Page 50 of Changeling (The Incubus Saga #2)

“Go ahead, kid,” Nathan said as he, Sasha, and Leven gathered around a few of the expensive looking teal seats in a corner of the auditorium.

It amused Nathan that they were the exact wrong shade of blue-green to match Leven’s hair.

“Cam said you’ve been pretty helpful. Wanna fill us in on what you know? ”

“Well…the third death, Kat Loring? I was with Amy when she found her,” Leven said.

“Was this Amy there when any of the other bodies were found?” Nathan asked.

“I’m pretty sure not,” Leven said with an awkward, unsure smile. “Seeing as how I’m talking about Amy Harrington . She died three days after Kat. Kind of takes her off the wanted list, I’m thinking.”

Nathan tried not to show any frustration on his face. “Okay, so whatever got the jump on these people made pretty scarce right after,” he reiterated toward Sasha, like passing mental notes to go over later.

Sasha nodded then turned to Leven. “Did you notice anything peculiar about the scene or the body when you found it? Marks? Symbols? Anything out of the ordinary? You know, the kind of things the police might have snubbed their noses at?”

“The weird thing wasn’t the body,” Leven said, which made Nathan and Sasha both lean in a little closer.

Leven hushed his voice, even though the only other people in the auditorium were on the stage several yards away.

“See, I started thinking back on it, and people have been acting really…strange around the show. At first I thought, well, sure, people keep dying . But the thing is the people who have been acting the strangest are the ones who end up dead next.”

Nathan cast a quick glance at Sasha.

“And when you say ‘strange’…?” Sasha prompted.

“Just kinda…off, ya know? And right before they each died, I noticed they were all really scared about something, like maybe they knew. Do you think it could be something that feeds on fear? Or maybe a ghost that gives the whole ‘Seven days’,” Leven said in a deep, meant-to-be-creepy voice, “like a warning or something? And that’s why they were freaked?

” He searched both Nathan and Sasha’s faces for confirmation.

“Well, I’m pretty sure it’s no ghost,” Nathan said, “but you might have set us on the right track. Anything else?”

Leven shook his head. The dark brown of his eyes made a stark contrast to his hair when they widened.

“Don’t mind me if I’m a little hysterical on occasion what with all the ‘people in the musical keep dying from some supernatural thing and I’m the lead in the show so that probably makes me a huge target’.

Heh. I’ll just stay really close to you two.

Okay?” Much as Leven seemed to intend for that to be one of his flirts it came off a little more desperate.

Nathan gave the kid’s leg a firm pat. “Yeah, about that…would you mind making scarce for a bit? We need to talk some of this stuff over, and it’s not that we don’t trust you but…you’ll probably be happier if you don’t overhear the details.”

A shade of panic overtook Leven’s blush when Nathan first said for him to go away, but he soon nodded.

“Sure. But I’ll be right over in that corner by the piano.

Gotta get ready for practice tonight anyway.

I’m totally messing up one of my songs and Mrs. Larson is gonna kill me if I don’t get it right.

Let me know when I can come over and bug you guys again, okay?

” Then with a flash of white teeth, Leven was up and heading off to the other side of the auditorium.

Nathan blinked after the kid for a few moments then turned back to Sasha. “So…got anything else to share?”

“Mostly useless tall tales, like we figured, but we better go over all of it before we settle on anything. What about Walter?”

At his name, Walter materialized in the chair next to Sasha.

“I seem to be having the same dilemma as your brother, Nathan. Whatever is here is surely sidhe, but its presence is dulled, enough that I might not be banished even if I was standing beside it. Young Leven is on to something, I believe. He is a good boy. I am sure he can help you.”

Nathan nodded. “Nothing more than what we already know, but it seems like we’re looking in the right direction.”

“Well, from what I’ve heard so far, the auditorium may be newer, but it still carries the usual stories,” Sasha said.

“Catwalk’s haunted. Dance director’s a witch.

Cursed props,” he read off the notepad he pulled from his pocket.

“I mean, it gets pretty ridiculous. Leven’s lead is probably the real one, but I don’t know of any dark fae that feeds on fear that could also keep Jim from sensing it.

Oh,” Sasha laughed as if he had just remembered something, and gestured back to his notebook, “you have to read more of this. There was this one kid, convinced the football coach is behind everything because of…”

But Nathan didn’t hear whatever Sasha said next. He was distracted by the sudden eruption of voice from Leven’s corner of the auditorium. It was accompanied by choppy piano, but the singing carried over loud and clear.

