World After

74

PAIGE RUNS over to me, still holding the wings. She tentatively buries her face in my ribs again like she used to when she had a nightmare and needed a hug.

I put my arm around her. I swear her shoulders are skinnier than they’ve ever been. But that thought leads me to all the dark places I don’t want to go so I ignore it. Judging by the wall of warriors around us, her hunger won’t be a problem much longer.

I pull her with me as I gingerly step over to Raffe. Everyone is still in shock so no one stops me even though I’m now an angel killer. I stand back-to-back with Raffe, putting Paige and the severed wings between us.

I know Paige is deadly now. But that doesn’t change the fact that she won’t survive this any better than the rest of us. And if there’s one thing I know that a kid her age shouldn’t be doing, it’s having to fight for her life while her big sister is around.

I hope her last few moments are filled with the knowledge that she was surrounded by those who tried to protect her.

We must be quite the sight. Raffe in his red mask with his demon wings spread out in all their scythe-edged glory. A scrawny teenage Daughter of Man brandishing an archangel sword. And a little girl stitched-up to look and behave like a nightmare who is clutching a pair of angel wings.

My hair blows all over the place, and I realize that the scorpion buzz has been steadily growing into a roar again. They must have looped and are coming back our way. It feels like a storm is building up as they near.

The warriors get over their shock and begin moving toward us, barehanded. Only now, there are as many coming for me as for Raffe. I guess they’ve got a thing against human girls killing one of their own. Either that or they want to try to claim my sword.

I swipe my blade at an angel coming too close to me. He ducks and tries to grab my hair. I kick him in the stomach.

As far as I can tell, there’s an endless supply of warriors. The outcome is obvious. It won’t be long before we wear out.

We know it. They know it.

But we keep on fighting.

I’m swiping my blade at a buffed-out warrior, trying to catch him in the throat when something knocks him down.

It’s a scorpion.

For a moment, it’s a jumble of wings and a stinger rolling on the trampled grass. The scorpion isn’t really fighting the angel. I think it’s just trying to get up and fly. But the angel isn’t going to let that happen.

Another scorpion crashes into Raffe’s opponent. They roll in the dirt, tumbling in a jumble of limbs and wings. Three more scorpions clumsily crash into angels.

It takes me a moment to figure out what’s really going on.

The swarm above us has flown down, dipping and twisting like a cloud of wasps. As it dips lower, the scorpions at the bottom of the swarm crash into the angels. The collisions knock down the warriors like grass being mowed.

I have no doubt that an angel can take on a scorpion and not break out in a sweat. But there are far more scorpions than angels, and the scorpions behave like mindless beasts crashing into bodies. Even as some of them swerve at the last second to try to avoid fatal collisions, they can’t seem to stop their own group momentum as they slam into the angels.

The sheer force of the bodies repeatedly ramming into the crowd brings them all down flat onto the lawn.

Everyone but me, Raffe, and Paige, that is.

The swarm splits around us, knocking everything in its path but leaving us untouched.

The wind caused by their wings makes me stumble backwards into Paige until she’s squeezed between Raffe and me. I reach back to hold her hand. Her little hand clings tightly to me.

Raffe spreads his wings to shelter us so that he’s at our backs with his wings protecting us on either side.

Doc may have been wrong about Paige’s feelings for Beliel, but I’m becoming convinced that he was right about Paige having something special about her. Whatever it is that Doc secretly did to her, it gave her some kind of connection with the scorpions. They’re swarming around her and protecting her with their own bodies.

They keep coming. Some sting, some don’t, as if the scorpions are confused about what they’re supposed to do. But even the ones who sting don’t linger. It’s more of a hit-and-run as if they sense that they’d be in big trouble if they stayed.

The swarm lifts, leaving the lawn littered with angels on their knees and bellies. Everyone stares up at the sky to see what’s next. We’re the only ones still on our feet.

The swarm twists and turns around to make another pass. The angels who are on their knees dive down on their stomachs, and everyone covers their heads.

Maybe if they could use their swords, the dynamics would change. But no one seems to want to risk having their sword refuse them even if it’s just for one battle.

I look around to try to see what we should do. Since they haven’t aimed for us, ducking for cover doesn’t make a lot of sense.

The swarm keeps coming. A huge gust of wind makes my eyes sting and almost knocks me off my feet.

But they split around us as before, letting us stay upright while everyone else flattens on the ground.

Still holding the folded wings, Paige slips out from between us and lies on top of Beliel. The wings are sandwiched between them with the downy feathers fluttering in the wind.

Beliel has shrunken and is almost unrecognizable lying like the dead on his stomach. The wings covering his back, though, look contrastingly full of life as they droop over him like a white blanket.

A scorpion hovers over Paige, trying to lift her but she won’t let go of Beliel.

My skin turns cold at the sight of that curved tail with the stinger so close to my sister. I’m tempted to slice it off. But Raffe puts out his hand to stop me as if he knows what I want to do.

“Put her away,” he whispers as he nods to my sword.

I hesitate, thinking of all the reasons why I should keep my blade out. But I wipe the blood on my pants and slide the sword back into the scabbard at my hip. This is not the time to argue.

More scorpions slow down and hover over Paige. Four of them grab Beliel around the armpits and legs while two others pull on his belt. They lift him with Paige clinging on top like a princess on a demon palanquin.

I reach for her, wanting to pull her off.

Raffe grabs my hand and begins running after them as the last of the swarm passes by. He swings me up and pulls me into his arms.

I hold him as tightly as my trembling muscles will let me.

A few steps of running and we’re leaping over the cliff into the air.