Page 51 of The Order

I look over the file with details about the Tainted they had to expel last night. As far as I know, the execution was far away from my children and their companions. Only after I had seen the itinerary of all that attended did I realize Fallan and another Unfortunate were there. Had the Shifter not gone after a Tainted and ruined the night, I wonder what Fallan would have done. He bribed multiple people to get that position working the booth. Trying to figure out his plans has been nothing short of hell.

“I left you like this thirty minutes ago, yet everything is the same,” my wife’s voice whispers.

Her arms wrap around my shoulders from behind, resting her head on my own as I quickly shut the file, closing my computer's screen with a wave of my hand. I can feel her mouth pull into a frown at my secrecy. Her heart is far too big to involve her in the news of an Untouchable child’s death, even if they were Tainted. Thankfully, she was not tasked to do the autopsy.

“And now you're hiding your work,” she says with a sigh, pulling her head away from atop my own. I grab her wrist, stopping her from walking away from me. Hesitating, she eventually lets me lead her closer, pulling her onto my lap.

I feel her small figure press into my chest. A few wrinkles encompass her face in all the right ways, aging her with a grace and beauty even the richest Untouchable struggles to achieve. I run my thumbs over her cheeks, reveling in the fact that she chose me, and I chose her. Not everyone can say that.

“I’m not hiding things, Katiana. There are just some parts of my work I think are best to spare you from seeing,” I admit, knowing any conversation about last night would only lead to countless worries regarding our children.

“I’ve seen plenty of death, Andrew. You seem to forget who’s in charge of the Expulsion Tests,” she says with a large frown, touching the scar behind my ear.

She looks over my face for a reaction, and she gets it. My mouth curves as it falls into a more prominent frown than usual. She pulls her legs up higher, stringing them over my lap as she presses into me more. I feel her head land on my chest. My hand cups her middle, feeling the small indents of her ribs beneath my fingertips.

“You must focus on yourself, my love,” I whisper, smelling her familiar scent of lavender. She pulls away from me, cupping my face between her warm hands while she observes me.

“Says you. You look like you haven’t slept for days. What’s on your mind?” she questions, holding my gaze to her own, never letting up.

“Our daughter,” I admit after a few moments. “She has been getting into a great deal of trouble recently, and I can’t help but wonder why,” I say, half expecting her to goad me about how silly I’m being.

“She has always been defiant, Andrew. We both know she got that from you,” she says, not trying to convince me of our daughter's innocence.

“You know what defiance leads to,” I say, brushing over her scar, her eyes growing slightly wider.

“An Untouchable can only receive so many marks on their scorecard before Re-Regulation devices are used.”

“Have they used one on her?” she questions, not giving any of my points a second thought.

“Not too long ago, yes,” I begin. My wife’s nose scrunches, only making me question the nature of her curiosity more, “But they used the devices on a group, not just our girl. It was for her safety and the other students. She was fine,” I admit, clenching my jaw as I hesitantly grab the file that can answer all of the questions I’m sure she has.

I glance at the nearly closed door, making sure the space around us is private as I hand her the yellow file. In most scenarios, showing her this file would only result in my superiors screaming at me, but given her close ties to the Tainted’s Expulsion Tests and our children, it’s something she needs to see.

Her hands fumble as she breaks open the file. I see her cover her mouth at the image of the girl’s bloody corpse. Multiple pictures of the grounds were taken, all to ensure a quick and effective cleaning of the area. The student's motionless figures all stand out in the photo. Our own children’s still bodies were enough to scorch my mind with unpleasant imagery.

“It was just the one girl who was Marked?” Katiana questions, holding it together much better than I expected.

“We call them Tainted now, and yes, just the one. One too many,” I sigh, running my hands up and down her side. Her eyes narrow at one of the pictures, flipping around the file to point to my daughter’s familiar figure sprawled across the ground. Her brother is only a few feet away from her.

“Who is holding her neck down?” she questions, pointing to the figure inches from my daughter on the ground. I feel a pit form in my stomach at the sight of the dark-haired man pressed against my daughter. They both lie still. His hand rests on the back of her neck. It's a gesture so few know will calm her. I keep thinking about his sudden presence, making me question the validity of how much he truly remembers.

Is it possible he never forgot?

“The Unfortunate from the transfer program,” I say after a few moments, still trying to process what I see. “There were quite a few moments of panic before the attack. Chances are he wanted her to get down before she got hurt from whatever went after those two kids,” I say, unsure of how true that theory is.

Katiana slowly nods her head as she closes the file. I watch her raise her eyebrows as she’s pulled deeper into her train of thought.

“Is hetheUnfortunate?” she questions, my only response is a nod. She clenches her jaw in dismay.

“You handled it the first time. There’s no coming back from what you all did to him; don’t let your paranoia ruin you. There's no way he remembers,” my wife says, speaking with disgust not directed toward Fallan but toward the people I work with.

“From what we did to him?” I question, throwing her words back at her as she takes a deep breath.

“You know where I stand on the situation,” she says coldly, reminding me just how little of a say she had all those years ago.

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Xavier’s familiar voice says, nudging open the door to my study with a look of pure embarrassment as Katiana quickly pulls away from my lap. Sneakily, she puts the file back where it belongs. Katiana pats down her clothes, adjusting any areas I might have untucked with my gentle touch. “You said you wanted to meet around noon. I can always come back if it’s a bad time,” Xavier finishes, unsure of how to react to the situation he’s stumbled upon.

“I still have some work I need to get done. I was just about to leave,” Katiana says, making her way closer to the door with only a brief look in my direction. I mouth an “I love you,” watching the smile spread across her face as she slips past the door. Xavier rubs the back of his neck, moving closer once I drag one of the open chairs in my study closer for him to sit in. He takes a seat with a heave, dragging himself closer to me.

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