And They'll Come Home

by K. M. Robinson

  “Don’t even think about it,” Piper announced, frightening them.

  Peep whipped around to find their enemy standing in the room, surrounded by his goons. The guard that had held her right before her escape looked a little worse for the wear, nearly making her grin.

  “I knew you couldn’t resist doing something like this. So Peep, you’re the real leader,” Piper taunted her. “I should have guessed. Your stupid act had me fooled. Bravo. But I’m still in control and you’re going to step away.”

  “Not a chance,” she tried to say as menacingly as possible.

  Something shuffled in the hallway. The cry caught her attention. She knew what was happening even before Piper lashed out his hand and dragged her boyfriend in by his collar. Somehow, Piper had found BB. She was going to slap him for running around looking for her by himself…assuming she could get him out of this.

  She gasped as she discovered BB was bound and gagged. He shook his head so ferociously that he nearly lost his glasses.

  “Oh, I don’t think so,” Spider said as he rushed toward Piper.

  A fight erupted, everyone taking on guards. Even BB attempted to wrestle away and help. Peep rushed in his direction, hoping to get his hands free so he could fight more easily.

  “Take out the machine!” Piper’s voice filled the room.

  BB pushed Peep back to the console, trying to get her to make the Irex her priority. He forced her to manipulate the codes as he attempted to help, hands still tied. He was pretty fast for being unable to move his wrists apart.

  She heard Spider shout a warning to Fet in the background, but didn’t have time to look. She pounded on the keyboard until she realized she needed her friend.

  “Almost there. Fet!” She summoned Muffet.

  Fet bumped BB out of the way, taking over his spot.

  “Ready?” Fet asked.

  “Now!” Peep set them into action, pressing the final buttons.

  Piper became irate as he watched his control slip away, losing his grip on the Barrier program. When Peep turned, she found him shaking in anger.

  “You did this!” he growled at Fet before running at her to take his revenge.

  Peep grabbed onto her friend’s arm, attempting to move her out of harm’s way, when suddenly, Piper was flying through the air. She smirked as Piper crashed to the floor, not realizing that Spider was close enough to trip him.

  The tall, dark-haired boy rushed to Fet’s side without so much as flinching from the collision. His face said it all—Peep would be losing her best friend to this man sooner rather than later.

  “Go!” He commanded as he protectively gripped her shoulders. “Run!”

  Fet started to protest, not wanting to leave.

  “Go. Now,” Spider insisted. “Arach…”

  The eldest brother reached forward, grabbing onto Peep and BB, forcing them to the door. Peep wanted to protest, but Spider’s next words silenced her.

  “Fet, go,” he said urgently. “I will take care of him, but he can’t catch you. Now move.”

  Peep assessed him, wanting desperately to like him for her friend’s sake. She made a mental note to crawl through every digital record of him that there was later if they made it back to the Legends Building. She would know everything about him before she ever let him near Fet.

  “No,” Fet argued. Peep grinned, knowing Fet didn’t like to be babied.

  “Get out, now!” Spider yelled as the guards started to wake up. Arach had done a number on most of them. She stepped over a man on the floor as she followed Arach’s command to meet them downstairs.

  “On it,” Arach said, moving toward Fet. She slapped at him.

  Peep and BB rushed down the stairs, only hearing a bit of yelling as they fled. Peep ripped at the binds on BB’s hands, freeing him before Fet and Arach had reached the stairs.

  “Are you okay?” BB’s face was white, terrified for his girlfriend.

  “I’m fine, what happened?” Peep demanded.

  “Later,” BB refused to answer. “Did he hurt you?”

  “I’m fine,” she insisted.

  “Bonita Peep, you tell me the truth,” BB’s words were angry and protective. “Did that man hurt you?”

  “You know I hate being called that,” she snarled, silently wanting to rip her uncle’s throat out for giving her that name.

  “Are you hurt?” he repeated, pulling her close to his chest.

  He was warm, heart beating rapidly under his shirt. She wrapped her arms around his back, pulling his hips toward her. She didn’t realize how cold she was until his arms radiated warmth throughout her back.

  “Arach and Spider are fine, we can trust them,” she tried to redirect him.

  Fet burst through the door at the end of the stairs, looking terrified. Arach followed behind her. Spider was nowhere to be found.

  Peep glared, demanding an answer as the watchmen flooded the building to protect the technology and end the intrusion they had only just discovered. She hoped Nim would be safe. Spider didn’t follow Fet and Arach.

  “He stayed behind. We have to go.” Arach answered the question she hadn’t yet asked.

  Newly-freed BB led the way, running all the way back to the Legends Building.

