Page 35 of Changeling (The Incubus Saga #2)

A dark fae—and thankfully not Ula. The knife wasn’t quite centered through her heart, but close enough that she was weakened and unable to move.

Nathan took in her blonde hair, pale skin, white eyes, and willowy figure.

A Sylph. There had even been a small gust of air when Sasha set her on the floor, but she didn’t have enough of her powers about her to hurl a blizzard or tornado their way—not with the knife so embedded.

The slit eyes marked her as dark fae, so Nathan tried to be thankful of that; but no, that seemed wrong, too, because hadn’t they proven again and again that light or dark didn’t matter?

Sasha stepped back, leaving the fae to Jim, who studied her a moment before suddenly grabbing her by the throat, lifting her effortlessly from the floor, and slamming her hard up against the wall.

With Jim preoccupied, Nathan got up from the bed and moved toward Sasha, praying he wouldn’t come up against another wall of TK. He reached the incubus just as the mojo left Sasha and bright blue eyes blinked from being blank to blessedly coherent.

“Nathan…?” Sasha said, sounding understandably confused as Nathan came to stand in front of him. “What…?” Sasha’s eyes darted just enough to the side to take in the sight of Jim holding the dark fae up against the wall. He paled. “Is that…my knife?”

Nathan was thankful he didn’t have to explain right then because they were distracted by the one-sided conversation going on behind them. Jim wasn’t talking but the dark fae sure seemed to be hearing something and she did not like what was being said.

“No!” she nearly shrieked, making Nathan glad they didn’t really have any neighbors since so few people were staying at the motel. “Stay away! Leave me be!”

The knife was still in her chest, making it impossible for her to struggle against Jim. Nathan had never seen a dark fae look so scared of another being. Not since the Dryads.

“I don’t know!” she yelled, barely able to shake her head. “I swear I don’t know! I’m on the run. Not even my own kind will take me in. I know nothing of this bounty. I’d be killed if I tried to summon the one you speak of after being banished.”

There was silence again as Jim apparently said, thought, whatever , something else.

“Others…? P-Pittsburg. I know…I felt the presence of another there, dark for certain, and very powerful. Whoever is there can summon the contract holder, I promise you.” She paused a moment again.

“I…I don’t know where, or who, or what specifically, only a presence. I can’t help with more than that.”

As another brief silence filled the room, the dark fae’s eyes went wide with terror.

“No! Please!” she begged. “They’ll kill me!

There’s no point! Even if they fall for your trap, you have no hope of defeating them…

not them .” For a moment her voice went soft again, and Nathan thought maybe she was trying to be understanding rather than hurtful when she said, “Nothing can save your brother now.”

A sound escaped Jim like a feral growl, like the way Sasha sounded when he was frenzied, and suddenly the Sylph imploded into a cloud of dust with a shriek that echoed and then quickly faded as soon as it sounded.

It was as if Jim had turned her into vapor, into the element of air she represented, and then she was nothing, leaving only the knife that clattered to the floor amidst a few blue, sparkling specks.

As the dust settled and Nathan stared in awe at the aftermath, Jim turned to look at Sasha.

“No!” Nathan cried, stepping in front of Sasha to block him from Jim’s gaze. “You’re not making him do anything else. God, Jim…what did you do to that girl?”

Sasha’s voice came unexpected and quiet from behind Nathan. “Don’t you get it?”

Whipping around to face the redhead, Nathan found Sasha’s expression calmer now, staring haunted but determined at Jim and where the Sylph girl had been. After a moment, he met Nathan’s gaze.

“He’s trying to save you, Nathan. When he’s like this, when he gives in and lets his powers overtake him, they…

amplify, and he can sense where nearby fae are.

He knew that Sylph was close, and just how vile she was.

She was shunned even by other dark fae, because she was a murderer and killed her own kind.

Do you really want to mourn her when Jim only did this to help you? ”

Nathan gaped openly. “How…how do you know all that?”

“Because. He just told me.” Sasha’s eyes turned to look at Jim again, and Nathan’s gaze followed.

Jim waited patiently, the fury that had been on his face when he killed the Sylph having melted away. He didn’t look sinister. Not really. Not like in Nathan’s dreams. But his power, his anger when he didn’t get what he wanted, was terrifying.

“It’s still Jim, Nathan,” Sasha said. “He’s just split in two—human and changeling; asleep and…Awakened. The human Jim’s been fighting so hard to keep from Awakening fully, but he has to give in. It’s the only way he’ll be able to control it.”

Jim took a few steps toward them, apparently done being patient.

Again, Nathan blocked Sasha, holding his arms outstretched. “ No .”

“It’s okay,” Sasha said softly. The incubus stepped up close behind Nathan and placed a hand on his good shoulder.

“She gave us a lead. Pittsburg. There’s a dark fae there for sure, we just don’t know the specifics.

We can check in with your friend Wade, the psychic, and finally end this. He just wants me to scout ahead.”

“No,” Nathan said again, staring at Jim instead of Sasha as he spoke to make it perfectly clear he meant his words for both of them. “He doesn’t get to use you like that. He doesn’t get to treat you like some god damn demon soldier.”

Jim’s amber gaze was hard as it stared back at Nathan, but Nathan was not about to waver.

“Nathan,” Sasha said, almost patronizing, as he stepped around the wall Nathan had made of his body, “I am a demon. Isn’t dark fae close enough?

I’m half, at least. Jim’s close to one too, as a changeling.

But that doesn’t have to mean evil. Haven’t you said that yourself?

Haven’t you wished that for Jim? Haven’t we proven it enough with Ula now, too?

And tonight, what did Jim really do that was so terrible? He’s just trying to save you.”

That phrase clanged like a gong in Nathan’s head.

“No matter which version he is, Jim’s trying to save you. He can use me for that.”

Nathan’s arms dropped back to his sides as Sasha walked past him, but he reached to grab the redhead’s shoulder before he could get too close to Jim. “No. This is wrong. This has to be wrong.”

It pained Nathan how full of compassionate resolve Sasha was when he looked back at him. “I want to do this, Nathan. It’ll be okay.”

But Nathan knew that was a lie and neither of them wanted to see it.

Like before, as Sasha turned to Jim, his eyes went dead blank, just a mindless puppet for Jim to control.

Nathan had to do something. He couldn’t think in terms of logic, whether or not Sasha was right, or that somehow things would be okay in the end if Jim just let himself reach True Awakening.

He was too angry. At Jim, at those damn amber eyes, at Sasha for willingly going along with it all, at the bounty looming overhead, and everything else too.

Before any new message or order could be sent, Nathan looked hard at his brother and charged, no thinking, just a mad rush at Jim until Nathan slammed him back against the doorframe of the bathroom.