End of Days (Penryn & the End of Days #3)(77)

The white streak in his hair is unmistakable and so is his demented anger. This time, Raffe isn’t here to intimidate him. He grabs Paige’s pet locust and lifts him into the air above him like a squirming baby.

‘No!’ Paige’s hands reach up like a little kid trying to get her ball back from a bully.

White Streak slams the smaller locust down against his knee, breaking the beast’s back with a snap.

‘No!’ Paige screams. Her crisscrossed face turns red, and the cords in her neck stand out.

White Streak tosses the broken locust onto the concrete. Ignoring my sister, he stalks around the broken beast.

The injured locust pulls itself forward by its hands. It tries to get away from White Streak, dragging its dead legs behind it.

White Streak is making a show of it, puffing up and standing tall for all to see as every scorpion-tailed monster watches. He clearly plans to show that he’s the king of the locusts and no one else can challenge him.

That means he’s going to have to kill Paige.

I sprint toward my sister, weaving through the spectators. Although the air boils with locusts, no one else is fighting on the bridge. Doc had warned them that some locusts might be on our side. Now no one seems sure what to do. Everyone on the bridge – locust and human – watches the drama unfold.

Paige’s face crumples as she watches her pet locust drag itself helplessly on the asphalt, unable to move its legs or tail. She starts sobbing.

The sight seems to enrage White Streak. He swipes at her with his tail.

I scream. Every time I’ve seen my sister win a fight, she’s had the element of surprise on her side. But this time, White Streak knows she’s a threat and is out to kill her.

Then someone shouts over the loudspeaker, ‘They’re coming!’

The dark mass of locusts shifts and churns above the bridge, blotting out the sky. Between the stingers and iridescent wings, I catch glimpses of an ever-growing tide of bird-of-prey wings.

The blood hunt is starting.





60


I try to slam my fear and anxiety into the vault in my head, but they’re too big.

When I look back down from the sky, Paige is ripping her teeth into White Streak’s arm. She’s alive and fighting.

I run toward her, trying to be as small as possible in case there’s a stray bullet.

In the center of the bridge, White Streak swats and tosses Paige onto the ground like a rabid dog, then he stomps his foot on her chest, keeping her struggling form down as he looms over her.

My sister is unrelentingly furious and thrashing beneath him. Watching her pet be crippled and crawl helplessly must have triggered something in her, something so violent and intense that it might just choke her.

Just as I get close, her remaining two locust pets fly into White Streak. They’re no match for the monster, and he tosses them aside easily.

The rest of the scorpion-tailed locusts fly in nervous, agitated loops above and in front of me, going in every direction and just barely avoiding crashing into each other. They seem confused and upset.

I can’t get past them and have to back off from their shifting barrier.

White Streak lifts his enormous stinger, getting ready to strike at my little sister, who is still thrashing under his foot.

I try to dart in between the swooping locusts, but their stingers are everywhere and I can’t get past. On the other side of the fight, I see my mom having the same problem.

White Streak’s stinger whips down toward my sister.

I scream and take a step toward them. A locust flies right into me, slamming me down onto the concrete.

Amazingly, Paige reacts faster than the stinger. She twists her body out of the way. The stinger jabs into the asphalt, embedding the tip in the bridge.

Before White Streak can pull it out, she bites into his tail. Blood bursts out around her mouth as if she bit into an artery. She rips out a chunk of his tail before he can swat her away.

This time, when he hits her, there’s desperation in his motion. This time, when he hits her, a locust drops from the sky and stings his neck.

White Streak swings and blindly grabs at the traitorous thing. He snaps its neck and tosses its dead body onto the street.

Another locust hits him with his body in a fast flyby. White Streak staggers, taking his foot off Paige for a split second. It’s long enough for her to scramble up.

From above us, two locusts dive to attack Paige.

She ducks from one and runs headlong into the other. My blood freezes as White Streak’s locust shoots its stinger toward my sister.

A shotgun blast hits Paige’s attacker.

The locust falls writhing on the ground. The shooter stands nearby, looking familiar.

Martin nods to Paige, with his rifle still aimed at the bleeding locust. If he keeps this up, I might even forgive him for lassoing Paige for being a monster.

Paige turns around and leaps to rip into White Streak’s throat.

Locusts begin swarming on Paige’s side, swirling above her as she rages. They’re drawn to her furious cries despite whatever influence White Streak has over them.

Another group of locusts swarms on White Streak’s side. I wonder if there is going to be an all-out war among them.

The ones hovering above Paige spin off to attack White Streak. The ones above White Streak drop to attack Paige.

Martin shoots at Paige’s attackers as they come for her.