Delinquents Turned Fugitives - Ann Denton Page 0,89

was.

I had to shove down the bile that rose in my throat at the realization that my years of torture weren't over. Somehow, this asshole had figured out a way to circumvent death. And my dad wasn't even here to help me—tears pooled in my eyes.

Evan's voice was gruff and sounded like it came from the ground several feet away. "I've got him. Gray isn't twitching anymore. I think ... I hope he's okay."

Hope? What the hell did he mean hope?

I released my shadows and rushed forward toward Gray. He lay sprawled on the cement, his head cocked to one side, his eyes wide open. I wasn’t able to see his chest rise before Claude swooped at me again, flying through the air, with his hand open, ready to grab me.

I threw up another set of shadows. But this time, I tried to shove down the panic. This time, I tried to shove down the scared little girl and find the sneaky little one who'd played hide and sneak with Matthew. The goal of our game hadn't been to hide and be found, it had been to hide and then sneak up and scare the shit out of the other person. It was one of the few games growing up where my power had felt useful, where I'd excelled. It was one of the few games I'd been able to beat him at.

Breathing carefully to offset my frantic heart, I carefully moved my right hand in a straight line to one side. As I moved, I imagined the shadows billowing out like smoke but then creating a hollow center. I'd used to hide from Matthew this way--he'd called it my chocolate Easter egg trick. Because the shadows didn't hit me, and I could see my surroundings. But no one else could see in.

As soon as I'd created the hollow, I glanced back at Evan, who crouched over Gray. "Is he breathing?" I asked softly.

Evan nodded. "But it's wheezy. He could use some magic."

Z reached out and took my arm. "You have time for me to heal him?" he questioned. "Can you hold this up long enough?" He gestured at the shadows surrounding us.

I nodded. "I can do maybe ten, fifteen minutes. That's all."

Malcolm took a deep breath. "And Claude's still out there?"

I nodded, my stomach twisting. "I assume so."

"Shit. So we need an escape plan. What do we know about ghosts?"

"We know they're listening," Claude taunted from beyond my shadows and I froze, limbs locked.

I almost lost my grip on my magic.

But Andros was watching me closely and he took a step closer. "What is it, Hayley?"

"He can hear."

"Fuck a duck," Malcolm cursed. "Get out your phones. Text me what the hell you know. Let's pool knowledge."

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 you dance. 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,