He dodges out of the way, and the ball hits the back of the driver’s seat. Sickly sweet syrup explodes on impact, coating the inside of the car and Lei’s face. I throw another, hitting the front passenger as he tries to get out. Lei emerges next, and I pelt him with one more.
“What the fuck, Jade!” Lei yells as he wipes his face. “This is a two-thousand-dollar suit, and you’re pulling pranks?”
A violet rip appears in the air above the sedan, then another over the hood. Two skreet drones leap out, denting the roof with a loud bang. The driver shouts and throws the car in reverse, flinging one of the drones free. It smacks into the front passenger as he tries to escape and envelops him in an aura of blue and purple light. They disappear through the rip in the world with a single, perfectly cut scream.
Lei stumbles back in shock, then looks at himself. He throws off his jacket and rips his shirt over his head, wiping at his sticky hair and face. The driver careens into a tree with a loud crash, and the skreet makes its signature noise.
Another tear in space appears beside Lei and he throws his shirt at it. The sugar-coated cotton disappears into the void as it keeps growing wider and wider. My heart pounds against my ribs as a creature emerges through the portal. A vicioushook-clawed foot appears first and then a leg as big around as my thigh. It’s black as midnight with a reflective purple sheen. Razor-sharp hairs coat the underside of it, and they flex as the first foot comes down with a thud.
Lei screams and runs toward his car—which is covered in syrup. Idiot. The skreet head pushes through the portal with a roar that makes me stagger back.
“What the hell was that?” Ace yells through my earbud.
“Big one!” I say as I quickly grab the water bottle from my bag.
I wash off my hands, ensuring that none of the sugar that could’ve transferred to me remains.
The skreet pulls itself into existence as Lei fumbles with the driver’s door. He pulls on it in a panic, his gooey fingers slipping off the handle. The monstrous skreet that could only be described as an elephant-sized horror chitters, then charges Lei.
He runs but only gets five steps before the massive thing drops its head down on him like it’s bobbing for apples, mouth wide as can be. Lei disappears inside the skreet in a single chomp-less swallow.
I’m stunned, rooted to the spot.
He never had a chance. Even if I wanted to help him, it happened so fast there was nothing I could do.
I suppose I could’venotcalled the skreet, but Lei didn’t leave me any great options. I had a whole battle planned out for us, different runes drawn into different spots on my body that would make me super strong or super fast for a brief second. Iwas going to punch his teeth out, and break his shins, not kill him…
But now he’s no more than skreet skat.
He should’ve just left my family alone.
The massive monster turns its whole body upward as if it’s moving Lei down into his stomach with the help of gravity. It’s antennae wiggle, making a gross rubbery noise that makes me cringe.
“Should I come get you?” Ace asks with trepidation. “Is there anything left to get?”
“Gotta be quiet,” I murmur as I stand completely still.
I’m not positive if the skreet have T-rex vision, but Rhaz made me still and quiet that night in the pantry, so I keep quiet and frozen on the spot.
The big one thumps over to the car and tries to take a bite. The whine of metal ripping pierces the air, and the skreet roars in frustration. A long tubule emerges from its mouth and then begins to unfurl like a scroll. It grows wider than it is long and covers the car almost completely.
It slurps and grunts, getting all the sugar off the surface and all the contents out of the inside. I hear another scream as the back driver’s side door is thrown open. The driver tumbles out and crawls across the gravel on hands and knees.
“Help, please!” he shouts to me, and a stone of guilt drops into my gut.
The smaller skreet that was dazed from the car crash leaps over the bigger one doing its thing, its wings flared wide. Thesun catches the transparent edges of the fragile-looking wings, making them glow. It drops down on top of the driver, and a portal opens to the skreet domain on the ground, pulling them through.
It’s quiet except for the soft sucking noises of the massive monster. Finally, it reels its tongue back into its face and turns around. The dimensional rip shimmers, calling the beast home, and I almost heave a sigh of relief when it heads that way. The skreet thunders toward the portal, each step vibrating up my legs. I’m wobbly from adrenaline and everything in me screamsrun, but I stay still.
It pauses, antennae turning in my direction.
No, no, no. I’m clean. No sugar here. Move along.
My senses open to the future and I see the monster move toward me. Shit! There’s something still on me.
I strip off my jacket slowly and toss it aside. The autumn wind blows across my marked skin, raising goosebumps and sending a chill down my spine. The skreet’s antennae follow the jacket as it flops in front of it. The hooked claw of its front foot stretches out and snags the clothes, then holds it up to its face. It huffs and tosses the jacket aside, then looks back at me.
Oh.
