JODIE
Iwake with a start as the echo of an explosion rocks through me, but I don’t sit up. I can’t. There’s a dead weight over my waist, holding me down.
Where the fuck am I?
“It’s okay, baby.”
That voice.
That fucking voice.
“Toby?” I cry. My eyes fly open and immediately flood with tears.
I find him laying beside me, propped up on his elbow, staring down at me.
His face is covered in ash and dried blood, his brow and lip are split, and a tender-looking purple bruise covers his jawline. My brows pinch at the state of him before my eyes lift to his messy hair before locking on his dark and haunted eyes.
“It’s over, baby. You’re safe. He’s gone. It’s over.”
“Oh my God,” I sob, my tears spilling free as I lift my arms, wrap them around his neck and pull his entire weight down on top of me.
It hurts, but it’s nothing compared to what I’ve been through the past… however long.
He’s here, and he’s in my arms.
He came for me. Jonas was wrong.
He came for me and—
“I love you, Jodie. I’d have given my life to get you out of there, I hope you know that.”
“Toby,” I sob, unable to get the words out that I want to say to him as I hold onto him tighter.
My entire body trembles with the strength of my sobs, but I’m powerless to stop them.
Toby shifts us so that I’m sitting in his lap with my face tucked into his neck.
Memories of the past few days. The desperation I felt at being so helpless. The fear that Jonas was right and that he wasn’t out there looking for me. All of it just comes flooding out in red-hot, ugly tears.
I soak his shirt through but he doesn’t complain. He just holds me, his strength and comfort unwavering as I slowly begin to relax.
“Where’s Mum? Is she okay?” I ask, my voice rough with emotion.
“She’s fine, baby. She’s in my guest room.”
“We’re—” I pull my face from his shoulder and blink a few times as I look around at his bedroom.
“I brought you both home, baby. You’re safe here, and you can stay as long as you need to.”
“O-our house?”
Toby winces, giving me the answer I already knew.
“Shit.”
“You and your Mum are safe. That’s all that matters right now.”
“Is everyone else okay?”