Darkness Falls (The Darkness Duet #2)

Chapter 45

Callie

I smile to myself, thinking about everything that’s transpired over the last twenty-four hours. It’s all working out so much better than I could have imagined. Most importantly, Avery is safe. I glance over to see her staring out the window as we drive back to Braxton Falls. My eyes fall on everyone else briefly. Everyone is processing the events of the day in their minds, quietly.

I'm still trying to figure out how I feel. Damien is the reason I won't ever get to meet my biological parents and the reason my sister is suffering so much right now. None of it is fair, and I can't wait until we get him back to the house so I can make him pay for all of it. I haven't decided how I'm going to kill him yet, but what I do know is that I will be the one to end his life, and it will be painful.

The drive goes quickly. We stop a few times to get gas and stretch our legs, but as we make the turn into Braxton Falls, I’m thankful it’s almost over.

“I’m going to need you to give me directions to her house,” Seb says.

“Yeah, make the next left,” Avery says, and Seb listens.

“We should be prepared for anything,” I tell them, which I know seems a bit redundant, but I’m getting anxious.

Avery points the guys down another road. "Just make one more right, and it will be a few houses down."

"We're going to do a drive-by first to make sure there aren't any cars staking out the place." Barrett turns around in his seat to say.

"That's actually a really smart idea," I confess.

"Princess, this isn't our first rodeo. We know how to watch and make sure a situation is secure. We did stalk you for a bit before we took you, remember?"

I narrow my brows at him. "How could I ever forget? You were the one who put that stupid note on my car, weren't you?" He laughs, and that's all the confirmation I need. "Of course it was you! That shit freaked me out!"

"That was you!" Avery laughs. "She thought it was her dad, and I had to give her copious amounts of gin to get her to relax."

"There's a car with three men watching what I assume to be the house we're here for," Seb says, cutting off our casual conversation. "We can do this two different ways. We can automatically assume they’re the last remaining men of Rogue and kill them without hesitation, or we can wait it out to see if they end up leaving. They could just be random people."

"I have a better idea," I say, which seems to annoy him. "How about we stop at the house, and Avery and I go inside and see what happens? When they see it's me, they will probably try to figure out why I'm here and not at the trial. I may not have known everyone, but they surely know my face, considering I’m Gabriel's daughter. I'm honestly surprised they defied direct orders and didn't go. Damien must have threatened them."

"You want us to willingly let you put yourself in danger again? Why is this becoming a pattern?" Kyler asks.

"I'm not going to be in danger. You three will be watching the whole time. We can't just kill them unprovoked in the middle of the street. We didn't exactly plan ahead for a random murder spree."

"If you're doubting my abilities to cover our tracks, I'm going to punish you for it later," Barrett grits out.

I can feel the crimson shade that has to be covering most of my face now. I wasn't doubting him, but I'm not going to say that. Being punished sounds like fun.

"We're doing it my way. I'm making the executive decision," I state firmly.

"So that's how this is going to be? You make all the decisions now?" Seb asks.

"If you want me to suck your cock, then yes. That's exactly how this is going to go," I reply with a snide smirk.

"Well, fuck. She's got us there." Kyler laughs.

Seb doesn't say anything else, but I don't miss the way his jaw clenches as he turns the car around to head back to the house. I'll make it up to him later.

"It's that one." Avery points it out so he can pull into the driveway.

"They're definitely watching us," Barrett says .

"How do you know?" Avery seems a bit panicked.

"I can see them in the mirror. All eyes are on our vehicle."

"Only one way to find out," I say as I push open the door, not giving anyone a chance to change their minds.

Avery gets out too and walks around to meet me at the side of the car. We walk up to the front door, and Avery reluctantly brings her knuckles up to knock on it a few times.

When the door finally opens, one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen comes into view. Her eyes land on me and then Avery, prompting her to cross her arms over her chest.

"Hey, sweets. Can we come inside?"

"You've got some nerve, you realize that, don't you? You show up at my doorstep with another woman after sleeping with me and disappearing. I thought you were grabbing me a glass of water, for fuck’s sake."

"What the hell did you do, Aves?" I love her, but I'm definitely on this girl's side right now.

"Listen, I can explain. Callie is my sister. Just let us inside, please," Avery begs.

Reese's eyes narrow before looking between me and Avery. "Fine." She moves to the side and makes room for us. "She doesn't look like your sister."

"Trust me, it was a shock to us too," I hear Avery say as she slips inside.

Before I go in, I turn back to look at the guys waiting in the car. I can tell they're intently watching both us and the vehicle parked on the side of the road. I make another impulsive decision and decide it's not enough for me to just be here. I have to give the people in the car a reason to want to talk to me.

I move my gaze to the men in the vehicle across the street and blatantly wave at them before bringing my fingers to my lips and blowing them a kiss. I see one of them pull out his phone to try and make a phone call. He looks frustrated, and I assume whoever is on the other end didn't pick up.

Job well done. With that, I head inside the house and pull the door closed. I find Avery and Reese in the kitchen, staring at one another. I don't want them to be part of this.

"You two should probably find a room to have whatever conversation you need to have." I turn to look at Reese. "There are some very bad men outside who will likely be making their way in here at any moment because I'm here."

"They're with Rogue," Avery tells her.

"Avery, what the fuck?" I shake my head.

"Chill out. She knew about them before I even said anything. I already told you our parents helped her mom." Avery shrugs.

"Go talk. We can get to know each other later. And if you hear things out here, do not come out. I'll knock on the door three times when it’s safe." Avery looks concerned, but she reluctantly nods.

The men in the car didn’t follow us inside, so I need to give them more incentive. I pull out my phone and text Barrett.

