Free Seals by Kim Richardson Page A

black and green mess. Then she spun like a top, spreading out
her wings like a razorblade tornado. The edges of her wings hacked,
sliced, shredded through the locust-men like a revolving meat
grinder. Insect blood and guts fell like heavy rain.
    She was lost in a fury of hatred, in her
hunger to kill, and she kept killing until she had annihilated
every last locust creature.
    “Kara, stop!”
    Kara halted, but the darkness still pulsed
inside her. It wanted her to kill again and again. She knew in that
moment that it would never leave her, not anymore. She had broken its seal.
    David ran up to her. He surveyed the severed
bugs and then stared at her for far too long. His face hardened,
and his eyes narrowed. Why was he looking at her like that? Hadn’t
she just saved them? Shouldn’t he be thanking her?
    Peter was lifting Jenny to her feet. She was
battered, but in much better shape than Kara would have thought.
Ashley stood next to them with her sword in her hand and a
murderous look on her pretty face. Her friends were safe. All of
them. Strangely enough, she felt great.
    The earth rumbled slightly, and Kara’s
sudden heroic feeling died like the bugs at her feet. She spun on
the spot.
    “Where’s the knight?”
    “Gone,” said David. He was still looking at
her with a perplexed expression as he moved closer to her.
    Kara felt deflated and furious. They had
lost their chance at killing it. She had lost her chance.
She feared what had been revealed between her and the knight. She
didn’t understand the truths that she so desperately wanted to
know. Where did it go and why?
    “The bugs,” she squished a few dead locusts
underfoot. “They were a diversion for a quick getaway. They kept us
busy while it continued to spread its wickedness.”
    She looked quickly at her injured bicep. The
wound had healed, but it didn’t make her feel any better.
    “Well, I don’t know exactly when the knight
packed up and left, but it was around the time you went all DEET on
the bugs.” David stood right in front of her now, but there was no
love or kindness in his eyes, only fear.
    “What?” said Kara.
    David was not supposed to look at her that
way. At first she thought he was looking at her arm, but his eyes
remained fixed on her face .
    “Is it the bugs?” Kara watched for his
reaction. But there was none.
    “Do I still have bug guts all over my face
or something?” She wiped her face with her sleeve.
    “Is it gone now? What is it, seriously? Stop
staring at me like that and just tell me.”
    The others were staring at her, too.
    “Your face,” began Jenny. She looked at
Kara’s face like it was the ugliest thing she’d ever seen. “It’s
all…it’s all...”
    “It’s all what ?” Kara felt the
darkness start to rise in her. It wanted to be released again, but
she pushed it down.
    What was wrong with them all? They
should be grateful that she had risked her angel life to rescue
them, not pass judgment on her.
    “I can clean it off later,” Kara
growled.
    “That’s not it.” Kara wasn’t surprised that
Ashley should have a compact mirror. She tossed it to Kara.
    “You’re all covered in like black veins or
something like that. See for yourself. Take a look.”
    Kara caught the mirror and looked at her
face. It was her worst fear.
    Like deep black tattoos, the veins covered
her face like crawling vines. They extended from her neck, all the
way up her cheeks, to her forehead.
    Kara tossed the mirror on the ground. She
turned away from her friends and hid her grotesque face with her
hands. She shook in fear and shame. It was her fault. She had let
the darkness in, and now there was no going back.
    How could she have been so stupid? So
careless? The white oracle had warned her that she could change the
future. But now her future seemed to be set in stone.
    She looked like a monster because she was
about to become one.
    Part of her wanted to cry. A good mortal cry
had always made her feel better. But she