Damaged Queen (Darkness Within Duet 2)

When she couldn’t see the town any longer, she turned back in her seat and stared out of the window. She didn’t see anything though. She kept wiping the tears as they fell down her cheeks.

“You know, you could go back.”

“No, I can’t.”

“You’re a strong woman, Harper. You can handle anything.”

“I can handle a lot of stuff, but not this. You didn’t see him. He wants me gone, and I’m not going to force him to make me stay.” She wiped her eyes a final time. “Please, just, can we just be quiet?”

“Yes, sweetie. Yes.”

****

Draven watched Harper leave. He stared out of his office window and saw Ian. She didn’t run into her father’s arms. She’d never run into Ian’s arms for as long as Draven had known her. Not since he broke her trust, and yet last night, she’d been in his arms, allowed him to make love to her, even after what he’d done.

He kept on watching until the car drove away.

After that, he got all the guards out of the house. Every single one of them. He told them to leave, to go to their families and if needed, they would be contacted.

Right there, in the office, he poured gasoline over every single piece of furniture and book within the office. Once it was soaked and the fumes filled the air, he stared at the office that he’d once been so fucking proud of, lit a match, and threw it in.

The fire started immediately. He walked out of the house and went to the front. Minutes passed, and he stared as the house, room by room, caught aflame.

An inheritance of evil finally burned to the ground, just like the whipping post.

Turning his back, he walked away from the house, going through the streets as he saw people rushing past him, going to the burning, to the town spectacle of what he’d created. The only good thing that house had done was to burn.

He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Axel’s number.

“What?” Axel asked as way of a response.

“I’ve got a plan, but I need help.”

“Meet me at Buck and Jett.”

He didn’t wait for an answer.

Draven walked through the town toward the cemetery. He passed Ian’s house, knowing Harper wouldn’t go there. She wouldn’t go anywhere in town. He made sure of that. He’d never forget the look in her eyes for as long as he lived.

She’s been so sad, so unhappy, and it was all because of him. Because of what he’d done to her.

He couldn’t back down. Not now. Not after everything he’d already lost.

Entering the cemetery, he went to Harper’s mother’s grave first.

“Hello, Mrs. Miller. I love your daughter more than anything else in the world. I’ve been blind to a lot of things, and that has made me hurt her in ways I never should have. One day, I do hope she can forgive me, but I’m never going to ask for it because I don’t deserve it. I am sorry for all the pain I’ve caused her.”

He nodded at her side and moved onto his friends.

He stared at their names, and again that old pain filled his chest.

“Well, you’re a morbid one in the morning,” Axel said, arriving five minutes later. “I saw what you did to the house. I hope you did it. If not, we had one hell of a gas leak. I hope you got Harper out of there as well.”

“Harper’s gone.”

“Gone?”

“Yes. She’s gone and not coming back.” Draven turned to Axel. “Over ten years ago, we said when our fathers passed, be it by our hand or natural causes, we’d take over and change everything.”

“That we did. It never happened.”

“I want to do it now.”

“Draven?”

“It pretty much means certain death. I know that. We’ll have to do a lot of killing. A lot of people are going to be unhappy with us, but we’ve got a team of men and women who are loyal to us.”

“Are you asking me to help you start a war?” Axel asked.

“I’m asking you to help me end one. Once and for all. I don’t want to carry on in my father’s footsteps. All of this, it dies with him.”

“And at the end of it?”

“If we’re still standing, we walk. We go our separate ways. This is to the death, if we can do it.”

“You mean walking away for good.”

“I’ve already burned down a house. We can go back and burn my father’s house. All of it, gone. No more Stonewall. No more us. We move on.”

“And you go and find Harper. Live happily ever after with her, is that it?”

“I don’t see us living past this, Axel.”

“What will happen with her?”

“I’ve made arrangements for her. She’ll always be taken care of. You know I would.”

“Of course I do.” Axel sighed. “This is a big deal.”