Page 12 of Changeling (The Incubus Saga #2)

After dinner, when Alex announced that one of her last projects for the boys was knocking down a wall between two rooms, Nathan was all over it.

Unfortunately, his crash on the sofa earlier led the others to believe he might not actually be well enough for all that hard labor, and he was denied.

Nathan couldn’t sit still though, not after napping for so long, so without any new chores bestowed upon him, he snatched Sasha’s scanner from their room.

Nathan hadn’t given the device much thought since he first saw it in Minnesota, a ruse at the time so Nathan and Jim wouldn’t catch on that Sasha could sense incubus and succubus pheromones just fine on his own—no scanner needed.

But the scanner did work for other creatures, and Nathan wanted to get it working as initially promised.

After all, he needed the device more than Sasha or Jim, who could both sense most things naturally, and if there was ever another homicidal incubus or succubus around, he wanted to be prepared.

He used this as an excuse to open the device up without first asking permission.

The crystal inside that powered its magic glowed purple much like the ones on the goggles they had sold to Schuester all those mouths ago.

The only thing Nathan needed to add to make the device light up for incubus pheromones along with the other things it detected was the right rune on the inside of the cover.

He found what he needed from one of the Gatehouse library books: a symbol that he figured translated closer to ‘sex demon,’ but it should do the trick.

He snapped the cover in place after adding the new etching with his knife and turned over his would-be tricorder.

Nathan may not be fond of overly complicated technology, but he liked tinkering, and he wasn’t as averse to this type of science-meets-magic—not like he used to be.

He smiled proudly at what he hoped was a job well done and decided to seek Sasha out to see if it worked.

He hadn’t seen any of the others in some time, including Wally, and listened carefully for sounds of where they might be as he left the library.

Coming to the end of the hallway near the landing, Nathan felt a strong surge of déjà vu as he drew closer to Jim’s door.

He could hear Sasha and Jim’s faint voices, just like he had earlier in the afternoon.

As soon as he walked into Jim’s room, however, he relaxed, because they weren’t talking hushed or heated; their voices were faint because Sasha and Jim were out on the roof.

There was access out Jim’s window, which had been left open and was letting in all of the cold air from outside.

Nathan could see the two of them out there, huddled around Sasha’s laptop as they sat wrapped up in the comforter from Jim’s bed. He shook his head. It was late December, for crying out loud, and Missouri was not known for being tropical.

“You are so not getting any sympathy if you two get sick,” Nathan said as he reached the window and started climbing out after them.

“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing out here, geniuses?

Coz if you’re watching porn…move over.” He had to grin at that, especially since Jim looked over his shoulder and rolled his eyes.

Nathan came up on Sasha’s other side, already shivering at the cold temperature even though he was wearing layers today with a button down thrown over his T-shirt.

It didn’t take long to notice what the two of them were actually working on, considering the intricate mapping of dark fae activity on the computer screen.

“The wireless works better out here. And at least we thought to bring the blanket. Hey…did you mess with my scanner?” Sasha asked, though he sounded more impressed than upset. “You got it to pick up incubus pheromones?”

The scanner in Nathan’s hand was already flashing from proximity to Sasha, but Nathan hadn’t noticed since his eyes were drawn to the computer screen.

“Apparently ‘sex demon’ does mean incubus,” he snorted.

“Just figured I should be prepared. Plus it’ll be easier to find you now.

And I was bored. Now shove over, I’m freezing.

” He plopped himself down and flipped the scanner off before setting it aside.

With a quirked smile, Sasha lifted the comforter and allowed Nathan to snuggle in beside him. They adjusted the blanket accordingly but still all managed to fit underneath, and with three male bodies pressed together, it was fairly warm.

“So instead of enjoying our last bit of vacation, you two are wasting your time on me?” Nathan asked, indicating the laptop.

“Nathan,” Jim said in a frustrated tone, “we’ve been over this. If we can track down the bounty holder, I might be able to use my powers to force them to release you. We wouldn’t even have to kill them. We just need to find a dark fae who actually knows who they are.”

“I’m not arguing,” Nathan said, “I just don’t want either of you getting your hopes up too high. We’ve found dark fae already, dark sidhe even, and they haven’t been any help so far. How do we know the next time will be any different?”

