Defying Destiny (Afterword Academy #3) - Katie May Page 0,29

It throws you into its bowels, laughing at your unease, at your fear. It wants to keep you for itself, food for its belly, roaming the darkness till the end of your days.

I can’t allow that to happen. Not when Hadley’s existence is on the line. I won’t stand by while her essence remains trapped in some devious cage, especially if I’m not trapped in there with her.

A scream from below me reaches my ears.

Hadley’s scream.

I take a breath to shout down, asking if she’s okay, when I’m suddenly wrapped up in sticky fibers as if I just fell through a gigantic spider web.

Wait…

That can’t be right, can it?

Oh fuck. Please tell me that there’s no spiders in Hell. My tortured heart can’t handle that.

As much as I try to deny it, the feel of a spiderweb stretching across your face is unforgettable. Quickly, I become a ninja and flail harder, trying to fight off the sticky threads and any bugs that might be attached to it.

Bugs…

I shiver at the thought.

Most people are scared of things like snakes, rats, or clowns. While I find those things unnerving, I don’t fear them.

But bugs? Spiders with creepy crawly legs?

Sheer terror.

You might say I have a bug-phobia. Yeah. Even as a child, I can remember being scared of lightning bugs. Auston used to torture me with them when I was little. He and Brax would stay up late to catch as many as they could, then when I fell asleep, they’d release them into my room.

Karston would spend the rest of the night trying to re-catch them while I hid under the covers, completely immobile.

From lightning bugs—bugs that can’t sting or bite, only emit a glowing, yellow light.

So you can only imagine the fear, the spine-tingling terror I feel right now imagining spiders crawling all over me.

Her screams stop suddenly as I crash through a thicker web a moment before the area around me brightens, and I land in a big pool of green goop. Terror engulfs me, and I’m too scared to move, too scared to look around and really see where I am.

“Preston? You okay?” Hadley’s voice calms me, and I glance towards its origin to see my sweet girl crawling towards me. Other than the white webs covering most of her body, she looks unscathed.

“Yeah. You?” I ask, finding my voice, unable to hide how it wobbles.

Before she can respond, a startled shout comes from above us, and a second later, my Ghost and Demon brothers land with a crash, spraying the rest of us with more goop. I close my eyes in time but not my mouth, and the putrid flavor of the goo has me immediately gagging.

“Spit it out, Preston. Don’t swallow it.” Caius’s voice sounds urgent as he hovers near me. “Get it out of you. Now!” Forcing my mouth to work, I spit out the meager contents and feel much better. “Everyone, get out of this swamp quickly. We do not wish to linger here.”

A hand wraps around my upper arm as Auston and Karston tug me to my feet. Brax is helping Hadley, his arm curled around her shoulders as we trudge through the goop towards what I can only describe as a shore.

Actually, it’s hard to describe anything down here. But flicking my eyes around, I can only compare it to some kind of fucked up jungle. Green gas seems to slither in and out between the trunks of tall trees and the dense bushes.

By itself, the gas wouldn't be so bad, but the plant life is…well, alive. The trees seem to be breathing, inhaling the stagnant air, trunks expanding. Low growls emit from the bushes that seem to be following us as we walk. Karston gets too close to one, and it fucking bites at him.

Bites!

With teeth and fangs and stuff.

I can’t even help myself and totally squeal as we scurry past them. Foul smells descend around us, burning our nostrils, making the air thick and hard to see through.

None of us even speak, too scared to utter a word as we silently follow Caius as he weaves in and out of the foliage. A chittering noise sounds above us, and we all freeze, heads jerking up to the canopy of leaves. Squinting, I realize that there aren’t leaves hanging off the trees—there are insects.

Wiggling, skittering, hissing insects.

I shriek and take off, desperate to get out from the trees. Behind me, the footsteps of everyone else sound as their shoes pound on the