Darkness Falls (The Darkness Duet #2)

Chapter 4

Sebastian

I wasn't expecting him to wake up. I thought life found another way to fuck with me, and I would lose another person I consider family. Dr. X told us that with all the complications from the surgery, he could be in a coma for a few days or forever. He lost so much blood on top of the risk of infection. Here he is, though, looking me dead in the eyes and expecting me to explain everything.

How am I supposed to tell him that I failed to protect our family? How am I going to find the words to tell him the woman he is in love with isn’t here? I haven't had the strength to leave his side. The guilt from everything has been eating me alive by the minute. He’s here because I let feelings cloud my judgment.

I knew better than to let Callie leave the house to go on that job with us. I led those assholes right to the home we worked so hard to secure. They walked right up to our fucking front door; they shot my brother and took Callie. It's a fucking miracle that Kyler woke up. Seeing his blue eyes meet mine for the first time in days has my mind in a frenzy. I've been a shit brother to him and Barrett.

Barrett filled me in on the string of text messages he had this morning and how he made the executive decision to trust Rogue’s hacker. He’s been the sole person holding everything together the past few days while all I’ve been able to do is feel sorry for myself. He made the choice without me because I'm a mess. Given the circumstances, it was the right choice, but we are a team, and we should have made that decision together. I need to be stronger.

I couldn't even think about Callie or what they were doing to her. I was too terrified that if I left Kyler’s side, he would decide he didn't need to fight anymore and leave us. Now that he's awake, I'm more worried he will hate me.

"Seb,” he warns with a chill tone in his voice.

I stand up and pace the room, running a hand through my hair. Where do I even begin with all this shit?

"Where the fuck is Callie?" Ky snaps.

"Just chill out for a minute and let me gather my thoughts. I'll tell you everything. I just need a minute."

"You've had plenty of time. Tell me why she isn't here waiting for me to wake up since I've apparently been in a coma," he demands again, leaving no room for further delay.

"I didn't know what to do or how to function with you lying in this damn bed. I watched you flatline, and Dr. X zapped your heart back into rhythm. You want the truth? I haven't been focused on trying to get Callie back. I know that's not what you want to hear, but I had to be here for you. I had to make sure you were still fighting to come back to us."

"You should have been fighting for her! I'm fine!" he tries to shout at me, and his voice cracks.

I shake my head and walk to the window, glancing outside. "When they broke into the house and shot you, we didn't know who they were or what they wanted. Our first priority was making sure we got you to the doctor. Barrett and I eventually figured out it was Rogue. They came to take Callie back. The guy who got the jump on Barrett when we were at the Ronnie Masters job was part of Rogue. They cloned Barrett’s phone after they knocked him out and used it to access our security system. It was an oversight that has since been updated."

"Get to the fucking point."

"We weren't sure where they took Callie. Barrett jumped in, trying to track them and find her, but he didn't have any luck. They took backroads and stayed off the grid. We don't know if they took her back to the compound or if they're keeping her somewhere else. Barrett wasn’t able to confirm anything until their hacker reached out to him this morning. He confirmed she is with Rogue. Her father and Damien have her."

“Who is Damien?”

I shuffle a few steps before walking back over to the chair beside Ky's bed and flopping down into it. My knees spread, and I place my elbows on top of them. My head drops down as I bring my hands up to run them through my hair before shaking my head. This is so hard to tell him. I know he just wants her to be okay, but I dropped the ball on that too.

"Damien is the guy who shot you. He also happens to be Julian, Callie’s ex-fiancé. I’m sure you remember her saying she was almost forced to marry someone when she turned eighteen. That would be Damien.”

Kyler’s face pales, and I wonder if this is too much for him so soon after waking up from his coma. "Did you just say Damien is Julian?”

"Yes. They are the same person,” I reluctantly admit.

“What the fuck? We need to get her back.” Anger protrudes from him.

“Rogue’s hacker wants to help us. He reached out to Barrett, and they talked. We don't have all the details yet, but as soon as he gets in touch again, we will know more." I try not to let my apprehension leak into my tone.

