Page 15 of Changeling (The Incubus Saga #2)

The next morning was it—time to say goodbye. Nathan’s time was running out, and every second counted.

Before they left, Sasha called everyone together in the bar area and had Wally stand where everyone could see her.

“I think we have this down, Alex, if you’ll give us a chance,” Sasha said.

Alex nodded. “Just so long as she isn’t any trouble.”

“You gonna glamour her?” Nathan asked.

“I could, but it would wear off as soon as I got too far away. There are limitations. No, I had something else in mind. See, I figured I could train her to shapeshift on her own. It wasn’t easy, and I had to pick something that looks as close as possible to how she really is, but…

ready, Wally?” Sasha turned to the little ball of fluff.

A chirp responded and the chimera gave a little jump.

“Okay,” Sasha said, “what do you do if you see anyone other than one of us?” he asked, indicating those gathered around her.

Wally chirped again. Then, with another jump, she suddenly wasn’t Wally anymore but was instead a very small, plump, and fluffy grey tabby cat.

“Ta da,” Sasha smiled.

“That’s awesome,” Nathan said, crouching down and calling Wally over to him, who bounded into his arms happily. “I wouldn’t know the difference at all,” he admitted, petting the purring cat in his arms.

“And she can change back when it’s just you, Alex,” Sasha said to her. “If she sees anyone but us she knows to be a cat. You can tell her to keep the transformation constant when someone’s staying here longer too. So…you gonna keep her?”

All eyes turned from the new grey cat to the owner of the Gatehouse. Even under all that scrutiny, Alex allowed a smile and stepped over to Nathan to pat Wally on the head. “You know the rules?” she asked the chimera sternly, despite her retained smile.

Wally meowed in response.

“Fine by me then,” Alex said, plucking Wally out of Nathan’s arms, “but if we have any trouble,” she said to Sasha, “you’re the first one I’m calling.”

“Any time,” Sasha smiled.

Nathan reached to pat Wally on the head one last time.

Their things were already in the car outside.

“Guess we better head on out, then. Thanks for the great New Year’s, Al.

Been a long time since I remember one that fun.

” He looped an arm around her shoulders to hug her without crushing Wally between them.

Sasha came forward next for the same half-hug, but before he could back away, Alex passed Wally into his arms. She turned to Jim with her hands planted on her hips.

“You’re coming to visit more often. I know it’s dangerous, but Gabriel’s gone, and Sasha gives you an advantage. You can risk running into seals to see me. Okay?” While the command seemed to be directed at all of them, her focus was entirely on Jim.

Jim nodded, but Nathan could tell that discovering his amber-eyed persona had set Jim back again, and he wasn’t sure he trusted himself to be around Alex.

Jim still moved forward to hug her goodbye, but Alex was having none of it.

She grabbed either side of his face before he could wrap his arms around her, and kissed him soundly on the lips.

“Couldn’t let you get away without doing that this time. Not after seeing Sasha do it, anyway.” She grinned.

Jim let out a short chuckle despite himself, and Nathan exchanged a pleased glance with Sasha.

“You come see me again soon, and keep me posted on your progress. Okay?” Alex ordered once again.

“I will,” Jim said, and as much as Nathan still saw the doubt and fear in Jim’s eyes, he thought maybe Jim meant those words, and that he was actually allowing himself to consider a future in which he might one day get what he wanted.

That’s all Nathan would ever wish for.

"Just passing into Pennsylvania," Sasha called back from the driver’s seat to a recently awakened Nathan, who had been napping. "We can stop tonight, then catch a doorway to Maine tomorrow. Jim's been going over the notes we gathered about this new lead. It's not much, but better than nothing."

Nathan nodded as he sat up in the back; his meds still made him a little groggy, but he’d decided not to fight it when he actually had the chance to take a nap.

“There's this historical building in Ellsworth," Jim explained. "After the curator died, it was shut down. Closed up completely. There were reports of squatters after a while, and when the police caught them, they were…it’s hard to say what really happened to them. But they were incapable of speech, basic motor functions, almost everything, and yet they were still awake and alert. If the building is cursed or under some sort of spell, it could be the work of a dark fae. We’re pretty confident it’s a good lead, and since the building is closed up, we should be able to get inside to investigate without much trouble.”

