Chapter Ten
“Are you ready, Saige?” Isaac called, standing by the front door. “Your personal taxi to class is revved up and ready to go.” He smiled as he fiddled with his car keys and waited for her to emerge from the bathroom. It was late morning, and he’d be late for his first class if she didn’t hurry. Not that I care about teaching anymore. I found Saige. She’s the reason I came here in the first place. The strange compulsion he’d felt five months ago to settle down for a while had disappeared when he and Saige bonded.
“I’m here,” she said, appearing at the top of the stairs. She had her bag slung over her shoulder, and her hair was mussed. She looked adorable. She smiled at him, and then her eyebrows rose. “Whoa. You trimmed your beard.” Surprise colored her voice. “Nice.”
Amused by her reaction, Isaac ran a palm over the short stubble on his chin. “You didn’t like the full-on mountain man look, and I don’t want my lady embarrassed to be seen with me in public, so…” He trailed off, smiling. I like the way she looks in the morning, he thought. And in the afternoon, and in the evening, too. Man, I’ve got it bad.
“Hmm.” She put a hand on her hip. “I like it shorter. I can see your face.” She pursed her lips. “But what about being recognized? I thought you were here incognito and all that.”
“I still have the glasses,” he said holding them up.
“Oh.” Saige held up her own pair. “Yeah.”
Isaac laughed. “I see you understand the problem.”
She nodded.
“You can leave your stuff here, by the way,” Isaac told her, gesturing to the bag she held. “In fact, I’m hoping you’ll move in with me.” He didn’t know how or why he’d gotten so lucky, but she was his to keep, and that made him happier than he’d ever been in his long life. Their bond felt stable this morning. Strong.
She shrugged. “I have books I need for class.” She walked over to him. “Move in, huh? Isn’t that a bit fast?” She reached up and ran a hand over his stubble. “Mmm. Nice.”
“Keep that up, and neither of us is going anywhere today,” he said, kissing her fingertips when they brushed over his lips.
“I have class, and so do you,” she replied, flushing.
“Fuck that.” He kissed her fingers again.
She giggled. “Isaac, stop.”
He grabbed her hand and pressed his lips to her palm. “I want you by my side, always.” He pulled her into a hug, then smoothed down her unruly hair. “You smell like mint.”
“I borrowed your toothpaste,” she said, hugging him back. “I’m not particularly attached to my apartment. And I’d rather not stay any place my father knows about.” The smile dropped from her face. “And then there’s the mystery of the destroyed sensors.”
“Moving in here would solve those problems. Only my brothers know where I live. It’s safe here.” Isaac cupped her cheeks. He felt her worry loud and clear. After their lovemaking last night, he couldn’t wall out her emotions at all anymore, and he knew she sensed his just as clearly. His empathy told him she worried, but if her father came anywhere near her, he’d handle it. He wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt her.
Her father abused her, and now he expects her to help him? I don’t think so. He kissed her softly. “You don’t have to move in, but it would make me happy if you did.” Saige wrinkled her nose at him, eyes twinkling. The silver shards in her hazel irises gleamed in the morning sunlight. Fuck, she’s beautiful, Isaac thought.
“You don’t snore, do you?” she asked, smirking.
Isaac laughed, relieved as he sensed her roiling emotions settle. “After last night, you know the answer to that.”
“Okay. This weekend I’ll move in. You get to help me with the boxes.” Saige squeezed his left bicep. “You’ve got all the muscles.”
He grinned. “No problem.” He stepped back and grabbed a few energy grenades from the cabinet near the door. He only had two, but that was better than none. He stuffed the small metal devices into his jacket pocket. “Are you ready to go?”
Saige nodded, adjusting the strap of her bag over her shoulder. “What are those things?”
“Energy grenades. Good for blasting a Spider swarm.” He led her outside and locked the door, then opened his empathic senses and did a wide sweep. Nothing pinged his energy anywhere near them. He relaxed.
“Are you expecting Spiders? I’ve never seen one, and I was kind of hoping I never would,” Saige said.
He shook his head. “There’s nothing dangerous around for miles. You’d sense the Spiders, anyway. Open your empathy, and let it stretch out through the woods,” he said.
