Page 20 of Ravenous Prophecy
A particular strand of the Hive, Bradley had told me, which was what his research had told him. I rubbed the center of my forehead, mirroring Zuleika and her oncoming headache. She was only telling us the truth as she saw it through half-lidded eyes. She had no reason to lie.
For the first time, I was faced with actually consideringthe truth of the Hive’s existence. To Bradley’s credit, he didn’t smirk at me or show any intent to gloat. It was worse than that. He looked worried as hell.
“I’m gonna be honest with you guys,” Zuleika said, pulling up her sleeves. “I hate this. But if Wallace thought this was important enough to bring you to me—well, I’ll do everything I can to help you.”
Something twisted in my stomach. The most powerful oracle in Moraira City, as far as Bradley and I knew, was this child. And here we were, potentially exposing her to even more horrific sights. But what could we do? We needed her help. We needed her guidance.
“Thank you,” was all I could say.
“Don’t thank me yet.” Zuleika settled back against the couch, folding her arms across her chest as her eyes slid fully shut.
We stared at her for some moments, unsure of what was supposed to happen until it did. Beneath her eyelids, Zuleika’s eyes were moving at rapid speed, flickering with inhuman intensity, yet she wasn’t asleep. She flinched at times, exactly as someone would in nightmares, twitched here and there, a soft whine in the back of her throat.
Yet she was completely lucid, fully awake—exploring and observing in an entirely different world.
“Not just any Hive,” she muttered, voice distant, as if drifting from another room, another place. “Something bigger. Something stronger. Something even the Hive themselves fear.”
I covered my face in my hands, rubbing and kneading. God, what could possibly be worse than the suddenly very real Hive?
“All the victims,” Zuleika said. “All that blood. Offerings. Ritual. Trying to bring them back to our world. It’s bait. River of gore. Meat. We’re just meat.”
I stared at Bradley almost as much as I stared at her. Was it right to let her continue? What else would she see?
“Rich man—Williams. Wants the oracles. Wants us to help find this thing—this Hive Father.”
“Hive Father,” Bradley echoed, shaking his head as though the words were foreign even to his ears, on his lips.
“Don’t know why they want us!” Zuleika cried out. “Why the oracles? For our eyes? Our bodies? Our flesh? He’s sending men. He’s sending monsters. They’re coming. No, please. They’re coming.”
Zuleika’s hands reached for mine, for Bradley’s, clenching tight, her grip like iron. Her eyes flickered open, no longer brown, both milky clear and white.
“They’re here.”
CHAPTER 8
BRADLEY
“What do you mean?”I asked immediately, but I knew. I knew because I could hear it behind my eyes, like a hum that echoed in my brain.
Zuleika screamed, falling face-first off the couch, and Griffin leapt to catch her before her head hit the floor. But as soon as he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her back, she leapt at him. The short nails that had been biting into her own skin as she went on her vision quest now reached for him, clawing and scraping over his cheeks.
He fell back, letting her drop to the ground, and I leapt up, my eyes wide when she turned to me, her very human eyes replaced red, compound eyes that seemed streaked with color. She hissed as she leapt at me, as though she now had the bounding legs of an insect, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if wings had sprouted from her back.
She landed on my chest so hard that it pushed all the air from my lungs, I struggled, panicking when I couldn’t draw in a full breath, each gasp more desperate than the last as my vision began narrowing. I tried to hold herhands, keep her from clawing at my skin or strangling me, but she leaned forward, her teeth snapping. Then Griffin was there, grabbing her around the waist, holding her off the ground as she struggled, unable to find purchase.
I rolled to my side, gasping in deep breaths, the air freezing as it dragged over my throat.
“Wallace!” Griffin yelled. “We need something to restrain her!”
I slumped in relief when Wallace shoved open the tent door, but it was short-lived because as soon as I saw his eyes, deep red, dotted with a thousand smaller pieces, a compound eye designed for insects or the Hive—no. That had only been a theory. A theory that even fellow believers in the Hive thought I was stretching for believing.
Wallace was almost on top of me when I rolled, knocking his legs out from under him. I felt the impact, hissing in pain, but then I was up and free. Pushing up, my hands trembled as the carpet on the tent floor dragged over my palms. I jumped away and turned back to him, eyes wide.
“Wallace! Can you hear me?” I asked. “Please! You have to fight through!”
He opened his mouth, but instead of speaking, he raised his chin, his throat undulated, and I felt it again, the buzzing hum behind my eyes that made me scream and hold my head, like the noise was melting my brain, making it come out my eyes.
Griffin swore colorfully. “We need to get them subdued!”