Me: Come inside.

Barrett: Beg.

Me: Barrett, can you pretty please come inside?

Barrett: Hmmm. I know you can do better than that, princess.

Me: Stop messing around.

Moments later, the door opens, and my men let themselves in. Barrett steps over to me and grabs my face before laying a chaste kiss on my lips. He pulls back, and I scowl. I walk over to one of the cabinets and grab a few glasses to toss against the wall. The glass shatters, making a loud sound just before I grab a knife from the block on the counter.

The front door bursts open, and the men who were in the car stand in front of us. Kyler and Seb make quick work of disarming the first two, knocking the guns from their hands and pulling them into headlocks. The third man manages to dodge Seb's attack and is now standing firmly in place with his gun pointed in my direction.

"Don't fucking move, or I'll shoot her," he yells out to the room.

"Do you think that's a smart move? You're aware of who I am, aren't you?" I say, raising my brow.

"You're Damien's wife," he snarls .

"Had you answered that question differently, I might have felt bad for killing you, but you just dug your own grave. Any last words?" I spit.

He laughs like he thinks I'm joking. "You seem to forget I'm the one holding the gun."

"We have you outnumbered. There are four of us and one of you," I say, and right on cue, Kyler and Barrett snap the necks of the two men they were able to subdue.

The guy’s eyes dart around the room before landing back on mine and narrowing. He actually thinks he's going to find a way to get out of this alive. That’s not happening. I won't leave any man who was ever associated with Rogue alive. Sebastian gets to be the exception since he was never directly associated with my father or the society. His unfortunate bloodline is his only link.

"If you met me six months ago, I wouldn't have been able to stomach the idea of killing someone in cold blood. That's changed, though. Want to know a secret?" I let out a manic laugh.

"I don't want to know anything from you. I'll kill your men and keep you here until I hear from Damien."

"Damien is a bit tied up right now." Kyler laughs.

Barrett and Kyler move to stand at my side, and Barrett reaches down to place his gun in my hand.

"STOP MOVING!" the guy yells.

"They're all dead, you know. We blew up the compound. You, Damien, and Sebastian here are the last remaining adult male members of Rogue. How does that make you feel?"

"You're lying," he spits.

"I'm not, but you won't live long enough to find out."

Before I can bring the gun up to shoot him, I see movement from behind, and something swings to meet his skull. He crashes to the ground, dropping the gun in the process, and I stand there dumbfounded. Reese stands where he was with a baseball bat in her hand.

"Sorry, I was watching on my cameras and decided you might need help. Also, I'd rather not have gunshot holes in my house."

Avery steps into view of the front door to stand next to Reese. "I tried to tell her you had it under control."

"You were supposed to stay in the room and out of danger." I narrow my eyes.

"Avery isn't a big fan of staying in my bedroom, are you?" Reese turns and tilts her head in question.

"Fuck’s sake," I hear Avery mutter, and I can't hide my smile. I don't know this Reese woman very well, but I can tell Avery might have found her match.

"We should get going. I have to go check on my mom, and we have someone else to deal with, too."

"We’ll have someone come for the bodies and handle their car," Seb says as he leans down to check the pulse of the third man. He doesn't say anything, but when I see him twist his neck around, I cringe a little. The guy must have still been alive. "Is that okay?"

“Actually, let me go check their car now to make sure there’s nothing important in it,” Kyler interrupts before walking out of the door.

"Just don't leave them here for too long, please," Reese says, refocusing her attention on Seb.

"It will be less than an hour."

"I'm going to hang back and talk with Reese, Cals," Avery suggests.

I smile and nod, knowing this is what she needs right now. As much as I would love for Avery to come back to the house with us so we can catch up on everything, she’s not ready for that. She needs to manage whatever is going on with Reese.

"Yeah, talk. Someone needs to learn their lesson for sneaking out," Reese replies.

"I like her," Barrett says with a smile.

"Of course you do. She's basically you but with a vagina." I chuckle when he shrugs.

I walk over and give Avery a hug before pulling back with a tight smile. My eyes land on Reese next, and I extend my hand, prompting her to shake it.

"Don't be too hard on her." I grin.

“Any idea what this is?” Kyler says when he comes back inside, carrying a box with Rogue’s symbol on it. This must be the one Avery was telling me about, but how did it end up in the car with these men .

“That asshole,” Avery mutters as she grabs it from him. “Damien must have had them take it from my house after he took me. This is the box my parents left me.”

“Did you want me to wait around to open it?” I don’t want to push her if she’s not ready.

I see the hesitation in her eyes. “I don’t think I can handle that right now.”

“There’s no rush. We have all the time in the world.”

I look over to my men and tilt my head toward the door. With that, the guys and I all filter outside, pile into the car, and drive to the house they have my mother staying in. It's only a few minutes away. When we get there, I go to open the door but pause when none of them follow suit.

"We have to get Damien back to the house to secure him and make sure our guy can handle the bodies. Go spend a little bit of time with your mom. We'll be back for you."

"I can't believe it's all over," I say, finally letting myself feel some bit of relief over Rogue not being a constant shadow over my life anymore.

"Go tell your mother the good news, wanderer." Kyler leans in to pepper kisses along my neck.

“Mmmmm, Ky." I almost want them to turn around and take me to the house right now.

"There will be plenty of time for that later. I'll make sure you’re well taken care of by the time the day is over, don't worry. You've been such a good girl, after all."

I take a deep breath, slightly annoyed that he's leaving me worked up, but I'm excited to tell my mom the news about Rogue. With any luck, it'll bring her some sort of peace. She is finally free of my father and everything he stands for.

"See you all soon," I say as I slip out of the car.