“How do you know the hacker is telling the truth? Why would he want to work with us?"

“Rogue has been threatening the hacker's wife. He wants our help getting new identities and setting up a new life. From what Barrett said, he seemed desperate."

"If he's some special hacker, why wouldn't he be able to just get himself out? Why does he need us?"

"I don't have the answer to that. When he reaches out again, we can find out more."

"They’re probably hurting Callie." This realization breaks him a little, and tears well up in his eyes. I can tell he is thinking of something, but he keeps it to himself .

"We will have a plan in place to bring her home as soon as we can. I just don't know when that will be," I try to reassure him.

He has a look on his face that I know all too well. He wants to protect her. He wants to crawl out of the bed right now to do it, but he's too weak.

"Don't be stupid, Ky. I know what you're thinking, and you're not in any shape to go anywhere. Let Barrett and me handle this. Now that you're awake, I can devote more time to getting her back."

"THAT'S WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN DOING ALL ALONG!" he shouts, the veins in his neck pulsing beneath his skin. "YOU LEFT HER THERE! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING TO HER."

"You need to calm the down before I have the doc bring something to put you back to sleep. You just woke up, don't make me do that to you."

"I don't understand how the two of you could let this go on for so long. Barrett told me he loved her. How the fuck didn’t he find anything? Didn't she tell you what her father used to do to her?"

"He's been trying. We don't know where she is. He's been doing his best to keep everything together, so don't you dare make him feel bad. He's struggling and feels terrible about it. You almost died, Kyler."

"I would have gladly died if it meant she was safe. It's been five days, Sebastian." He leans back in the bed and stares up at the ceiling. "We need to get her back."

"It's my priority moving forward; you have my word. Focus on healing and getting yourself in good health. The next couple weeks are going to be rough," I say with a sigh.

"I know you want me to sit this one out, but that's not happening. I need to be involved. I have a bad feeling."

"I’ll go get Dr. X to have him check you out, but you're not helping with this, Ky. I will not put you at risk. You just had surgery. If I have to lock you in the pool house until you heal, I will. Don't tempt me."

"You have no right to bench me and don't threaten me. I'm not a child."

“Exactly what do you think you can do right now? Your body needs time to heal. You need to focus on getting your strength back. You trying to find her is more of a liability than anything else."

He grits his teeth. I know the idea of not being her knight in shining armor is destroying him on the inside, but he will have to get the fuck over it. It will take weeks, at least, of rehabilitation to make sure he can get back to his full strength. I wasn't kidding. I'll lock his ass up if necessary.

"I mean it, Ky. If you can't agree to take a step back and let us handle it, I will make sure you don't have an option."

His eyes narrow, and he glares at me. "I'll let you assholes handle it, but I swear you better have something in place to get her back soon. I don't give a fuck about their little society. I'll do whatever it takes to get to her."

"We'll do what we can. I'm going to call Barrett and check in with him."

Ky nods, so I make my way out of the room and directly out of the house. I take a deep breath, air filling my lungs before I let it out and look up to the sky. Slowly, my eyes close, and I give myself a moment. Ky is awake. He didn't die. I pull out my phone and call Barrett.

"Hey Seb, is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Ky's awake."

I hear a sharp intake of breath. "It's about time. I'm on my way."

"No, I need you to focus on Callie."

"You're out of your mind. He just woke up. I'm coming to see him," he states with annoyance.

"He was angry when he woke up. He wanted to know why we didn’t have her back. I don't have an excuse. Neither of us do."

"Yeah, well, we're working on it."

"Can you reach out to the hacker again and see what you can do?"

"No, it doesn't work that way. I need to wait for him to get back in touch with me. I'm on my way."

"Whatever, when you get here, I'm leaving. You can deal with his ass."

He hangs up, and I walk over to the front steps to sit down. This is when everything is going to get real. Kyler won't stop until we get her back, and now that he is awake, Barrett will have the same determination. Looks like I need to jump on team Callie.