On their way to the other Progeny, Rayne and Tameka had evacuated most of the students—the remaining ones, anyway—to the football field, assuming the clawed beasts were guarding the perimeter. All the while, shrieks had ricocheted from North Hall.

The school’s major artery pumped blood into the mouths of the invaders. The intruders craved this pandemonium. They lusted for the aphrodisiac of fear, the temptation of helplessness, and the enticement of adrenaline.

Now, the flow of human blood trickled, clotted by the Progeny. The unit made their way through the red-lit darkness, where Rayne counted twenty-two bodies. A girl was slumped against the next bank of lockers. She scrambled to check her pulse, but found her wrists were punctured. She was drained.

Beside Rayne, Sagan looked away. Tameka shook her head. Kyle carried Nikki on his back, stone-faced.

They kept moving.

John said, “I don’t think I ever thanked you for sending Xelan to my house that day. But, yeah. Thanks, Callahan.”

Rayne understood. If not for Xelan, Nox would have her already. No matter how many times Xelan warned her, this wasn’t what she imagined the invasion would be like. Rather than meeting with Nox and resolving peace between them, there was only carnage.

Nox was insane.

She glanced at Sagan. Was she having similar thoughts about Korac? And how—

“Shit!” Rayne drifted on debris beneath her combat boots. The sharp remnants of a door caught her fall until she slid against her locker.

“Are you okay?” Tameka and Kyle cried at once, much to their irritation.

Rayne groaned as Sagan lifted her by the arm. She assured, “I’ll be fine.” There was no point in telling them about her hands. The broken glass bit into Rayne’s skin like sharp gravel. “You get to your stash. I’ll grab mine.” She belted the sword she’d claimed from the first Icarus they’d killed in the Med Lab. Sadly, the last three were unarmed.

Tameka hesitated like she wanted to force the issue. Instead, she hopped over to her locker while mumbling, “Got it.”

Kyle nodded at John. “I’ll take these two to our lockers. We’ll see you there.” They headed further into the school with Nikki.

Rayne’s hands reminded her of hamburger meat. The tiny chips coalesced into the tissue of her palms. There was no use in trying to pick those out. Rayne ripped the sleeves from her white blouse and gritted her teeth as she wrapped the wounds, glass and all. She hoped Tameka and Sagan weren’t watching her.

Sagan gasped, pointing at Rayne’s locker.

Rayne spun and examined the wooden cabinet under the dim light. Closer, she could see her machete was used to pin a folded sheet of paper to the door.

No.

No, no, no.

Tameka asked, “What is it, Rayne?”

With more effort than she’d expected, Rayne yanked the knife out. She said, “It’s from my stash.” With her back to Tameka and Sagan, Rayne opened the note.

Nox wrote it in blood. She almost rolled her eyes at how predictable it was, but, as she read on, a leaden weight sank in her gut.

It Still Won’t Be Enough.

Icy dread calmed the storm in Rayne, suppressing any desire for Nox.

Behind her, Tameka sucked air through her teeth, and Sagan swallowed with an audible gulp. There was no sense in telling her best friends now that they’d read it for themselves.

Rayne broke the combination lock and rummaged through the disarray of her ransacked locker. She promised, “We’ll get through this.”

Inside, she located a leather bag stowed in the back. A small, tactical backpack concealed—originally—four knives, a Zippo lighter, two flares, and a bundle of twine. They didn’t bother stealing their weapons, but all of Rayne’s personal notebooks were missing.

She returned the machete to its sheath on a strap and wrapped it around her thigh. Between that and the sword, she imagined she made for quite the fearsome sight.

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‘It won’t be enough,’ her ass. With a quick glance in the mirror, she tied back her hair before turning to find Tameka and Sagan doing the same. Both of them armed to the teeth.

Tameka asked, “Do you think we’ll be able to find hair-care products after the world ends?”

Bemused, Sagan smiled.

Rayne embraced her friends. “We’ll make these aliens think twice about invading Earth.”

Sagan’s smile broadened into a grin. “We’ll make Xelan proud.”

Tameka leaned back into Rayne. “We’ll save everyone, right?”

Rayne refused to lie to her. Instead, she said, “We’ll save as many as we can.”

The three girls found Kyle, John, and Nikki armed and ready at their lockers.

Kyle asked, “Should we check classrooms for survivors?”

They all looked to Rayne for the answer, and she wasn’t sure.

What would Xelan do?

As if she’d read Rayne’s thoughts, Tameka said, “I think we can best help any survivors by stopping the invasion before the fire spreads.”

Smoke already formed a blanket overhead, deepening the darkness.

Nikki croaked, “But where?”

Sagan said, “The cafeteria. Two of the Icarean soldiers threatened to take me there.”