Nathan nodded again. He knew he should be pleased they had a lead at all and a direction to go, but with the way some things had been progressing—his dreams, Jim’s sleepwalking, those red on black eyes tied to it all—ignorance inside the Gatehouse had been a nice, if short-lived bliss.

As they continued to drive, Nathan looked to Walter sitting beside him.

His Spirit Guide hadn’t been all that vocal since they left the Gatehouse.

Maybe he was finally accepting that the doom and gloom wasn’t working on Nathan.

Unless there was some actual solutions in what Walter had to say, Nathan didn’t want to hear it. But he also hated the silent treatment.

“You want reassurance,” Walter said, looking to Nathan with a sad smile, as if he had read Nathan’s thoughts.

Sometimes Nathan wondered if Walter could read his thoughts, as easily as Sasha read emotions.

“I have been able to surmise from conversation that you revealed to Jim what has been happening to him with the amber eyes. That is good. I sense a certain calm and confidence in him now that I had not before. It’s a strength that dulls the pulse of dark power I had been fearing, and I can admit to you, Nathan…

it gives me hope. Perhaps you can save your brother as he strives to save you.

All I ask is that you be cautious. Never let your guard down.

Wade’s reading told you that Sasha was the key to your salvation, not Jim’s. Please keep that in mind.”

Nathan felt a wave of relief at Walter’s words, much as there was still warning in them. And for once he didn’t feel like keeping the conversation to himself. He smiled at Walter, nodded assuredly, then turned to his companions in the front.

“Hey, guys, Walter says we’ve got a good thing going. Might just pull this off after all. Let’s keep it up.” He patted Jim’s shoulder then settled back into his seat again.

After pulling over for the night and getting a couple of rooms at their newest motel, they grabbed a booth at a simple bar and restaurant nearby.

Nathan really needed a drink, though he knew it wouldn't mix well with his medications if their night with four bottles of wine had taught him anything, so he ordered a soda instead.

His chest still ached, and probably would for a few more weeks, but at least the wound on his leg had healed over again.

An hour or so passed uneventfully, and they had all pretty well cleaned their plates and were ready to leave, when Nathan reached into his jacket for his wallet to pay and noticed the scanner in his inside pocket flashing.

Sasha had helped him tweak it before they left the Gatehouse, adding an additional rune so that the device wouldn’t pick up Sasha.

“If you really want this to be useful, you don’t want it picking up me,” Sasha had said. “You’re almost always around me. It’ll be blinking the whole time. I’d prefer you were safe from any others of my kind instead.”

As those words replayed in Nathan’s mind, he closed his jacket and looked across the table at the incubus. Sasha's face had gone pale. Jim, next to Nathan, looked like he was sensing something too.

“Is that what I think it is?” Nathan asked.

It was easy to see the large lump that had formed in Sasha’s throat. When he spoke, his voice shook. “I can sense another incubus in the restaurant.”

At first, Nathan felt himself itching for the small blade he carried on his ankle, but then he came back to his senses. “But…your kind are usually good guys, right?”

Sasha shrugged, still looking concerned. Then Nathan realized why. Sasha wasn’t exactly on friendly terms with any of his kind. Only his aunt. All the others thought of him as an outcast. He was an outcast. He was a seal. And he had been banished for it.

It was too late to say anything to soothe Sasha, because his blue eyes lifted, wide and unreadable to land on someone coming from behind Nathan and Jim’s backs.

Nathan followed Sasha’s frightened gaze and saw what appeared to be a beautiful young woman with ginger hair and eyes like a thunderstorm.

A succubus , which surprised Nathan, since Sasha had said he sensed a male.

Then Nathan was surprised again.

“Sasha?” she said with perfect recognition, coming to a stop beside their table.

Stumbling upon a random succubus was one thing, but one with silvery doe eyes who knew Sasha personally was totally different.

Sasha hadn’t ever mentioned any exes—well, anyone he had been with for longer than a night—but that didn’t mean he didn’t have any.

It made Nathan scowl to think that might be what she was.