Page 73 of Darkness Falls

When the car pulls out of the driveway, I follow it. It makes a few turns before pulling up to a stop in front of a random house. She gets out and waves it off before walking up to the front door and knocking. A smoking hot woman opens the door in a tight skirt and a white button-down skirt. She eyes Avery upand down, and I'm willing to bet this is some sort of hookup. Hopefully, she enjoys her last bit of freedom because I intend to take that from her, too.

She steps inside the house, and when the door closes behind the two of them, I pull away. I drive back to Avery's house and park directly across the street from it. I doubt she would recognize my car; she's not exactly the best at situational awareness.

When I notice the coast is clear, I walk right to the unlocked front door and let myself inside. My point exactly. Who the fuck leaves their front door unlocked? She always was a dumb bitch. I make myself at home in her personal space, grabbing a beer out of her fridge and settling onto the couch.

My mind wanders to my wife and how much of an inconvenience she's become. I'm really considering just killing her once I have her back in my grasp. I’ll deal with the consequences from there. I could very easily make it look like she did it to herself.

My phone rings, pulling me from my thoughts, and I look down to see it's Austin Roberts. It's probably some sort of issue with Rogue, which is the last thing I need right now. I answer anyway because I need to make it seem as though I'm readily available until I officially hold the leadership role and not just an interim position.

"Austin, what can I do for you?"

"Damien, I just wanted to let you know the council has come together, and collectively, we decided to hold a trial for Callie in three days. All male members of the Society will convene for her to appear in frontof. She will be required to defend the actions she's been accused of."

"You know damn well Callie isn't in my custody at the moment," I seethe.

"That sounds like your problem, not mine. If she doesn't appear in three days, unfortunately, I will have to assume you lied about her involvement in order to cover your own actions."

"Lied about her involvement?" I can't believe the audacity of this motherfucker. "I wasn't aware you were having a council meeting without me."

"Some of the council was concerned. They had additional questions, and you weren't here to address them. You still have not provided the video proof of Callie committing these crimes."

"You know I've been having IT-related issues since Soren decided to skip out on us."

"Again, not my problem. Being the leader of Rogue is a great responsibility, and thus far, you have not proven to be up to the task. The community needs video proof or a trial. Gabriel was murdered, and this will not be pushed under the rug," Austin states as though he has fucking control over me.

"She will be there. I’ll make sure of it." I clench my jaw, thinking about how I plan to get rid of him. He's becoming just as much of a problem as my wife.

"I'm glad to hear that. I think once we get beyond this little snag, you could become a great leader. I'd hate to see anything end that opportunitybefore you really have the chance to take advantage of it."

"Nothing will go wrong with my leadership. I can promise you that."

"Great. Enjoy the rest of your day," he tells me before hanging up.

I was planning on keeping Avery for a few days before reaching out to Callie, but that luxury has been stolen from me. This will push my timeline along faster than I anticipated, but I'm not going to risk everything I've worked so hard for over a woman.

I spent nearly ten years running around and being Gabriel's little lackey under the guise of living at an international chapter before I wore him down enough to give me his daughter to marry. Everyone believed the international story so fucking easily. We don't have an international chapter and never did. Fucking idiots.

The fact that nobody asked any questions just further proves how much power Gabriel had over manipulating their pathetic minds. I’ve been waiting for Rogue to be mine since the day I turned eighteen and started doing jobs for him. I'm not letting anyone take what is rightfully mine from me.

After what feels like forever, I finally hear a car pull into the driveway, and my body lights up with anticipation. I don't even make an effort to hide any evidence of me being here as I stand up to disguise myself in her hallway. I hear a car door slam shut just before the front door pops open.

"I'm done with this day," I hear Averysay as she closes the door.

She shuffles around a bit and walks straight to her kitchen. When she walks past the hallway, she doesn't bother to look to her left to see me standing here. I slip behind her and follow her as she places a box on the kitchen table. My eyes catch the Rogue symbol on the side and it immediately piques my interest.

She turns to face me, eyes going wide. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm afraid you and I need to take a little trip." I offer my hand out to her. Maybe she will be stupid enough to let me do this the easy way.

She pushes it away from her. "I'm not going anywhere with you, psycho."

I take a step closer. "That's where you're wrong. You are coming with me."

When I reach out and grab her by the throat to squeeze, there's nothing she can do to stop it. She tries to push me off of her and flails around a bit, but she's so tiny it doesn't help. Her nails come up to my wrist, digging in as she tries to pry my hand free, but all she manages to do is tire herself out.

I see the moment the edges of her vision go black because her eyes widen in panic. I only tighten my grip to try and hurry this process along. I don't want to kill her, at least not yet. I need her alive so I can lure Callie back to Rogue.

The only purpose Avery serves is bait. When her body goes slack in my hold, I release her, letting her fall to the groundwith a thud. I look down and pull the syringe out of my pocket, injecting her with the drug that fills it. Ideally, she will stay unconscious now for the entire trip.

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