Page 64 of Delinquents Turned Fugitives
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When Malcolmand I strolled into the kitchen, we found Evan, Zavier, and Andros already there. Grayson finished making himself a sandwich and joined them at the table, casting us a glance.
"That was a long fucking kiss," he quipped. "It's almost four."
"Yup. Best kiss of her life," Malcolm bragged as he sauntered over to the counter and started piling sandwich fixings on his plate.
"We'll see about that," Gray muttered before he bit into his ham sandwich.
I didn't bother to break up this banter because hell, I wanted Grayson, the tabloids' orgasm king, to try to beat Malcolm. I just slid into a seat next to Z and stole one of his potato chips.
"So?" I asked, before biting into it. "I thought you guys were going to be gone until tonight. What made you come back early?"
Surprisingly, it was Andros who answered me. "It doesn't look good. They aren't just trying to prevent people getting in. They're worried about vamps breaking out. There are more than extra guards and cameras. The hallways are lined with Confusion and Apprehension Amulets we'll have to counteract."
"Shit." My stomach felt like someone had tied an anchor to it and tossed it overboard. It sank hard and fast.
"That's not the worst of it. The parking lot is covered in Slo-Mo Spells. We watched a guard spend ten minutes walking from his car to the front door."
Zavier rolled his eyes. "Those are easy, peasy, lemon-squeezy, cuz."
"It'll be obvious that some Tocks are on it. It'll take more than one. And how long do you think it will be before that asshole Muller realizes it's us?"
Z shook his head. "Way to be a downer."
"I'm realistic."
"Well, we could fly in again," Gray said, taking a break from his sandwich.
"See!" Z banged his fist on the table. "Teamwork. Problem solved."
"Fly onto a concrete roof with no doors? Or fly into a window that holds a random rabid vampire?" Andros sat back in his chair, crossing his massive arms.
"We could blow a hole in the ceiling," Malcolm tossed out. "But that would draw immediate attention." He glanced over at Evan. "Could you magic a hole through that concrete for us?"
Evan shrugged. "Maybe. I'll have to think about it."
Andros shook his head. "Gray's guys have been hacking their radio comms. They've set up several level ten spells near the exits. We aren't gonna have time for Evan to unravel every damn spell they might have set."
Silence settled over us and I stole another chip from Z. The crunch I made was the only sound as I thought and chewed. I swiped Z's glass of water and went to take a sip. But suddenly, the glass wasn't in my hand anymore. It was back on the table in front of him.
I turned, about to scold him for being a selfish shit, when I realized, "You rewound time."
"Yeah. I don't want backwash in my drink," Z stated.
I leaned around him and stared at Andros. "You guys will stay in the back. If anyone gets caught in a spell, rewind time a couple seconds so we're out."
"Yeah. Well what the hell are we gonna do about containing Matthew? How are we gonna get him out without him attacking us, especially since he can shift to a damn bat and man at will?" Andros stood, his chair screeching across the floor as he continued to smash holes into our plan like a battering ram trying to breach a castle door.
I didn't have answers for those questions yet. I chewed on my lip as Andros walked off, posture tense, before he headed downstairs.
"What crawled up his ass and died?" Gray asked.
Z sighed. "Muller. He's a dirty cop. Apparently he has guys on the inside too, so he can fuck with you even when you're in prison."
My throat tightened, hearing that. Fuck, I'd been freaked out enough just realizing a cop was on our trail. I couldn't even imagine how Andros felt. Was he terrified? Traumatized?
I stood and left the guys behind, not hearing their chatter as they resumed brainstorming.
