Page 40 of Changeling (The Incubus Saga #2)

Sasha returned to their booth with a round of beers. Jim had fired up Sasha’s laptop, and he and Nathan were deep in a discussion over locations in Pittsburg to search for dark fae—a local private school being their top lead. To Nathan’s chagrin, it seemed a trip to Wade’s was inevitable.

While they were checking out a few other possible leads, Nathan checked out the patrons. It was a seedier bar than they usually ended up at, but there hadn’t been many other options in the small New York town.

Sasha placed a hand on Nathan’s shoulder, resting his hip against Nathan’s and leaning over him to see the laptop.

Nathan didn’t really pay that much attention since he’d grown so used to Sasha’s casual touches.

Jim, however, glanced up and frowned. He caught Nathan’s eye, flicked his gaze to Sasha with a raised eyebrow, and motioned toward the rough crowd at the pool tables.

It only took a moment for the penny to drop for Nathan. That kind of intimacy in this kind of bar was at the very least stupid if not downright dangerous. He quickly shrugged Sasha off, regretting that it was a bit rough.

“Personal space, dude!” Nathan ground out.

Sasha looked hurt and opened his mouth to say something but stopped at the look on Nathan’s face. It was only there for a moment—just long enough to ensure that Sasha saw it—but definitely an apology.

“Not here,” Nathan whispered. “So, see anything that strikes your fancy?” He raised his voice to ensure being overheard and turned to check out the women standing around the bar.

Sasha knew to play along. “Slim pickings, but I might be able to find a little something to occupy myself. How about you?” He glanced toward the pool tables. They were short on cash again, and Sasha knew that Nathan and Jim often restocked their wallets that way.

“Might be worth my while,” Nathan said, honestly interested in taking up the offer. “You okay here, Jim?”

“Yeah, you guys go ahead. I’m just going to do a bit more work so we have a few options before we leave tomorrow.”

Sasha moved to the bar, while Nathan seamlessly insinuated himself at one of the pool tables and was soon in the process of losing his first game. The group at the tables was a rough crowd, but not any worse than the types Nathan had been hustling since he was a teenager.

Glancing at the bar after his most recent turn—in which he miscued spectacularly—Nathan couldn’t help noticing that the incubus had the cream of the crop when it came to the bar’s women, even if it was more like non-dairy substitute.

The small group was laughing and flirting easily.

Nathan smiled at how effortlessly the incubus captivated them.

He also quickly scanned the rest of the patrons to make sure none of them were pissed off boyfriends.

No one seemed to be giving the group much attention.

An hour later, Nathan was still working his hustle.

He couldn’t appear to have improved miraculously, so slow and steady was the way to go.

In a college town or someplace more downhome friendly, he could have counted on a couple of guys being too cocky or too drunk to notice the hustle, and who could probably afford to part with a larger sum more amicably.

The crowd in this bar would be quicker to recognize what was going on if he was too obvious, and would be a lot more pissed off about it.

After making a tricky shot, Nathan noticed Jim wandering up to the pool table. “We’re going to head back to the motel,” Jim said.

“‘K. I’ll see you guys later.” Nathan was too in the zone to leave now and at least had to finish one more round.

He concentrated on his next shot but raised his gaze long enough to watch Sasha move gracefully out the door after Jim.

He also noticed a number of female eyes follow the incubus as he left.

Some of them, he noted, were just a bit disgruntled looking.

He snorted softly to himself and turned back to the game.

The men Nathan was playing with cast interested eyes after Sasha and Jim’s retreating forms. They had seen the redhead chatting up the local beauties and now seemed to be taking note that Sasha was leaving alone.

Pete, the ring leader of the bunch and Nathan’s current opponent, had started to give away his irritation at Nathan’s skill with a cue, and looked even more displeased.

Pete missed his next shot and moved to the side with a deep scowl to wait for another opening.

Nathan saw one of the local women sidle up to him.

She was one of the ones Sasha had been with.

The girl’s name seemed to be Candy. Nathan smirked at that.

He’d have to tease Sasha mercilessly about it tomorrow.

Candy was busy leaning all over Pete now and whispering in his ear. He seemed to be getting a bit agitated at whatever it was she was saying.

