“Come on,” Cade said, struggling to his feet. “We’ve got fifteen minutes before the next round starts.”

“What did we buy, Cade?” Amber asked. “What was all that for?”

Cade didn’t have the heart to reply to her, though he was also wondering where the plane was … and his remote controller.

“Cade!” Amber shouted as he stumbled up the stairs.

He ignored her once more, knowing they were running out of time, and reached the atrium above. It was empty.

He was starting to panic, worrying something had happened, until a young soldier stumbled from the barracks corridor, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

“Where’s Marius?” Cade demanded in broken Latin.

The boy pointed a finger in the direction of outside, and Cade hurried through the doors to the courtyard. Almost all the legionaries were milling about, their attention seemingly split between two things.

One was the plane that had apparently just appeared upon the cobblestones, resting awkwardly on one wing, the nuclear bomb still attached to its base.

The other was upon the walls. Or rather, beyond them.

Now he saw Marius on the ramparts, staring into the bone fields with his advisers close by. Cade wasted no time examining his prize, instead rushing for the stairs, ignoring the cry of outrage from Amber as she saw the plane.

He reached the man in a matter of seconds, waving aside the onrush of surprised voices and faces.

“Cade,” Marius said, a shocked look upon his face. “Our watchmen did not see your arrival. What—”

“We’ve got about ten minutes before we’re attacked,” Cade cut in. “We have to…”

He trailed off, staring into the bone fields, where a terrible sight awaited him.

The blue force field. Just like the one there had been when Cade had to fight the alpha. And beyond that … were insects.

Hundreds of them, identical in appearance, size, and shape. They seemed to be like ants, humanoid, and standing upright.

From this distance, it was hard to see much more, but Cade wasted no time in summoning the leaderboard to get a closer look.

He saw humanity’s own location on the board, now second from the top following their victory over the Grays.

But to his surprise, it did not appear that they were being attacked from below. Rather, they were being attacked by the very top. An ant-like carapace, complete with antennae and mandibles, was flashing, with a red arrow pointing down toward their own spot, represented by a human skull.

“What is this?” Cade demanded. “Why are we being attacked from the top?”

The little girl’s voice emerged from the Codex.

“Why, a little lesson,” Abaddon said. “You traded poorly, Cade. Your bomb is no use here.”

Cade cursed under his breath. “But why attack us?” he demanded. “They’ll stay in the same spot even if they win.”

“Your bomb, rather than protecting you, has precipitated this attack,” Abaddon replied with surprising viciousness. “Should you have attacked them, you would have easily destroyed their hive and moved to the top. But if they attack preemptively…”