Chapter 24
Dexter
G etting shot in the head was not pleasant.
I wanted the fucker dead. He’d terrorized my Toby. I could still smell the fear on him—an acrid and bitter scent that he hadn’t entirely shaken off.
Hellhounds didn’t die easily. I’d never known one who’d actually been killed, so I wasn’t sure it was even possible. Some things took a little recovery time, though, and getting shot in the brain was something that took a few moments to get over. Hellhounds had the speed to dodge a head shot, but there had been Toby to consider, and taking the shot had seemed the best course of action.
Any other bullet wounds wouldn’t have slowed me down, but a head shot required a bit more work. By the time I’d expelled the bullet from my brain and had full awareness back, I’d smelled Toby’s fear, the stench of the rotting soul, and, thankfully, another hellhound.
Atlas must have been close by, and Jude or Corbin must’ve texted him to get over here. Why he wouldn’t kill the fucker I didn’t know, and he clearly didn’t feel like shifting to explain. Maybe he just didn’t want to scare Toby; I didn’t know if he knew that Toby even knew about us.
So much to figure out, but first, my Toby. He was cradled in my arms, and his shaking had subsided. I carried him into his house and upstairs to his bedroom, pausing only to shut the music off downstairs, which I managed to do without putting Toby down.
I walked into the bathroom, and that’s where the dilemma was. I didn’t really want to let him go, but I needed to wash off the blood, and Toby was messy with dirt and leaves from the forest.
I managed to grip him with one arm and free a hand to turn the water on. The sound seemed to rouse Toby, because he started to shift like he wanted down out of my arms. I growled but let him stand, making sure he was steady. He stayed huddled into my arms, and I stripped off his shirt, making sure to stay close and keep body contact with him. I managed to slide down my pants and kick them off, and then I slid his off as well, his hands using my shoulders for support when I knelt down.
He still looked dazed and a bit out of it, and I picked him up and carried him into the shower, letting the hot water spray down onto him, making sure his face stayed clear. He eventually seemed to rouse, and he put his hands on my shoulders and made motions as if to get out of my arms.
“I can stand up,” he murmured.
I could only growl in response. Maybe it was a delayed response on my part, but it was starting to hit me that Toby had almost been hurt. What if the guy had shot him? What if in the moments the bullet had been expelling from my brain, he’d hurt my Toby? I growled again.
Toby patted my chest. “I’m ok,” he murmured, almost as if he could sense my thoughts. “I’m ok, and you’re ok, and the guy is in the basement or whatever.”
I let his legs slide down from my arms, making sure to support him in case he was still shaky. He held onto my shoulders, and he seemed steady enough. He looked up at me, and I saw tears in his eyes. He reached up and touched my head, and I realized the blood was still there.
I ducked my head under the water to rinse it away, saying, “It takes a lot more than bullets to kill me.”
“What does it take?” he whispered. “I thought… Fuck, Dex.”
“I don’t even know that we can die. I’ve never known a hellhound to die. So you don’t need to worry about that, ok, baby?” I reassured him. “Let’s get you clean.”
I gently soaped him up, washing his body and his hair. When I was done, he did the same for me. We both ended up slightly turned on, but we both knew that wasn’t what we needed.
I would make Toby mine later and claim him in that way, but right now, I just needed to care for him. He apparently felt the same way, because his soft hands lightly caressing my skin were almost reverent.
We were both ok. We needed to just feel each other to make sure of that.
When we were done, I shut the shower off and dried us off. He stayed huddled into me, which made it slightly difficult, but I wanted him to stay exactly where he was—pressed against me.
When we were dry enough, I carried him into the bedroom and lay on the bed with him, wrapping him in my arms and nuzzling into his neck. Our hands traced over each other’s bodies, and we just touched and lay together, breathing and calming down.
I don’t know how much time passed, but eventually I heard the sound of a car coming towards the house. I almost tensed, but I could hear the music as well, and I knew it was Jude and Corbin. No one else would be blasting The Beatles coming up the driveway.
The music shut off, and I heard two car doors slam.
“Dex,” I heard Jude call out.
I sighed, and Toby lifted his head to look at me.
“Are you ok?” I asked him.
“Are your brothers here?” he asked. He must have heard the car doors as well.
“Yeah,” I answered.
“You need to go talk to them and find out what’s going on,” Toby told me. “It isn’t really over. That guy is in your basement. And I don’t wanna know what you do to him, but I wanna know when he’s taken care of. And I need to call Amy to know that she’s safe, too.”
“Can Jude and Corbin sit with you? I don’t want you alone,” I commented, kissing his forehead. I smelled a pleased, happy smell from him, and it was a welcome scent after his fear.
“Yeah. But maybe we can get dressed and meet them downstairs?” Toby suggested.
“Yes. And you need to eat,” I added. Humans could go into shock, and I should’ve fed Toby and gotten him some hydration before now.
“Yeah. I’m ok, but I do still feel shaky from the adrenaline, and you’re right that some food will help,” he agreed.
We got up and dressed, heading downstairs to meet Corbin and Jude. They had let themselves in, and Corbin was already at the stove cooking. Jude was out on the front porch, waiting to talk to me, I was sure.
I pulled Toby in for a hug and gave him another kiss on the forehead.
“I love you, Dex,” he said, hugging me tightly.
I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. I had never had anyone tell me that before. I had never said it, either, but somehow the words flowed easily off my tongue. “I love you too, Toby. More than life itself.”
