Stupid fucks. “Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Yeah, but they don’t care. Most can view it from their ships, but this”—the man indicated the clear sky—“isn’t going to stay this way for much longer. The swarms will continue to grow until the sky’s blotted out. If anyone’s out then, it’ll be a bloodbath. Locusts will eat anything, even each other, during this time of year.”
Hysterian grabbed the male locusts’ crate, braced his legs, and lifted it in his arms.
“Try and leave tonight if you can, like me. Ships are leaving hourly,” the man said.
Hysterian glimpsed Mt. Etta in the distance as he hauled the crate to the truck. A comm pinged his audio, alerting him he had received a direct message to his systems. He stopped, bringing the message up. He never received direct comms unless it was from another Cyborg or his ship’s AI.
It was from Raphael.
The wires in his chest vibrated, and his fingers dug into the hard edges of the crate. Hatred for his ex-boss arose swiftly, but it was soon replaced with dread and curiosity.
The crate shook in his arms.
He stared at the comm behind his eyes, debating whether or not to open it and download the encrypted message. What would Raphael have for him? Had he found information about Alexa? Her past? Had she been hurt? Was she being bribed?
His anger returned the longer he stared at the comm. His glands opened up and poison bubbled under his suit.
Maybe he didn’t find anything out at all.Hysterian hoped there was nothing on Alexa, that she was just…concerned about him being a Cyborg and she was a half-breed. She didn’t know about the codes that ran deep in Cyborgs, urging them to destroy Trentians.
They were nothing compared to what he’d been dealing with his entire life and his skin.
“Are you okay?” the man accepting the locusts asked.
A growling came from inside the crate right before it rocked in Hysterian’s arms. His hand slipped and the crate fell, crashing to the ground. Wood, metal, and straps broke and snapped. Two large wings burst from the sides as the male locust’s growls crescendoed into a roar.
The security guards backed off, and one yelled, grabbing his gun from his belt. The intake man shouted, stumbling back, falling before scrambling to the door of his vehicle. The crates containing the females started to shake.
Screams filled his ears. Hysterian opened the comm.
The male locust shook off the debris from the crate, baring his teeth. Large wings flapped, readying for flight. It didn’t see Hysterian glaring at the security guard who was backing away. Four large arms stretched out, claws elongating, growing sharp.
Hysterian took out his gun and shot it point-blank in the head.
The male locust crashed to the ground.
“That’s for scaring her,” he said, pivoting toward his ship.
He knew everything.
Alexa’s father. Her history. Everything. He scanned the comm from Raphael a hundred more times by the time he saw his ship in the distance, memorizing every sentence, every bit of punctuation. The screams followed him for a time but quieted the farther he got away. His audio cleared it all out as a chilling dread filled him.
I killed her father.
Xavier Lyle Dear.
He’d known the name on Raphael’s comm before he even had a moment to question it. He remembered everyone he killed. The last name Dear wasn’t a common one, but how was he supposed to make that connection? He had met countless people since his creation. Many shared names, first and last.
Hysterian cursed as power surged through his systems. He picked up speed, sprinting now, needing to see Alexa. He never thought in a thousand calibrations that he was the reason for her pain. That time in the lounge that night…She fought me. She thought I was going to kill her.
She came here to get revenge.
The air left him, and his throat constricted.
She’d come to kill him.
It made sense.
