers and insurgents that threaten the sanctity of our society,” Xavier says, casually scanning his nail bed for some sign of imperfection.

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