Chapter Six
Bruno struggled to control his emotions. He felt Amy’s empathy flow along his mind like a cool, soothing stream. It was enough to nearly break him, even as she eased his migraine into a dull throb instead of an overwhelming agony. He couldn’t afford to falter, not now.
And more importantly, she doesn’t need to know what I know about Sentries and our DNA, and the inevitable slide into madness. No one needs to know this, not my brothers and not Amy.. When he’d first seen her in a vision, all those years ago, he’d vowed to keep away from her. He had no intention of subjecting her to his madness. He didn’t want her to have to deal with his life: the pressures, the fame, the inevitable brain damage, but the swarming Spiders ruined his best intentions. God forgive me for needing her so desperately.
“Bruno. Look at me,” she said, leaning in.
He sighed. “Sweetheart.” He kissed her, then smiled. “Don’t worry about me.”
“How can I not?” she retorted. “We’re linked. Our minds are stuck together like glue.” She kissed his cheek. “I can feel how upset you are, and I want you to be happy.” She breathed deeply, then rubbed her cheek along his. “I can feel how much your head hurts.” She rubbed circles on his temples.
“Happiness is so fleeting,” he said, leaning into her touch. She didn’t know it, but she was healing him with her new power. Everything she did seemed to come naturally. I don’t deserve her.
She grimaced, as she caught the echo of his remorse. “It may be fleeting, but we still have to try.” She paused, and seemed to gather her thoughts. “And we have a duty to the people who need us,” she added, clearly feeling the pull of responsibility that sat on Bruno’s shoulders every minute of the day. “We’ll figure it out.”
Bruno’s heart ached. He felt her struggle to understand their pairing, and what it meant for them both. Her emotions bounced from bliss to worry and back again. “Amy.” He gathered her close, inhaling her sweet scent. “Your eyes have stars in them.”
That startled a laugh from her. “What?”
He grinned as her amusement eased his turmoil. His headache faded even more. “You’re a Sentry now. You have silver streaks within your irises.” He stroked her hair away from her face. “Stars.”
She wiggled out of his arms. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“See for yourself.” He nodded towards the bathroom, smiling as she gave him a skeptical look. “The answer is in the mirror.”
Amy narrowed her gaze at him, but then rolled out of bed and padded across the room, clearly not the least bit ashamed of her nudity. He liked that. He liked that when she made a decision, she didn’t dwell on it. His woman had courage and determination to spare. When she reached the bathroom, Bruno watched her lean over the sink. Late afternoon sunlight lit the white floors, highlighting her silky curves. Her short, blonde hair stuck up on one side from being pressed into the mattress, but it was the expression on her face as she saw the silver shards in her eyes that made him grin.
“Whoa.” She smoothed down her hair impatiently, then tilted her head from side to side as she studied her reflection.
She’s gorgeous. Bruno stretched, taking a moment to just breathe. He needed to push away the turbulent emotions he felt, and be calm. They didn’t have long before his brothers called, he was sure of it. He rolled out of bed and joined her.
“You’re very beautiful,” he said, smoothing a hand down her arm. A ferocious wave of protectiveness surged through him. He’d go through fire for this woman who’d so easily absorbed his memories and then, when he’d least expected it, gifted him with her understanding.
“Whoa, Bruno. Easy there. I’m okay,” she said, smiling up at him. “I’m just a little weirded out.” She pointed at herself. “I never expected this.” She looked back at the mirror, and then she touched a finger to the corner of her eye, apparently unconsciously mirroring the greeting of the Sentries. “This changes things,” she murmured.
“You’re one of us, now,” Bruno said very clearly, running a hand down her arms. He didn’t want her to misread him.
“Yeah.” She took a deep breath. “I understand.”
She’s thinking about duty, Bruno realized, frowning slightly. He didn’t want her to think their relationship rested on duty alone, but the truth was that he’d never have come for her if the Spiders hadn’t swarmed. He hated having to drag her into his life. I would’ve lived a thousand years, knowing that she was mine, and never touching her. I would’ve kept her safe from me. He slid his arms around her and cradled her as he tried not to let her feel his regret. It would only hurt her. He still could not believe how composed she was, especially after being confronted with the end of her life as she knew it. Everything for her would be different now.
