Page 2 of The Order: Rise of the New Empire (Order #4)

Chapter one

Fallan- New Haven- Months Prior

P ep rallies.

The bane of my existence.

Walking and talking like one of these Untouchable fucks is one thing.

Having to blend into the crowd, feeding into their egotistical hierarchy is another.

Tolerating Valerie's obsession with being near me, hiding the true nature of what her heart yearns for, has grown close to unbearable. The feeling of her hands on my body is something I know Dove would have broken her neck for.

But there's no way to know now what Dove would think of the current situation I have found myself in.

Forest Evermoore ensured I may never find peace with the woman I love.

If it weren't for the Prophet and their hatred for Xavier and Forest, perhaps I would have no opportunity whatsoever to get the justice she so rightfully deserves.

Sweeping through the crowd, a face all too similar to Andrew kisses ass to the Upper Leadership. He speaks and dictates with a tone he thinks he gets to use, given his position with the Student Advocates. Clung to his side, the excessively annoying blonde twin, Max, goggles at the Officials, ready to take every ounce of power the uniform will one day give him.

Dirty, ungrateful, vile Untouchables.

Yet, nothing is worse than the Marked.

Nothing is worse than my own kind.

Who knew Forest could be both?

"You're doing it again," Valerie utters from next to me. Her legs are draped across my lap, giving little care to my stringent stare plastered on the student body.

"You're staring everyone down as if you expect them to know what you're thinking," she whispers, keeping her focus on me.

Given how long I have known her and her cousin and their relation to Hunter, keeping Dove away from the trio was near impossible, making it unusually hard to stomach my lies once the Prophet altered their memories as well. The Prophet forced my grief over Dove to look like loss over Forest, a woman who they think I am choosing to keep a watchful eye on out of admiration rather than hate.

Regardless, Valerie still seems to have no issue holding a cold demeanor toward the woman.

"I'm keeping my eyes out," I snap. "You know how the Untouchables can be," I whisper, keeping my focus on the wave of perfectly ironed uniforms before us.

"Keeping your eyes out for our peers? Or her?" she questions, the accusation in her tone enough to make anyone livid.

There are not enough words to describe the anger that comes over me anytime I see that Blackburn bitch's face. Stealing her Cure-All was only a fraction of what I am going to do to her. The torment has to start small. She has to question my hate for her and the connection she feels toward me. I need Xavier to see what is happening. I need him to feel as helpless as I have been ever since Forest killed Dove.

They both deserve to suffer, eternally punished for allowing themselves to feed into the devils they are.

New Haven's devils.

"My fascination with Forest Blackburn has nothing to do with you. I asked you to be my distraction, nothing more, nothing less," I hiss.

Rolling her eyes at the statement, she shakes her head, glaring toward the stage.

"Yeah? You going to stay this calm when Andrew Blackburn comes waltzing on stage?" she questions. The man's name is like bitter medicine in her throat. "First, he gets your father killed, betrays his kind, and then ensures you get a public beat down, leaving a plethora of scars on your back," she hisses, the real reason for my beating far from her and Andrews's mind.

The Prophet wanted me to show my fealty.

What better way than humiliation and the permanent reminder on my back of who I belong to?

Getting Andrew and Adam to film and execute the action blindly only adds to the layers of deceit planted for Forest to find.

She may have thought she was clever when all of her mind was intact.

But what now?

Now, all that remains is a girl.

One who thinks she is just like all the rest, struggling to hide a secret she used to wear with pride.

If only Dove knew.

If only Dove knew the lengths I would go for her-

"Seems your Little Dove is watching, Fallan," Valerie whispers, the nickname the Prophet has forced me to call her a punch to the gut every time it is said.

Peering at me from against the wall, she watches me with a clueless observance, too absolved from the world around her to consider my hate as anything but one derived from the divide in our society. All of the memories floating around her mind, once tied to Xavier, are now replaced with my image, driving the flow between our false bond.

Can you feel my presence, Forest?

Her eyes stay focused. Nervous sweat shakily rolls down her face.

Are you questioning once more why I watch you as I do, holding your false mother's Cure-All in my pocket like a red flag?

