Page 52 of Incubus (The Incubus Saga #1)

“Oh shit… shit .” Nathan closed his eyes. There was just so much space beneath him—black empty space.

“I don’t like this, ” Sasha’s voice carried down to him after a few moments of air whipping past Nathan’s face.

You don’t like this? Nathan thought maddeningly, but he couldn’t form the words.

“I can see Gabriel and Jim pretty well now, but it just seems too…convenient." Sasha's voice was that strange growl that Nathan might have enjoyed if he wasn’t dangling above the ground. "It’s like Gabriel’s keeping just enough ahead of Jim so Jim doesn’t lose him, but still moving fast enough not to get caught. Like he’s…”

The flight was frightening, but Nathan had to peek an eye open. He could see the moving figures of Jim and Gabriel too, and there in the distance lay the building Nathan had noticed on the rooftop. “Like he’s…leading Jim somewhere,” Nathan finished.

“Jim’s moving a little steadier. Maybe without his jacket the cold is helping sober him up.”

That was possible, but that didn’t mean Jim was in any condition to fight.

Now that Nathan had convinced himself he wasn’t going to plummet to his death, he allowed himself to look around.

If he didn’t hate heights so much it might actually be beautiful.

The landscape of Chicago lay in the distance, sparkling up toward the sky.

It reminded Nathan of just how many people lived in the city and its surrounding suburbs.

“Have you thought about people seeing us?” he said to Sasha, as if his scolding would make them land faster.

A low chuckle escaped the incubus. “People lie to themselves all the time about what they see. Besides, who would believe the guy who said he saw a gargoyle carrying someone off to its lair?”

“One of the people who watched the cartoon?”

Sasha laughed again, but when he spoke, he was entirely serious. “Okay, they haven’t reached the building yet and we’re almost there. I’m going to go in low so I can drop you.”

Nathan’s head snapped up to look at Sasha's face above him. “You’re going to what?!”

“I’m talking so low you’ll be able to touch your feet down and start running before I even let go," Sasha said above the sound of the rushing wind, red eyes dancing with amused affection. "It’ll just propel you. Trust me.”

That did sound better than ‘ so I can drop you ’, but Nathan just wanted the ride to be over. It was going to be close anyway. Jim and Gabriel had almost reached the building in front of them, and there was no telling what Gabriel might have planned, waiting inside those walls.

Nathan could see that Jim was running straight and steady, but he remembered how glassy his brother's eyes had still looked when they were crouched together by the dumpster.

“Ready?” Sasha prompted. The ground was mere feet below them and Jim and Gabriel were only a few yards ahead.

Nathan braced himself, feeling a little ridiculous when the ground came up fast and he started pumping his legs even before his feet touched down.

Then he was running almost as if Sasha was no longer hanging on, then suddenly that was true, and he felt the rush as Sasha let go and he propelled forward.

With his adrenaline up again, Nathan had almost forgotten about his injured leg. But after landing, he only made it a few steps before pain shot up his body and made him trip over his quickly moving feet. He barely managed to turn his fall into a somewhat controlled fast roll to the ground.

Sasha had already soared over Nathan, landing more easily and keeping up the chase. Nathan tried to push back up onto his feet, watching as a once again human looking Sasha caught up to Jim and stopped him just before Jim could follow Gabriel into the building.

But they weren’t waiting. Sasha gestured Jim to go around and find another door, taking Jim's place and heading after Gabriel himself.

Nathan wanted to yell at both of them, but he was still limping when he got to his feet.

The impact had been too much, enough to tear the wound open and start it freshly bleeding.

Sasha should know better. He had been conscientious enough to move Jim out of harm’s way, but he was putting himself right in the line of fire.

Pushing past the pain, Nathan struggled to hurry after Sasha into the building.

The first thing that struck him was that the door had been unlocked despite the building being an in-use factory.

How Nathan knew it was in-use was because of the second thing that hit him: fumes .

He almost choked, the smell was so strong.

From the moment Nathan entered the building, he could already hear the sounds of fighting. Sasha had caught up to Gabriel. There had to be an open area behind all of the hanging machinery and storage, but all Nathan could see was a wall of shelving.

"Nathan, this way!" Walter called from ahead of him, visible at the end of a long row of shelves.

