Page 11 of Incubus (The Incubus Saga #1)

Nathan wondered how he would explain the dent he was about to put in his brother’s nose, though it would probably still be worth it.

“Come on, Nate, it’s an act,” Jim conceded. “Because he knows he’s getting to you, that’s all. You can relax.”

Nathan huffed. He felt very foolish about the whole thing. Sasha was obviously just kidding around.

“Of course,” Jim said after a while, “there always is that chance…”

Fratricide was starting to sound very appealing again but, as much as Jim was getting under Nathan's skin, it was these sorts of normal moments that almost made it possible to forget what was going on around them.

“Nate!” Jim suddenly cried out, jerking across the car. “Did you see that?”

Nathan whipped his head back to the apartment, anxious at the thought of something actually happening. He scanned for any sign of movement, but Carol’s window remained dark and still. “Looks like it has for the past two hours. You’re just tired.”

“No, Nathan, I saw something. I’m sure of it.”

“She probably just got up to go to the bathroom.”

“ Nathan .”

“Okay, okay, I’ll call Sasha,” Nathan said, quickly pulling out his cell phone and dialing the number Sasha had given them.

Jim stared bug-eyed at Nathan the entire time while the phone was ringing, waiting on baited breath for Sasha to pick up and confirm that it was time for them to move. After well over a minute sitting there with the phone at his ear, Nathan started to wonder if Jim was right.

“No answer. Walter!” Nathan called out.

Walter appeared in his usual place in the backseat. “On my way.”

“You didn’t tell Walter to watch the apartment earlier?” Jim gaped as they hurried from the car to check the alley themselves.

“I did . He was being clingy,” Nathan defended.

Nathan had loaded one of their shotguns with iron bullets and carried it close at his side. Jim had a handgun, but tucked it away when they found the alley empty. He reached instead to claim Nathan’s ankle blade. Close-combat was looking more likely.

They weren't seals, and there was no way to know how long Sasha had been out of communication, so they did the only thing that made sense. They went straight up to Carol’s apartment.

Gripping the shotgun tightly, Nathan felt the worst kind of déjà vu when they found Carol’s door ajar. He opened his mouth to call for Walter again, but before he could speak, Jim dashed ahead of him into the dark.

"Jim, wait!" Nathan hissed, hurriedly following.

The few street lights outside were not enough to illuminate the apartment. The only thing Nathan could see clearly was the shifting of Jim’s jacket ahead of him. He chased after Jim down the hallway to the bedroom, stopping short when he found his brother halted at the door.

“No…” Jim gasped, clutching at the doorframe.

Once Nathan’s eyes had adjusted enough to see inside the room, he peered over Jim’s shoulder. There was no mistaking the naked body on the bed with eyes glazed over and open.

“We were right here," Jim said. "We were right… here .” He almost could have been crying, but sounded too angry for there to be any real tears.

Nathan put a hand on his brother’s shoulder, turning away from the sight of the already stiffening limbs of the young woman in the bedroom. “Jim…”

A crash sounded somewhere in the apartment.

Jim spun around, pushing past Nathan back down the hallway.

“Jim!” Nathan called after him, but Jim wasn’t listening.

Rushing into the darkness after his brother yet again, Nathan nearly ran into Jim after barely a few feet.

Jim stretched out an arm to keep Nathan behind him, creeping slowly along the wall as he continued forward.

Nathan wanted to protest being so obviously coddled.

He wanted to try calling out for Walter again, but he had to follow Jim’s lead.

There was shuffling coming from the other side of the wall.

When they reached the end of the hallway, Jim paused for only a moment, offering Nathan little more than a brief glance back before he leapt around the corner and struck.

Nathan’s chest tightened with panic. He hurried after Jim, but what he found on the other side of the wall had the shotgun nearly slipping from his fingers.

Nathan could only stare as he watched Jim pull Nathan's own ankle blade free from where it had been sheathed in Sasha's stomach.

“Oh, shit. Shit ," Nathan said, once his brain had caught up to him and he was able to move forward. He tried to help steady Sasha back against the wall.

Sasha looked so horribly shocked. He was shaking.

"It's okay. It's going to be okay. Just a flesh wound. Barely even worth stitches,” Nathan said. He glanced back at Jim, so angry that his brother had acted without thinking, without being sure who he was stabbing in the dark.

Jim merely stood there, staring.

Nathan turned back to Sasha. The cut couldn’t be that bad judging from the small amount of blood left on the knife. "We'll get you patched up," he said, "I promise. It’s not like an iron knife does any extra damage to humans, right?”

Sasha cringed. He was shaking harder and looked about ready to crumble right to the floor. But there was something off about the panic in his eyes, something that looked like fear for more than just his wound.

It was Jim’s voice that spoke too loudly against the otherwise quiet night with a sense of understanding. “No, iron wouldn’t hurt a human," he said, "but then…” Jim stepped closer, and with his free hand, he lifted Sasha’s shirt to reveal the wound.

It was small, just a little cut above Sasha's navel, barely even bleeding. But what Nathan saw and couldn’t believe was the blue veins spreading outward from the cut like a virus. Like poison.

“You’re not human. Are you?"