“Hey. Stop brooding.” She poked his arm. “I want to enjoy the afterglow.” She frowned slightly. “And hopefully next time it won’t hurt so much.”
Guilt struck him. It was his fault the pairing had been so painful, not hers. She’d opened up to him so beautifully, and then right at the peak, he’d shut down part of his memories, keeping them from her. “I’m so very sorry, Amy.”
She sighed. “Just so it doesn’t happen again.”
“It won’t. Not now that the pairing is complete.” He felt sure of that. The prickle of worry at the back of his skull was nothing more than paranoia. The slight headache he still had was probably from stress.
She patted his arm. “Let me go. I want to wash up.”
Just as she spoke, a deep tone sounded through the apartment.
“What the hell was that?” She whirled around, eyes wide.
Bruno frowned. “It’s the pillar’s emergency alert.” He headed out of the bathroom. He grabbed his pants from the floor and yanked them on. The tone sounded again.
“Wait! Don’t answer it until I put some clothes on,” Amy yelped from just behind him, grabbing her pants and top.
“Hurry,” he said, as a deep foreboding lodged itself in his gut. He waited until she’d put on her clothes, and then he took a moment to kiss her. “Be strong for me.” He didn’t deserve her strength, but he couldn’t help but ask for it.
She nodded, eyes bright. “Always.”
He pivoted and placed his palm on the pillar. The white face of it swirled, and then materialized into a transparent window showing his brother Solomon, and the typical impenetrable glow of fog beyond the windows of his brother’s Stronghold. The top of Mt. Washington had impressively awful weather most of the year.
“Bruno, whatever the hell you did, you need to stop it and fix it,” Solomon growled, attention only half on the viewer. He was clearly focused on multiple windows, and his fingers flew over the controls he’d pulled up from his pillar. “The power surges almost undid the entire Stronghold net.”
“What? That shouldn’t have happened,” Bruno said, pulling up his own diagnostic window. He scanned the information. “This isn’t good.”
“No, it isn’t. Fix it, Bruno,” Solomon said, still tapping away.
“It can’t be undone.” Bruno pulled Amy closer, and then he ran another diagnostic. The energy lines had settled, but were still unbalanced “Maybe the algorithm you implemented a few months ago will be able to compensate.”
“Compensation won’t be good enough when a billion Spiders descend through the atmosphere,” Solomon snarled. He glanced up, face tight with frustration, and then went still as he realized Bruno wasn’t alone. “What exactly happened?”
“This is Amy Day,” Bruno said, emphasizing her new last name.
Solomon’s nostrils flared. “You’ve paired?” His eyes flicked to Amy and then back to his brother.
Bruno nodded, somewhat concerned by Solomon’s lack of manners. His brother should’ve greeted Amy properly. Solomon almost never forgot courtesy. Even in the midst of disaster, Solomon kept his wits together. “I have.”
His brother cursed. “Then something went wrong.” He shifted his focus back to his screens.
“What are you talking about?” Bruno demanded, letting his growing worry fuel outward anger. “We needed extra energy to establish and power the shield net. The anchors are nearly ready to deploy. I did what was necessary in order to handle the growing threat.” He winced inside as he felt Amy’s hurt over his words, quickly smothered.
“Yes, yes, but something isn’t right. The power surges are unpredictable. I’ve just spent the last hour rethreading code on the fly.” Solomon shook his head. “I thought we were done tinkering with the Stronghold kernel.” He paused when his paired mate, Lucy, stepped up to the viewer.
“We smoothed out the surging power flows, Bruno. The net is stable, for now,” she said, putting a hand on her husband’s arm. “Solomon is exaggerating.”
Bruno had already concluded as much from his last diagnostic. He was more worried about Solomon’s strange reaction to his pairing. And, too, my power is so much stronger than the others’. Could it have caused this? he wondered.
“No, I’m not exaggerating,” Solomon retorted, scowling. “It shouldn’t have surged like that in the first place.”
“We have no way to predict what happens when another energy source is suddenly thrust into the net,” Lucy said. She tilted her head as her gaze suddenly landed on Amy. “Solomon knows that.”
“It still shouldn’t have fluctuated like that,” Solomon muttered.
Bruno appreciated his sister-in-law’s calming influence. “Is this an emergency?” he asked.
“Maybe.” Solomon let out a harsh breath as he scrubbed his hands through his hair. “I don’t know.”