“If this dark sidhe lord is as powerful as I’m guessing after our run-in with the dryads, then ‘they’ probably keep their True Name hidden from lesser fae. But that doesn’t mean dark fae don’t know who to turn the bounty into.”

Nathan blinked at Sasha, not understanding.

“Think of it like this,” Sasha went on, “even though no one seems to know the bounty holder’s True Name, they still know who…

they are, because the Muses and the Dryads were all afraid of them.

Dark fae know how to turn the bounty in and to whom, but knowing another fae’s True Name gives a certain amount of power, so at most we’d probably only get a pseudonym.

We need to stop asking for a name and start setting up a trap instead. ”

“You mean a decoy,” Nathan said. “Get a dark fae to pretend to turn me in so we can catch this bounty holder without summoning them.” The thought of those red on black eyes made Nathan’s stomach turn sour and he suppressed a deep shudder at the thought of seeing them in person.

“Okay…risky move, but I guess it’s better than nothing. ”

“My powers could be an asset for once,” Jim said, and Nathan refrained from reminding him that the powers had been useful on several occasions.

“I could keep the bounty holder from taking you and make them let you go. We just need one more chance to find a dark fae who can help us. I really think we can do this, Nathan.”

Jim’s hopeful tone made Nathan almost believe it, and almost forget that more was at stake than they were admitting.

Using Jim’s powers seemed to be what brought him closer to remembering what happened in the Veil, closer to those amber eyes maybe sticking around for good.

But Nathan couldn’t say that. He couldn’t admit he had eavesdropped or that he feared Jim’s True Awakening really was close at hand.

Maybe hope and something else to focus on was all Jim would need to beat this; then again, maybe saving Nathan would be the last step before Jim was truly lost.

“Nathan.”

Walter’s voice startled Nathan; it had been days since he had heard it, after all.

Nathan looked up and saw Walter perched on an overhang of roof off to his left, like some man-sized and yet somehow benevolent vulture. Apparently the power of the Gatehouse didn’t quite extend to the rooftop.

“Your mind weighs heavy with this, I understand. You must be cautious. This plan risks all of you, but could also be Jim’s downfall as much as your own.

You know as well as I do that his time is short, and as much as you may want to dismiss my warnings, there may not be anything you can do to prevent it. ”

“Nate?” Jim prompted, as if perhaps he had asked Nathan a question.

“Huh?”

“What do you think? The location in Maine sounds best to me. It’s a longer trip, but seems more likely to be dark fae activity,” Jim said, clicking away on the laptop keyboard to bring up several windows on a town called Ellsworth.

“We have more options for later, too, if Maine doesn’t pan out.

” He continued reaching over Sasha to click through screens.

Nathan stared ahead at Walter, watching the way his Spirit Guide’s brown eyes glowed almost golden in the dark of the night, almost amber , as if to amplify the warning that Jim and Nathan’s time was running out.

Reaching over Sasha like Jim was, Nathan grabbed the laptop right off of Sasha’s lap and pulled it out of both of their reach to his other side beside the scanner. He clicked the laptop closed.

“Nathan,” Sasha said in irritation.

“This is important,” Jim added.

“Yeah,” Nathan agreed, “and you’ve done a fine job.

But I’ve got at least one more day of vacation time due, and I’m not sitting through Monster Squad meetings for any of it.

We know where we’re headed next and you’ve got some of the finer points down.

Good. Good enough . Now, can we move on to some mindless indulgences instead? Please .”

“It is New Year’s Eve, after all.”

Nathan, Sasha, and Jim all turned toward the window in unison, surprised by Alex’s voice.

The lovely brunette was already climbing out onto the roof to join them, smartly dressed in a long wool sweater over her T-shirt and jeans.

She carried a bag in one hand perfectly sectioned to hold four bottles of wine. Wally clung to her shoulder.

“I was going to bring glasses,” she said, “but they’d probably just get broken up here anyway.”

Nathan grinned. Maybe the others had forgotten, but he had been paying more attention to the days, and had realized the date earlier and mentioned it to Alex.

He hadn’t expected her to respond like this, though, and it was a welcome surprise.

Nathan couldn’t help but think he might not get another year to usher in.