Page 29 of Incubus (The Incubus Saga #1)

The menus had not yet been perused at the small diner where Nathan and the others stopped for a late breakfast. All they had ordered so far was coffee. They were too busy listening to Jim’s side of the story to care about food.

And Jim was right. Nathan didn’t believe it.

“That’s it?”

“Yeah.”

Nathan shook his head and leaned over the table. “That’s…it?”

“Yes, Nathan, that’s it. That’s all,” Jim said. “I don’t know what did it. Maybe it was because I was panicked. Maybe because I was so worried about what was happening with you two, I don’t know. It just happened. Poof, they were gone, as good as a banishing spell, but not.”

Sasha leaned forward beside Nathan. “And all you said was…go to Hell?”

“And they took that literally?”

Jim shot Nathan a frustrated glare and clutched at his coffee cup a little tighter.

“Of course not. I think I just sent them back to the dark fae part of the Veil, only…without having to work a spell or use a doorway. They just suddenly looked frozen, like the lights weren’t on anymore, and then…

they were gone.” Jim glanced down into his mug.

His dark eyes looked especially blue with a glimmer of wetness in them.

“I don’t know why these things keep happening without my control, but once I knew you were left in there alone together, I guess… I guess I was just so scared of…of…”

“What I might do,” Sasha said in a small voice.

“Of what Desire was going to make you do," Jim said. "And of what Nathan might have to do to stop you. I don’t want anyone getting hurt like that because of me.”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Nathan said sharply, clattering the coffee cups as he slammed a hand down on the table.

“I refuse to watch you two mope all day because of things that were out of your control. You,” he said, pointing at his brother, “are not a freak. We are going to figure out these powers of yours sooner or later, so stop over-analyzing. You are not a bad guy or in any way evil, and you are not some pansy-ass little girl who feels sorry for himself after saving peoples’ lives.

‘Cause that’s what you did back there, Jim. You saved us. Again .”

Nathan whirled on Sasha so quickly that he actually made the incubus flinch.

“And you,” he said, “aren't a freak either, even if you are a sex vampire who had a hard-on for me for about two minutes back there and left a few nice reminders.” Nathan touched a hand gingerly to his chest, which was now cleaned and bandaged and under a new shirt, but still ached. “But you’re not a bad guy either. You wouldn’t have done anything to me if Desire hadn’t sent you on the rampage.

You weren’t in control of your actions, so I don’t consider you responsible.

I’m looking on the bright side here. I remain unmolested, all of us are fine, and the people of Crofton are safe from the Muses. Where’s the downside?”

Both Jim and Sasha had the sense to look ashamed of their scowling faces, but Sasha still looked wary when he spoke. “You’re probably right, Nathan. It’s just…” Sasha glanced down at his lap as his words trailed off. “You...might want to move your hand.”

Nathan took a moment to process that, looked down to see how high up on Sasha’s thigh his hand happened to be right now, and couldn’t move it fast enough.

Maybe there was a downside.

Nathan could feel Jim’s eyes on him, half in horror while the other half probably felt like laughing. Nathan could feel Sasha’s eyes on him too, but he didn’t meet gazes with either of them. He picked up his menu.

“Twenty-four hours?”

“At least,” Sasha said.

“Awesome. So who wants pancakes?”

Nathan splashed another wave of cold water on his face. He felt feverish. Hot. His hands were shaking, and the longer he stayed close to Sasha, the worse it seemed to get. His body had declared mutiny against him because of the pheromones and was no longer listening to reason.

Looking up at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, Nathan had to grimace.

He doubted he would look much better even without the toll the pheromones were taking on him, considering he had had very little sleep the night before and then a large as life incubus had tried to turn him into an afternoon snack.

Still, Nathan could do without the bags under his eyes.

He pulled his sunglasses out of his jacket pocket and put them on. If Jim or Sasha wanted to comment, he knew just where to tell them to shove it.

“Nathan,” Walter spoke, which made Nathan jump since the only visible figure in the mirror was him.

“The pheromones are very… present around you. It would be best if you secluded yourself in the hotel for today. They are far more potent than normal. You may not be entirely in control of your actions.”

“Yeah, Walt, I…sort of got that,” Nathan said, and turned around to see Walter looking as guilty as if he was somehow responsible for Nathan's predicament. “I’ll be fine. It’s not like I’m going to jump Sasha in the middle of the diner.”

“I would hope not, but…” Walter’s large brown eyes were swimming.

“Don’t worry so much,” Nathan said, meaning to pat Walter on the shoulder but unbalancing when his hand went through the man like empty air. “Sorry. But don’t worry, okay? They’re just pheromones. I got this.”

Nathan moved to leave the bathroom feeling marginally better. The water had helped clear his head and he felt fairly certain that he could handle the pheromones until tomorrow when they would thankfully wear off.

Then their table came back into view and Nathan nearly tripped over his feet. Sasha and Jim were talking casually over the tabletop. There was a crooked half-smile on Sasha’s face that made Nathan’s knees lock and his breath catch somewhere at the back of his throat.