  “PEEP!” T SHOUTED as Peep walked in.

  She patted the girl’s head as T threw her arms around her. After a moment, she detached herself, slipping around the short girl.

  She let Fet wander off, knowing she needed a little space. Peep could tell she was worried. Arach hung on the outskirts of the room, watching the scene.

  When BB leaned over, Peep grabbed his collar and pulled him close, whispering harshly in his ear.

  “I want everything you can find on those two.” She released him, giving him a sweet, fake smile for the benefit of the hackers who were watching. “Talk to Nim when he’s available.”

  She motioned Arach over, preparing to introduce him to the group. He hesitated.

  “This is Arach,” she announced as all eyes turned on him. “He and his brother are the last of the Wanderers. They helped us get the Irex back from Piper and they will be joining us.”

  The room gasped when they discovered Piper had been in control of the system. T made it her mission to welcome Arach, the rest of the group crowding around him. The boys all watched him skeptically, eyeing his muscular arms. If his hacking skills were as good as theirs, they could be in trouble. Worry was written on their faces.

  “He’s fine,” Peep insisted, knowing they would be leery of him. Spider would fit in better…at least at first.

  She realized they already knew Spider.

  “Actually, you know his brother. He was one of the recruits. Long and short black hair…”

  “Oh,” a collective gasp went up.

  “He’s fine. He was pretending to work for Piper but was actually helping us too.”

  “Weren’t you being held captive?” one of the boys asked. “How do you know?”

  “My contact has been watching them,” Peep answered. The entire room relaxed, shuffling off to their stations.

  “Are we safe here?” Arach asked.

  “We’re fine,” Peep answered, annoyed that he would ask. “We took precautions.”

  Arach eyed the people watching him from their stations.

  “I’m going to go check on Fet,” he mumbled.

  Peep smirked and gave him directions.

  SITTING DOWN AT HER station, she worked her way back into the system to check her work. She wanted to be sure Piper could never get access again. She knew they had destroyed it, but checking one more time wouldn’t hurt.

  After a while, Arach came back. He reported his brother’s arrival, having passed him on his way back. Peep hoped BB’s research found nothing and she could be happy for her friend and Spider.

  Arach took a seat, looking a little lost. Peep ignored him as she worked, checking over everything they had done.

  “Peep!” BB shouted as he ran into the room, holdi
ng his device in his hand.

  “What?” her head snapped up, fingers stopping in the middle of typing.

  “I heard from Nim,” he said in a hushed voice. “Something happened.”

  Acknowledgments

  I know you already love Fet and Spider, but I hope you also enjoyed this look at Peep and Arach! I loved having the opportunity to write their side of the story as well.

  While writing Along Came A Spider, I knew a whole world of events were happening behind the scenes for poor Peep as she was held in captivity. What I didn’t realize was that I was creating a challenge for myself every time I alluded to her situation in the first book. Making sure everything fit was an interesting part of this follow up. I hope you loved it as much as I did.

  I want to hear from you! If you adore Spider, Fet, Peep, and Arach, if you’re a fan of Auluria and Dov from The Golden Trilogy, if you love Jade and Roan from The Jaded Duology, or if you’re a fan of my other writing, reach out to me! The more I hear from you, the more I know what to focus on next. I have multiple projects in the works, but the more I know you, the more I know which ones to spend the most time on!

  Special thanks to everyone who stuck with me through the craziness that was the release of this book. None of us expected things to happen the way that they did, but I’m so grateful we could all roll with the punches and make this book happen (even if it was months earlier than we had planed!)

  Thank you to the wonderful Jody Carr for editing ATCH for me. I appreciate your willingness to jump in and all of your kind words!

  To Sissy Lu, you are the best and I truly don’t know what I’d do without you! Thank you for all your help!

  To you, oh fabulous reader, thank you for jumping into this journey with me. I can’t wait to see where it takes us! Until then, I hope you come hang out with me on social media. I have a gift for you over on my newsletter if you if you happen to enjoy excerpts from my other books, as well as other freebie gifts. Come join me at excerpt.kmrobinsonbooks.com I can’t wait to hang out with you!

  A Deeper Look At The Legends

  A Deeper Look At The Legends

  You don’t have to wait until The Legends Chronicles debuts in Spring 2018 from Snowy Wings Publishing to get a deeper look at the series!

  * * *

  Are you ready to learn more about the Legends? Now you can in these special bonuses:

  ALONG CAME A SPIDER (Prequel Novelette 1)

  * * *

  Little Hacker Muffet

  sat on her tuffet

  destroying her cords and Way.

  Along came a hacker named Spider,

  who sat down beside her

  and frightened his opponent away.