She stopped mid-step and closed her eyes. Isaac waited, smiling as he felt the tingle of her energy sweeping past him. She opened her eyes and grinned. “That’s so cool.”
“You should be able to sense your father, too,” he pointed out, wanting her to understand her options. “If he gets near you, you’ll be able to feel him.”
Her eyebrows rose. “I hadn’t considered that.”
Isaac opened the car door and waited for her to join him. “He can’t sneak up on you anymore.”
Saige slid into the passenger’s seat and smiled up at him. “I had no idea that sleeping with you came with all these bonus perks.”
He laughed. “I’m magic, baby.”
She rolled her eyes as he shut the car door.
Isaac walked around and slid into the driver’s seat. “Are you ready to face the world?” he asked, glancing at her.
Saige shrugged. “The world doesn’t scare me. Your family? That’s intimidating. The Spiders? They’re horrifying.”
“You’ll be able to handle the Spiders, just wait and see. And I know my brothers will love you.” He headed down the long, gravel driveway and turned onto the rough dirt track that led through his property. Morning sunlight streamed through the fir and pine trees, touching the mountain with gold. Everything looked beautiful to him. I’m a sucker for love today, he thought, glancing at Saige. I’m a lucky man.
“Your brothers are Sentries. That’s kind of intimidating, Isaac,” Saige said.
He shook his head, sensing her nervousness. “I’m a Sentry, sweetheart.” He paused for a moment. “And so are you, now.”
She hunched her shoulders. “That remains to be seen.”
Isaac half smiled. “I should’ve introduced you to them on the Stronghold net before we left today. That would’ve convinced you there’s nothing to worry about. Greyson does whatever his wife tells him to do, even though he looks scary. Solomon is too nice to scare anyone.” He paused, thinking about how to describe his oldest brother. “Bruno is the one to watch out for. He gets cranky.”
“I hope I meet Bruno last, then,” Saige said, looking worried.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let him eat you,” Isaac assured her.
Saige sighed, obviously still worried. “This is all a lot to take in. The Stronghold net is like a super secret worldwide internet, right?” she asked. “At least, that’s the sense I get from your memories.”
He nodded. “Yes, although it’s a bit more complicated than that. Only Sentries can access it.” He frowned. “Well, until Eva’s stepfather hacked it a few months ago. Before then, we thought only Sentries could access it. Since then, Solomon has built some new firewalls. The net is completely secure, now. I chased down every last possible lead about the hacking, and found nothing more. We caught the bad guy, and nothing else led anywhere.”
“Does Solomon do all the network stuff?”
“Yes, with help from his wife, Lucy. Eva also helps. My brother Greyson is our engineer. He builds the physical tech, like the shield rings and the grenades and sensors. Solomon programs them. Bruno … well. You know what Bruno does. He’s our public face.” He glanced at her. She was staring out the window, a slight frown on her face. “Our energy powers the net, and all of our tech. When we paired, my brothers knew almost immediately because your power activated another boost of energy in the Stronghold net.”
“I had no idea the Sentries used so much technology,” she said, turning to look at him.
Isaac nodded. “I know. We try to keep it on the down low.”
“It’s like there’s this alternate universe I can’t really deny anymore. Oh, I know what I saw on television, and on the internet. I’ve seen your brother Bruno give interviews, but…” Saige shook her head as she trailed off. “None of it feels real, yet.”
Isaac understood. He’d had centuries to get used to it, and the benefit of growing up with the knowledge. For humans, though, the information he and his brothers only recently released about aliens and immortal protectors had to be unsettling. He inhaled, trying to think of how to help Saige adapt to her new reality. “Look outside, up at the sky,” he told her.
“Why?” she asked, sounding confused.
“You can see the camouflage shield net we’ve set up in the upper atmosphere. Just let your energy reach out, and you’ll see what I mean.” He waited. When her emotions spiked from curiosity into surprise, he grinned.
“Whoa! It’s like a giant green mosaic or something.” Saige turned to him. “I’m never going to look at the sky the same way again.”
“Most humans don’t know about it, and that’s how we like it. It doesn’t keep the Spiders out, but it helps obscure Earth from their view,” Isaac explained, pleased that she seemed to have lost her nervousness. “It’s just one of our many defenses.”
