Page 46 of Changeling (The Incubus Saga #2)

“Okay, so this is what we got so far, right?” Nathan said, staring over Sasha’s shoulder at his laptop screen while Jim sat next to them looking at their notes on paper.

They had settled in at their newest motel but weren’t wasting any time.

“Winchester Thurston Prep School has had six deaths in the past month. They only got about fifteen-hundred students, so that’s crazy no matter how you look at it.

Four were students and two teachers, all having something to do with this show they’re working on. ”

“Their Spring Musical, Aida ,” Sasha said. “Good show. It’s a modern retelling of the opera. Set in Egypt, with a Romeo and Juliet story, and great music. Elton John and Tim Rice.”

Nathan stared at Sasha skeptically. “And why do you know all that?”

“Oh shut up,” Sasha said without losing a step, “I’ve heard you humming Singing in the Rain more than once so don’t even try to play innocent with me.

To continue ,” he said with a crooked grin, “both teachers were helping on the play, the lead pianist for the pit orchestra and one of the costume people, and all of the students were somehow involved, whether chorus or just stagehands. Any number of malevolent trickster fae could be at work, but the tie to the musical makes me wonder if it’s a siren. ”

Jim sifted through their notes. “Possible. Not all of the deaths happened near the auditorium but they did all happen in the same campus. No deaths reported in the buildings for the younger kids and middle school. And the types of death are all different. One teacher fell from the catwalk, the other was found at the bottom of a staircase. And the kids…inhaled paint fumes, slipped on a wet floor in the hallways, impaled on a…urg. Power drill,” he read off the notes.

“And the last one?” Nathan asked.

“Most recent,” Jim went on, “Cynthia Hedin. Senior. Stage Manager. Found with seven industrial staples in her jugular. Bled out. Man .” Jim looked up. “I can’t believe these people keep passing this stuff off as accidents.”

“Well, they do all look like accidents,” Sasha shrugged. “And you know how people always see what they want to see.”

“Sounds like asking faculty and students is gonna be our best bet for finding out more,” Nathan said. “Still wanna hit the school tonight?”

“Definitely,” Jim insisted. “If the dark fae we’re after is living in the auditorium or other buildings, even if we don’t find it tonight, I might be able to sense something.”

“You can’t sense anything now?” Sasha asked.

“I don’t…think so. Not the way I could when I was…the other night. I’m not really sure how to tap into it for long distance. At least not… safely . Not yet.”

Nathan patted Jim on the shoulder. “Don’t sweat it. We’ll find something.”

“We’re going to have to be careful though. I’m sure a place like this has security, not just a janitor mulling around,” Sasha added. “And the last thing we need is police attention.”

They waited a few more hours before heading out, taking along as many weapons as they believed they could easily hide.

Since they had taken a Veil Doorway the last leg of the journey into Pittsburg—they used the one into Wade’s waiting room, only to find her suspiciously absent and therefore left without getting the chance to talk to her—they had quickly borrowed a new vehicle for getting around town.

After parking a few blocks down from Winchester Thurston’s high school, they made their way stealthily through the mostly residential areas until finally reaching the building with the auditorium.

They figured it was the best place to start considering their theories about the school play.

The building was pretty impressive once they managed to stay out of sight from the one security guard watching the grounds.

They expected there to be at least one more guard inside the buildings, but assumed he only made checks each hour.

Actually breaching the building’s automated security was a joke.

After Nathan picked the lock to the auditorium’s building, the alarm system kicked in silently, allowing him thirty seconds to punch in a security code in the pad beside the door.

He typed in ‘WTPS’, the school’s initials, and groaned at human idiocy for that being the correct answer.

He’d been prepared with several ways to override the system, but that was just sad.

“Seriously, could people be more predictable?” he grumbled at Jim and Sasha.

“Come on,” Jim said, pointing his flashlight down the hallway that led from the door. “Let’s get a look around. If we run into anything, we’ll have to deal with it, so let’s stick together.”

Sasha pulled his gun, Nathan pulled out the pheromone detector—they didn’t know for certain what they were dealing with yet, after all—and Jim led the way with his flashlight, apparently trying to see if he sensed anything now that they were inside the building.

Judging by the way his lips were pursed, Nathan assumed he didn’t.

“So what’s this musical about?” Nathan whispered to Sasha. Jim was a little ways ahead of them as they made their way in and out of a few classrooms.

A grin spread across Sasha’s face, though he tried to keep his eyes facing forward.

“I told you, Romeo and Juliet, only it’s an African princess who’s taken as a slave for the Pharaoh, and she falls in love with the man in line to marry the Pharaoh’s daughter.

They risk everything to prove their love is worth any sacrifice even if some people think it’s…

wrong.” Blue eyes glanced over just long enough to flash down Nathan’s body beside him.

Nathan smirked. “And it’s a musical?”

“ Oh yeah.”

“So…schools actually put on that stuff?”

Sasha stopped just outside the most recent room they had scanned. “You’re kidding. Of course there are musicals and plays. Drama club? Theater programs? Even I had theater in school.”

Nathan turned to face Sasha with a slight gape. “Were you in any of ‘em?”

“Uhh…” There was definitely a new shade of pink that flushed to Sasha’s cheeks.

“Nathan! Sasha!” interrupted Jim’s fierce whisper from down the hall.

“What is it, Jim?” Nathan started down the hallway after his brother. “Sense something? See something?”

Jim shook his head, but his eyes were wide as he turned halfway to Nathan with his other half still pointing down the hall, like he was listening very carefully.

“I think I hear something. Sasha?” He looked at the incubus for confirmation since Sasha did have slightly more attuned hearing than the average human.

