Page 9 of Delinquents Turned Fugitives
And that was when I saw his fangs as he growled, crouching to avoid my light.
Holy fuck.
He was a vampire.
My heart skidded to a halt, reversed, and tried to get the hell out of dodge. But my head yanked my heart back. The man was a vampire.
But he'd spoken.
He'd spoken.
My eyes stumbled over to look at each member of my crew to verify that they'd seen and heard what I had. Shock was scribbled across every face.
Malcolm was the first to say anything. But he didn't speak to me. He asked the vampire in the corner, "What's your name?"
There was silence for a moment, and then I saw the vampire's head tilt in the shadows, studying us as much as we did him. A shiver ran down my spine. "Is that really relevant when you're in the midst of escape?"
I padded over to the guys and whispered, "We should free him."
Five sets of eyes scrutinized me.
Andros shook his head immediately, crossing his bulky arms. Evan's blue eyes looked conflicted and he bit his lip. Gray gave a huff.
"If nothing else, it will split their attention as they try to capture us," I rationalized the aching need in my chest to do right by this stranger.
"If we don't get eaten," Zavier hissed, running a hand through his dark, messy hair.
"Then free his arms and give him the means to free his legs," I argued.
"We are outta time," Andros grumbled. "Unless you want to stick around and be accused of murdering Claude instead of framing him for all this."
The vampire made no comment. He didn't argue for or against release. He just waited. But his silence was heavy and cold and spread goosebumps across my skin.
I turned to look at Malcolm. He was the logical one, the reasonable one. His eyes narrowed as he studied the vampire in the corner. "I want a name," he demanded.
"Callum," the vampire's smooth tone wafted back to us like cool fog.
"I want your promise that you will never attack us," Malcolm pressed.
"You have my word," the vampire gave a single nod that was hardly visible in the darkness.
Ice flew from Malcolm's hand, through the darkness and surrounded the chains at Callum's feet. Malcolm twisted his wrist and with a clang, the metal rings at the vampire's ankles fractured and hit the floor.
The blond vampire surged forward at lightning speed.
Prey instinct made all of us bolt toward the end of the lab. I was shortest and slowest and my brain screamed that I was an idiot. I was a fool. The guys and I had been nearly free and clear and I'd messed everything up because I was impulsive. Emotional.
Dammit.
The vampire's arms were still restrained but his speed was incredible. He was next to me in less than two seconds, his pale blue eyes peering down at mine.
"You are?" he asked, not even winded.
I considered giving him a fake name, but if he was about to sink his fangs into my neck, lying was a waste of energy. "Hayley," I said, straining to shoot forward and break away from him.
But Callum easily kept pace with me, and my eyes couldn't help darting to the side as I saw his claws scratch at the metal band encasing his upper body. They were so strong I saw the metal divot with each pass he made. He didn't even look down as he did it, his eyes were planted firmly on me. "I hope you can run faster than that, little Hayley," he murmured softly, "Ireallyhope you can run faster than that."
My throat and chest were already burning. My legs felt like jello. I couldn't even laugh at the absurdity of his threat as the metal holding his hands hostages slowly started to shred and then bend upward with a creak around his wrists.
