“Hey! Don’t drag me into your domestic,” I call, right before the door shuts and I catch Caiden flipping Ry off.
I’m grinning like a lovesick dope all the way down to the lobby, my hand clutched in Rayne’s where he’s tucked it into his hoodie pocket, and Baxter’s arm resting casually over my shoulder as he fills the elevator with small talk. It’s cute, and one of countless moments we’ve shared over the past two weeks that make my heart fuller than it’s ever been before. It’s one of those moments that make me realize just how lucky I am to have found the four of them, my soul always at peace when they’re near.
The only thing that would bring me more peace would be if the police actually offered an update on this whole Toby situation. It’s the only outstanding worry I have in my life, but Ryan likes to assure me that no news is good news. The jury is still out on that one, but I’m willing to go on with my life as though Tobe the Chode doesn’t exist.
So that’s exactly what I do. With a little pep in my step, I wave over at Callie as we pass through, and she smiles widely in return, always so chipper and cute. We head outside, the evening air still warm from the beautiful day we’ve had. The city glows gold and orange as the sun begins to set, dipping lower behind buildings, and I tilt my face up toward the last rays of sunshine spilling over us.
“Oh, shit,” Bax suddenly blurts, and my eyes pop open as I look over at him.
“What? Is it the—” I start.
“It’s not the fucking Autobots, Sunshine,” Bax interrupts with a loud laugh, and I roll my eyes at him even as my lips twitch. It will happen one of these days, I’m telling you. And I’ll be the only one laughing when everyone scatters in fear the moment a sentient robot lands on the first car their metal bodies can find.
“It’s only a matter of time,” I grumble, hugging Rayne’s arm against my chest with a small pout that makes my brooding man snort.
Bax shakes his head with a diabolical smile before he says, “I left my wallet in the car. Go on ahead and I’ll catch up with you guys.”
“That’s just old man behavior,” I tease, despite the man only being three years older than me. He’s the oldest of our little group, so it seems only fair that he takes up the mantle of our resident pensioner.
“Watch your mouth, Sunshine,” Bax warns, flashing another grin before he disappears.
Rayne laughs quietly beside me as we step out onto the sidewalk, squeezing my hand comfortingly. I drop my head against his arm and ask, “What takes your fancy for dinner tonight, good looking?”
“I dunno. What are you—” Rayne begins to answer, but then I freeze, my entire body turning rigid as my eyes land on a sight I never would have anticipated. I don’t hear anything else after the first few words, my mind turning blank while a ringing appears in my ears that makes my heart drop to my stomach.
Rayne’s arm yanks against mine as he continues walking, jerking to a sudden stop that has him turning to face me with a pinched brow. I only see it from my peripheral, my eyes solidly stationed on the man who steps out of the car I didn’t recognize, his hand loaded down with a gun that fills my entire body with a sickening rush of dread, fear, and undiluted horror.
My body grows cold, so fast that it physically hurts, as Toby slams his car door shut with far more force than necessary, and it captures Rayne’s attention as quickly as the gun did mine. I feel him turn to stone beside me within the next second, clocking the situation with a rapid pace that sadly doesn’t make me feel better.
Locking eyes with me, my stomach cramping at the crazed look in his eyes, Toby takes two steps forward before he drawls, “There she is, the star of the hour.”
His words are a little slurred, his clothes a disheveled mess that makes me wonder if he’s been drinking. There’s an almost glassy tinge to his eyes that has me swallowing hard, my fingers clutching around Rayne’s hand even tighter than before. He squeezes back with what I imagine is reassurance, but it does nothing to stop the roaring terror that now fuels my body.
And it’s not even terror for me.
Because even though Toby holds the gun up suddenly, pointing it at me with scary accuracy for someone who doesn’t look to be of sound mind, knowing Rayne is directly beside me and could get hurt sends a shattering dread directly to my heart.
“Oh my God,” I vaguely hear from a passerby somewhere behind me. I can’t take my eyes off Toby long enough to check, heart hammering at a dangerous rate that makes me feel violently sick.
Toby smiles, and there’s something completely wrong about it. There’s no anger, no heartbreak, just a bone-deep wrongness that has the hairs on my body standing on end.
“I don’t know why, but you’ve been real hard to talk to these days, Madison,” Toby says, and the sound of his voice is just as unnatural as the look on his face. There’s something wrong with him, something more than alcohol, and that dread in my chest only grows.
Rayne notices, too, and he steps slightly in front of me automatically. He’s guarding me from my unhinged ex, and if I wasn’t so scared out of my fucking mind, I’d consider it romantic. Even if I want to smack him for putting himself in more danger than he already is.
Sadly for us both, Toby doesn’t seem to like the new position, and he swings the gun toward Rayne wildly. With a vicious growl, he snaps sharply, “No. Get the fuck back and stay exactly where you were.”
My stomach sinks to the depths of the ocean, and my jaw clenches when Rayne doesn’t move, determined to keep himself between me and the gun. It only pisses Toby off further, so with as careful of a whisper as I can manage, I squeeze Rayne’s hand once and say, “Rayne, get back.”
His jaw tightens in a way that looks painful. He looks back at me, and I peer back at him, swallowing hard at the bone-deep fear I see swimming in those pretty blue eyes of his. I noddiscreetly, and he looks away, right before he steps aside and moves back to his original spot on the sidewalk.
The moment Rayne moves, the gun is pointed right back at me, and my heart hiccups a beat. Toby smiles, that weird empty smile. “There. That’s better. Isn’t it better, Madison?”
With his focus now trained on me, I slowly slide my hand out of Rayne’s, his fingers flexing around mine too late in an attempt to keep me where I am. I mean, it looks like it’s just me Toby is here for, and I’ll be damned if I allow anyone to get hurt who doesn’t deserve it. This is my problem, so I’ll deal with it. If I can, that is.
The tremble in Toby’s hand makes my decision questionable at best, but I square my shoulders and force my voice into sounding steady as I say, “Toby, you’re scaring people. Is that what you want?”
He laughs.
