Page 174 of The Order

It had never fallen off.

He stepped into my mind.

He manipulated me.

“Forest-” my father begins once more, his hands touching my face. “Calm down, my angel,” he says, his mouth filling with blood.

“Dad," I begin, my tears rolling over my cheeks.

“I'll get you out of here. I swear," I start, ready to slice my palm like he had done for me. He grabs my hand, stopping me.

“It can’t fix every wound,” he whispers, his eyes closing in frustration, his tears streaming down his face and mixing with the blood coming steadily from his mouth. “It's time to let me go,” he whispers, his blood soaking my hand.

"I didn't mean to-”

“I know,” he starts, pulling my head down to his chest, his breath uneven, and I know his time is near. “None of this was ever your fault,” he whispers, his lips pressed against the side of my face.

“You kids and your mother are my everything,” he whimpers, pressing his hand to my heart.

“Above all else, you must know where the true evil lies.”

“Dad-”

“You’re what remains. Lead us to our salvation,” he says, his forehead pressed to mine.

Kai’s screams finally register. Fallan does his best to comfort him. His head presses to the ground as he gasps for air between devastating wails of grief.

“I can't do this without you.”

“Yes, you can,” he whispers, his eyes opening and closing slowly. “Nothing is as it seems. You can trust no one but yourself, Forest. Trust the woman you see in the mirror. You only have yourself from here, and it will be a long journey ahead,” he says, my mind flashing to that other part of me.

“I love you… Forest,” he says, his voice breaking up.

Holding my face in his hands, his grip loosens. My hands hold his wound, my voice a shaky mess.

“Dad?” I question. His chest's slow rise and fall suddenly stops.

“Andrew?” I question again. Kai’s cries are frantic.

Feeling my father’s hands fall away from my face, I slowly raise my head. His blood soaks me. Looking at his open eyes, I feel my heart drop. The lively green eyes that nurtured me and watched me grow are now blank, stuck in a cold, dead expression. Pressing my head to his chest, I wait for his strong heartbeat that I felt during each embrace, ready for him to ruffle my hair, scolding me for worrying too much.

But it never comes. That gentle laugh, that playful scowl, all gone in an instant.

His chest is a bloody cavern, his body motionless beneath my touch.

Holding my hands together, I force them down on his front, my lips touching his, moving oxygen into his unmoving lungs. Repeatedly pumping my clasped hands above the gaping wound where I’d stuck the letter opener, new tears blur my vision.

“You're fine,” I whisper, my voice cracking.

“You're okay, Dad,” I continue, my heart-shattering.

Letting out a scream so deep within my chest, I feel the space around me implode. My heart races as my hands grasp my hair.

“He's gone,” Xavier’s voice says. My body goes rigid at presence.

I shakily rise to my feet, turning on my heels. Our eyes meet from across the room. He stands behind my brother and Fallan, unchanged from the same position he had earlier, with the pistol still in his hand.

“Remember this moment the next time you think you can cross me,” Xavier says, motioning to the ground with the gun.

---