“Is there anything else I should know?” she asked.
“You already know everything, Saige,” he assured her, but then he smirked. “We have starships, too. I’m the best pilot.” Isaac glanced at her as he slowed down. The turn onto the paved mountain road was just ahead.
“I think I saw a starship on television, but if I recall correctly, it had crashed or something,” she said, eyes twinkling. “In the middle of Manhattan.”
“I didn’t crash! I was in a hurry, that’s all. It was an emergency situation,” he protested.
She laughed. “Uh-huh.”
He rolled his eyes at her, knowing she was teasing, but then he sobered. “Yeah, there was a huge mess with a small swarm of Spiders last year. Lucy was badly injured, and Solomon needed to get her somewhere safe as quickly as possible. After that, he developed the portal transport tech. It’s faster, but limited to our tech pillars.” Isaac felt her confusion. “The white column in my house? It’s also a tech pillar. It houses part of the Stronghold net.”
Saige stared at him. “I sort of know all of this already, because your memories are tucked in the back of my head, but talking about it brings it to the front of my brain. It’s really, really weird that I know this stuff.” She paused. “Also, I’m not looking forward to traveling through solid stone. That’s just creepy.”
Isaac reached over and touched her arm. “Hey. You’re one of us now. And you’re a strong woman. I have your memories, too. You can handle it.”
“It’s weird,” she repeated.
Isaac had to laugh. “Yeah. It is.”
“I mean, I’m just a girl, not some superhero or something.”
“You’re not just anything, Saige,” Isaac said, meaning every word.
She shook her head. “I feel strange.”
Isaac was about to reassure her some more, but suddenly, a dark shadow spread across the road in front of the car. Instinctively, he swerved to the side. Rocks hit the bottom of the vehicle as he lurched into the erosion ditch on the side of the dirt road. Saige cried out, and he slammed on the breaks, wincing as his seatbelt cut into his chest. He unlocked it, knowing they had to get out of the car. Before he could move, darkness hit the front of the car like a giant hand, grinding the metal into a crushed mess. He squinted through the windshield, but couldn’t focus on the attacker properly. Thinking fast, Isaac opened the door and grabbed Saige, dragging her out of her seatbelt and across to his side of the car. She fell against the steering wheel, but he caught her and pulled her up and out.
“What the fuck is that?” she asked, stumbling. “That looks like the shadow that was following me.” She gripped his arms so hard it hurt. “Shit!”
Isaac pushed her behind him as he turned to face it. His eyes wanted to slide away, almost as if the creature commanded some kind of cloaking tech. He frowned, concentrating. The shadow coalesced into a tall figure, soot black and strangely disjointed. “The fuck?” he breathed, backing up.
“Give me the girl, and you shall live,” a disembodied voice said.
Isaac’s blood ran cold.
****
Saige gritted her teeth, vowing to herself that she would not scream. She felt Isaac gathering his energy into a strong shield, and hooked her own fledgling ability onto his. The creature that stared down at them scared her to death. When it demanded Isaac hand her over, she clenched her fingers into fists.
“Oh, hell no. Over my dead body,” she muttered, already knowing in her bones that she wouldn’t go with the alien. It wanted her dead. She sensed that much from it. The voice sounded oddly disjunct from the opening on the thing’s head. The sound and movement didn’t match. She shuddered.
“I thought all of you were dead,” Isaac said, his voice steadier than Saige expected. He kept backing away. Unfortunately, the creature moved closer, its backward bending legs and strangely jointed arms moving in ways that made her gorge rise. The alien felt like oily, thick, acrid smoke against her empathy. It moved like an insect, but also weirdly smoothly. Trying to focus on it with her eyes made her nauseous. Its edges blurred and shifted like a dark wave.
“I am the last,” it said, clacking its fingers together. It reached out.
Saige groaned as a surge of sticky energy pulsed over them. Isaac’s muscles quivered under her fingers where she gripped his waist, but their shield held. She poured more energy into Isaac.
“You destroyed my sensors,” Isaac said, voice strained. “And you sent the swarms of Spiders, didn’t you? They pushed you to extinction, and you’re working with them? That’s sickening.”
Saige sucked in a harsh breath as the creature clacked its appendages together.
