Page 54 of SummerTime Madness
To protect our queen.
Bodies lit with bioluminescent veins twist into one another, skin slick with foam and blood ecstasy. Some have evolved quicker–turning into beautiful human art, sprouts falling from their open crevices like waterfalls, skin fully glowing with a beautiful soft pink hue.
Beautiful. Unholy. Divine.
Limbs continue to tangle, mouths open in moans or screams – it doesn't matter. It all turned out the same.
No one’s human anymore.
And the center of it all–her.
Our Queen B.
Cordelia lifts her head, eyes still glowing like moonlit wounds.
“They’re ready,” she whispers as she stands, pulling us with her.
Chase arches a brow. “For what?”
“To connect,” she hums, her green dress clinging to her like it was made of seaweed and light. Even her sun-kissed skin pulses to the bass line. “Let’s not keep them waiting.”
She goes to turn–her body tense before she comes to a sudden stop. Then the music stops, and tiny red dots dance upon her skin. My nose flares, and Chase immediately shields her with his body, stepping in front of her.
I can feel the darkness of the hive begin to cloud my mind.
The music shifts–bass thick and sludgy, vibrating like it’s alive–the crowd goes silent.
“Kill them,” the voice hisses in my head. “They don’t belong but they can,” it continues.
Sensing the danger before it had the chance to surprise us, my body moved on instinct , moving closer to what’s mine.
Before the first bullet flies, I’m already moving.
The ground shakes beneath us.
“GET DOWN!” someone shouts as gunshots go off in the distance. Soil trembles beneath my feet.
“Ten four, your location—”
All static.
All too late.
“Protect the Queen,” the voice snarls. “The queen.”
The hive howls over the music.
I lunge, slamming into the first guard.
“May Day.”
Static.
“May Day.”
More screams.
“RUN!” I shout over the music, but I feel the immediate resistance that comes from her.