Sasha was so fucking beautiful.

Nathan could have screamed as that thought flashed through his mind.

It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in Sasha’s genuine attractiveness.

Nathan could admit Sasha was attractive.

Straight men recognized the attractiveness of other men all the time, if for nothing else than to size up competition.

So Nathan could admit that Sasha was a good looking guy, kind of pretty, actually, and Nathan really did like the red hair.

Sasha also had a significantly nicer body than the average guy, but that didn’t… mean…

Nathan bit the side of his cheek— hard . Rationalizing clearly wasn’t helping.

“Nathan?”

“I got this, Walter. I...totally got this."

Once Nathan reached the table, he decided to forego his previous seat next to Sasha and climbed in beside Jim. Their food had yet to arrive, so Nathan took solace in another cup of coffee.

“What?” Nathan said, once he realized that Sasha and Jim were staring at him.

“I’m looking out for both our benefits here.

” He glanced across the table at Sasha, who looked so heartbroken, Nathan almost switched seats immediately.

“Damn it. Did you two brood behind my back, because I will kick both your asses if I have to.”

“Nathan…” Jim started.

But Sasha broke in. “We’re sorry, Nate, but a lot happened this morning and we can’t just brush it off.”

“I know a lot happened,” Nathan said. “I’m the one most of that lot happened to. And look. I’m fine. Pheromone poisoning notwithstanding.”

There was a barely contained chuckle from Jim, and since the last thing Nathan would ever consider his situation was funny , he reached over and smacked the back of his brother’s head with the flat of his hand.

“Hey!”

“You started it.”

Jim stared back at Nathan icily before lashing out to get in a good hit of his own.

Nathan blocked the attempt, but was equally thwarted when he tried to hit back.

They ended up swatting at each other like little boys, and were both laughing by the time Nathan boxed Jim into the wall of the booth to declare victory.

A few of the other patrons in the diner were staring at them, but Nathan didn't care about making a spectacle. Jim gave one more half-hearted shove at Nathan as they settled back in their seats, and Nathan jabbed Jim in the side for good measure.

The real victory was that Sasha had joined in on the laughter, and when Nathan looked across the table at him, the now bright expression on Sasha's face was almost hypnotizing.

All Sasha was doing was sitting there, leaning back in the booth with his face lit up from laughing, and it just undid Nathan.

Sasha didn’t look any different than he usually did, but today perfectly normal Sasha was more than enough to make Nathan entertain thoughts of pulling the redhead up onto the tabletop and taking him right there in the restaurant.

As Nathan’s own laughter died, he slid his fork from its rolled napkin prison and brought it down to his lap beneath the table. Wrapping a hand around the fork's tongs, he braced himself and squeezed. It wasn’t a permanent solution, but it did the trick of snapping him back to reality.

Walter had perched himself in the window ledge and was looking down at Nathan in concern. Nathan ignored him.

Thankfully, the waitress finally brought their food. And, after they had been handed their plates, Sasha started right in on options for where they should head next.

"We can leave tomorrow after Nathan is..

.back to normal," Sasha said. "I know you must be getting anxious to find some real leads, but we'll manage.

You're my top priority, but I won't lie that I have to see if I can find some clues about how the Muses got here.

It could be a fluke, but it might be part of something bigger.

Dark sidhe don't just cross over from the Veil on their own, not without some serious mojo going on.

The good thing is, looking for dark fae should bring us leads on both accounts. "

"Sounds good," Jim said. "As long as we can figure out a way to help Nate, we won't keep you from doing your job. I'll admit, the Muses have me a little spooked."

Nathan nodded, and took some comfort in Sasha's confidence.

The smoothness of Sasha's baritone voice was pretty comforting, too.

Nathan tried to focus on his food and the conversation, but his mind kept wandering.

One moment he would be responding normally to Jim and Sasha's suggestions, and the next he was wondering what it would be like to nibble on one of Sasha’s slightly pointed incubus ears.

He tried stabbing his fork into his thigh, but it wasn’t helping as much anymore.

"Are you okay, Nate?"

“Huh? Sure,” Nathan said absently, avoiding eye contact with Sasha, though he could feel those perfect blues all over him. “Just…tired. Too much coffee.” He accompanied that comment with another swig of his now third cup.

“It's just...you keep stretching your legs out,” Sasha said.

It was only then that Nathan realized he had been trying to hook his foot around Sasha's ankle. He pulled his legs back with a bang against the bottom of the table, upsetting the coffee pot so that it sloshed and spilled over its edges.

“Sorry. I'm not…feeling so hot,” Nathan said.

“Walter thinks I should stay in, so…I think I might do that and head back to the hotel.

I'll see you guys later." He started scooting out of the booth, putting all of his attention on the door so that the sight of Sasha wouldn’t sway him to change his mind.

“Are you sure, Nathan?” Jim called after him. “We can come with you.”

“No,” Nathan nearly squeaked in his haste. “I’m fine. The fresh air will be good for me. I’ll…see you back in the room.”

As Nathan walked briskly from the diner, he considered it a triumph that he didn't once look back.