Delinquents Turned Fugitives - Ann Denton Page 0,125

silence grew thick and hard to breathe, as though it were humid.

“I smell blood,” Jordan whispered.

A dripping noise came to my attention. And I turned to see a puddle forming at the base of the stairs … a dark puddle.

Jordan charged past me before I could stop him. He knelt at the puddle of blood and stuck his face directly into it. A second later, he started seizing.

“What the hell?” I gasped.

“Blood trap. The Pinnacle has set them out in every institute, trying to prevent the vamps from leaving. They’d rather poison them like rats then let them escape,” Malcolm informed us all.

I ran a hand over my face as the vampires gave guttural, animalistic growls of fury behind me.

“Leave him,” Callum growled as Evan finished unraveling the amulet. I watched as orange sparkles floated through the air over to the telltale crack in the wall. Slowly, the amulet faded, its glow ceased. I whispered, “Amulet’s dead.”

Callum shoved open the door to 33.

“But …” He’d really leave one of his own crew? He was that heartless.

Callum scoffed at the look on my face. “The bloody idiot won’t die. But if they’re setting out poisoned blood and he’s daft enough to drink it, he can lay in a puddle of his own stupidity until he drinks it all or decides to slither out of it. I have no need of that.”

The rest of the vampires tossed solemn looks in Jordan’s direction, but then they followed him inside. Callum shut the door in my face, saying, “Watch our backs or we’ll eat yours.”

“Thanks, great talk,” I told the closed door.

Evan bit his lip as he tucked his wand back into his pocket. “Maybe we should have done this on our—”

“Don’t say it.” I cut him off but I ground my teeth together, because he was right. The twitching vampire at the end of the hall and the goosebumps on my arms proved it.

Sirens blared not a second later and I braced as Gray’s voice sounded in my ear. “Company, nemesis.”

“Copy,” I told him, gritting my teeth. I knocked on the door. “We need to move out,” I called through it. “Pinheads.”

The door flew open and Callum stepped out. The others trailed in a row behind him … the final vamp an Asian woman with rags for clothes. My eyes widened as I realized Callum must be using his store of serum on the vampires he picked. My eyes carefully scanned the new woman for any tinge of remaining madness, but her eyes were clear and alert.

“Second floor,” Callum ordered, leading the way.

We tromped past Jordan, who still lay twitching and moaning, and I had to turn my sympathy off as we trudged up the stairs.

A mechanical clack sounded—a net dropped from the ceiling. I jumped back, down two steps but Claude’s vampires weren’t so lucky. Neither was Evan. The net rope fell on top of them, and as soon as it touched skin, it latched there, embedding itself in their skin—melding with their hair— and they couldn’t get it to release, no matter how hard they pulled.

The net started to tighten, to coil up and shrink, as if it had been spelled to close on its own once it had touched its quarry.

Fuck. My Evan was caught in a magical net with vampires.

Callum’s vamps tripped on the steps as the net dragged their heads—the part of them it was latched to—closer and closer together until I could hear their skulls knock against one another.

In their fury, they started to morph into their monstrous forms, claws slashing.

Panic surged up my throat, nearly choking me. “Princess!”

Evan shredded his clothes as he transformed into a giant grizzly bear and smacked at the vampire closest to him, sending the newest Asian member of their group tumbling into the others.

Shit. They were sure to attack. I’d seen what their scratches could do. Not to mention their bites.

Making a split-second judgement call, I unleashed some light that set the vampires hissing and crouching, but leaning away from Evan.

“Tell them to freeze!” I screamed up at Callum, who stood on the other side of the net. I transformed my light into a laser beam and started to burn through the netting near Evan’s right arm.

Callum didn’t say anything. I only heard him growl above me and I was about to spit fire, to rage at him to control his own damn people so I could free them … but then I heard the tell-tale shink of a sword being