Delinquents Turned Fugitives - Ann Denton Page 0,97

at us.

"Dammit. Moving on," Z ushered me right through that scene without another word.

Apparently, after that, you exited the ride and got to the 'fun' part of the fun house. My black light illuminated a maze painted with Day-Glo pink and yellow zig zags. The walls closed in as we walked, until I took the lead because I had the light. We hit one or two dead ends, where we saw wheels posted on the wall with bright blue spirals. Z would always spin them before we turned around. Eventually, we had to go through several switchbacks side by side because the maze got increasingly narrow.

"Damn. They should have had a warning for people with claustrophobia," Z commented as we side-stepped.

"Do you have claustrophobia?" I asked. His breathing was a little heavier than usual.

"Only on Wednesdays," he replied. "I just don't like that we can't see the end."

"Yeah." I agreed with that. Just as I was about to lose patience and suggest we turn around and go back through the hall of horrors, we came out of the maze and into what looked like a ballpit for grown-ups. Black plastic balls of unknown age and questionable origin sat in a pit surrounded by netting. Beyond it, a hall of wacky, curved mirrors with wildly painted frames beckoned.

"Yes!" Z fist-pumped. "Totally worth it." He released my hand, ready to jump right into the germ pit.

"Wait!" I cried, holding out a hand to try and stop him. "At least let me sanitize this thing first." I turned on my UV light and started to cast it over the balls to clean them, when out of the pit there came a monstrous roar. The balls shifted and moved, bouncing and skipping over one another as a shadowy figure rose up out of them.

And suddenly, I found myself facing a furious vampire.

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My heart and brain froze for a moment; I felt like a deer facing an oncoming semi-truck—startled and staring at the end of my life without truly comprehending it.

My light switched automatically from a UV light to regular sunshine—my normal go to—on reflex. That’s when I saw the white-blond hair and pale complexion … and realized we hadn’t stumbled onto just any vampire. It was Callum.

His pale blue eyes squinted and his mouth opened, his fangs gleamed purple-white as he growled furiously, moving an arm to block his face. He took a lurching step toward us, sending balls skittering around his knees, hollow plastic popping noises filled the air.

Shocked, my hand went black, my light snuffed, just as Z grabbed my arm and tugged me backward.

The scuff of our shoes was the only sound as darkness closed in. I debated shooting more shadows behind us, or maybe setting a wall of light. But neither would last as soon as I rounded a corner.

We darted through the maze, Z yanking me close to his side and then using his magic to hasten our retreat.

Zap.

We were twenty feet further, our backs dragging along the cheap plywood walls, scraping with each time skip Z made and gathering splinters, when suddenly—we crashed into a wall and one of those obnoxious wheels. He’d fast-forwarded time too close to the first turn in the maze because we couldn’t see in the pitch black of this damn fun house. I hadn’t wanted to use my light again in Callum’s presence because it would be like waving a flag in front of a bull. But I didn’t have a choice. I lit my hand the tiniest bit, trying to use my body to shield the light.

I glanced back in time to see Callum pulling himself out of the ball pit after us. My heart tumbled like fall leaves in a storm, violently.

Shit! Shit! Shit!

Zap.

Z magicked us past the portion of the maze where you had to walk sideways. But we still had to go single file. Zavier’s hand circled my wrist in a death grip as he took the lead.

My thoughts were a combination of furious and hopeless.

What were the chances? Of all the damn places in the entire damn state, he had to be hiding here!

Tears filled my eyes and I blinked hard, trying to shove them back. They wouldn’t help. The only thing that might get me out of this, besides Z’s power, was quick-thinking.

How could I stop Callum from attacking?

What would be more tempting to a vampire than blood?

“Sorry!” I yelled, just before Z made us shoot forward again, my stomach lurching when he picked me up and