He smiled and nodded against me, then he gave my butt a playful swat and pulled away, putting on a smile as he turned to face Corbin. “Thank god you’re cooking, because I suck at it,” he joked.
Corbin looked over and smiled, and a crow flew down from who knew where and left a shiny, smooth pebble on the kitchen island in front of Toby, hopping back and forth on the island. Toby looked enchanted by the gift, and he sat down, watching the crow.
“I get shit on, and he gets pretty pebbles,” I muttered.
Toby laughed, and I walked over to kiss him again before I headed toward the front door. “I’ll be right next door. You just yell if you need me,” I said, and Toby nodded and smiled at me.
I turned and walked away, and I had to fight down my flames. Just thinking about that fucker…
“Whoa there, killer,” Jude joked when I got to the front porch. He talked quietly enough that Toby wouldn’t be able to hear us.
“Is he dead?” I ground out.
“He’s in the basement with Atlas. He was waiting on you,” Jude commented. “Did you check your texts?” he asked.
“No. We were sleeping, then he shot me in the head,” I added.
“Too slow to duck, old man?” Jude joked.
“I was afraid the bullet would hit Toby,” I answered, and Jude sobered instantly at that.
“Yeah, well, one of the guys was evil but not our guy, and Corbin took care of him while I checked out the others. The second guy was an innocent, so I left him alone, and the third guy was in the wind, which was what I texted to let you know. I’m assuming that’s our guy who is currently being held downstairs.”
I nodded once. I didn’t understand why we even needed to talk about this.
“Dex, this guy stalked someone else a year ago according to Liam,” Jude stated.
“Yeah, Liam told me. We’ll make him suffer for that man’s death,” I growled. He would have done the same to Toby, and I would make sure his last moments on the mortal plane were excruciating.
I heard Toby’s footsteps coming up behind me, and Jude looked at me, but I only nodded for him to continue. I wouldn’t hide anything from Toby. If he wanted to know what was going on, then he deserved that closure.
“I… Dex, I smelled another human on a lot of this guy’s clothing. He lived alone, and according to all Liam’s digging, he doesn’t have a boyfriend or post about anyone on social media,” Jude said.
“A coworker?” I asked.
“The other person smelled like fear and innocence, Dex,” Jude answered.
Toby grabbed onto me from behind. “Do you think the other guy he stalked is still alive?” he gasped.
Jude shrugged. “I don’t know. The scent wasn’t fresh, but it wasn’t so old that it had faded. There was no one in his ritzy apartment complex that fit the smell—I searched the halls on each floor to be sure. He’s well off, and Liam is trying to find out if there are any other properties he owns. There’s some family money, but most of the estate looks like it’s lived in by other family members. If he has this guy stored somewhere, we have quite a few possibilities.”
“So you’ll find out,” Toby answered. “You’ll do whatever you need to in order to find out where this guy is, and you’ll save him.”
He kissed the back of my arm then, saying, “Go talk to him, Dex. I’m ok. Jude and Corbin are here with me.”
I turned and pressed a kiss to his lips, then I jumped off his porch and stalked over to my house. Toby was right; I had work to do.
By the time I was in the door and walking down the basement steps, the stench of the decaying soul was overpowering.
Atlas was in his human form, a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie that were obviously mine thrown on. He sat sulking in the corner, staring at the guy who was tied up and gagged in a chair. The guy was bruised and bleeding, and his wrist was definitely mangled, but he looked pretty intact otherwise.
“Thank you,” I murmured to Atlas. He had saved Toby. He had taken care of things when I was too distracted, and he hadn’t killed this guy when I would’ve because he had obviously been in touch with Jude.
Atlas merely grunted in acknowledgement. That was our Atlas—a hellhound of few words.
I took the gag out of the guy’s mouth. “What’s your name?” I asked, even though I could’ve just asked Jude.
“Bradley. Bradley Howard. I have money. My family has money. They’ll pay a ransom for me,” he rambled.
I laughed. “You think this is about money? You tried to kidnap Toby.”
“I didn’t,” the man started, and I slapped him across the face. He whimpered even though it was barely a tap.
“My Toby,” I snarled.
That seemed to shake something loose in him, because he stared at me hatefully.
“Did you think he was yours ?” I snarled. “He isn’t yours. He would never be yours. He would never stoop to a disgusting piece of shit like you. You aren’t worth the ground he walks upon.”
“I could’ve given him everything . He doesn’t want you; he wants me! We’re fated to be together!” the man yelled, spittle flying from his mouth.
“Just like the bartender? Is he fated to be with you, too?” I asked.
“Aiden and I broke up,” Bradley said. “I would never cheat on Toby.”
I’d seen all kinds of delusional shit, and I knew that this guy totally believed his break up story. The only question was whether or not Aiden was still alive, or if their “break up” meant that Bradley had killed him.
“Time for some answers, Bradley,” I muttered, walking over to a table that had some tools laid out.
“Finally,” Atlas muttered.
If Aiden was still alive, we’d find out where he was. If I happened to try out some more torture methods for my boyfriend along the way, well—anything for my Toby. I smiled as I turned around to face the piece of shit who had tried to hurt my Toby, and he whimpered at the look on my face.
“Don’t worry, Bradley—I’m sure you’ll tell us everything we need to know,” I said, stalking toward him.
He was screaming within a minute, and Atlas and I found out everything we needed to within an hour. It didn’t matter, though. He would’ve hurt Toby, and his suffering wasn’t going to end that quickly.
We made it last.