“It’s only an emergency because of the swarm,” Lucy said.
Bruno nodded, absently rubbing a thumb over Amy’s wrist. He needed to assess the damage, and gather his brothers so that they could determine whether or not the additional power would allow them to deploy the shield net.
“May I be introduced?” Lucy asked, startling him out of his task assessment.
“You already know who she is.” Solomon scowled.
Lucy shushed him. “Solomon, you’re acting as grumpy as Greyson.” Solomon sighed, but fell silent as she raised an inquiring eyebrow at Bruno.
Bruno controlled a smile. Lucy was the best thing that ever happened to his brother. “Of course, sister. Lucy, this is Amy, my paired mate. Amy, this is Lucy, my brother’s keeper and civilizing influence.”
Amy smiled. “Hello, Lucy.”
Bruno sensed Amy’s amusement, but also her puzzlement. She knew enough to know that their pairing hadn’t gone smoothly. She also wasn’t stupid. It was only a matter of time before she figured out that the power fluctuations in the Stronghold net weren’t just abnormal, they were unprecedented. He sighed, wondering if the issue would prove to be a bigger problem than he’d anticipated. He wished his visions had shown him the future beyond the moment he’d met her, but his glimpses of timelines were notoriously unreliable. He knew he’d meet Amy, but he’d had no idea that their pairing might destabilize their tech.
Good intentions don’t always result in the anticipated outcome, he thought, frustrated. He really ought to know better by now.
Lucy touched the corner of her eye. “Welcome to the family, Amy.”
“Thanks,” Amy said, hesitantly touching her eye. “Is he always this cranky?” She gestured to Solomon.
Lucy laughed. “No. He’s usually the calm one.” She glanced at Bruno. “Well, next to Bruno, that is. Bruno has nerves of steel. I wish we could all be so steady.”
Bruno resisted the urge to comment on that. He simply had excellent control of his emotions. He needed to be controlled. He lived in a city, surrounded by human minds, and dealt with the delicate sensibilities of world leaders. Rash words and thoughts could lead to disaster. Also, he’d been leading his younger brothers for two centuries. Being calm and in control was no longer a habit, it was an integral part of his personality.
“You know Saige, right?” Lucy asked, startling Bruno out of his thoughts.
Amy nodded, smiling. “Yes. She and I were best friends in college.” She made a face. “And then she met Isaac and popped off with him to the other end of the universe. I’d really hoped she was having a good honeymoon, but I guess there’s no way to predict when a disaster will happen.”
Lucy’s smile slipped. “Yes. It’s really unfortunate that the Spiders picked right now to swarm out of their self-imposed hibernation.”
“Bad things happen to good people all the time,” Amy said, lifting a shoulder. “The best we can do is attempt to mitigate the suffering, and plan for the worst.”
“That’s an interesting viewpoint.” Lucy raised her eyebrows. “It sounds like you have some experience with disaster.”
“My father was a diplomat. I learned a lot from him,” Amy said softly. “He said those words to me more than once.”
Sensing Amy’s pain, Bruno interrupted their conversation before Lucy could pry any further into her life. He didn’t want her to have to relive her father’s death, yet again, especially since their pairing had already brought the memory uncomfortably close to the surface of her mind. “I think we can run some diagnostics on the Stronghold net overnight, and touch base in the morning.” He checked on the status of Isaac and Saige’s starship. “We don’t have to deal with the swarm for at least several days.” He grimaced. “Tomorrow I’ll meet with the President and other heads of state, and inform them of the threat.”
“Shouldn’t you let the President know tonight? Won’t he want to mobilize the military or something?” Lucy asked.
Bruno shook his head. “I’m sure he will want to do that, but it won’t do much good. The only thing that can repel and destroy the Spiders is the personal energy of the Sentries. That’s why we built the Stronghold net and created tech that could absorb our energy—we needed to increase our range of protection because there are only eight of us. Every other kind of weapons technology is just food to them, including whatever bombs the human military can bring to bear.” He felt Amy’s alarm, but there wasn’t a damned thing he could do about it. The threat looming over them was real, and she already knew that. Nevertheless, he sent a short burst of soothing energy to her. She shot him a look, but her shoulders eased down a fraction. He nodded, pleased.
