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“We’re not completely incompetent,” I snapped.

Asher grunted, like he disagreed.

Two more thunks sounded over the noise. Then another.

It was quiet for a few seconds.

Then I heard three separate thumps in quick succession. Another pause, then a handful more.

I didn’t have to look at the rearview mirror anymore to catch sight of the swarm. The edge of it was overwhelming the car. And now I got my first good look at what this storm was made up of.

Insects.

Earthly beasts that could sting, and bite, and poison their victims. Creatures that could strip whole fields of their harvest.

In front of us, uninterrupted highway stretched out as far as the eye could see. There were no other human settlements in sight, with the exception of the occasional farmhouse off in the distance.

Nowhere to hide.

“Gods above,” I said, “we’re doomed.”

“Where’s your sense of adventure, Lana?”

I looked over at Asher like he was mad. “Infernari don’t have this sense you speak of.”

“We don’t—never mind.”

The thumps came more frequently. They were beginning to sound like terrible drumbeats, their momentum picking up.

A bug hit the front window, its body splattering. They’d completely overtaken the car, which meant the vortex of this living storm was getting closer.

Clades would be at the center of it.

More bugs followed, killing themselves on impact, their bodies exploding and obscuring what little view there was now that the swarm had enveloped us.

The ride became rockier as the vehicle drove over dozens of them. Asher flicked on the windshield wipers, and I cringed as blood and guts smeared across the glass.

The buzzing became a sound that didn’t simply surround us, it felt like it was inside my bones. Worse, the insects now pelted the outside of the car, and I could hear their wings and legs scratching along the cars innards.

And then the first one crawled its way in from gods knew where. All I know is that it flapped its way onto my lap. I brushed it off with disgust, then crushed it beneath my boot heel.

Another soon followed, buzzing inside the car, repeatedly banging into one of the windows until it flopped onto the dartboard, its wing broken, giving me the chance to get a good look at it.

I leaned forward and studied it.

Infernal had bigger insects—much bigger ones—but the biggest creatures were not necessarily the deadliest.

And these ones—

“They look lethal,” I said.

Asher began to laugh next to me.

“What?” I said, glaring at him.

“Cicadas!” he yelled, like somehow that made any sense to me.

When he saw my confused look, he elaborated. “Big, dumb bugs. They die real quick.”