An angry sob bubbled out as she turned down the street that led to hers, the roar of motorcycles close behind. She saw Baz and Gunner fall back from the others, and she knew damn well they were going to take up residence a block away from her cottage. They probably had more Dark Knights posted at strategic locations in the woods around her house, just far enough away that Madigan couldn’t see them but close enough to keep her safe. Her chest ached at the thought that Tobias was someone she needed protection from. She felt so stupid. She’d seen the red flags with him. He’d warned her away, and she’d still plowed forward like she had a reservation at Heartbreak Hotel, and she’d be damned if she’d miss it. But at the same time, she couldn’t believe the one man who made her feel free and safe had killed someone. How was that possible? Wouldn’t she have felt that kind of evil energy? Felt it in his touch? Seen it in his eyes? Something.

Tobias’s face flashed in her mind, that now-familiar tug she’d felt since the very first time she’d seen him slicing like a knife.

She turned down her street and into her driveway, throwing the Jeep into park, hoping to make it inside before her bodyguards got to her. But when she climbed out of her Jeep, Blaine and Zeke were already climbing off their bikes. Zander must have hung back to stand guard at the end of her road. She hurried up to the front door.

“Madigan,” Blaine called after her.

She ignored him, trying to hold her shit together as she unlocked the door.

“Mads!” Zeke ran up behind her.

“I can’t,” she said without turning around and rushed inside, locking the door behind her. Her heart raced as she leaned her back against it.

“Come on, Madigan,” Blaine said through the door. “It had to be done.”

“Go away,” she shouted through her tears, chest aching.

“You know I won’t leave you,” Blaine insisted.

She heard him and Zeke arguing. Zeke was trying to convince him to give her space, but Blaine wasn’t giving an inch. How did such a great morning turn into this? Her brothers’ argument escalated, and something inside her snapped. She threw open the door, seething at Blaine. “Why can’t you leave me alone? Haven’t you done enough?”

Blaine stepped forward. “I know you’re pissed, but—”

“No. No buts. What you did was fucked-up. I’m your sister. I’m the one you should have come to, not Tobias.”

“I warned him,” Blaine fumed.