Locusts clash midair, crashing and stinging until there’s a horde of them engulfing White Streak and Paige.

I can’t see what’s happening as they get buried under a mass of wings and stingers.

I think I stop breathing for a minute. I can’t see anything beyond the seething giant that is the swarm.

The locust cloud lifts from the bridge into the air as everyone watches. The wind generated from their wings buffets our hair and clothes, whipping us all. They float up into the sky until they blend into the mist, making it look like the sky is boiling.

They drift off over the bay, and I can’t see Paige or White Streak anywhere.

There’s nothing I can do for her now.

I have to accept that my sister has to go through her own fight. I just need to survive and be here for her when she gets back.

Don’t think about the possibility of her not coming back.

Chapter 61

61

As soon as the locusts leave, I can see the sky filling with angelic warriors.

I catch myself automatically scanning the sky for Raffe, but I don’t see him in the mass of bodies.

I put my noise-canceling headphones on and shut my eyes to brace for what’s about to hit.

Even through my closed lids, I can see the blindingly intense spotlights turning on everywhere. The lights stab my eyes as soon as I try to open them.

I have to squint and blink several times to adjust to the brightness.

The angels shield their eyes behind their arms and pause in their flight. Several of them crash into each other. Many turn around to get away from the blinding light and fly straight into their buddies.

The lights stab my merely human eyes. I can’t imagine how painful it must be for the angels.

Then the giant speakers screech their feedback – the loudest and most piercing feedback I’ve ever heard, even through my noise-canceling headphones. All that intense noise blasting straight into the angels’ hypersensitive ears.

The angels slam their hands against their ears. With their eyes and ears assaulted, they’re staggering in the air, neither attacking nor flying away.

The angels’ exceptional night vision and sharp hearing is working to our advantage. Their superior abilities are their weaknesses now. They can’t turn it off. The intense lights must be killing their eyes. And that noise – hell, it almost makes my ears bleed with the sharp blast.

It helps to have Silicon Valley geniuses in your crew.

Freedom fighters with rifles pop up everywhere – beside the stage, along the bridge walkways, and behind the bridge supports. Although I can’t see them, there should also be snipers settled beside each spotlight and on platforms hidden beneath the bridge.

Gunshots ring through the night.