Page 52 of Changeling (The Incubus Saga #2)

Cam led Nathan, Sasha, and Jim into the main area of the club. Nathan hadn’t caught the name of the place—they hadn’t even known Wade had a night job before now, though psychic readings wasn’t always enough to pay the bills—but there were only a handful of people inside, mostly at the bar.

Cam hurried them through the club clear to the other side and to another door. There was a short hallway, another door, and then finally they were inside an employee lounge where Wade sat waiting with a bag of food on the table in front of her.

She smiled, her lips painted purple to match the streak in her dark hair.

Nathan imagined that Leven’s teal hair was probably just as dark normally, and the siblings had the same large brown eyes and exotic look to their features.

Now that Nathan had met Leven, he could see their resemblance despite their varied statures, with Wade shorter and sporting tempting curves, while Leven was tall and willowy.

She was wearing black leather pants and a Slayer tank top with several pieces of silver jewelry.

Her makeup was rocker chick chic to match, with dark smoky eye makeup.

“Hello, boys. I took the liberty of picking up dinner for everyone,” she said, pushing the bag of food toward them. “You’re welcome.”

Nathan would have commented on how she knew what to order, but then of course she knew .

She always knew. “The standard smug expression is a little less smug today, Wade. They stop carrying your favorite eyeliner?” Nathan commented as he walked right up to the bag of food and dug inside for what was his.

Each sandwich had one of their names written on it.

He frowned when he looked up and saw that Wade’s expression had turned blank.

“I’m more concerned with you yahoos keeping my little brother kicking long enough to finish his senior musical than I am about reminding you of what an asshat you can be, Nathan .

I don’t like how little I can read about what’s been happening.

Nice to finally meet you in person, by the way,” she turned her attention on Sasha with a warmer smile.

Sasha gratefully accepted the sandwich Nathan handed him, then shook Wade’s hand with a returned smile before sitting down. “Same to you. Seems I owe you a lot actually. I might not have met these two if it weren’t for your premonition.”

“I’ll take what you owe me in the form of keeping Evelyn safe. Manage that and we can call it even,” Wade said, smirking more like her usual self, but still with a sense of seriousness.

Before Cam claimed his sandwich, he slipped behind Wade’s chair and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, kissing her temple with a tender sort of intimacy.

Wade leaned back against him and sighed.

Nathan wasn’t used to this side of the psychic, and decided to keep his mouth shut for once.

Sasha looked fairly surprised by the interaction as well.

“We’re not positive of anything quite yet,” Jim said, as he unwrapped his own sandwich and everyone began eating, “but we do have a list of five people who are the best candidates for being a dark fae.”

Those five were four other students who had talked to Andy before her death and the janitor who found the body. Leven was also technically on the list but they’d agreed that didn’t need mentioning at the moment.

“We were hoping you might have some other insights,” Jim went on, “but we really need to talk with Leven after he gets here too.”

“When the accidents first started…I did a reading.” Wade slipped a long deck of Tarot cards out of the purse at her feet. Pushing her sandwich aside, she pulled the top three cards off the deck and laid them on the table facing up. The last card caught Nathan’s attention.

A woman. Blue skin. Beautiful. With no sympathy on her face and a skull in her hand.

Death .

“I did the reading specifically about Evelyn, but don’t believe it’s as easy as you’re thinking.

” She touched the first card with the tips of her fingers.

“ The Fool . That’s my Evie. Innocence. Naivety.

Energy. But more than just him, this card represents the beginning of a journey.

” She touched the second card. It was upside down.

“ The Hierophant . Reversed it means a distortion of the truth, that something about the journey is misleading. And of course…” Wade looked at the last card but did not touch it.

“On rare occasions this card means just what it says, but usually the Death card represents change. That worries me more. I don’t know if this person or thing is a dark fae or not, but this journey ends with my brother and it is not going to go that far. Understand?”

There was cold determination in her voice, an assuredness that Nathan could completely relate to.

His problem with this discovery though was that it also upped Leven’s suspicion as a suspect.

If this ‘journey’ ended with him then maybe it was because the evidence would eventually point to him as the culprit.

But how could that be possible when he was Wade’s brother? Wade was no fae.

