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“Shit, that’s not good,” Lucy said, hauling her to her feet. “Maybe
we can go out through the kitchen.”

Eva nodded and slowly backed away, but then something sharp bit
her ankle and she stumbled. She looked down and stomped her foot, trying not to
panic. “Get off,” she muttered, stomping again. It didn’t budge. When she
glanced around, looking for something she could use to dislodge it, her breath
skipped. More scratched against the back window.

“Oh Jesus, girl.
Hang on, I’ll get it off,” Lucy
said, crouching down.

“No! Don’t touch it,” Eva said, but it was too late. Lucy grabbed
it with her hand, then flinched back, screaming.

“Oh shit,” Eva muttered, moving forward. She shoved her ring
against Lucy’s wrist but it was too late. The Spider had already burrowed into
her arm like a horrible glass parasite.

“Oh God, Eva, what’s happening to me,” Lucy moaned, clutching her
elbow. The Spider in her arm swam under the skin like a razor on steroids. Lucy’s
legs suddenly gave out.

Eva hauled her up and dragged her back, wedging them into a corner
for protection. “Hang on, Lucy. Just hang on.” She held the ring out, praying
for help. “Greyson, if you can hear me, now would be a good time,” she
muttered, willing the ring to keep working. The shield wavered,
then
went darker as the energy began to wane.

“I don’t want to die, Eva,” Lucy whispered, sliding down the wall.

“You’re not going to die,” Eva said, sagging down next to her. “Neither
of us is going to die, not if I can help it.”

“It hurts…” Lucy’s voice trailed off.

“Lucy?” Eva shook her.
“Oh God, no.
Lucy?
Wake up. Stay with me.” She grabbed her friend’s chin, forcing her face up. “Lucy!”
When the front door burst open, she looked up, tears in her eyes.

“Eva!” Greyson shouted from the doorway, arms outstretched. He
scowled and a wave of energy rushed through the room like a hot wind. Spiders
shattered as the force hit them.

Sand scoured Eva’s face, but she didn’t care.
“Greyson,
help!
Lucy’s been infected,” she cried, struggling to stand. His ring
knocked against her chest. She hadn’t even realized she’d let it go.

Greyson’s face tightened. “Hang on.” He glanced behind him. “Solomon,
go to the back.” He nodded at something his brother said, then headed inside,
energy still rushing through the air. He looked around again, then swept his
hands up, pointing his palms at the ceiling as he concentrated. When he finally
let them drop, the energy receded, and he hurried over.

“Where is she hurt?” he asked, going to his knees.

“It went into her right arm,” Eva said, reaching for it, but
Greyson stopped her.

“Let me,” he said, taking Lucy’s wrist. He frowned, concentrating,
and then a shocking spray of blood erupted from her forearm. It barely missed
Eva’s blouse. “Hold her still,” he said grimly.

Eva hung on with all her strength. When another set of hands slid
down her arms and helped anchor her friend, she didn’t even flinch.

“She’ll be okay,” the new man said gently.

Eva nodded, hoping he was right.

“I’m Solomon, Greyson’s brother,” he murmured.

“Thank you,” she said, distracted.

“It’s lodged inside, on
her nerves, that’s
why she passed out. It’s just as well,” Greyson muttered, leaning closer. “Solomon,
you deal with the bones, okay?”

“Got it,” the man behind Eva said, tightening his grip.

Eva held her breath as she felt Greyson’s energy sweep through
Lucy’s arm, then another wave came from behind her. Lucy cried out, writhing
with her eyes still closed,
then
she went limp again.
A trickle of sand came out of the ruin of Lucy’s arm and Eva breathed a shaky
sigh of relief. “Can you fix her arm too?”

“Of course,” Solomon said, not letting go.

Eva looked at Greyson. He nodded without looking up. “We’ll heal
her, don’t worry, Eva.” He cocked his head, turning Lucy’s arm slightly. “All
traces are gone.”