“I’ll set up another algorithm to monitor the energy fluctuations in our tech. Do you want me to talk to Greyson about it?” Solomon asked, glancing at Amy again.
Bruno knew his brother was extending an apology for his earlier rude behavior by offering him some uninterrupted time alone with Amy. “Thank you, Solomon. Yes. Please talk to Greyson.”
Solomon nodded. “Very well.” He glanced at his wife, then looked directly at Amy. “Welcome to the family, sister,” he said graciously, touching his eye. Clearly, he’d calmed down from his earlier alarm over the net’s energy fluctuations. “My apologies for my behavior. I have no excuse.”
Amy let out a breath, but Bruno didn’t think anyone but him heard it.
“Thank you, Solomon.” She squeezed Bruno’s forearm, but he didn’t think she realized how tightly she was holding onto him. “I understand that this is a stressful situation. No worries.” She smiled at Solomon’s paired-mate. “It was nice to meet you, Lucy.”
“I’m sure we will meet each other in person very soon,” Lucy replied.
“I will be in touch tomorrow, Solomon,” Bruno said, nodding at Lucy, too. “Get a good night’s sleep.” He touched the corner of his eye.
“Yes, Mother,” Solomon said, a hint of exasperation in his tone.
Lucy nodded, touching the corner of her eye in unison with her husband. “I’ll make sure he sleeps tonight. We all need to be ready for what’s coming.” She nodded, then reached out and touched their pillar. The window swirled into whiteness.
Bruno suppressed a smile and deactivated the viewer.
Amy let out an explosive breath. “Wow. That was … interesting.”
Bruno ran a calming hand down her back as her anxiety pinged against his empathy. The tight muscles beneath his palm told him she wasn’t feeling very sanguine about his brother’s call. “Solomon is an idiot. Pay him no mind.” He ushered her back to the bed.
She sat down on the mattress, absently rubbing her arms. “I don’t know about that. The Spiders are massing, and he’s stressed about dealing with them. I can see why he’d be less than enthused to meet me, especially right after your tech went haywire. Did he have any reason to suspect there’d be so much fluctuation in the Stronghold net?”
Bruno shrugged. Her fear over the Spiders and her struggle to handle their pairing pricked at his mind. He wished he’d had more time for them to get to know each other. No, I wish I had been able to stay away from her so she could live her life in peace, and not in the midst of my impossible duty. “It is not something we can predict.”
Amy sighed. “And it’s not like any of you are going to call up the others and let them know that, oh, by the way, I’m about to have sex now. Brace yourselves because the net might suddenly be unstable.”
Bruno laughed. “No. Not in a million years.” He rubbed his chin. “Happily, the power surge only happens when one of us first pairs and adds the energy of another Sentry to the net, and now that you belong to me, that kind of instability is a thing of the past.”
“I belong to you?” Amy asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Yes.” Bruno resisted the urge to apologize. The words were accurate. “Just as I belong to you.”
Amy smiled impishly at him. “Good. Glad you clarified that.”
Bruno shook his head, a bit embarrassed for the first time in ages. “Are you hungry?”
“I could eat.”
“Why don’t you freshen up and I’ll make us sandwiches,” Bruno offered.
Amy cocked her head. “The most powerful man in the world is offering to cook for me? Sure. There’s no way that I could pass that up.”
Bruno smiled despite the thousand and one worries crowding through his brain. “You may regret it after you taste my attempts in the kitchen.” He kissed her, and she grabbed his arms, keeping him from straightening up.
“Hey. Don’t let this one crisis derail everything you’ve done for the world, Bruno,” she said, startling him with her insight.
“So wise,” he murmured, tracing a finger down her cheek. “The question is, how does one keep bitterness at bay when too many years of one disaster after another shows the true nature of an unfeeling universe?”
She flushed. “My father always said that you can’t handle five disasters at once. You can only handle the one right in front of you.” She paused, and Bruno sensed her uncertainty, but then she forged ahead. “One step at a time.”
Bruno straightened up, emotions churning behind the rigid walls he’d erected. He would not suck Amy down to his level. She did not need to feel the despair that seemed to dog his heels more and more these days. “He sounds like he was a good man.” He kissed her again, and then headed off to do something useful before she could read his worry in his eyes. At the very least, he could spoil her with care and comfort, before they all died.