“I will.” She turned to the wall. My brow furrowed in confusion. What was she—Dear God. She'd just disappeared through it! She'd actually walked through the wall; there one moment, gone the next.
My (kind of) boyfriend was half alien, and my best friend had superpowers.
I wanted to marvel at that, but didn't have time. Ryan and I hauled butt into the Common. There, we spied several Sybilins. They were crawling all over the walls. Like insects. The door to the agent's section was open, and I could see Bradley, Erik, and a few others trying to get to the girls' area to protect them, I was sure, as a true agent would do. But the Sybilins spotted them and attacked, knocking them down.
Erik fought his way out in a bid to get to Bradley.
Before my eyes, one of the creatures lowered its head…touched its lips to Bradley's…
“No!” I shouted. Not again. My friends would not be hurt. Bradley began jerking.
Ryan cursed. I screamed, filled with more rage than ever before. These creatures will not hurt my friends again, my mind repeated over and over. At least I knew what to do this time.
I aimed the pyre-gun and fired, just as Ryan did the same. Blue beams erupted from mine, red from Ryan's. The Sybilin on top of Bradley froze at the same moment a hole was burned into his back, and Bradley was able to kick the thing off himself.
“It…it…” Bradley's voice was shaky, and he grasped at his throat.
Ryan fired another round, hitting a Sybilin behind Bradley.
Ryan wasn't using stun, I realized. The red-gold blast was frying everything it touched. He fired again, and this round slammed into the creature trying to subdue Erik, burning the skin from its bones. Erik shouted and scrambled away from the screaming inferno. His eyebrows were singed.
As I stunned as many water-sucking monsters as I could, Angel pounded into the Common. I almost paused and gaped at her. Almost. I'd never seen her so…enraged. Her eyes glowed with an unholy fire of their own, and her body moved as if it were pure electricity, flitting from one wire to another.
She was a frightening sight to behold.
“Not everyone is human,” Ryan had said. Yeah, I believed him. Angel didn't look human just then. Which species was she? Whatever it was, she was spellbinding, mesmerizing. Beautiful. She clutched two knives, each with a pronged, serrated edge, and she used them with abandon. The Sybilins' yellow, puss-filled blood splattered as she moved and killed as if it were a dance.
Mia Snow pounded in behind her, just as lethal. “Bastards,” she snarled, punching anything stupid enough to get near her. “Die!” Her gaze caught mine and she worked her way toward me.
“What should I do?”
“Keep freezing them. They set us up,” she growled, never slowing. “I didn't think they were smart enough to do it, but they followed us here. They attacked tonight so I wouldn't have time to question the one I stunned. Behind you!”
I whipped around—and saw a creature bounding toward me. Le'Ace jumped in my path and cut its throat. Thick yellow blood dripped from her hands. There was no expression on her face. I understood now why they were so hard on us, why they made us obey without hesitation and punished us if we didn't. Why they took our freedom and constantly wanted us at our very best.
Everything they did was meant to save our lives.
“Twelve Sybilins have breeched sector six,” the computer said.
The room was suddenly flooded with more of them. The creatures hopped everywhere in their frenzy to get to us. I aimed and fired, aimed and fired, freezing as many as I could.
Ryan worked beside me, never leaving my side. We made a good team. But my gun eventually gave out, forcing me to use another weapon: my hands. The Sybilins were salivating, eager for more water.
Siren strutted into the room as if she hadn't a care in the world. She hummed under her breath. The Sybilians paused, pointed ears perching as they listened to her. Distracted as they were, I launched forward and kicked one in the middle. Contact. It howled. Another pulled itself from Siren's spell and came at my right. I spun, ducked, and punched. Two more appeared at my other side. I crouched low, spinning my leg as I'd been taught by Ryan and knocked the creatures together.
“Phoenix! Catch.”
I turned at the sound of my name. Ryan tossed me a blade, and I caught the hilt. My heart pounded frantically in my chest. I could see another Sybilin coming toward me…in the air…about to land on top of me…
I stabbed without thought. Kill, yes, I could kill. I would kill. I had killed, and I felt no guilt. Some people might call me a murderer, but I was an agent. I was doing my job, my duty.
The metal sunk into its belly. Yellow blood, warm and thick, oozed over my hands. I tried not to gag. It smelled bad, like rotten garbage. Keep fighting. I have to take out as many as I can.
Panting, I looked for my next opponent. Still the war raged.
I threw myself into a group trying to latch onto Cara. Erik was there, cursing as he fought to save her. He moved with lithe grace and potent fury. Sweat trickled from my temples as I stabbed, turned, stabbed, soaking my hair to my head. My muscles burned; my arms shook.
I didn't slow. I couldn't.
Four of the creatures jumped onto Ryan, subduing him with their sheer numbers. In that moment, I went a little crazy. My strength intensified, riding the waves of an already intense adrenaline rush. The other agents were fully engaged and didn't realize that Sybilins were fusing their mouths onto any part of Ryan's body they could reach, sucking his energy, sucking away his life.
Dimly, I thought I heard Allison Stone shout. Thought I heard Kitten hiss. Then Emma was at my side, rushing to Ryan, as well. We reached him at the same time, and she grabbed one of the Sybilins by the neck and ripped it off Ryan.
She punched the creature in the face.
I think she saw the Lyrosses in these Sybilins, because there was death in her eyes, a need to kill in her expression. Once she started punching, she didn't stop.
I elbowed and kicked two of the monsters, cutting them as I did so, ensuring they wouldn't get back up. Finally, there was only one left. Its lips were attached to Ryan's. Ryan's struggles were weakening, and I could see the dryness of his skin, the vagueness of his eyes. His body spasmed.
“You want to get wet,” I spat at the creature. “Then I'll get you wet.” I slashed out, but the Sybilin moved and I only managed to graze its shoulder.
Thankfully, though, it released Ryan and bounced on top of me, trying to lower its lips. I saw its glowing eyes, red, hungry. One of its hands wrapped around my wrists, preventing me from using the knife. I flailed, trying to dislodge it.