Solomon sighed. “I healed her bone already.”

Greyson sat up a little, sliding his hand up Lucy’s wrist. “Good.
Now, for just a little more…”

Eva stared as Lucy’s skin knit back together like magic. It didn’t
seem real. When Greyson sat back on his heels, letting go, she grabbed her
friend’s arm and traced where the Spider had burrowed with awe.

“She’ll probably sleep until morning. Healing takes a lot of
energy, most of it from her own body,” Greyson said.

“Thank you.” Eva blinked back tears. She set Lucy’s arm on her lap
and looked at Greyson. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to leave, but I had to find
out what was going on. I didn’t want to be the one responsible for those things
coming to Earth.”

Solomon eased Lucy back, supporting her head. “This particular
infestation has been contained, do not fret.”

Eva glanced at him, then back at Greyson.
“Truly?”

He nodded. “A small swarm must have been orbiting near the moon.
That’s what came down here.” He rubbed his eyes. “There’s another, larger swarm
still out by Alpha Centauri—”

“But our brother Isaac is scouting that situation and will let us
know of any danger long before Earth is compromised,” Solomon interrupted.

Greyson glanced at his brother, and then nodded. “However, we
still need to contain the hacker.”

“It was my stepfather, John,” Eva whispered, still upset about it.
“He used me. I don’t know how, but he must have found out somehow that I met
you back in high school. I think he used that to get access to your net.”

“You are only one part of his efforts, Eva, so don’t blame
yourself,” Solomon said.

She glanced at Greyson, but he was staring at his brother.

“So, her relationship with him was only part of the infiltration?”
Greyson asked.

“Correct. John Parkinson also used his contacts with Bruno to set
up multiple access points.” Greyson’s brother smiled grimly. “Statistically
speaking, his chances of hacking in were greater with more attempts in several
locations. Eva’s laptop was useful because of her proximity to your Stronghold
node. He’d already stolen some of our tech and used the knowledge to build a
crude approximation of our net. The moment she powered up the laptop, well, the
damage was done,” Solomon said, idly stroking Lucy’s hair.

“Why would the Spiders come here, though?” Eva didn’t understand.

Solomon tilted his head. “Your stepfather doesn’t really
understand how our tech works, my dear. When he built his version of our net in
your hardware, he simply copied what he’d been able to steal. Some of our tech
attracts Spiders. We use that to draw them in and kill them.”

Eva knew that from what Greyson had told her earlier. She hunched
her shoulders. “This may not be
all
my
fault, but I’m responsible for part of it.”

“And that is why you must be scanned,” a new voice said.

Chapter Nine

Eva jerked her head up. Sentry Bruno Day stood in her door, arms
crossed over his chest. He looked angry. She didn’t know what he meant by ‘scanned,’
but from the scowl on Greyson’s face it couldn’t be good.

“I already told you she is innocent,” Greyson said, getting to his
feet.

Bruno walked into the room, boots crunching sand underfoot. “I
believe she is innocent, but who knows what her stepfather has been able to do
to her mind? He has had years to work with her.” He frowned down at her. “There
is technology that can make you do things you would never choose consciously.”

“What? Like mind control?” She stood up, not wanting to face
Greyson’s brother from the floor. “That’s crazy.”

“No, it’s not, I’m afraid,” Solomon said, standing up with Lucy in
his arms. He gently deposited her on the sofa. “I have seen it, long ago.”

Eva looked from him to Greyson. “Is that true?” she asked.

He grimaced. “It is. When the
Others
first gave us the technology, one of our number used it unscrupulously. Once we
discovered what he had done, he ran. It took decades to hunt him down and
repair the damage.”

Eva put a hand to her forehead, horrified. “I don’t feel any
different.”

“You would not be able to tell,” Bruno said arrogantly.

She glared at him. “There must be something we can do.”

“There is. You can be scanned,” he said.

