Chapter 23
Toby
O h my god, oh my god. He’d shot Dexter. He’d shot Dexter in the fucking head and there was blood and Dexter was down and I could see a figure slowly walking toward the house in the darkness.
Dexter had told me to run; that had been the last thing he said.
I didn’t know if he was alive or not. Dear god, please let him be alive. I couldn’t lose him. I couldn’t. He meant too much to me. I’d just found him. He had to be ok.
I’d watched him get shot in the head. No one could survive that.
But he was a hellhound. They lived a long time. They were strong. They were “practically invincible,” they’d said, when I’d been asking questions.
I wished I’d asked what the “practically” part meant.
I wanted to check on him, but I knew there was nothing I could do, and I knew if he wasn’t dead, the guy would probably finish him off if given the opportunity. I did the only thing I could think of to get him away from Dex; I did exactly what Dex told me to do.
I ran.
I didn’t bother shutting the door—I wanted him to follow me and not stop at Dex. I ran through the house and out the back door, flinging it open and careening down the back steps. I could hear footsteps behind me, and I headed straight out into the forest. Maybe I could lose him. Maybe I could distract him enough for Jude and Corbin to get here, and they could do something, and Dex would be ok.
Dex had to be ok.
There was no point if he wasn’t. If he was dead… But he couldn’t be. I felt like he was still with me, like he was still a piece of me. I pressed my hand to the mark on my neck where he had bitten me, and I… I could do this. I would do this. Dex would want me to stay safe, and I would do what Dex wanted.
His brothers would come, and they would fix him. That was all there was to it, and I refused to let myself think anything else.
I ran, dodging trees and stumbling over branches. I knew I was being too loud and my breath was coming in great gasps. Convincing myself that Dex was ok pushed some of the panic back, and I slowed down, trying to quiet myself.
Someone was following behind, crashing through the underbrush just as loudly as I had been, but I could hear them slowing down now that I wasn’t blundering through the woods.
I put my hand over my own mouth, trying to calm my breath, and started quietly darting from tree to tree. It was dark as hell out, and I knew if I couldn’t see him, he couldn’t see me, either. I just needed to stay away from him. Maybe I could backtrack to the house without him knowing? I would try. I knew these woods better than him. I’d walked through them plenty of times while thinking and plotting.
I almost laughed at that. I was in my own fucking suspense novel.
“Toby?” a voice called out. “Toby? Where are you? We’re here to help. Toby!” the voice yelled out.
Bullshit. I wasn’t stupid.
“We got a call from your neighbor about a gunshot, and we found someone dead on your porch,” the voice said.
Lies. Lies. Lies.
“Toby, the neighbor said they saw someone else. We know it wasn’t you who shot the guy. We’re looking for the perpetrator now. We need to get you to safety, though,” the voice called.
I kept creeping along. I wasn’t a fucking idiot. If it were the police or first responders or whoever, they would have identified themselves first, and there would have been more than one voice.
I quietly continued to creep along. I needed to double back to check on Dex, but I didn’t want to run into the stalker. I sort of knew where he was based on his voice, but it was hard to pinpoint sound in the woods. I just knew it was behind me. Still, I couldn’t let him push me further and further away from civilization.
I started heading sideways, towards Dex’s and Patricia’s houses. I didn’t want to involve Patricia, but if I could get into Dex’s house, I could call the cops. I knew Dex had said no human police, but I think we were a little past that.
“Toooo-beeeeey,” a voice called out, and it sent shivers down my spine.
The man laughed. “Of course you wouldn’t fall for that. You’re too smart for that. I know that. It was why I was so attracted to you to begin with.”
Yes, just keep talking. I quietly crept along, going sideways instead of further back into the woods, trying to avoid the voice in the darkness.
“You don’t know me, I know that, but I have only your best interests in mind. I know exactly what you need, Toby. I’ve read all your work, more than once. I know what you cry out for. The protection and the undying love—I can give that to you, Toby,” he said.
I stumbled on a branch, a cracking noise interrupting the silence. Shit! I quietly moved as fast as I could to get away from where I had made the noise, but when his voice started again, it was closer.
“I’ll give you everything you ever desired. I know your deepest fantasies, and I can make them all come true, Toby. You just have to trust me,” he called out.
Fuck. He’d figured out which way I was headed. I crept quickly and quietly, trying to backtrack now. Fuck it. I would hopefully get back to one of the houses first. I wasn’t even sure if I was behind mine or Dex’s, but it didn’t matter.
“I know it wasn’t you who blocked me. I know it was that bitch of a PA. Don’t worry, Toby, she’s been taken care of,” he called out.
He had to be lying. I’d talked to Amy this morning, and she was a plane ride away from here. There was no way he had gotten to her. He was just trying to draw me out.
I could see lights in the distance ahead now, and I knew that at least I was headed back towards the houses. But if I could see the lights, then there was also the possibility that he’d be able to see me once I got closer to them. Darkness was my friend out here.
I didn’t think he’d shoot me, but what did I know? He’d shot Dex in the head—but he was fine; he had to be fine—but that implied he was a pretty good shot. He could probably shoot me in the leg or something, and then I’d be fucking caught.
I didn’t know what to do. Shit, shit, shit.
And then I thought I heard it… a low growling sound.
