Page 3 of Inhuman Nature

“Holy shit,” Shaun said, then winced. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

Lawrence’s smile allayed his fears of having screwed up. “Get in,” he repeated.

This time, Shaun’s arms and legs seemed to move of their own volition, reaching out and opening the door to climb into the car without conscious thought.

Shaun sat in the car seat and stared at Lawrence, who stared right back at him, unblinking.

“What?” Lawrence asked.

“Can I see your fangs?” Shaun blurted.

Lawrence grinned wide, showcasing two needle-sharp canines. Shaun reached a hand down and pinched himself on the inside of his elbow.

“Why did you do that?” Lawrence asked, amused.

“I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t dreaming.”

Lawrence cocked his head, then reached over and pinched Shaun in the exact same place. Shaun yelped, the pain from Lawrence’s hand harsher than his own touch.

“There,” Lawrence said. “Now you know for sure.”

“Ow.”

Lawrence drove off without another word. Shaun didn’t know whether to be annoyed. His arm didn’t hurt badly—it was such a tiny little thing.

Perhaps vampires experienced pain differently than humans.

“So, are you going to tell me where we’re going? I can look it up on my phone,” Shaun said as the street lights streaked by.

“Phone?”

Shaun pulled it out. “See?”

Lawrence hummed. “I would rather we didn’t keep that with us.”

“Why not?”

“Shaun, we have to be careful. Can’t have anyone getting the wrong idea and following us, can we?” Lawrence’s fangs poked out as he shot Shaun a reassuring smile. “It’s imperative that we keep this between us.”

“Uh. What should I do with it, then?”

“Hand it over.”

Despite his reluctance, Shaun gave Lawrence the brand new phone without further question.

Lawrence tucked it out of sight. “I’ll keep it safe.”

Shaun rubbed his fingers along the smoothed edges of the wolf figurine in his pocket, and a chasm opened up in the pit of his stomach. “I should text my mum,” he said.

“No, you don’t want to message your parents.”

Right. Of course not. “Okay,” Shaun said, then sat in silence, processing his sudden agreeableness.

After a while—Shaun didn’t track how long—he spoke up again. “You still didn’t say where we’re going.”

“It doesn’t matter, does it? I’m taking you away from here. Away from this place. What’s it called again? Shrewsbury? Honestly, no wonder you wanted me to rescue you. That’s all you’ve ever wanted.”

Itwasall Shaun had ever wanted. But everything still felt off. “Lawrence—”