“Needs must,” it said, pushing more energy toward them. “Give her to me.”
“You can’t have her. She’s my paired mate,” Isaac growled, taking a step forward.
The thing shook its head, clacking its appendages louder. “Give her to me, or you shall also terminate.”
“Terminate? What the hell is this thing?” Saige asked as she twisted her fingers into Isaac’s shirt.
“An Other,” he replied, widening his stance. “You can’t have her. Why are you attacking us? Your people helped us.”
“Stupid.” The Other raised an arm, and some sort of sharp ruff flared out from the top of it. “Fools die, like anything else.”
“Fuck. That can’t be good.” Isaac backed up some more. “Saige, dig out my cell. Front left pocket. Call Bruno.” He slid his right hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out an energy grenade. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but I have a feeling that this Other is not friendly.”
Saige swallowed, stomach still churning. “Yeah. Funny how I’ve got that same feeling.” She grabbed his cell, activating the phone screen. Bruno was the first listed contact. Before she could press the icon, the Other spoke again.
“She must be terminated. Mutations in the code can not persist,” the Other said. Abruptly, it flung out its arm. A thousand sparkling Spiders flew through the air like an army of miniature drones.
“What the fuck, for real? Shit.” Isaac tossed the energy grenade at the swarm. A sonic boom flexed against Saige’s eardrums and she grimaced, fingers tightening around the phone. The Spiders disintegrated in midair, but the Other seemed uninjured. “It’s controlling the Spiders! Did it figure out how to program them or something?”
“Throw the other grenade at it,” Saige hissed. “Fight now, figure shit out later.”
Isaac nodded, even as his hand dipped back into his pocket. He flung it out with a sudden jerk.
Saige held her breath. The grenade hit the Other, then fell to the ground like a rock, deactivated.
“Oh, crap. That’s not good,” Saige said, heart pounding.
Isaac shook his head. “No. It isn’t.” He shoved her away. “Get back. I’m going to have to do this the hard way. Call Bruno.”
“What did it mean by ‘mutations in the code?’” she asked, pressing her finger on the call icon.
“The Others probably tinkered with your grandparents’ DNA, and it caused some cascading mutations or something. Your empathy was strong even before we paired,” Isaac said, pulling a short, thick stick the length of a pencil out of his pocket. “Might also be why your dad is nuts.”
Saige stared at him, confused. She felt his determination, but that little stick wasn’t going to do much good. For the first time in her life, she wished she had a gun.
“Call Bruno!” Isaac yelled, and then he surged forward, hands out.
“Oh my God,” she mumbled, horrified when the Other’s appendage flicked forward. Isaac ducked, and kicked at its midsection.
“Isaac. Isaac, are you there?” A man’s tinny voice sounded from the phone in her hand. “Why did you call me if you’re not going to speak?”
Saige jerked the device up to her ear. She was no longer nervous about talking to the Sentry, no matter how intimidating he seemed. “Bruno Day? Is this Isaac’s brother? We need help!”
“Who is this?” the man demanded.
Saige swallowed bile. Isaac’s head whipped back as the Other slashed at his neck. Blood welled up from a shallow cut. “I’m Saige. Isaac’s fighting an alien, and it’s not going well. He told me to call you! You have to help. The energy grenades had no effect.”
“Spiders?” The man’s voice wasn’t irritated anymore. Instead, he sounded alert and all business.
“No. I mean, there were Spiders—this Other alien threw them at us. Isaac used a grenade on them. Now he’s fighting the Other. I don’t know what to do. I have to help him.” Saige felt like she couldn’t breathe. The horrible acrid sense of the creature scraped against her empathy. “It feels awful. Like acrid smoke. It said something about needing to terminate me.”
“Okay, listen to me very carefully. I’m going to have to take a starship to reach you because you’re too far from the portal in Isaac’s house. Can you help him until then?”
She nodded. “Yes, yes. Of course. But he threw the last energy grenade at it, and it just fell to the ground like a rock. I have no idea how to help.”
“Stay calm,” Bruno said.
“Ha. Easy for you to say.” Saige started looking around for a nice fist-sized rock. She could try to throw shit at the Other, right? Maybe it would distract the alien so Isaac could get in a good hit. “It’s huge. And it has some weird cloaking shield tech that makes it impossible to look at without getting a blinding headache.”
