Dusk (7 page)

“What did you want to tell me?” Lucy asked him, trying to
encourage him toward the door.

He turned to her, speaking so quietly she had to lean in to hear
him. “I wanted to let you know I have placed extra sensors around this area.
They’ll keep you safe.”

“Sensors? In Greyson’s territory?” Lucy asked, confused.

“He agreed to it,” Solomon said.

Lucy didn’t understand. “Sensors aren’t shields. They won’t do
anything to keep anyone safe.”

Solomon frowned slightly. “They will let me know if any Spiders
come anywhere close. I can be here in minutes. I will keep you safe.”

Lucy licked her lips. “You already gave me your ring.” She didn’t
understand his attention, at all. Why did he keep seeking her out?

“Even so, I wanted to take extra precautions.”

She couldn’t think with him looming so close to her. He was near
enough for her to feel the heat coming off his skin. She wanted to hug him and
roll around in his warmth. She took a step back. “I don’t know what to say.
Thank you.” She didn’t know why he cared about her. It felt… odd.

“I should have called you sooner,” he said, surprising her. He put
a hand on her arm, tilting her away from the office window. “Earlier this
summer.”

“Why would you?” she asked him, floundering. He didn’t owe her
anything. In fact, she owed
him,
for saving her life.

He looked at her for a long moment. Lucy was about to step back,
but then he reached up and cupped her cheek. Her heart knocked against her
ribs.

“The moment I touched you to heal you, I knew,” he murmured, eyes
soft.

Lucy swallowed, trying to breathe past her panic. “Knew what?” she
whispered. Heat washed through her in a wave. He smelled like fresh air and
sun-baked stone. She couldn’t help it—she leaned into his palm.

He frowned and dropped his hand, suddenly staring at the door. He
looked abruptly unapproachable. “I must go.”

Lucy stepped back, cursing herself for letting him get so close. “You
confuse me,” she said past the lump in her throat.
You’re just a silly girl
to him,
she told herself, embarrassed. She stepped back further.
He’s hundreds of years older than you.

He turned back to her, his eyes dark and worried. “I’m sorry,” he
murmured, then to her shock, he cupped her face with both hands and quickly
kissed her.

Lucy stood there like an idiot.
Do I kiss him back?
she
wondered, and then before she could do anything, he moved away, head tilting
once more as if he was listening to something only he could hear.

“Solomon?”

His hands fell away from her as he stared at the door. “Stay here,”
he said, frowning. “Something is wrong.”

“What?” she asked, but he was already outside. She touched her
mouth, dazed. “What just happened?” Her lips tingled.

****

Solomon rushed down the street, heading for the woods on the backside
of the town. From there, he could cut across a few fields to get to his ship.
The moment the sensors tripped, boosting the energy signature of an infestation
of Spiders, his empathic sense picked it up. He wished he was home or at Greyson’s
house so he could access the Stronghold net and run a more intensive sweep of
the area, but sometimes one had to work with the situation at hand. When his
cell phone buzzed, he smiled grimly and dug it out of his pocket.

“I am already on my way there,” he said, putting the phone to his
ear. He didn’t have to look at the display to see who it was.

“We’ve got a massive infestation at the southeast corner of my
territory,” Greyson said tersely. “I’m taking your starship. I’ll pick you up.
Head for the nearest open space. I’ll find you.”

“Did you do a scan?” Solomon asked him.

“Just a quick one. The infestation is limited to that one area,”
Greyson told him. “Hurry up. I want to deal with this as soon as possible.”

Solomon frowned. “Are we ready to go public with our ships? Bruno will
not be happy.”

“I don’t give a flying fuck if Bruno farts pink rabbits when he
hears,” Greyson barked. “There are at least a million Spiders massing in a
cave. I think a starship sighting is the least of our problems.”

“Rabbits?” Solomon asked, torn between amusement and worry as he
hurried down the block. A couple pedestrians stared at him oddly, but most of
the people ignored him. That wouldn’t last long, not if Greyson was serious
about picking him up.

