Page 93 of Darkness Falls

"Hey, asshole. I'm aware of things."

Seb looks over at Callie. "Does she even know how to use a gun?"

"I'm sitting right here! Yes, I know how to use a gun. Do you want me to prove it to your grumpy ass?"

"Knock it off, all of you," Kyler says, grinning.

Callie looks over at me and squeezes my hand. “We’re going to get through this together.”

I smile at her, feeling the first bit of hope I’ve felt since finding out my parents were dead.

Chapter 44

Callie

After the revelation of Avery being my sister, we fell into silence for the remainder of the drive to Mary Wayfeather’s farm. It’s not a place many people frequented due to how secluded Mark liked to keep his family. I think one of the only reasons I was ever able to come here was because of my family’s standing within the society.

Everyone is tense with Damien being in the back. This wasn’t really a pit stop that we had planned for, but it’s necessary. I’m not sure how I’m going to handle seeing all the women at the farm. They’ve probably seen the smoke and possibly heard the explosion from Rogue. They must have questions, and I can’t leave them wondering what happened.

“Take the next right,” I say as we pull onto the farm’s road. A long, gated, driveway comes into view, and I curse under my breath. “I forgot it’s gated.”

“This is where I shine, princess. Give me a few moments to work my magic.” Barrett smiles over his shoulder as we pull to a stop in front of the gate.

He steps out of the car with his phone in hand, and I catch a glimpse of him pulling up some app before the screen moves outof view. I look over at Avery to see her biting at her fingernails. That’s not like her at all.

"Are you okay?" I ask while tapping on her shoulder.

“I’m fine” is all she says, which has me worried about her.

Barrett slides back into the front seat not even two minutes after getting out, and he looks at me with a silly grin. “Want to do the honors?”

He holds his phone out, prompting me to press something on it, and when I look down, I see the word ‘disengage.’ I tap it, and the gate in front of us slowly opens. He really is a genius when it comes to anything electronic.

When the gate opens fully, we drive up toward the house. The closer we get, the more people come into view. Children stop running and stare at the car. It’s hard for them to see who we are because of the tinted windows, but we don’t stop until we make it to the very end of the driveway, where a large group of women all stand.

“I need you guys to stay in the car,” I state plainly, not leaving it open for discussion.

“Callie,” Seb tries, but I shake my head.

“You need to stay in the car, and you need to trust me.”

“What if something happens? What if there are members of the guard here that weren’t in attendance at the trial?” Seb says.

“No. I’m not having this discussion with you an-”

“Payment?” he interrupts, and I already know what he means. If that’s what it takes to keep his controlling ass in check, then I’ll pay it.

“You can have your freebie back,” I offer, and he raises a brow. Nobody else in the car has anything else to say; they just sit silently as Seb and I work out who will be taking control of how this all goes down.

“Are you sure you want to give that up, trouble? It’s not something I’m ever going to offer again now that I’ve had you.”

“It’s what I have to offer. Will you take it and trust me or not?” I wait for him to answer, knowing the gravity of what I just gave back to him.

If I’m being completely honest, I don’t want to have control in bed anyway. It’s the one time when I like having the power taken away. I know he’s going to accept because it’s too tempting not to.

“I’ll give you ten minutes before we get out to check on you,” he counters, but I’m not having it.

“You’ll give me all the time I need because what I’m giving back to you in return is worth exactly that, and you know it,” I state firmly.

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