Defying Destiny (Afterword Academy #3) - Katie May Page 0,30

ground. Insects drop from the trees, landing in my hair, their legs digging into my scalp as if barbs were on their gross little feet.

Hadley’s screams echo my own, but my own fear doesn’t allow me to help her. I’m literally paralyzed.

“Come on, you,” Auston grunts, snatching my shirt and forcing me to stumble after him. More bugs rain down on us, skittering under my clothes, slithering in my hair. I’m about to have a nervous breakdown when we come out of the jungle…well, sorta. A clearing up ahead has me falling to my knees, stripping off my clothes.

The others are doing the same, tearing away shirts and pants until we’re all standing there heaving in our undies, even Hadley.

Fuck, does she look gorgeous, even covered in goop and remnants of dried blood. Though her sports bra and boy shorts are modest, they cling to her muscular body, leaving nothing to the imagination. Braxton and Auston work furiously to remove insects still clinging to her hair and wings, while Karton comes over to help me.

Each bug has embedded itself into my skin, and every one he removes feels like a knife is being pulled from my body. Then the itching begins as angry welts develop where each one latched on. I try to ignore them and put on a brave face to help Karston, who has done so much for me.

But I’m a total scaredy cat.

Grabbing my tossed shirt, I wrap it around my hand then pick off the bugs from his back that he is unable to reach. The bugs which originally were green, have now turned blood red. That’s when I realize, they not only bit us, but fed on us as well.

Vomit churning in my belly, I pluck the last one off of Karston as he grunts, before squishing the forsaken thing under my shoe. The sickly splattering noise it makes when I crush it almost makes me puke.

“What the fuck were those?” Braxton asks Caius while inspecting Hadley’s wings once more.

“No idea,” Caius responds, hovering close to Hadley. “I’ve never been to this layer of Hell before.”

“Some good you are,” my Demon brother mutters under his breath. Annoyed, I walk over to Braxton and pull him away from everyone else.

“You need to back off on Caius, okay?”

He folds his arms over his chest, eyebrows furrowed. “Oh? And why’s that?”

“Because he’s trying his best. Because he loves Hadley as much as we do. Because without him, we’d be lost down here forever.” Braxton’s scowl is replaced by a look of astonishment. He’s not used to me speaking up like this, much less on Caius’s behalf. “You need to lay off. Every time you say a snide remark to him, you’re hurting Hadley, hurting the one she loves. And that’s not fair. I can see the pain in her eyes, and I know you’re the one who puts it there.”

Braxton runs his hand through his hair, then perches both of them on his hips. “I never thought of it that way.”

I clasp him on the shoulder and squeeze. “I know, bro. But cut him a little slack. This journey will be much more pleasant without you berating him all the time.”

“Since when did you become so wise, Pres?” he asks with a smile. “I still don’t like him though.”

“That’s fine,” I agree. “Just keep your comments to yourself. Okay?”

He nods somewhat reluctantly, and I turn from him, walking over to Hadley, who is inspecting her clothes for more insects. “You okay?”

She shrugs. “I guess. I mean… I’m as okay as you can be when you’re living on borrowed essences while traveling through the seven layers of Hell.”

“Well, when you put it that way…” I offer her a smile and pull her into my chest. She wraps her arms around me and sighs deep before letting go.

“We need to move.” Caius’s voice sounds urgent, and we all give him our attention. A shadowy arm forms out of the smoke and points at something that makes my heart fucking stop.

“Sp-Sp-Sp—” I can’t even fucking say it. Beyond the clearing, past another swamp of putrid goop, are looming figures that I’ve only seen before in my nightmares.

Eight, spindly legs rise ten feet off the ground, and rounded, bulbous bodies are plucked right between them all. Massive pinchers snap as they begin to move, storming through the goop to get to us.

“Spiders!” I manage to scream, pointing frantically as the monsters close in. There must be a dozen of them. As I