“Just find an open space, Solomon, and stop debating semantics
with me. It might take both of us to deal with the Spiders.”

“Are they replicating?”

“Not so far as I can tell. Hell, if you hadn’t placed the extra
sensors around town, we’d never have picked them up. I thought I sensed
something weird the other day, but I couldn’t pinpoint anything. As soon as
your sensors fully integrated with the Stronghold net, I got a hard reading.”
Greyson blew out a harsh breath. “We need to get moving and handle the
situation. Clearly, some of our longer-range sensors are failing.” He paused. “Okay,
I see you. Head for the grocery store.”

“Understood,” Solomon said, disconnecting the call. He shook his
head, then broke into a jog. When he reached the end of the street, he headed
directly for the supermarket parking lot. Greyson was already setting the
starship down at the far end. Solomon ignored the shocked looks on the
customers loading groceries into their cars and climbed into the rear seat of
the ship. The energy shield that formed the dome over the cockpit materialized.
Displays sprang into view along the interior of the dome, and Solomon tapped a
few commands into the net, trying to tweak the sensors a little more. The
Sentries’ tech was part organic, and used their energy to function, but it in
turn boosted their natural abilities.

“Status?” he asked, settling back into the seat. From what he
could sense and see, they were working with a limited incursion.

“No change.” Greyson eased away from the lot and headed into the
air. “Can you feel them?”

Solomon nodded. “Yes. I was talking to Lucy when the sensors
pinged me. It takes time for them to integrate into the net properly, so as
soon as they were fully functioning, I sensed the infestation.”

“Same here,” Greyson said, easing more southward. “I informed
Bruno and Isaac. They’re standing by in case we need help.”

“I am going to pick Lucy up after,” Solomon said.

Greyson twisted slightly in his seat. “Does she know that?”

“It does not matter,” Solomon told him. “She won’t argue with me.
And I need to be sure she’s safe.”

His brother snorted. “Uh huh. You just keep telling yourself that
she won’t freak out on you when you snatch her away. Because women are always
so calm about things like that. And also, what happened to you not wanting to
commit?”

Solomon frowned, but before he could reply, Greyson banked hard
left.

“There, I see the cave entrance. Three o’clock,” his brother said.

Solomon peered out of the ship. “I see it.”

“I’ll set the ship down just west of the entrance, in the meadow
near the creek.”

“Very well.” Solomon prepared himself mentally, dismissing
thoughts of Lucy so he could concentrate. She had his ring. It should keep her
safe. Sentries were mostly immune to the Spiders, but killing such a large mass
of them would take a great deal of energy. Unless…

“Do you have any of the energy grenades left?” he asked Greyson.
They’d used one earlier in the summer with great results, when the Spiders had
injured Lucy. Eva’s house hadn’t fared too well in that attack, unfortunately.

“Yes, and I remembered to bring it. It’s my last one,” Greyson
replied, easing the ship to a soft landing. “Here.” He powered down and
unstrapped himself, then tossed a metal disc back to Solomon.

Solomon caught it and examined the device with his senses. “Still
fully charged. Excellent.”

“That’s the only one I have left.” Greyson climbed out of the
ship. “Use it wisely.”

“Of course.” Solomon followed him into the trees. “We’ve focused
so much on the sensors we have not had time to fabricate more of these.”

“Everything takes energy,” Greyson agreed, striding through the
woods.

Solomon armed the disc with a small pulse of energy, but didn’t
set a timer. “It’s ready to go.”

“I say we toss it into the cave and then deal with any stragglers
after detonation.” Greyson headed for a game trail, moving faster.

“Agreed.” Solomon wished he’d worn hiking boots instead of shoes.
He slipped as the trail grew soft. “This must follow the creek,” he murmured,
staring at the moss on the ground. Moisture seeped into his socks.