Oh god, please, please let it be a hellhound. Please let it be Dex or Corbin or Jude or fucking anyone.
Then I saw them off in the distance—the little red and blue flames dancing along the back of a tall, dark, hound-like figure. Only it wasn’t coming from the direction of the house; it was coming from back in the woods.
It wasn’t Dex, but it was a hellhound. Was it Corbin or Jude? I had no idea, but I thought they’d come from a car if they were going to get here. But what did I know? How fast could hellhounds run? I wished I had asked even more questions.
I did the only thing I could think of—I ran towards him. At this point a strange hellhound was far better than my stalker. I had to believe it was someone Dex knew, and Dex needed help.
I didn’t try to keep quiet now; I just ran.
“Toby!” the man’s voice cried out, and I heard footsteps crashing through the woods behind me, but I didn’t care at this point.
“He shot Dexter!” I called out into the darkness, aiming for the hellhound, running as fast as I could. He had stopped and stood still, as if surprised I was running toward him, but at my words he charged forward.
Oh god, oh god, oh god. He was fucking huge, and he was on fire, and his eyes were glowing red, and he was growling, and it was fucking scary. It was not Dexter, and I didn’t think it was Jude or Corbin either although I had no fucking clue why I thought that.
The hellhound was careening toward me, and the stalker was running behind me, and I was literally caught between a psychopath with a gun and a creature from hell. I felt like the hellhound was literally going to collide with me, but the stalker was right fucking behind me now. I could practically feel him reaching out to me.
“Gotcha!” he cried out, snagging the back of my shirt. I went down, stumbling over my feet, and I felt the stalker go down on top of me, knocking the wind out of me.
I gasped, trying to catch my breath, feeling the heavy weight on top of me, and then it was gone, knocked off me.
I rolled over and turned around, and there was the hellhound, dripping fire, snarling, and growling. He was standing over the man, who was laying dazed in the dirt. I could see the stalker now in the glow from the flames, and he looked like an attractive and fit guy, which somehow made me even more pissed off. Shouldn’t he have some tragic backstory to explain his stalking?
“What the fuck?” he whispered, and then he raised his hand with the gun in it, but the hellhound was too fast for him, snapping his jaw down on the man’s wrist.
The man screamed in agony, dropping the gun, rolling around and grabbing his wrist. The hellhound just stood there over him, growling but doing nothing else, and I couldn’t figure out why. I wanted to shout at him to finish the man off, even if that was terribly brutal. I wanted him to go help Dex. I opened my mouth to demand that of him, and that’s when I saw a figure stalking toward us in the darkness.
Dexter.
He was alive.
Dear god, he was alive, and he was fucking beautiful, flames dancing along his skin as he prowled through the woods toward us. His bare feet and bare chest shone in the moonlight and the glow of his flames, and the dark sweatpants he had pulled on somehow didn’t burn away. There was blood on his head and in his hair, trailing down his chest, but he was walking towards us; he was alive.
“Dex!” I sobbed, relief and fear crashing into me, making me shake. I couldn’t even get up. I wanted to run to him but I couldn’t seem to make my arms and legs work.
He growled as he stared at me, looking me up and down, but I wasn’t afraid. I could never be afraid of him.
“I’m ok,” I called out. “I thought you were…”
I couldn’t even finish it.
He was suddenly in front of me, and it was like it had taken him years and merely seconds to get to me. I knew I was probably in shock or dealing with an adrenaline rush or something; I felt weak and shaky and cold and a little out of it, and I couldn’t hold back a sob when I felt his hands close over my arms.
He grabbed me to him, pulling me in close, and his flames licked along my skin, but they didn’t hurt at all. He was growling steadily, holding me tightly, and his warmth felt so good against my skin. My teeth were suddenly chattering, and I could only huddle into him.
He was safe. He was alive. He was ok.
“You’re ok,” I whispered, and he nodded his head against me, still growling. He held me for… I don’t know how long. Time seemed funny to me, and it could have been five minutes or an hour. At some point it was like reality came rushing back in, and I realized the man was sobbing quietly behind us. I tried to pull back to look, but Dex only held me tighter.
“Kill him,” Dex murmured above me.
There was a growl in response, and the man just continued his low sobbing noises.
“Why the fuck not?” Dex asked.
Another growl, and I had no idea if Dex understood what the other hellhound was saying or not, but he just gave a sigh.
“Toby, this is Atlas. Atlas, this is Toby,” he murmured.
I peeked out from behind Dex, and this time he let his hold loosen enough that I could. Atlas was still standing over the man, who was gripping his wrist and writhing in pain, whimpering and crying. There was blood on him, and I tried not to notice that.
“Hi,” I said. “Nice to meet you!” And then I giggled a little, because, yeah, this was kind of crazy.
Atlas sort of nodded his head in apparent greeting, then the man rolled a little to the side, and he was right back to growling and snarling at the guy, who went right back to whimpering.
Dex picked me up like I weighed absolutely nothing and started walking back towards the house with me. “Take him to the basement, Atlas,” he called over his shoulder.
I snuggled into his chest, and I could smell the smoky, campfire smell that was pure Dex. I closed my eyes, soaking in the warmth and letting everything else but the feel and smell of Dex slip away.