Shifting uncomfortably, she looks me over. You'd never know she had the power she did when she ended Dove's life.

If you told me this was the woman that killed Dove, I would laugh in your face.

She looks delicate, so very breakable. I would give anything to slash my blade over her throat-

Grabbing my chin to get me to look at her, Valerie eyes me. Her scarred hands are rigid against my skin.

"Don't look now, but an Official was making his way over to her. I figured you didn't want to be caught staring."

Raising my brows, I pull her hand away from my face, getting a good look at the Official she felt the need to shield my gaze from.

What the fuck is he doing here?

Was my warning in the hallway not enough?

Speaking to her without a care in the world, he leans against the wall, her fearful gaze no longer directed toward me. Dyed with a rich light blonde, the color hides his grey. His charismatic smile lights up his face. Her focus is only on him.

As if he paid no attention to mine and the Prophet's warning, he carries on a conversation with the woman. Forcefully clenching his hands, he bites back every urge to take her away from this rally and make her his once more.

Feeling the cool metal of her engagement ring press to my chest, I fight back the urge to wrap the chain around that pretty neck of hers and pull as tight as I can.

Watching him be the source of her laughter, her eyes light up, her thoughts, though swarmed with the fleeting images of me, still so very invested in his presence.

He swore to stay away.

His promises to the Prophet triumphs whatever the hell this little act is.

Does he think he can stand here and speak to her as if there will be no consequences for his defiance-

"Her past memories may be filled with false images of you," Xavier's mind whispers in my own. My fingers dig into Valerie's thighs at the sudden noise. "But you are a damn fool if you think her reality will be void of my presence. Give me your worst, Markswood, and I will give you mine. Game fucking on."

Unable to find a retort to his mental intrusion, every camera in this room is already focused on their direction. The Prophet's watchful eye is aware of the game Xavier is playing here.

So long as he carries out his duties, speaking to Forest is not out of the picture.

He is playing a dangerous game, walking the line, seeing how close he may get to the woman before the Prophet steps in.

She needs to find trust in me.

I must allow her to have trust in me.

So long as Xavier is creeping in the shadows, the only way I am getting near Forest is with my own mental game.

She must think that the connection we share is one that has derived from a part of herself that Xavier has no grasp over.

The part of herself showing face now.

He fell in love with the woman ready to lead the rebellion.

Can he swoon the empty shell he stands before now?

"Look who it is," Valerie whispers, my focus finally diverging someplace other than Forest.

Glancing at the stage, our eyes lock. His body goes rigid at the sight of me in his presence.

Against all better judgment, I manipulated my way into my placement at the Academy, bribing every single other candidate ahead of me with contraband goods stolen from the Untouchable sector. So long as Andrew remained in his position with the Officials, getting the board to boost my credibility up enough to get placed into the program would have been a red flag for Andrew or, even worse, Xavier. I would not have made it five feet into the Academy.

Looking at the man now, I feel a wave of satisfaction at the fear rolling through him.

He knows what he did to me.

He knows what he did to my family.

I was only a boy when my father's life was taken before my eyes, and my mother's body gave out from a disease that infiltrated our sector soon after.

Now, he parades a vile demon in disguise around as his daughter, blatantly unaware of the damage she has inflicted on his family and many others in her years.

He clothes her, feeds her, and loves her.

I used to think it was impossible for Forest Evermoore to feel any form of love.

Would she scold herself now for how pathetic all of this really is?

Catching a glimpse at Xavier still speaking to Forest, something vile infiltrates my mind. The true nature of my hatred toward the Blackburn family.

I suppose it really wasn't their fault.

Xavier was the one who sent the hit on my family.

He had no reason to execute my father, rather than orders the Prophet swears to not have made.

Xavier is impulsive and explosive, almost as much as Forest.

Maybe that's why they went so well together.

Even now, he looks at her with love, parading around as if he can keep up this sweet Official act.

Perhaps the best punishment to him is something much deeper than severing the stem of his sweet flower.

What's a look, when I can have a taste of what is his for myself?

Make her fall in love with me, then watch her suffer in all the ways I was forced to.

What better punishment could there be?

Come hell or high water, the day her heart stops is the day I have found my peace.