Delinquents Turned Fugitives - Ann Denton Page 0,79

Z, his eyes were shining with tears. Our gazes met and an earthquake happened between us, the entire world shifted and our hearts collided with that look. A tear streaked down Z’s cheek and he dropped his putter.

“Z?” I barely got the syllable out of my mouth before he was on me. His lips devoured mine. His hips slammed into me and pinned me against the dresser. He bent me backward over it as his tongue plunged into my mouth. I dropped our golf balls. I dropped my putter. Both my hands reached up and wrapped around his neck as he kissed me like he was starving, like he was about to die and I was his final meal. His hands grabbed me, traced me, squeezed me, then traced me again, like he was so frantic that he didn’t know what to do with them. I lifted my leg and wrapped it around his back and he grabbed it, squeezing my thigh as he pressed against me.

He groaned. And then he pulled away. He held out a hand and helped me slide off the dresser. Then he swiped at his cheek, removing the evidence of his lone tear. “Fuck, Hales. You play dirty.” He bent and grabbed his putter. “You’re a dirty girl,” his tone turned teasing but I could tell it was forced.

But if he wanted a lighter moment instead of a heavier one then that was what I would give him. “Yeah, well, I wanna play dirty—but somebody’s cunt-blocking me.”

“What kind of dick would cunt-block?” Z asked, going around me and collecting our golf balls.

“I dunno. A defective one, I guess. I think most dicks are pretty pro-cunt.”

“Nah, maybe it’s just a picky dick, one who likes to tease, one who’s in it for the long game.”

“Is there such a thing? I thought dicks claimed anything they pointed at,” I gave him a silly face as I showed him the tape I’d put down on the floor to mark the spot where we had to stand. I pointed to the first solo cup, marked in permanent ink with a black number one so he knew his target.

Z set down his ball—he’d chosen the mini bowling ball—and lined up his shot as he retorted, “Maybe smaller dicks do that, but when you’re carrying around a weapon of ass destruction, you’ve gotta act responsibly.”

I snorted. Then gulped. Then gave the ugliest sounding guffaw of a laugh in the history of the universe, making myself turn bright red. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Careful there, those snorts might set off my lap rocket. They’re pretty hot.”

I raised my putter like I was gonna hit him with it. “You—”

He cut me off, grabbing at his crotch and using a robotic voice. “Warning. Warning. Heat-seeking sex missile activated. Deploying in three, two, one …”

He started to make a rocket sound when my bedroom door swung open.

Grayson stood in the doorway, his face dark and his slight afro mussed. “The scanners just got something.”

Immediately, Z and I froze.

The lighthearted, sweet moment was poisoned by the dread that swept through me. “What?” I asked.

Gray swallowed hard and then said. “Looks like Agent Muller’s found us.”

26

We burst out of the townhouse armed to the teeth in under five minutes. Half of the serum we’d stolen was in a tiny vial slung around my neck. The other half was on a tiny vial with Gray. I wore my riding gear, all leather. And I had a Confusion Amulet in a case strapped to my belt on my left side, a holstered gun on my right, and a long silver knife for vampires strapped to my back. I looked like a fucking movie superhero.

I did not feel like one.

My eyes scanned the streets as nerves bounced around like lotto balls inside my chest.

The neighborhood was silent. The dark night was only interrupted by the soft glow of television-set ambiance and one backyard basketball game with wild preteen boys yelling at each other with voices that cracked every third word.

Our departure was going to be noticed. Not good.

Evan crouched on the stoop and wrote a spell to eliminate any evidence of our presence from the building. It was a level nine spell and it took longer than I would have liked. My foot tapped impatiently on the concrete as he wrote and wrote.

But finally, silver sparkles flew through the front door and he pulled it shut, turning and nodding to Gray, who took the lead.

“Mount up. Hayley, you ride with Andros.” Gray and