A few minutes later, Nathan figured it was safe to sink the last ball of the current game and follow after the others. He’d come out at about $150 for the night. Not a great amount but at least enough to pay for their room and breakfast, plus enough gas to get to the next Veil doorway.

By this time a bit of a crowd had gathered. Pete was the local champ, apparently, and there he was being beaten. Pete did not look happy when Nathan sank the last ball.

“I guess that’s the game,” Nathan said neutrally.

“I guess it is.” Pete’s voice was flat.

“Well thanks for the fun, guys.” Nathan moved to replace his pool cue.

“Don’t figure we’re done yet,” Pete growled out.

“Hn. Okay. I guess I’ve got time for one more.” Nathan tried hard not to sigh. He knew where this was going. If he wasn’t careful, things could get ugly. He couldn’t afford to lose the next game, but he’d have to, to appease the locals.

“Joe! Why don’t you get our new buddy here a beer?” Pete directed.

“Ah…I’m okay, actually,” Nathan broke in, trying to stop Joe from heading for the bar.

“No really, I insist,” Pete said.

Joe, another of the local men at the pool tables, and another of the ones Nathan had beaten, nodded. Nathan was perfectly aware that there was an unspoken understanding between the two men.

After racking up the balls for them, Joe headed for the bar.

Pete and Nathan had laid their bets on the edge of the table.

Pete broke and started to sink a few balls.

Nathan leaned back on the wall to wait for him to miss a shot, which he would before too long since it was pretty obvious Pete wasn’t the local champ because of his skill.

Joe returned with beers for all three of them. Handing one to Nathan, he set Pete’s down on the edge of the pool table. Joe came to stand beside Nathan and clinked their bottles together.

“Bottoms up.” Joe tilted his beer back and took a long chug.

“Nathan,” Walter’s voice chimed urgently through the din of the bar.

Nathan was used to his Spirit Guide’s sudden arrivals, especially now that he could only appear when Jim was a good distance away, so he did his best not to react outwardly when Walter said, “You cannot drink that, Nathan. They mean to drug you.”

Shit . Nathan had been afraid of something like that. He tried to cast Walter a glance that said he knew what he was doing before he tilted the bottle back and took the smallest drink he felt he could get away with. Unfortunately, Joe had other ideas and was watching him like a hawk.

“We not good enough for you to drink with?” Joe’s voice was suddenly a bit less friendly.

Nathan smiled, clinked his bottle with Joe’s again, and tipped the beer back. Joe grinned and returned his attention to the pool table.

“Nathan…you're still weak from Sasha feeding earlier.”

Nathan cleared his throat and hissed out an, “I know,” to Walter, but he didn’t have any way around playing along. He just had to be careful and hope he could still get out of there in one piece.

It wasn’t long before Pete missed a shot and it was Nathan’s turn. He went to set his beer down beside Pete’s, but before he could, Pete clinked bottles with him and forced Nathan to chug back another good bit of his beer.

After sinking three shots, Nathan stood back up and suddenly felt dizzy. He could feel sweat trickling down his face and back. He shook it off and leaned in for the next shot. He made that one but missed the next.

Pete moved back to the table, picking up his beer and taking another long drink.

He looked at Nathan, obviously waiting for him to do likewise.

Nathan did, but he was grateful for the wall to lean against. He knew he was going to lose by more than he’d intended, but he should still come away with enough money to be worth it.

Walter remained visible nearby, watching the game with a furrowed blond brow.

He repeatedly made comments about the intentions these men had, that Nathan needed to be careful, that he was in danger, but Nathan had no intention of running for it.

He’d stood up against more fae than he could count now, including one immortal asshole—much as that hadn’t always worked out in his favor.

But still; he could handle a couple humans.

Pete sank a few more balls before missing again. Nathan pushed up off the wall and took an unsteady step before regaining his balance. The game was almost finished though. He just hoped that whatever they’d spiked his drink with would hold off long enough for him to get out of there.

The crowd around the table had thinned out as it was getting late. Candy was hanging off of Joe now. Joe might not have been her first choice that night, but it was obvious she had no intention of going home alone.