Chapter 13
Sebastian
W aiting until today to bring Callie home has been difficult. As much as I don’t want to admit it, she grew on me, and the house feels empty without having her there. Barrett and Kyler have been bitching nonstop, and while Barrett has agreed with me for the most part, they want her back more than anything.
We tried getting her out one other time, but everything went to shit. There were too many people on alert. Dying won't save her, so we pulled back to reassess. We’re good at what we do, but when there are three of us against an entire society with a guarded presence, it makes things a bit more complex. It makes me sick thinking about what she may have endured, but she's strong. She will pull through.
The wedding is over. I'm sure Gabriel and Damien assume they’ve won and that the threat to Callie escaping their little shit society has diminished. That couldn't be any further from the truth. I’ll be walking into the compound today like a wolf in sheep's clothing.
I look down at the faint outline of the raven burned on my wrist. The reddened skin still appears angrier and more pronounced than it should. It took us some time to acquire a brand in the same shape and size as the one Rogue uses, but as soon as we did, I seared it right onto my wrist without hesitation.
The brand is something members are required to show upon entry to the compound. It's their own personal security method that they believe to be flawless. Technically, because of who my father was, I am a member of this disgusting excuse of a society. If I do end up being questioned, they can’t refuse me entry.
Barrett and I chose to leave Kyler behind in Braxton Falls. No matter what he thinks, he’s still not at his full strength. We drugged his spaghetti and locked him in the cell under the pool house after he fell asleep. I don't feel bad about it either.
He was livid when he woke up, but he will get over it. He was even more pissed when he found out we didn’t get Callie out before she got married. It’s my job to ensure my family is safe. I failed at that already, and it won't happen again. Getting her out wasn't safe until now.
Ky can do whatever he needs to in order to make it up to her when we get back. On the off chance that something happens to us, Barrett programmed the locks on the cell to disengage after four days. Kyler can swoop in and be her hero. Nothing is going to happen to us, though. Barrett is posted safely on the outskirts of the woods, waiting for me to find him once I get her. I'm hoping she will forgive us for not coming sooner.
I hear Barrett in my ear. "You're cleared to make your way to the gate."
"Got it. I'm slipping the earpiece into my pocket for now. I'll let you know once I'm inside," I tell him before doing exactly that.
When I get close to the gate, there's a long line of people and cars crowding the entrance. I step out of the tree line with my phone up to my ear, pretending to be on a phone call.
"I don't know where you put them. I checked the tree I was fucking you against last night, and I didn't see anything."
Everyone looks exhausted from their night of partying and celebrating. Eyes land on me but dart away as they hear my words. They don't need to know there's nobody on the other side of this phone call. Members of the guard are sprinkled throughout the crowd, and I catch a few of them eyeing my wrist, but none make a move to question me.
I continue talking on my fake phone call. "Maggie, I don't know what you want me to tell you. It's your fault. I'll buy you new ones when we get back home. I'm coming back in to grab you so we can leave. Make sure you have the camper packed. I have shit to do."
Just as I'm about to walk through the gate unscathed, a guard steps in front of me, blocking my path. "I don't remember seeing you before." His head tilts curiously.
I nod at him. "Name's Ethan Emory. I don't make it to the compound as often as I should."
Soren gave me the name to pass along to anyone who questioned me. I guess the Emory family is known enough for being distant from the society, but it’s also prominent enough to be recognized.
He eyes me wearily, glancing down at the brand on my wrist briefly before nodding and stepping aside. "Just have to be safe; you never know."
"It's part of the job, man. I get it." With that, I slip past the front gate and walk toward the fourth house on the left.
Soren said this house used to belong to the Stone family and has been vacant since they left the compound and died in the fire. It was the perfect place for the two of us to meet without anyone bothering us before we go get Callie.
There are still a decent amount of people strewn about talking to one another. Thankfully, nobody tries to stop me. When I reach the house, I sneak around back and wait for Soren. I bring my phone up to cover any evidence of me potentially talking to myself and slide the earpiece back into my ear to give Barrett an update.
"I'm at the spot waiting for him to show."
"Have you seen her?" he asks.
"No, but I'll have eyes on her soon. I'll get her out, Barrett. You know I will."
"Don't mess this up, Seb. I’ll never forgive you."
A figure appears from the corner of the house, and instantly, I'm on edge. I don't know what Soren looks like, but this man is carrying a gun, and he looks more like he is a member of their guard. I swear, if this was a setup, I’ll find a way to slit Soren's throat myself.