They ate without talking much more about the case, at least not until Wade left for her shift.

She said no one ever used the break room so they could stay and discuss things there for as long as they wanted.

Just so long as they kept an eye on Leven once he got there.

She didn’t like the kid wandering around the club unsupervised.

Before leaving them alone, however, she plopped herself completely unabashedly into Cam’s lap and kissed him as heatedly as if they were alone and had all night to tangle tongues—much more Wade’s style.

Cam was grinning wide when she finally pulled away and just as unceremoniously hopped out of his lap.

“You a…waitress then? Bartender?” Nathan asked before she could slip away.

Wade smirked as she leaned against the open door. “Honey,” she said, “I’m the bouncer.”

Nathan gaped at first but was laughing by the time Wade left. “She was joking, right?”

“Didn’t you date her once? You should see her right hook,” Cam winked.

Nathan huffed, but he supposed he wasn’t all that surprised. Wade could spot shady characters long before they started any trouble.

They still had a problem though and none of them knew how to address it. That Tarot reading could have some real weight to it. Nathan couldn’t help wondering if Leven was the most important person they needed to protect…or the bad guy.

“We’re gonna set a trap for the kid?” Cam exclaimed, sounding offended and maybe a little scared. “But you don’t even know if he—”

“Calm down, Cam. This isn’t going to hurt him,” Sasha assured his friend with a gentle pat on the back.

“Unless he really is dark fae,” Nathan supplied.

Sasha pulled a small vial out from the pack he had brought along. It was liquid and dull grey in tone. He pulled the sandwich Wade had picked up for Leven closer to him.

“What is that?” Cam asked warily.

“Liquid iron,” Sasha explained as he poured a small drop onto Leven’s hoagie. “It’s not enough for him to even notice if he’s human. But if he’s some dark fae in disguise and the real Leven is…somewhere else, he’ll react as soon as he takes a bite.”

Cam squirmed in his seat, but didn’t protest again.

Leven arrived a little earlier than they expected, just when they were getting bored enough to start fidgeting. The kid dragged his feet all the way over the threshold and his eyes were downcast. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why the usual burst of energy and witty comments were lacking.

“Either you already heard about your friend,” Nathan said, “or you’re just that happy to see us.”

Leven attempted a smile but was too crestfallen to pull it off.

“You think we actually go over lines when we’re offstage?

” he said as he sunk into the chair his sister had previously vacated.

“The whole time at practice everyone was talking about how freaked they are. We were missing half the cast, people are so scared. I can’t believe Lars didn’t cancel but she figured it wouldn’t help any so why lose the time.

” Leven sighed and stared at the wrapped up sandwich on the table in front of him.

“I don’t want the show to stop, ya know, but there’s not gonna be much of a show to put on if we keep losing everybody.

Andy was one of the decent human beings at Win-Thor.

I’m running out of the few friends I got.

Wade is crazed, by the way. Thanks for telling her about the newest death count,” he grumbled, flicking the sandwich with his finger.

Nathan looked at the kid sympathetically. “Did you really think we could keep it a secret?”

Leven sighed. “I just want this over with. Andy, when she talked to me today, she was really scared, I could tell, but…I didn’t think she’d be next. She just asked if I knew where Jennifer was.”

“I thought she was looking for that Lars person,” Nathan said.

“She was,” Leven nodded, “so she could go home. But she asked about Jenn first. I don’t know why. They don’t even like each other. This mess has everyone acting weird.”

Nathan, Jim, and Sasha exchanged knowing looks. There was a Jennifer Dougan on their suspect list.

“I don’t want to think about it anymore,” Leven said, finally reaching for his sandwich, “I’m starved.” The simple action of unwrapping the sandwich seemed to go in slow motion, prompting the rest of them to keep their attentions averted or at least casual.

Sasha started showing Jim more of his notes from the school, and Nathan tried engaging Cam in conversation, when Leven finally took that first, anticipated bite. There was a unified breath and blip of silence.

And then Leven made a pleased face as he chewed. He took another bite before he had even swallowed the first. “Heaven,” he mumbled around chewing. He didn’t seem to notice the collective sigh of relief or the suddenly wider smiles around the table.