Korac was seeking Sagan. Rayne searched her best friend’s face for signs of internal struggle—

There.

Sagan’s eyes darted away for a millisecond. She was hiding shame or curiosity.

Rayne wrapped her arm around Sagan’s waist and squeezed before agreeing, “Then let’s head to the cafeteria—”

“I’m sorry,” John interrupted. “I know the Icari are here to invade Earth, but you’ve left out some details. Like who would want you in the cafeteria and why?”

Kyle opened his mouth to answer, but someone from behind cut him off.

“The King of Cinder, and he wants the five of us.”

“Andrew!” Tameka cried out. She ran over to hug him, while everyone else gaped in shock.

Except John. He grumbled about people withholding information.

Andrew returned Tameka’s embrace. He’d tied his long brown hair back from his face, baring the concern in his teal eyes as he examined their crew. Standing at five foot eight, he appeared solemn and suspiciously uninjured.

Rayne scanned him. Did Andrew walk into the middle of an apocalyptic invasion unscathed? How was he even here? He went to Hall High School, which was on the other side of town from Fair. Had the assault spread so far already? There was that icy dread in her veins again.

First things first. Rayne asked, “Is Hall under attack, too?”

Andrew shook his head. “I don’t know. I was skipping class.”

He just lied to Rayne’s face. She narrowed her eyes at him and opened her mouth to call him out—

“Never mind that. We don’t have much time because your school is seriously on fire. Are we going in after them?”

Everyone turned. They stared at her, expectantly.

Rayne smiled at Andrew. She might find the circumstances of his arrival suspicious, but having their fifth teammate here made a world of difference to their morale. Rayne said, “Exactly. And if we come across any victims, we can send them to the Med Lab.”

Andrew dropped his duffle bag and spread it open to reveal medical supplies. The others dove in. Rayne watched everyone fill their bags and pockets. Their expressions were stoic and focused. She noted scrapes, wounds, cuts, and bruises on every single one of them.

A wave of guilt and shame washed over Rayne. Earlier this morning she’d wanted anything to come of Xelan’s warnings, and now that it was here…

Rayne squeezed Andrew’s shoulder. “Good work, Holt. I’m running to the restroom. You explain to John and Nikki about Nox and the Progeny. They deserve to know what they’re dying for.”

Andrew stared a little too long into Rayne’s eyes before saying, “I don’t think any of them are planning on dying, today.”

She looked away then, mumbling, “Just tell them,” and headed for the restroom two doors down.

As Rayne went to leave, she glimpsed Kyle spying her exit. He opened his mouth to say something to her, and Andrew swatted his arm. Kyle promptly made to cuss him out. At the shake of Andrew’s head, Kyle listened for once.

She was grateful for the respite from her friends and ashamed of the relief.

As Andrew filled in the gaps, Rayne closed her eyes to it, turned her back on it, and walked away from it.

Confusion and ferocity. How could Rayne harbor feelings for a being capable of so much merciless destruction? And Nox wouldn’t stop here. If Rayne couldn’t fend him off back to Cinder, he’d conquer the Earth. Would that even be enough?

Is this enough for you?

“You can’t think I’d let you walk away like that.”

Sagan.

She’d followed Rayne into the restroom.

Rayne glimpsed her through the mirror in the red-lit room. As she watched, Sagan draped her arms around Rayne and rested her chin on her shoulder. She said, “Talk to me.”

“I’m scared of myself,” Rayne confessed, meeting Sagan’s eyes.

The other girl stared back, and Rayne wondered if she could see the storm raging inside.

Sagan said, “Me, too.” The next part she whispered, “And all those dreams of you and Nox or me and Korac? They’ll never happen. Rayne, I want you to listen because this is important. If some part of you wants something to happen, forgive yourself. Don’t hate yourself over something you can’t control. We’re young, impressionable girls, dammit, and they fucked with us in our dreams for four years. Don’t you dare blame yourself for that or any of this. We’re being invaded by aliens. Hot aliens who want to murder us. Whatever conflicting shit you’re traumatizing over, it’s okay. Take all of it and stab them in the face with it. Do you understand?!”

Rayne questioned Sagan’s bravado. The girl’s body trembled around her. Sagan was as terrified as Rayne. Maybe more.

But Rayne couldn’t let that speech go to waste. “Yes.” Her voice was tight with unshed tears. Not tears of anguish, but appreciation. She opened her eyes and pulled back from her friend. “You’re right. No time for trauma. No time for tears.”

Sagan shook her head. “No, you’re wrong. There’ll always be time for those things, but we have to be ready to fight with them, and everything else we’ve got.”

“How are the others on supplies? Has Andrew finished briefing them yet?”

“They were just finishing up when I left. We could honestly use more medical supplies. Or a bazooka.”