"Hey!" the man calls out to me. "Are you lost or something? Nobody’s supposed to be back here."
I have to play it cool. I open my mouth to respond, but another man with long blonde hair appears at his side and slaps him on the back.
"Hey, Jones, I see you met my cousin," the blonde-haired man says.
"Your cousin?" the guard questions.
“Yeah, I figured I would show him around. He's new, just got his brand last week."
I hold up my wrist to show him the fresh brand to corroborate the blonde man's story, even though I'm not positive he is Soren.
"Fine, Soren, but don't fuck with the house."
"Noted. Beers on me later?" Blonde hair makes his way toward me as the guard nods and disappears from sight.
"You're Soren?"
"Indeed. You have what I need to ensure my wife's safety, right?"
"It's all in the SUV with Barrett. Once we get out, you'll have everything you need to disappear."
"When they find out Callie's gone, all hell's going to break loose."
"We have a plane on standby. All you have to do is drop us off, and you and your wife can be on your way in the SUV. We will be out of the state before anyone even notices."
"Gabriel left this morning to meet up with Damien. The job I fabricated last night turned out to be more successful than I thought it would. I paid a few people off, and it worked in our favor. Can't have talks of a secret society out in the world. I'm not sure how much longer they will be gone, so we need to make this quick." He takes a look at his phone and then looks back at me.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm just hoping we have enough time to make this happen. Damien had a guard bring Callie to Gabriel's house last night because he didn’t want to leave her alone. It's across the compound, let's go."
I nod and follow closely behind him as we walk through the center of the compound. A few people eye us, curious as to who I am, but when they see me walking with Soren, they go back to whatever they were doing before. It takes about five minutes to walk from one side of the compound to the other. We stop just before the house to talk to the guard posted outside.
"Hey, Perry. I need inside."
Perry looks over at me and narrows his eyes. "Who's the new guy?"
"This is my cousin. He's shadowing me to learn some IT stuff. A backup in case something happens. Gabriel wanted me to make sure the house is secure."
Perry nods. "I'm going to take a quick break then since you'll be inside. I'll be back in a bit."
I let out a breath, wondering how these people are actually so stupid. The guy just left willingly, without even asking Soren for proof. Soren takes a step forward toward the door but stops to look back at me.
"There is a good chance you may not like what you see in here. I need you to keep it together and focus on the goal. We need to do this as quickly as possible."
“Yeah, hurry up,” Barrett says through the earpiece, and I roll my eyes.
"Let's go," I tell Soren.
The front door creaks open, and we step into the entryway. It looks like a normal house with nothing out of place. We stand there for a moment, closing the door behind us and waiting to see if any other guards are positioned inside. When nobody approaches us, Soren leads me up the stairs and stops in front of a bedroom door. He pulls out a key and slides it into the lock.
“Ready?” he asks, and I nod.
My heart slams in my chest. I can't believe how close we are to getting her out of here. When the lock clicks free, he pushes the door open, and I have to resist the urge to punch a fucking wall when I take in the scene in front of me. Callie is lying on her side in the bed with her wrist chained to the bed. As if I didn't need more ammunition to kill the rotten bastards.
Her head turns, and when her eyes meet mine, she lets out a strangled sigh of relief.
"Sebastian?" she whispers.
"Hey, trouble. Are you ready to get out of here? "
She nods. "It's about time. Take me home."
Soren walks over to her and uses a second key to free the lock on her wrist. She pulls it to her chest and rubs at the red, irritated skin for a few moments before jumping off the bed and running over to me. Immediately, her arms are stretched around my waist, and her head is tucked into my chest.
I wrap my arms around her with conflicted emotions. As much as I want to pull her off of me and keep the distance between us, I can't. Seeing her locked up like this makes me wonder exactly what she had to endure growing up. It's no wonder she did everything she could to get away from this place.
I realize I've been way too hard on her. I thought she was exaggerating about some of the things she told us about her life here. Clearly, I was wrong, and I feel like even more of an asshole for ever doubting her.
I know we need to get out of here quickly, but I give her these few moments and continue to hold her. It's been two months. She needs to feel safe, and it feels pretty fucking good to have her in my arms.
"After you didn't show up last night, I thought I’d have to figure this out on my own. I was really doubting whether or not you were going to come for me."
She pulls back and looks up at me with tear-filled eyes, and a piece of me breaks. I think I fucked up. We should have tried harder to get her out of here sooner.
