Page 89 of Delinquents Turned Fugitives
But no one bothered to reach for their phone.
"Shit."
"They don't know anything, do they? Your little puppets are so useless." Claude's voice taunted me just as it had in life. "Oh, this is gonna be so much fun, Hayley. I've always held back before. But now, when I get my hands on you, I'm going to make youdance. I'm going to take over that pretty little body and I'm going to slowly shred your mind. You'll wish I'd killed you down in that vault."
I screamed, just to block out the sound of his voice. All the guys' faces whipped toward me; Z's was white as a sheet because he'd just lifted his quill to write.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry—"
"You will be," Claude taunted.
I squeezed my eyes shut. "He's talking to me."
Immediately, Malcolm stepped closer so that he and Andros boxed me in. "Okay. We can help." He cleared his throat and then sang out, in a ridiculously amazing tenor voice, "I've got Sunshine, on a cloudy day." He did a little shimmy in front of me and then smacked Andros on the arm. "Sing along, dammit."
Andros made a face, but haltingly started to speak the lyrics. Evan joined in, though his voice couldn't hold a candle to Malcolm's.
"Your own little boy band, how quaint. I can't wait to make them shriek for me," Claude's voice was like a snake slithering through my mind. I almost brought my hands up to physically block my ears but that would release my shadows. Gray needed them.
Instead, I watched my crew as they tried to simultaneously drown out the devil whispering at my shoulder. Once they had a beat, Malcolm had started clapping to it. And though he gave me silly dance moves every once in a while, the way his dark blue eyes kept roaming over my face meant that he was constantly trying to gauge where I was--if I was mentally with them, or if Claude's words had just landed another blow.
Once they finished singing "My Girl" they moved into "Just My Imagination" and that's when Gray woke up, gasping.
"What the fuck is this noise?" Gray wrinkled his nose, his voice a rasp rougher than a nail file. His eyes flickered to me and he shook his head. "I draw the line. I'll be a Sweet Butt. But I won't be a damn long-haired, auto-tuned, no-talent dance boy."
I smiled but I didn’t laugh because I could feel Claude poking at my shadows, his cold fingers touching and retreating, but searching for a way through my black shield.
I locked eyes with Gray and mouthed, “We need to run.”
“What?” he asked.
Malcolm shushed him, and Evan leaned over to explain. While Gray learned that Claude could still hear everything we said, Malcolm pulled out his phone and sent a text.
All of our phones buzzed in our pockets. I obviously couldn’t reach for mine, but Malcolm walked over and showed me what he’d written.-Let’s move until we can get to three of the bikes. Then we can ride out. Two can time jump ahead. Last bike sticks with H and shadow.-
Andros shook his head next to me. His text to Malcolm popped up in a blue bubble on Malcolm’s phone.-H can’t last that long.-
-Whoever drives that bike will have to give her a power up.-Malcolm’s reply was short and sweet.
What the fuck? Did he actually expect me to pull off having sex on a motorcycle? While it drove? Forget genius. The guy was an idiot.
-I volunteer as tribute.-Evan’s text came in first.
Z’s quickly followed.-Dick me! I mean pick me!-
The bubble of laughter in my throat popped when Claude snarled, “Whatever you’re planning won’t work. Remember, I was ahead of you at the Pinnacle. I know every move you’ll make.”
His words sank like a stone in my stomach. He was right. What the hell could we do that he wouldn’t expect? What didn’t he know? He didn’t know all the details of my childhood. He didn’t know hide and sneak. He didn’t know I could hollow out the center of my shadows. He didn’t know I could shape them, not just blast them.
Most of my life, light had been my weapon. But what if darkness could be a weapon too?
I took a deep breath, ignoring the playful bickering the guys were doing via text. And then … I let my shadows fall.
“What the fuck?” Z exclaimed.
I didn’t explain. I didn’t have time because Claude immediately flew through the air toward me, face contorted so wildly he hardly looked human.
I lifted my right palm and shot a rope of shadow at him. I yanked my hand to the side at the last minute, and the shadow curled and wrapped around his wrist. Instantly, his hand flickered and went dark.