“I’m going to alert my brothers. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” The line disconnected.
Saige snarled, shoving the phone into her pocket. Fat lot of good that did, she thought. It would take him too long to get here, and Isaac was tiring. She could feel it through their weird empathy bond thing. She bent down and picked up a rock, then flung it at the creature’s head. It hit, but the alien didn’t even seem to notice. Isaac flashed her a look that was equal parts desperation and approval. He looked ragged around the edges, with blood smeared over his neck, but he didn’t falter. Unfortunately, the Other countered every move he tried, and Isaac was no slouch when it came to fighting. She remembered how hard he’d trained, for years, to learn hand-to-hand combat. Isaac wasn’t mild-mannered. He wasn’t just a fucking history professor. He’d been to war.
“Shit, shit,” she muttered, thinking hard. Maybe she could share energy with him? She concentrated, then opened her empathy up wider. She grimaced as the scratchy-acrid Other pressed at her mind more vividly, but she focused her intent and pulsed energy to Isaac. He inhaled sharply, and his movements smoothed out. He sent gratitude over their link. Saige smiled fiercely. No way was this creature going to hurt Isaac, not when she could help.
She clenched her fists, willing more energy to Isaac. He snapped a kick at the creature’s leg, and the alien lurched. Saige wanted to yell support, but Isaac needed her to focus. When the Other grabbed Isaac by the neck, she rushed forward, kicking at its injured leg. Isaac dangled from the alien’s appendage, and then, in a move so astonishing she wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t been there, Isaac swung his legs up and crossed them around the alien’s neck. He squeezed, grunting with effort, and the Other let him go. Isaac gasped for air, but didn’t let go of his hold. Saige kicked at the alien again.
“How fucking strong is this thing?” she said, face flushed with effort. It felt like kicking a tree.
The alien barked at her, and her gut roiled as it turned its head in her direction, even with Isaac trying to incapacitate it. Its appendage shot out, grabbing her by the arm. Saige yelled, twisting to get away, but it tightened its grip. Her skin burned where it held her. “Let go of me, motherfucker,” she cried, kicking at it harder. She would not die at the hands of this thing. Not now. Not when she finally had something to live for.
“No. No fucking way can you have her,” Isaac growled, twisting. He used his weight to unbalance the creature, and it let go. “Saige, run! Get the hell out of here!”
She scooted backwards, clutching her injured arm. Somehow, Isaac dropped the alien to the ground, but it wasn’t for long. The Other rolled away, lashing out with its legs. Isaac went down.
“No!” Saige grabbed another rock with her good arm and threw it. It bounced off the Other’s hide and clearly did no damage, but the hit got its attention away from Isaac. “Go away!” she screamed as it turned back toward her. She could feel Isaac’s wooziness, and worried he was hurt bad. She grabbed another rock. Before she could fling it, a silver ship darted down from above, knocking the alien down. The Other tilted its head up, then rose to its full height.
“Shit,” Saige muttered, crawling forward. She needed to get to Isaac. Blood trickled down his face, and she could tell he couldn’t breathe properly.
The starship darted in again, but this time the Other ducked. The starship circled, and Saige grabbed Isaac’s arm, trying to drag him away. Dammit! Why does he have to weigh so much? She struggled, but couldn’t budge him at all. “Come on!” she muttered, still yanking on his wrist.
“I’m okay,” Isaac said thickly.
Saige grimaced, but then the ship moved closer. The Other lifted its appendages, and a cloud of gritty smoke obscured its body. Saige choked, not sure if the smoke was real or just some kind of empathic bomb. “We’ve got to move, Isaac,” she said, coughing.
He rolled over, then struggled to his knees. Saige helped him stand up, wincing when her injured arm jostled against his chest. “Shit.”
Isaac swayed, but Saige grabbed him and pulled him away. The Other swiveled its head around to them again, but the starship swooped down. The alien growled something unintelligible, and then abruptly moved away. Another cloud of gritty smoke billowed out, and when it cleared, the Other was gone.
Saige stared, confused. Nothing from Earth can move like that. It was like the alien was suddenly just not there anymore.