Greyson nodded, then abruptly stopped just as the trees started to
thin a bit. “Yes, it does.” He pointed. “Ten yards.”

Solomon squinted. The sun was in his eyes, but he could make out a
dark opening through the brush. “Okay, I see it.”

“You want to throw the grenade?” Greyson asked.

Solomon thought of Lucy, staring up at him earlier. She’d been so
confused when he kissed her. He thought of the day he’d had to put Constance in
the ground and suddenly rage simmered along his nerves. “Yes.”

Greyson eyed him warily, clearly sensing his fluctuating emotions,
then he nodded. “I thought so.”

Solomon didn’t bother to explain. He eyed the distance, wanting to
be accurate, but then a Spider crawled out of the cave mouth. It skittered up a
tree, clearly agitated. They were out of time. Solomon sent out his empathic
energy like sonar, grimacing as he sensed the number of Spiders holed up in the
cave.

“Time to get to work.” He slid his finger along the disk, setting
a short timer, then lobbed it toward the cave mouth. It bounced inside. “Five
seconds,” he told his brother, crouching down behind a tree. “I am grateful
there aren’t as many here as there were at Eva’s house.”

“I agree, but there shouldn’t be
any
here at all. Something
has changed,” Greyson said as he crouched down too, waiting. A few seconds
later, a wave of power shook the ground.

Solomon extended his empathic senses, ranging out over the cave
and beyond. “There are a few left.”

“I’ll take care of those.” Greyson stood up and headed into the
tiny clearing in front of the cave mouth. The Spider in the tree launched
itself at him, but Greyson caught it and crushed it in his fist, then dusted
his hands together.

Solomon followed him, scanning the forest. “One more,” he said,
heading right for the cave. He reached out, then grabbed the Spider hiding
behind a rock. Its energy touched his skin, but his natural immunity
disintegrated the silicate creature. Sand sifted down as it died. “I do not
feel any others.”

“Me neither,” Greyson said, both hands on the rock that formed the
mouth of the cave. He sighed and turned, leaning on the stone. “What happened?
Why didn’t we detect these earlier?”

Solomon wished he knew. “Something has changed.” He headed for the
cave, feeling his way into the crack between two slabs of sandstone. It wasn’t
very deep. Nothing remained inside except for fine sand. He’d designed the
grenades they used to kill batches of Spiders to completely dissolve after
deploying their burst of energy.

“They are evolving,” he finally said, easing back out of the hole.

Greyson was staring at the sky. “The Spiders are always evolving.
That’s nothing new.”

Solomon joined his brother, but instead of focusing on the sky, he
let his senses range out. He sensed nothing. “I need to run some simulations.
The camouflage shield should not have let any Spiders find Earth, yet it seems
to be functioning properly.”

Greyson glanced at him. “Do you think a simulation will tell you
why we missed this infestation?”

Solomon shrugged. “I do not know.” The thought of Lucy at the
mercy of the Spiders and no way to detect them made him shudder. He’d kissed
her earlier, and that was a mistake.
Because now you want more, and that is
impossible,
he told himself.

“We should head back. Eva is waiting for news,” Greyson said,
walking back the way they’d come.

“I must go bring Lucy back to my tower,” Solomon said. Inside, his
emotions roiled. He wanted her, but he didn’t want to want her.

Greyson stopped. “You’ve chosen to accept her, then?”

Solomon shook his head tiredly. “No.”

Greyson stared at him for a long moment. “You are going to hurt
her. And yourself.”

“It does not matter.” Solomon brushed past his brother, not
wanting to dwell on the implications of his impulsive decision. “She will be
fine, as long as we don’t pair. She is mortal.”

“You would deny our nature, Solomon,” Greyson said quietly,
keeping pace with him.

Solomon laughed harshly. “No. I know better than that, but Lucy
deserves more. I will keep her safe until we figure out what is happening with
the Spiders.” He broke free of the forest and headed for the starship. “And
then I will let her go.”