The two older men met his gaze and gulped before holding their hands out. The two with the werewolf instantly let go of him to do the same. There was fear in all their eyes—fucking weaklings. This had to be the least entertaining group of wannabe hunters he had ever come across. How the fuck had they killed so many?
“Foxx, check on the werewolf while I secure these assholes,” he ordered, as he pulled zip ties out of his back pocket. When instead of a response, he heard an odd groaning noise, Harlow peered back. He found Foxx crouched down, shaking one of the humans. “Foxx!”
Foxx blinked and released the man. The fake hunter thudded back to the ground with a pain-filled groan. “Yes?” the vampire asked, eyes wide and innocent.
“The werewolf?” Harlow said slowly this time, nodding towards the tied-up victim.
“Right!”
Harlow quickly zipped tied the hands and feet of everyone, including the four already down. And as Foxx dealt with the werewolf, he dragged them outside and lined them up in the driveway.
Staring at the eight men, he tried to picture them all in Foxx’s car. It was comical at best. He stepped in front of the one who seemed to be in charge. “Where are the van keys?”
The old man seemed to have lost a bit of his fear, and just glared instead of answering.
“Look, I don’t have patience or a conscience, so to be perfectly clear, I have no problem torturing you for a set of car keys.”
“My back pocket!” one of the men cried out. Eyeing the guy, he quickly recognized him as Eastin John from the files. He also happened to be the one Foxx had been shaking.
“Thank you, nice to have you awake again!” Harlow walked behind the group and crouched down beside Eastin. He had to lift him upward slightly to get at his back pocket, but he managed. Van keys in hand, Harlow was standing back up when Foxx walked out of the house. He was talking softly with the now freed and awake werewolf.
The werewolf's shaggy black hair hung in his eyes, shielding them, and his naturally tanned skin looked pale under the moonlight. He was quite a bit bigger than Foxx. The kid had to be a few inches over six feet, and twice the vampire’s size muscle wise. Their size difference was more notable due to the werewolf hunching down and leaning into Foxx’s hold.
The werewolf murmured something. Foxx frowned, but after a moment he nodded. When they reached Harlow, Foxx announced, “This is Josh Dodric. He doesn’t want to go with us.”
Harlow shrugged. It didn’t really matter to him. Most paranormals didn’t want to go in or near any Hunters Guilds. Though, in this case, it would have just been him going to the police station. “As long as we have his name, and we know where to find him if we have any questions.” He eyed the wolf, who refused to meet his gaze. “The police will likely show up at your door to ask a few.”
The werewolf nodded. “C-can I go?” he said in a deep, almost too soft voice.
“Sure,” Harlow responded without hesitating.
The werewolf pulled from Foxx’s hold and started to walk away.
Foxx glared pointedly.
‘What?’ he mouthed.
The vampire rolled his eyes at him before storming off after the other saying, “Why don’t you let us take you where you need to go? Hmm? So, we can make sure you get back safe and sound.”
There was more mumbling which Harlow ignored. Not his problem. He eyed the tied-up men and stretched his arms up, shaking out his limbs a bit before he got back to work. He had just finished loading up the last man into the van, and had slid the door shut, when Foxx returned looking put out.
“He wouldn’t let you take him home, hmm?” he asked with a knowing smirk.
Foxx’s lips pursed. “No, he wouldn’t.”
“They never do. Most just want to be left alone.”
The vampire sighed. “He’s only sixteen… I got in touch with his parents. They’re coming to pick him up.” Foxx grimaced and glared at the van. “They were going to kill a child…again.”
“They don’t care about age. He is just a monster in their eyes.”
“Am I a monster in yours?” Foxx asked softly.
Harlow snorted and crossed his arms. “Fear not, shorty. The only monster in my eyes is the one that stares back at me in the mirror every day.”
Foxx rolled his eyes. “How comforting.”
“Ain’t it?” He smirked. “Go get your pissant little car. I’ll have to drive these assholes to the station and get them settled with the locals. You can follow me over. Then we’ll grab our shit from the hotel and head back to Hazard.”