They all stood very still to listen. Nathan couldn’t hear anything, but the look on Sasha’s face said that he most definitely did. “The main auditorium is down that way through the double doors. Think it’s coming from there?” he asked Jim.

Jim seemed to want to shrug, like he wasn’t entirely sure, but he just stood still. “I…I sense… something . But I’m not sure what yet. It’s kind of…familiar, but it’s almost as if there’s interference. Maybe we should have made more of an effort to see Wade before we did this.”

Nathan rolled his eyes. “She probably already knows we’re here, and would have called us if she could offer any help.

We can check with her later. Now, come on, let’s get a move on and take a look.

” He walked past Sasha and Jim in the direction of the double doors.

“Guns at the ready might be a good idea,” he said over his shoulder, reaching down to pull out his ankle blade while still holding the scanner in his free hand.

“Nathan, wait,” Jim said firmly, holding up a hand as if he was still trying to get a handle on what he was sensing. He was still back by the classroom door.

Sasha was a few feet behind Jim, but suddenly the incubus’ eyes went unnaturally wide.

“Nathan!” he yelled, but Nathan didn’t get the chance to react to the warning.

He was already on his back, having been rammed into the hallway wall by something very strong and moving very fast that had just bolted out of one of the classroom doors.

Whatever it was continued like a blur straight for the auditorium.

Nathan didn’t get a good look at it, but he was on his feet a second later, ready to chase it down.

“Sonuvabitch!” he cried, sore from his sudden striking against the wall and equally hard landing on the floor.

He was already through the double doors to follow after the creature when he heard Sasha yell.

“Nathan, wait!”

Like hell . If this thing wanted to hit and run then Nathan would give it one hell of a chase in return.

The auditorium was large and very dark, but a big space like that always had emergency lights and this place was no exception.

Nathan could see dimly the shape of something moving quickly for the stage.

There wasn’t much of a set yet, being over a month before the production would open, which gave Nathan plenty of room and a clear line of sight.

He raced after the small shadowy figure on the stage.

Nathan lost sight of it about the time he reached the ramp that led onto stage from the side.

The stage itself was filled with shadows that played tricks with Nathan’s eyes.

Distantly, he could hear the sounds of Jim and Sasha join him in the auditorium and their voices calling after him.

He wanted to call back to them, but he also wanted to get the jump on this thing if at all possible.

A scurry off to Nathan’s left, back in one of the far corners, caught his attention.

The figure was fast, but Nathan still saw it coming when it swooped down after him.

He raised his knife and finally, at the last second before the creature plowed into him and knocked him off the edge of the stage, he saw that the scanner was flashing.

Nathan hoped the fall would be a quick drop to the floor, but the pit for the orchestra was an open gaping chasm where he had gone over the edge, and it had a much deeper drop.

He hit the ground with a great gasp of breath as the wind was knocked out of his lungs and his wounded shoulder screamed in protest. The creature was still on top of him, but had at least managed to land without all of its weight on Nathan’s chest.

“Get off!” Nathan growled against the thing’s neck as he pushed at it.

“You’re not killing any more kids, and you’re sure as hell not killing me!

” He pushed again and was surprised this time at how easily the creature moved.

It grabbed onto the edges of his jacket and lifted him effortlessly from the floor to push him back against the wall of the pit.

Nathan’s head was spinning from the fall. He couldn’t focus.

“I didn’t kill anyone ,” came a gruff, out of breath male voice. “I was trying to find the thing myself. It wasn’t me.”

Nathan’s first instincts were to say ‘yeah right, likely story’ but then he couldn’t deny that this guy was stronger than him and definitely had the upper hand. So why was he defending himself instead of just ripping Nathan apart?

“It wasn’t me,” the creature said again, his grip loosening on Nathan’s jacket. “I wouldn’t hurt anyone. We don’t hurt people.”

We? Nathan strained to focus his eyes and get a better look at this guy.

As it turned out, even with Nathan pressed back against the wall, the creature wasn’t any taller than him but actually stood about eye level.

Nathan was much more interested, however, in the horns, fangs, claws, red eyes, and wings .

The guy’s white skin didn’t fade to black but to a deep brown. Still, he was definitely an incubus.

Which would explain the flashing scanner.

And why Sasha had tried to stop Nathan.

Damn it.

“My bad. Seriously. Guess I just jumped the gun,” Nathan said, relaxing within the guy’s hold now that he knew what he was dealing with. “Mind letting me away from the wall here. My head’s still spinning from that fall.”

The incubus seemed thoroughly surprised that he was being believed so easily. “You…know what I am?”

“Uh…yeah,” Nathan said, as if that should be obvious.

“And if you paid a little more attention, pal, you’d probably notice the pheromones on me .

” He shook his head a little and righted his jacket when the incubus released him, favoring his shoulder as best he could.

This gave Nathan the opportunity to really look at the guy, who had fairly short brown hair to go with his deep brown wings, claws, and markings.

“Huh, didn’t know you guys had different color schemes. ”

The bronze incubus stared at Nathan hard then surprised him entirely by offering a somewhat breathy exclamation of, “Are you… Nathan ?”

Nathan gaped. It couldn’t be that widespread that Nathan Grier was getting it on with an incubus, could it?

But Nathan’s slightly open mouth dropped even lower as he stared at the incubus before him.

Those brown wings faded away along with everything else as he transformed back into a recognizably human form.

As a human the guy was a few inches shorter than Nathan, wore jeans, a T-shirt, and one of those sporty zip-up jackets, and had brown eyes with a tinge of gold to them.

Nathan instantly remembered those eyes and the incubus they came with, even if this version was about a decade older than the one Nathan had seen before.

“Holy shit,” Nathan breathed, “ Cam ?”