  * * *

  When Fet, one of the most skilled hackers in the Legends, discovers her best friend and leader of her group has been abducted and held for ransom, she must escape unnoticed and find Peep before it’s too late.

  When Spider, a new recruit training to join her hacker ring, slips out with her and claims to have a plan to save her friend, Fet is forced to bring him along. As she discovers he’s not who he claims to be, she faces grave danger and learns just how deadly a spider bite can be.

  NOW AVAILABLE

  Join me on Wattpad for BEHIND THE LEGENDS: weekly installments of scenes and short stories from the Legends where we’ll be getting to know some of the other nursery rhyme hackers involved with Fet and Peep’s group before the big reveal. Big reveal of what, you ask? You’ll just have to wait and see!

  Join me for more Legend Chronicles stories at:

  legendsstories.kmrobinsonbooks.com

  Think you have what it takes to join Fet and Peep in the Legends? Fet will put you to the test in this choose-your-own-adventure game through Facebook messenger to see if you have the skills to talk your way into the group.

  Play now at jointhelegends.kmrobinsonbooks.com

  and see if you can hack it.

  Bonus Facebook Filters

  Want to get your hands on some incredible Facebook filters for Along Came A Spider? Now you have the ability to get filters for the story, characters, etc right inside your phone.

  You can use these on your photos, profile pictures, videos, and live broadcasts. All you have to do is like my author page and they will automatically show up in your filters!

  I’ve even taken these clips and put them on Instagram Stories by saving them to my phone and uploading them to Instagram.

  Visit www.facebook.com/kmrobinsonbooks to grab these filters for your photos, videos, and broadcasts! Bonus points for tagging me @kmrobinsonbooks so I can see how you’re supporting The Legends Chronicles.

  About the Author

  K.M. Robinson is a storyteller who creates new worlds both in her writing and in her fine arts conceptual photography. She is a marketing, branding and social media strategy educator who is recognized at first sight by her very long hair. She is a creative who focuses on photography, videography, couture dress making, and writing to express the stories she needs to tell. She almost always has a camera within reach.

  Connect With K.M. Robinson

  WEBSITE: www.kmrobinsonbooks.com

  FACEBOOK: facebook.com/kmrobinsonbooks

  INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/kmrobinsonbooks

  TWITTER: twitter.com/kmrobinsonbooks

  Also By K.M. Robinson

  The Golden Trilogy

  Book One: Golden

  Book Two: Locked

  Book Three: Edge (coming Early 2018)

  Forged: A Golden Novella

  * * *

  The Jaded Duology

  Book One: Jaded (available now)

  Book Two: Risen (coming Early 2018)

  Jaded (The Jaded Duology)

  * * *

  Her father failed in his mission to take control from the Commander, a defeat that has cost Jade her life. She will die as punishment. Now she belongs to the Commander's son--as his wife. Knowing his intent is to quietly kill her in revenge, Jade's every move is calculated to survive--until she learns her death ensures the safety of her father and her entire town.

  * * *

  Roan doesn't want to kill Jade, but once his family isolates her from her father and community, his only choice is to go through with the plan. Jade doesn't make it easy as she tries to sway him into falling for her. Each misstep makes him question his cause. Each moment makes every decision harder, but the Commander won't allow him to fail.

  * * *

  One chooses life. One chooses death. In the midst of the chaos, only one will succeed.

  Golden (The Golden Trilogy)

  Goldilocks was never naive. She was sent on a mission and Dov Baer is her new target.

  When the girl with the golden hair betrays everyone, not even she has hope of surviving.

  * * *

  The stories say that Goldilocks was a naive girl who wandered into a house one day. Those stories were wrong. She was never naive. It was all a perfectly executed plan to get her into the Baers' group to destroy them.

  * * *

  Trained by her cousin, Lowell, and handler, Shadoe, Auluria's mission is to destroy the Baers by getting close to the youngest brother, Dov, his brother and sister-in-law and the leaders of the Baers' group. When she realizes Dov isn't as evil as her cousin led her to believe, she must figure out how to play both sides or her deception will cause everyone in her world to burn.

  * * *

  If her allegiances are discovered, either side could destroy her...if the Society doesn't get her first.

  Want To Learn More?

  For more information on The Golden Trilogy, please visit

  * * *

  goldeninfo.kmrobinsonbooks.com

  For more information on The Jaded Duology, please visit

  * * *

  jadedinfo.kmrobinsonbooks.com

  To get free excerpts and books from K.M. Robinson, please visit

  excerpt.kmrobinsonbooks.com

  sp; K. M. Robinson, And They'll Come Home