Dusk (15 page)

No time for an emotional breakdown,
she thought as she smiled at her
friend. “Eva, I was hoping you’d come.”

Eva touched her eye. “Of course I came. You’re my best friend.”
Lucy touched the corner of her eye, feeling awkward as she did so, but Eva
grinned. “You’re one of us now.”

Lucy shrugged awkwardly, about to respond, but a sudden energy
surge from the Stronghold net made her flinch. “Solomon!” She reached for him.
He grabbed her. She sensed his urgency and let him pull her close to the
pillar. He slapped a hand on the stone and together they plunged into the net,
chasing the green smoke. It was dissipating, but Lucy sensed energy
fluctuations along the shield framework.

Solomon gathered energy from somewhere while Lucy concentrated on
following the threads of the smoke.

He’s linking with his brothers and Eva,
she thought, as he seemed to swell
with power. His light burned brighter and brighter. She kept following the
threads, realizing that the virus hadn’t dissipated, it had simply spread
thinner. There was actually more of it, and the threads were starting to reach
the Stronghold net—following the connections Solomon had made to control the
camouflage shield. The shield sat just beyond the Stronghold framework, but
they needed those connections to power it and control it.

Lucy cursed in her mind, wishing she could communicate with
Solomon in here, but all they could do was exchange emotions. She conveyed her worry
and he swelled even more.

What is he planning?
she wondered, watching as his essence suddenly flared. A bolt of
light flashed from him, racing through the connections and up into the shield.
Lucy heard screaming as the energy built up and up, and then she was thrown out
entirely. She gasped as her back hit the hard floor of Solomon’s workroom. The
sudden silence hurt her mind.

“What happened?” she tried to say, but she couldn’t get her voice
working. She coughed hard, then rolled over. Solomon was on the floor next to
her, out cold. She touched his face, then frantically shook him. He was barely
breathing. “Solomon!”
Oh God, not again.

He didn’t respond. Lucy struggled to her knees. Eva was just
beyond her, groaning as she held her head. “Eva, are you okay?”

Her friend nodded. “What happened?”

“I’m not sure,” Lucy replied grimly. She kept a hand on Solomon’s
neck, feeling his pulse. It was slow, but steady, thank goodness. “Is Greyson
okay?”

“I’m alive, and wishing I wasn’t,” he groaned, sitting up.

Lucy knew the feeling. Her mind felt raw. Near the windows, Bruno
and Isaac had collapsed on the seat. Both of them were awake, but they looked
like death warmed over. She rubbed her face, trying to figure out what had
happened. She was exhausted and her skin felt like it was two sizes too small
for her body. She glanced outside. The blue sky sparkled so intensely it hurt
her eyes, and she sucked in a breath, suddenly realizing what was wrong. Her
empathy was gone.

Chapter Eleven

“Why won’t he wake up?” Lucy asked, anguished. She sat on his bed.
She held his hand. She wouldn’t let go, even though he didn’t seem to notice
whether or not she was there. Physical touch was all she had left to tell her
that he was still alive. Her empathy was gone. Dead.
Or maybe it’s just
dormant,
she mused, chewing on her lip. She hoped it came back. She didn’t
realize how much she’d miss it, even though she’d only experienced it for a
short time.

“His body needs time to recover,” Isaac murmured, putting a hand
on her shoulder.

“Can’t you heal him? That’s what you do, right?” Lucy asked,
swallowing back tears. Crying wasn’t going to help anybody.

He sighed. “Usually, yes. I could heal him.”

“But?” Lucy looked at Solomon’s brother. He had bags under his
green eyes.

“But something is wrong with my energy. My empathy isn’t working right,”
he admitted.

A chill ran down her spine.

“Mine is also gone,” Bruno said.

She shifted her gaze to him. He stood in front of the windows with
Greyson and Eva. The three of them stared outside, but she knew they weren’t
really seeing anything.

“This is bad. Very bad,” she murmured.