“Maybe some kind of transport tech,” Isaac said, and then he coughed. “Fuck.” He massaged his throat.
“Whatever. It’s gone for now.” Saige grimaced as her arm throbbed. “We need to get to a hospital.”
“No hospital.” Isaac shook his head. “No need.” His voice sounded harsh, as if his voice box had been crushed.
Which it probably has. He needs a doctor. Saige opened her mouth to argue with him, but sudden warmth spread through her arm. The pain eased. She frowned as Isaac’s color went grey. “Shit, what are you doing?”
“Shh,” he grunted, swaying.
Saige blinked, and a moment later, her arm stopped hurting completely. “Oh my God, you’re healing me!”
Isaac nodded, and then his knees gave out. Saige tried to catch him, but he ended up dragging her down to the ground with him. Gravel bit into her knees, but she didn’t care.
“Shit! You idiot,” Saige said, angry. He shouldn’t have healed her if it meant it would sap his own energy. She frowned, then put her hands on his face. “Look at me, Isaac.”
Her mate blinked, and his eyes focused on her. “Sorry,” he mouthed.
She shook her head, pushing her frustration aside. She had to help him. He’d healed her, so maybe she could heal him? “How do I do this?” she muttered, biting the inside of her cheek.
“Just concentrate your energy on him,” a new voice said.
Saige startled, and almost fell over, but Isaac steadied her. “Saige, meet my brother, Bruno,” he rasped.
She glanced up. Bruno Day crouched down next to her. “Place your hands on his skin and focus your energy.”
Saige nodded, promising herself that she would freak out over everything later. “Okay.” She touched Isaac’s arms. He smiled at her. She smiled back. Their bond flared wide open, and she felt the pain in his throat and head. She frowned, then pushed energy at him. It felt different this time—stronger and warmer than when she’d helped him fight. This is more soothing, she thought, amazed when the bruises just starting to bloom on Isaac’s skin faded. “Whoa,” she whispered, surprised. The power faded. She blinked, feeling overwhelmed.
“That’s perfect, Saige,” Bruno murmured.
She let her hands fall away from Isaac’s forearms, but he caught her wrists and lifted them to his face for a kiss. “Thank you.” He seemed a lot steadier, and his color was better. “I think the Other crushed my windpipe, and I really needed air. I was mostly fine except for that.”
“You’re not fine, you’re an idiot,” she said, eyes watering. “You can’t die on me.”
Isaac pulled her in for a hug. “I’d give my life a thousand times over to keep you safe.”
Saige shook her head. “Idiot.”
Isaac laughed, then helped her to her feet. “Yeah, okay. I can be an idiot sometimes.”
“That is the truth,” Bruno said.
Saige glanced at Isaac’s brother. “Thank you.” She didn’t know what she would’ve done if he hadn’t shown up in the starship. Probably thrown myself at the alien to save Isaac. The thought sobered her. This pairing thing is for real. No going back. Strangely, she no longer feared their connection. She feared that Isaac would get hurt, or die. But that’s part of loving someone. And if he goes, I go, too. That thought comforted her.
“Of course,” he said.
He doesn’t look nearly as intimidating as I’d expected, she mused, taking in his worn jeans and slightly creased button down shirt. “Are you okay?” she asked, sensing his weariness. He seemed even more exhausted than Isaac, and he hadn’t fought an alien.
“I’m fine. Just tired.” Bruno looked at his brother. “You picked a good one.”
Isaac nodded. “I know.”
Saige rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay. Enough with the weird macho congratulations. What about the creepy black alien? It’s out there, somewhere. What do we do about that? Because it wants me dead, and I’m not at all okay with that.”
Isaac tucked her into his side even as he sent a wave of reassurance to her through their bond.
“We should track it,” Bruno said, turning to the starship. “The ship can hold all three of us, fortunately.”
Isaac was already guiding Saige to the gleaming silver machine. “Did you set it up to record?”
“It’s got a full sensor array. Here.” Bruno climbed into the starship and called up a display. He selected several items. A glowing map spread itself out across the front of the cockpit.
Isaac helped Saige climb into the double seat behind Bruno, and then he hopped into the copilot’s position next to his brother. “Oh, good. It can track the Other.”