"Come on, trouble. Let's get you home. Kyler's been moping around like a baby every day."
Her eyes light up when she hears his name. I reach down and interlock her fingers with mine to guide her, not even thinking about it. She glances down at where our bodies meet for a moment and doesn’t oppose my hold, but she stops in her tracks. I turn to look at her with a furrowed brow.
"I'm not leaving without my mom." She pulls her hand from mine and crosses her arms over her chest.
"Your mom? I thought you told us she was dead?"
"I thought she was, but when I got back here, I found out the truth. She survived, and I'm not leaving without her this time," she persists.
"Callie, we can't risk it."
"I left her with him for six years. You don't understand what my father's capable of. When he finds out I'm gone, he might actually kill her this time instead of just torturing her. She's ready. I told her you were coming for us."
I look over at Soren, and he eyes me wearily but nods.
"I'll grab your mom and meet the two of you at the SUV. I have a key for her door on my keyring, too," Soren tells us.
Callie looks at me, questioning whether he can be trusted, and I reassure her. "We can trust him. He stuck his neck on the line for us."
"If something happens to my mother, I'll track you down and kill you myself." She looks over at me before standing up a little straighter. "I need to grab something from my father's office before we go."
"We don't have time for that."
"I' m stopping in his office. I'm tired of men telling me what I can and can't do!" Her tone is fierce enough for me to raise a brow and has me immediately caving to her demand.
"Fine, we will stop at your father’s office on the way out." She visibly relaxes with my words, and I look over to Soren. "Go get her mother. Barrett will be expecting you. Your wife should be with him by now."
“She is,” Barrett says in my ear.
"I'm not coming back for you two if something goes wrong. I've done my part. If you get caught because you make pit stops, it’s on you." Without saying anything else, he leaves.
I follow Callie down the stairs and then into the first door on the right. The two of us slip inside, and I close it behind us. She runs directly over to the desk, ripping open all the drawers.
"What are you looking for?"
"It's here somewhere," she says while continuing to frantically look. She pulls open another drawer and moves things around before slamming it shut.
"So, your mom is alive?" I ask her.
"I don't want to talk about it right now. It's too complicated to explain in the few minutes we have before we need to get out of here."
"If she's alive, then..." I trail off, and she stops to look at me.
"No. Maxton is dead." Her eyes well up briefly before turning back to the task at hand.
I guess she finally finds what she's looking for when she holds up a key. She steps toward the bookshelf and reaches for a small box from the top, but she’s too short. I grab it for her, placing it into her hands. The key slides into the lock perfectly, and we hear a faint clicking sound as it pops open to reveal a notebook.
I'm confused all over again. We risked getting caught for a notebook? What's so important about it?
Her eyes meet mine. "We can go now."
A sound creaks from just outside the door, and we both freeze. I bring my finger to my lips, silently telling her to stay quiet, and the two of us cross the room to stand along the wall next to the door. When it pops open, Gabriel looks over at us. Before he can make a move, I punch him square in the face, knocking him out.
"We need to go. If your father's here, Damien could also be here."
I touch the earpiece in my ear. "Barrett, check in. Gabriel is home; what's going on?"
"Soren and Natasha just got to the SUV. He said Gabriel called a few minutes ago to tell him Damien would be handling the rest of the job on his own. I was just about to tell you to keep an eye out for him."
I look over to Callie and think about all the things this man put her through before making a decision. "We're going to be a little longer than we planned. Callie's father needs to be taken care of before we leave. What do you think, trouble?"
Her eyes bounce between me and her father before she nods slowly with the notebook clutched to her chest.
"Barrett, if anything changes, let us know immediately so we can get the hell out of here."
"Of course,” he pauses, “just make sure he suffers."
"He will," I say before my eyes land back on Callies. "Where can we take him?"
“I’ll lead the way.” She smiles.
She goes to walk out of the door but hesitates, reaching up to touch something in her hair. She pulls out a clip and turns to place it on the corner of her father’s desk. Her fingers land on the ring on her left hand next, and she slides it off and sets it next to the hair clip. Guilt fills me, knowing it’s our fault she had to marry that bag of shit. When her eyes find mine again, she nods.
I grab her father, hoisting him up over my shoulder. I’m glad the bastard isn’t too heavy, and I’m in good shape. If he was any bigger, I would have had to drag him out of the room. We walk out of the office and straight to a set of stairs that lead to what looks like a basement. This is going to be fun.