Isaac nodded and looked away. “Yes.”

“What if the Spiders attack?” she asked, almost whispering the
question. She was afraid to say it out loud.

Bruno glanced at her from across the room. “I fear that is
precisely what is planned.”

Lucy frowned, feeling sick to her stomach. “I thought the Spiders
weren’t smart enough to plan that sort of thing.”

“Instinct needs no intelligence,” Greyson muttered. He put a hand
to the glass, looking up at the sky.

“What do we do?” Eva asked, leaning into her mate. Greyson put his
arm around her.

Lucy watched them, still holding onto Solomon’s hand. He didn’t
move. She thought about the shape of the green smoke. How the tendrils extended
out into the dark… “Oh my God,” she murmured, abruptly horrified.

Bruno looked at her.

“They’re coming here,” she said.

“We know they’re trying to find the planet,” he replied, rubbing
his neck tiredly. “They’re always trying to come here. That’s why Sentries
exist.”

Lucy shook her head. “No, you don’t understand. They’re coming
here.
To this tower.” She swept a hand out. “Solomon is the scientist. The one who
tinkers with the Others’ tech. The Stronghold net is anchored here.”

“No it’s not,” Isaac objected. “The pillars serve as nodes in each
of our territories.”

Lucy stood up, agitated. Why wouldn’t they listen? “That’s true,
but where does everything originate?” She looked at each of the Sentries in
turn. “I’ve been within the net. I’ve seen it from the inside out, the way
Solomon does.” She took a deep breath and tried to calm her racing heart. She
had to make them understand. “They’re coming to this tower. The trap was
nothing more than a diversion they used to pinpoint the physical location. Why
else tie the shield attack to the Stronghold net? Why did the smoke dissipate
and then fail when we cleared it away with our energy?” She slashed a hand
across the room. “Because they were after information. And they got it.”

Bruno began pacing. “If you are correct, that implies premeditated
thought. The Spiders are not sentient.” He shook his head. “They don’t have
enough of a nervous system to have consciousness, let alone sentience.”

Lucy considered that. “What if someone else is directing them?”

“Who?” Greyson asked. “No one could possibly work with the
Spiders. They are predators with no regard for friend or foe.”

Lucy had to admit he had a point. “Does it matter? My theory makes
sense, regardless. We should prepare for an attack.”

“We have no proof,” Bruno said, walking to the pillar. “And we are
blind. We can’t fight if we can’t sense the enemy.”

The sense of urgency driving Lucy increased. “You’re right. About
all of it, but I feel like we’re missing something. I saw the threads. How they
moved.” She glanced at the window, then frowned. The blue sky had darkened. Was
that a cloud? She looked at Solomon, not wanting to let go of his hand. She
stared out the window more intently. Something was happening.

“She’s right,” Solomon whispered, scaring her when he squeezed her
fingers.

“Solomon!” She bent down to him, holding his hand tighter. “You’re
awake, thank God. How do you feel?”

He made a face. “Like someone stuffed cotton in my ears.” He swung
his legs across the bed and sat up, putting his head in his hands.

“Your head hurts, doesn’t it?” Lucy asked, sticking close to him.

He nodded. “It does not matter. We have to hurry.”

“What are you talking about?” Lucy grabbed him when he tried to
stand up. “Stop! You were unconscious for over an hour.”

He ignored her. “Our senses are merely dormant. They will come
back, but by then it will be too late,” he said, standing and heading for the
windows. Even exhausted and injured he walked like the kind of man who would
never give up. His strength amazed her.

Lucy followed him, staring out and up. The sky had darkened
further, and she peered out, trying to see the cause. Solomon put a finger to
the glass. Just beyond his hand a dark shape undulated through the blue. It
looked like a swarm of locusts, heading in from the west.

“Oh no,” she whispered. The bare rocks of the mountain wouldn’t
give them much to eat. They would be coming here.

“The Spiders can sense the energy of my tower,” Solomon said.