Leven didn’t need good accompaniment. His voice filled the whole of the auditorium. Nathan hadn’t even noticed the singing at first but Leven had reached some great climax with that part of the song and it was awesome .

Sasha had a beautiful voice, perfect for a lot of different styles, especially Old Blue Eyes.

But Leven had pipes . The musical fan inside of Nathan—the one that rarely admitted its existence—fluttered somewhere low at the back of his spine.

One thing Nathan never denied was that he loved good music, especially when that included a talented singer.

“Wow, he’s pretty good,” Sasha nodded. “Nate?” he said more playfully, poking Nathan in the side. It had the desired effect of making Nathan squirm. “Oh, I see that far away, dreaming of Gene Kelly look, you closet show-tunes freak . You can’t fool me.”

“Shut up,” Nathan shot back after having been so rudely ripped from his reverie.

“There’s no shame in show-tunes. It takes a real man to sing and dance like that in front of so many people.

Insulting Gene Kelly would be like telling Batman he’s a sissy for wearing tights.

Now come on .” Nathan stood and smacked Sasha in the shoulder.

“Let’s have Leven show us those death sites. ”

Sasha nodded, his laughter fading, and followed Nathan over in the direction of Leven and the piano. There was a girl with him now, and he had stopped singing.

The girl, who had to be one of those freshman ‘kind of’ friends, looked rather distraught. Leven seemed to be trying to cheer her up.

“Come on, Andy, be my Aida,” Leven said as Nathan and Sasha approached. “That part’s always better as a duet.”

‘Andy’, which Nathan guessed was probably an Andrea, shook her head. She was tall and fairly full-figured. Cute, in a too-young-to-even-go-there kind of way. She looked like she wanted to be anywhere but where she was, but it didn’t seem to be because of Leven.

“Not now, Lev. Okay? I’m just trying to find Lars so I can tell her I’m going home. I don’t…think I’m gonna be at practice tonight. Sorry.” She started backing away like the piano had to be possessed or something, and ended up backing right into Nathan. She choked back a screech.

“Careful there,” Nathan said. He tried to sound soothing when he went to grab her shoulders, but she shrugged away from him and immediately backed off further.

“I…I have to go,” she stammered, and then the girl was racing for the double doors.

Nathan shrugged after she had gone and looked to Sasha. “Am I that repulsive? Be honest.”

Sasha just laughed.

Leven was the one who gestured after Andy, looking frustrated and concerned. “Andy’s been pretty freaked ever since Miss Hammil.”

Nathan remembered that Miss Hammil, one of the teachers who helped with costuming, had been the first victim.

“More deaths means more freakage. For everyone,” Leven said. “Andy even snapped at me the other day and she’s usually Little Miss Sunshine. It’s really starting to get to everyone.”

Which was probably exactly what the creature wanted, whatever it was. It made Nathan worry for Andy too. Anyone could be a potential victim.

Thankfully, Leven was more than willing to show Sasha and Nathan the places where all of the victims had died.

After about an hour, Leven had to return to class.

He went reluctantly, promising to see them again later when they met up with the others.

The plan was to meet Wade at her night job as soon as Jim and Cam joined them in the parking lot after school.

Finally, at 3:40pm on the nose, Nathan was roused from near-dozing as the bell—more like an electronic beeping noise—sounded to let the students know they were free for the day.

He and Sasha had managed to accomplish quite a bit, including a list of everyone who had stumbled upon bodies and the general state of everyone who died before they were found.

Leven had been right—they were all terrified, like marked victims. They had several different things to go over when they finally met Jim in the parking lot.

“I’m gettin’ antsy,” Nathan admitted. “Something about this one’s gettin’ to me. Where’s Cam at?” He looked at his watch. It had been almost ten minutes since their scheduled meeting time.

“Maybe he’s waiting inside. I can’t remember if we specified or not. I’ll run check quick,” Sasha offered. “You two stay here in case he shows.” He ran off towards the buildings again, leaving Jim and Nathan alone.

“So, be honest,” Nathan grinned at his brother with a good buck in the shoulder.

They were both leaning back against the side of their car.

“You were bored stiff being on police report duty all alone in that hotel room. Either that or how you kept yourself entertained is so not something I need to hear about.”