“It seems to have left some traces of itself attached to the nitrogen atoms in the air,” Bruno said, tapping a few more icons. “That’s lucky.”
Another screen materialized overhead as the original one shrank, and Saige barely suppressed a squeak as the ship rose into the air. “Um, did you guys forget that this alien guy kicked our asses? We need a plan.” She clutched at the soft leather seat. There didn’t seem to be any seat belts in the ship. “A good plan.”
Isaac twisted around in his seat to give her a reassuring look. “This starship enhances our abilities.”
“This starship can’t follow it into a hole if that thing is hiding out somewhere small. Roaches like scurrying into the walls. And your abilities did nothing against that alien,” Saige reminded him. When he didn’t reply, she crossed her arms over her chest. “I mean, yes. We have to stop it. God knows how many people it thinks have ‘mutated code’ or whatever, and we don’t need it rampaging across the planet.” She used air quotes to convey her disgust with the Other’s plans. “But I also don’t have a death wish.”
“I have Greyson and Solomon’s new blade for you, Isaac.” Bruno reached down and pulled out a cloth wrapped bundle. “Here.” He handed it to his brother. “You will have to tell them sometime about your fighting abilities. They thought I was crazy when I requested this weapon. If I recall correctly, Greyson wanted to know if you’d suddenly decided to play ninja.”
Isaac sighed. “I know they need to know. I just…” He stared down at the weapon. “I didn’t ask for this.”
“They don’t know?” Saige asked, astonished.
Isaac shook his head.
Saige blinked. She couldn’t believe he’d kept such a huge part of his life secret from his closest family. “Your brothers love you. They’re not going to judge you,” she said, feeling his uncertainty. “They won’t think less of you, Isaac.”
Bruno gave her an indecipherable look. “Saige is correct. She has seen your memories from an outsider’s point of view. You should heed her advice.” He gestured to the new weapon. “Open your gift. I believe it will serve you well.”
Isaac looked at his brother, then at Saige, and finally smiled ruefully. “You’re teaming up on me, hmm?”
Saige nodded. “I know what I saw. They won’t be upset.”
“I killed people, sometimes brutally,” Isaac said, voice low. “And even with all the lives I’ve saved over the years, it doesn’t make up for failing the two people I could’ve saved, and didn’t. My parents died because I hesitated.”
“You were young. You had no training. Our father and mother understood that their choices led them to that situation. They would not want you to continue this self-loathing over their deaths,” Bruno stated, dipping the starship into a break in the forest. Pine trees whipped by them, and then suddenly they flew out over the highway. “They knew why you hesitated. So do I.”
“I could’ve saved our mother before the kidnapping ever happened,” Isaac said, his voice low.
“Perhaps. Or perhaps she wished to die.” Bruno glanced at his brother. “Remember how weary she had become? She was tired of life, Isaac.”
Isaac frowned, but didn’t reply.
Isaac steered the ship along the highway, toward the city. “The Other has gone to ground beneath the city. Look.” He pointed to the heads-up display. “There.” He tapped a few icons, making the map larger.
Saige stared at the display. “It looks like it’s under the old church?”
Bruno nodded. “Correct.”
“We’ll need to be careful. There are a lot of people in Flagstaff,” Isaac said, running a hand along his chin.
“Take out your blade, brother. We will need it,” Bruno said quietly. He slowed the starship, then set it down under a screen of trees in Wheeler Park.
Saige looked around, amazed that no one seemed to have noticed them landing. It wasn’t like a starship was invisible, right? Oh, wait. They have cloaking tech. That must have been what Bruno was doing with all those icons. “We’re here? How can the alien be in the city? Wouldn’t someone notice?” she asked, sensing her paired mate’s need for a moment to settle his thoughts.
“He’s in the old tunnels,” Bruno said, tapping the display. “Look.”
“I thought those were a myth.” Saige leaned forward, and then her eyebrows rose. “Whoa.” The hovering screen showed a network of underground tunnels running beneath Flagstaff, some mirroring the streets, but most not. “We’re going in there?”
“Yes.” Bruno pointed to a glowing marker point. “The Other is there. We must follow.”
Saige stared at the luminescent dot. Somehow, she knew that even with Isaac’s fancy new weapon, dealing with a rogue alien wasn’t going to be easy.