The Darkness In You

THE DARKNESS IN YOU THE FOUR BOOK 6 BECCA STEELE The Darkness In You Copyright © 2023 by Becca Steele All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Editing by One Love Editing Proofreading by Rumi Cover photography by Michelle Lancaster Becca Steele www.authorbeccasteele.com This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s crazy imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. CONTENTS Playlist Author’s note Another note A Quick Recap Part One Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Part Two Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Part Three Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Epilogue 1 Epilogue 2 Thank you and a note Acknowledgments Also by Becca Steele About the Author PLAYLIST Loner - Theory of a Deadman Monster - Imagine Dragons Zombie - Bad Wolves The Sun Has Set on Me - Theory of a Deadman The Dark of You - Breaking Benjamin Demons - Imagine Dragons With Or Without You - U2 Alone - I Prevail Angel - Theory of a Deadman Monster - Walking on Cars I Started A Joke - ConfidentialMX, Becky Hanson Love Is Gone (Acoustic) - SLANDER, Dylan Matthew One More Light - Linkin Park Enemy Reimagined (Acoustic) - Designer Disguise Fallen Angel - TIX Wicked Game - Theory of a Deadman Here With You - Sick Puppies Ashes of Eden - Breaking Benjamin Scars - Alfie Acuri Right Here - Ashes Remain Pieces - Red Nightlight - Finding Hope My Escape - Ravenscode Find the playlist on Spotify or YouTube AUTHOR’S NOTE The author is British, and British English spellings and phrases are used throughout. Please note that this book may contain triggers for some readers. Please view the trigger warnings page below for details: https://authorbeccasteele.com/trigger-warnings/ You can find the playlist for TDIY on Spotify or YouTube ANOTHER NOTE While The Darkness In You is technically a standalone novel, it is best enjoyed after the previous books in the series (particularly books 1-3), in order to gain an understanding of the characters and continuing storylines. All are available on Amazon, and are in Kindle Unlimited. #1: The Lies We Tell #2: The Secrets We Hide #3: The Havoc We Wreak #4: The Fight In Us #5: The Bonds We Break If you haven’t read them, or read them a while ago and need a reminder of what happened, read on for a quick recap of the books. Please note that this recap contains MAJOR spoilers! If you would prefer not to read, skip ahead to Part 1 of the story. Becca xoxo A QUICK RECAP *Contains spoilers for the first five books in the Four series* Winter Huntington moved to Alstone in order to investigate her father’s mysterious death, moving into an apartment on the campus of Alstone College, which she shared with Kinslee Stewart, who would later become her best friend. When she arrived in Alstone, she reconnected with her estranged mother, Christine Clifford. Christine was now married to Arlo Cavendish, one of the three founding families of Alstone Holdings and a powerful man. Arlo had two sons, Caiden and Weston, who lived with their two other best friends, Zayde Lowry and Cassius Drummond. Collectively they were known as the Four. All sexy, tattooed, girls falling at their feet…you know the type. While Weston was friendly enough to Winter, Caiden hated her. Or so he tried to tell himself. This all stemmed from the fact that he despised Christine, who had been having an affair with his dad. During their affair, Caiden’s mother had committed suicide (a fact that Caiden and Arlo took care to keep hidden from Weston, to protect him. Instead, they’d told him that she’d passed away from a brain haemorrhage). Then came the story of boy meets girl, boy hates/lusts after girl, girl is confused, oops we kissed, we kissed again, my dick slipped into you, some fireworks, and yay we actually like each other! Alongside all that, the investigations continued, and Winter and the Four drew closer to the answers. Weston was a computer genius, and with the help of his hacker connection (codenamed Mercury), he was able to procure information that would help them. At a party at the Cavendish residence, Winter met Cassius’ younger sister, Lena, for the first time, later finding out that Lena was there to investigate an illegal dog fighting ring, which was being live-streamed in one of the side rooms at the party. She later helped Winter and the Four, becoming a friend to Winter in the process. There was a situation involving Winter’s friend James Granville, ending up with Caiden jumping to the wrong conclusions and telling Winter it was over between them. Unfortunately right after that happened, Winter ended up being knocked out and taken by the Belarusian gang that were working with her mother, and when she was eventually found, things were a little awkward between her and Caiden. Circumstances kept them apart (i.e. Caiden needing time to come to his senses), and at a masquerade ball, they finally reconnected, although they’d both been coerced into attending with other dates. Winter with Cassius, and Caiden with Jessa De Witt, who was the daughter of