“No, I will not allow it,” Greyson interjected, pushing between
her and his brother. “You know as well as I do that scanning her could injure
her mind irrevocably.”

“We have no choice,” Bruno said, a little quieter. He sighed and
ran his hands through his hair. “I have no wish to harm you, Eva.”

Eva threw him a skeptical look and he put up his hands.

“Truly, I don’t. However, we need to look at the bigger picture.
If you have been compromised, then our tech will be vulnerable and can be
infiltrated over and over again. That could put millions of people at risk.”

She bit her lip to keep from arguing with him, angry all over
again at John.
Damn him to hell,
she thought bitterly.
How did this go from my computer being
compromised to my brain being damaged?

“There is another way,” Solomon said.

Greyson’s entire body went stiff, but he didn’t speak. Eva stared
at him,
then
stepped out of his shadow. Whatever it
was, he didn’t like the idea. “What is it?” she asked Solomon.

“You can pair with Greyson,” he said.

Eva frowned.
Pair?
Did he mean have sex?
They’d done that already. “What exactly are you talking about?” she asked when
Greyson didn’t offer any explanation.

Solomon glanced at Greyson.

“You have seen that we have the ability to heal,” Greyson said
finally, his voice low. “We can also use our energy to manipulate our tech and
destroy Spiders.” He took a deep breath. “What is not as obvious is our
empathic gift.”

She narrowed her eyes as Bruno shifted uncomfortably.
That man
is empathic?
She didn’t believe it. He was so arrogant and cold. “What do
you mean?” she asked Greyson, wanting more information.

“Our empathy is not just the ability to imagine other people’s
emotions. It is more active than that. We can
feel
the emotions. The
closer we get, the stronger it is. We can shield ourselves somewhat, but it is
exhausting to do so.” Greyson rubbed his eyes. “It is a difficult gift.”

“That’s why you isolate yourselves,” Eva breathed, looking at the
three brothers.

Bruno nodded.
“Precisely.”

“Bruno has it the worst, living as he does in the midst of a large
city,” Solomon offered.

Eva shook her head. So many things made sense now.
Like Bruno’s
grouchy nature,
she thought uncharitably. “What does your empathic ability
have to do with this?”

“Scanning is when we use our empathic gift to deep-read your
emotions and mind. It is intrusive and painful, and can damage the limbic
system of your brain,” Solomon said. He glanced at his brothers. “None of us
has ever done it, though our father had to.
Once.”
He
grimaced. “The man did not survive.”

Eva shuddered. She did
not
want them to do that to her. “And
what is pairing?”

Greyson lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. “If we pair,
you will be changed.”

Changed?
She wished he wasn’t so damn
cryptic. “Changed sounds better than dead to me,” she said tartly.

He closed his eyes and pressed her hand to his temple, as if he couldn’t
bear the thought.

Eva stroked his face. “What is it? It can’t be that bad, can it?”

He sighed and looked at her. “Pairing is when one of us,” he waved
at his brothers, “bonds permanently with a mortal. It doesn’t happen with just
anyone, though. It can only be done if the affinity is already there, as it is with
you and
I
, or if two people have already been together
for a very long time. That is how our father and mother became paired.” He
shrugged. “We all thought that the affinity was a myth, but my attraction to
you disproves that.”

Solomon nodded. “We’ve all sensed it growing between you.”

“Bond permanently?” That sounded odd for a group of solitary men.

“It is done during sexual intercourse. I would open my empathic
senses to you and align our energy. When it is done, we would be paired. You
would be able to sense me the same way I can sense you.”

“I’d be empathic? Would I be able to sense others?” she asked him.
This does not sound like a fate worse than death, though I sure wouldn’t
enjoy being overwhelmed in crowds.

“Yes, but not enough to overwhelm you. Not as clearly as you would
be able to sense me,” Greyson assured her. “However, in order to align our
minds, you would have to utterly submit to my energy.”