Greyson joined them. “We need our power restored. Without it we
have no way to kill that many. Do you have any energy grenades?”

Solomon shook his head. “No. We used the last of them the other
day. We should have constructed more.”

“When?” Isaac asked bitterly.

“That will be my first priority, if we survive this,” Greyson
muttered. “Without our power, we are helpless against this threat.”

“Not helpless. Not yet,” Solomon said. He pivoted, heading for the
stairs. “We simply need to jumpstart our energy. It is not gone—merely so
depleted we cannot access it.”

“Jumpstart? Like with a car and electricity? That sounds...
extremely painful,” Eva said, glancing at her mate.

Lucy agreed. She winced as she imagined what Solomon had in mind.

“We have no choice.” Greyson held his hand out for his mate and
she took it, heading downstairs.

Lucy followed them slowly, hoping Solomon knew what he was doing.

Once they were in the workroom, Solomon went right for the pillar.
Lucy watched as he pulled out an old keyboard and plugged it into the stone.
She hadn’t even realized there were any such ports available. Isaac and Bruno
joined them, while Eva and Greyson went to the kitchen area.

Solomon sighed, clearly relieved when a diagnostic panel appeared
in front of him. Text began to scroll on the black background. Lucy didn’t
recognize the symbols.

“You set up an interface?” Bruno asked him, sounding surprised.

Solomon shrugged. “I like to have backdoors into my tech.”

“You’re not just a scientist,” Lucy couldn’t resist saying. She
smiled slightly, so he would know she was only teasing. “You’re a hacker.”

He gave her a disgusted look. “I am an engineer, not a hacker.”

She smiled wider, despite the dread that had lodged in her gut.
The Spiders were coming for them. She couldn’t pretend they weren’t, but she
could ignore them for a minute. Solomon huffed and went back to typing. Lucy
leaned against his arm. He shifted, then kissed the top of her head absently as
he watched more text scroll down the display.

“Hacker or scientist, you still need to replenish your body,
brother. Here. Drink this,” Greyson said, coming over. He handed Solomon a
glass of juice. “You need the energy.”

Eva was right on her Sentry’s heels. She handed Lucy a glass, too.
“Drink up. It’s only a little cider, but it should help.”

“Thanks,” Lucy said, sipping the cold juice. It tasted better than
she expected.

“You need the sugar,” Eva murmured. “You’re really pale.”

Lucy drank more. “I didn’t realize I was so tired and thirsty.”

“There,” Solomon said, tapping the display.

Lucy glanced at him, happy to see he looked a little better too.
His empty glass sat beside his battered keyboard. When she looked past the
pillar to the windows, she shuddered. The Spiders were closer. The swarm
undulated as it moved and the sunlight glinted off the hard edges of their
crystalline carapaces, lending the cloud an ethereal beauty. She swallowed
hard, remembering the pain in her arm. The glass wouldn’t hold them very long.
What
happens if the Sentries don’t get their healing abilities back?
she
wondered, deeply afraid. She didn’t want to die like that. She rubbed her arm,
wishing she didn’t know exactly how painful it felt to have a Spider burrow
into her body.

“Greyson, Isaac, put your hands on the pillar,” Solomon urged his
brothers. They moved closer. Bruno did not. Solomon stared at him, then sighed.
“Bruno, please.”

Lucy watched as Bruno returned Solomon’s look, then he touched the
corner of his eye in salute and walked to the pillar.

“Why do I have the feeling this is not going to be pleasant?”
Isaac said, doing as Solomon asked.

“Because it is not,” Solomon replied. “It will feel like getting struck
by lightning.”

Bruno put his hands next to Isaac. “Just do it, Solomon. We don’t
have much time.”

Lucy moved up near Solomon.

“No, Lucinda—” he protested, but she cut him off.

“I need to do this,” she said, resolutely putting her palms to the
smooth stone. “I’m the only one of you who knows what it feels like to have one
of those things burrow inside me. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep them from
hurting anyone else like that.”