Page 97 of Shadows Within

They remain still and stare at me. “Let her go!” I yell. I need them to take me seriously.

“That won’t be happening, Callum.” Father walks out from behind Archer Alden, Harrison and Stirling’s dad.

Of course, he’s behind this. Of course, he wants this.

“You did this?” I point to Scarlett, she’s still sobbing.

It all makes sense that he wanted to use her against me. To bait me. To control me. I don’t matter to him—it all ends the same.

“I warned you, son. You chose not to listen.” He stays calm and steps closer. He holds a pistol in his hand.

“You only have one option.” He takes another step closer. “She’s not in it, Callum.” His dark eyes meet mine.

“NO! Please!” She yells behind me. “Callum! Please!” She cries.

“Callum, look what she’s done to your life. Look at the lack of control you have when you’re around her. You’ve become weak. Everything that you have worked for, everything that you want—it’s yours tonight.” He looks to Scarlett, then places the gun in my hand. He takes his place beside her.

“I’m sorry it had to be this way, Scarlett.” He pats her shoulder. She shuts her sobbing eyes and shakes her head.

“Everything that you’ve wanted will be yours, Callum. After you complete your initiation here tonight, you can walk away from The Society, or you can join your brothers and eventually become a Higher. You can have all the freedom you’ve everdreamed of. You can become whoever it is that you’ve been masking. All the lies can end tonight.”

The gun feels heavy and cold, a feeling that usually brings me pleasure. I’ll gladly kill those who deserve it, but her… she doesn’t deserve any part of this. She deserves happiness, and love. She deserveslife.

Father’s words hang over my head—you’ve become weak.

But my life isn’t for him, it’s never been for him.

I stare at the gun in my hand and remember the person I’ve been the last twenty-four years. The man I’ve fought to become.I’m not weak. I don’t need her.We used each other, to pass time.I can’t do this for her. She was just another girl who I lured in to keep me busy.

I think about who The Society has pushed me to become—a man who would give up nothing for love. I look over at her.I don’t love her—I can’t.

Slowly I raise the gun, holding my hand steady. I point it at her head.

“I’m not the hero in your story Angel, I never was.”

She tries to grab my legs, but I’m just far enough away that she can’t reach me.

“Callum, please, I love you.” She says quietly through her tears. “I know you love me too, Callum.”

Her words burn my ears. Even in death, she clings to me.

I cock my head to the side. The heat of her fingertips lingers on my skin from where she traced it last. I push the memory down to a dark place I never want to feel again. I take a step forward.

I bring the barrel of the gun between her eyes.

Just then, I hear a high pitch scream behind me. I look behind Leo, who stands closest to the altar, and see Harrison with Vanessa in front of him.

“My baby!” She yells and runs toward Scarlett. Sophia’s dad, Victor Roberts, grabs her. He pulls a gun out of his pants and holds it to her head.

Harrison stands beside me. I don’t have to look at him to know that he was forced to bring her here, to watch her daughter die—some fucked up twist of fate. Vanessa’s hair is a mess, it looks like she put up a fight or is still high.

I don’t move. I know that if I remove the barrel, I won’t be able to do it—I have to.

“Stop trying,” Victor tells Vanessa behind me.

Scarlett shuts her eyes, unable to look at me. Her chest quivering as she waits for me to pull the trigger.

The gun clicks as I remove the safety. Fear and betrayal pour out of her eyes.