I sit beside her on the grass and show her the can of tuna. ‘Remember the tuna sandwiches Dad used to make for us? They were your favorite before you became a vegetarian.’ I pull open the pop-top can and show her the pink fish inside.

Paige leans away from the can.

‘Remember how Dad used to plop the tuna onto the bread and make a smiley face with it? That used to make your day.’

‘Daddy come home?’

She’s asking when he’ll be coming back. The answer is never. ‘We don’t need him.’

Wouldn’t it be great if that were true? I’m not sure I’d come back if I were him. I wonder if he thinks of us.

She looks at me with doe eyes. ‘Miss him.’

I try to think of something soothing to say, but I just don’t have it in me. ‘Me too.’

I pick out a piece of tuna with my fingers and put it up to her mouth. ‘Here. Try a piece.’

She shakes her head sadly back and forth.

‘Come on, Paige.’

She looks down at the ground like she’s ashamed. The hollows in her cheeks and between her collarbones scare me.

I put the tuna in my mouth and slowly chew. ‘It’s good.’

She peeks at me from beneath her hair.

‘Are you hungry?’ I ask.

She nods. For a second, her eyes dip down to the bandage on my shoulder. It’s spotting with blood.

She looks away as if ashamed and gazes up at the locusts circling above us. But her eyes keep drifting back to my bandage, and her nostrils flare like she smells something good.

Maybe it’s time for me to go.

I’m putting the can down when I hear an animal calling. It sounds like a hyena. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a hyena, but my bones recognize the sound of a predator in the wild. My hackles rise on the back of my neck.

A shadow jumps between the trees to my left.

Another shadow leaps between branches, then several more.

And as the next one jumps closer to the nearest tree, I see the shape of teeth and wings.

Hellions.

A lot of them.

The trees around us begin to boil with shadows leaping from tree to tree, getting closer. The mad hyena laugh keeps up its steady call as the mob of shadows leaps toward us.

Paige’s locusts fly toward the hellions. But there are too many of them.

I grab Paige’s hand, and we run toward the main house. The skin along my spine prickles, trying to sense how close unseen claws are to sinking into me.

I yell toward the house. ‘Hellions!’

Raffe looks out the dining room window.

‘How many?’ he calls out as we run to the house.