Nathan hurried to reach Walter and follow his Spirit Guide’s direction, barreling on into the maze of the factory. He could hear Sasha and Gabriel shouting at each other as they fought and he desperately sought to reach them.

“You looked so much like Deklin, I didn’t even question if you were telling me the truth or not,” Nathan heard faintly from Gabriel over the factory’s hum.

“It is the truth,” Sasha said. “I am Deklin Kelly’s son. I never lied—”

“ Enough !” Gabriel shouted, and their voices ceased for a moment, replaced by shuffling and the dull sound of pounding flesh and disrupted metal.

“My father wouldn’t condone killing an innocent human being without reason!” Sasha growled soon after. “Jim hasn’t done anything to anyone.”

“And you expect me to wait until he does? He never should have been born!”

“Gabe, please! You know me. Being a seal doesn’t have to mean this . You can’t condemn someone to death before they’ve done anything!”

“You are a fae posing as a seal!”

Nathan heard more grunts and thuds in the distance as he spun in place, trying to navigate with Walter’s assistance.

The sounds of fighting were close. Nathan took another turn past stacks of boxes that towered over him up to the high ceiling above, spotting movement in front of him, but it was dark and, as he approached, he came up to more shelving that only gave him a tease of what was happening on the other side.

He could see Sasha and Gabriel, neither visibly armed as they traded blows. That should have made it easy. There was no reason Sasha shouldn’t be able to take Gabriel down, even if he wasn’t at his best.

“You’re starting to grow tired, incubus ,” Gabriel taunted. And it was true. Sasha looked sluggish, almost sick. Gabriel sidestepped a punch and pushed Sasha into another set of shelving, causing a cascade of clinking, clanging metal.

Metal . It struck Nathan then that the fumes he could smell all around them was iron. He had to get to the other side.

Following the path of the shelving with Walter shouting at him to hurry, Nathan moved as fast as he could.

It was taking him away from the fight, but he trusted Walter, and knew that if he could just find an end point to the shelving again, he would be able to reach Sasha and Gabriel out in the open.

“You know what they do here by now, I imagine?” Gabriel said, dimmer to Nathan now but still audible.

“You can feel the iron. Little by little it’s slowing you down, eating away at you.

I couldn’t be sure if this place would have any effect on the changeling, but it seems to be working well enough on you. ”

Finally, Nathan could see an end to the shelves and he tore around to the other side, running, desperate now that he could finally see Sasha and Gabriel clearly.

The light was brighter where they were fighting since they were close to the conveyer belts.

Nathan could see every move they made, but he was still so far away.

Sasha was throwing weak punches and being struck by blows he should have normally been able to avoid. Gabriel wasn’t even trying. He was playing . He was enjoying himself. It made Nathan so angry, he almost screamed.

He was so close. So close now. He could reach them. Gabriel didn’t even see him coming.

Internally, Nathan cheered when Sasha got in a good hit and Gabriel went down, landing amongst the various finished metal parts that Sasha had knocked over earlier.

It was stupid but understandable the way Sasha rubbed at his eyes then, stopping to take a breath he desperately needed with how the iron in the air was poisoning him.

But with his attention unfocused, Sasha didn’t see Gabriel pick up one of the sharp, jagged pieces of metal beside him and start to get up.

“Sasha!” Nathan yelled. He could make it. He could still reach them in time.

And then Nathan realized what a fool he was for calling out, because Sasha turned to look at him, turned away from Gabriel, and that was all the opportunity Gabriel needed.

Nathan was two yards away when Gabriel stabbed the piece of metal into Sasha’s chest.

“No!” Nathan cried, descending on Gabriel with the fiercest punch he could manage. Gabriel went down hard, but Nathan immediately forgot all about him.

“No, no, no ,” Nathan chanted, dropping down beside Sasha, who was already on his knees and falling back. Nathan tried to help, tried to hold him up, but Sasha was so heavy, dead weight just like Gabriel. Dead weight…

Nathan choked down a gasp and did his best to ease Sasha back.

As the incubus lay down, he reached up toward Nathan’s face, but his hand couldn’t grip and his fingers slid down Nathan’s cheek in a desperate, failed attempt to touch him.

Those bright blue eyes were so wide, Sasha’s whole expression one of disbelief.

Nathan was right there with him too, because this couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t happening.

“You’re okay…you’re okay,” Nathan said, looking down at the jagged piece of metal sticking out of Sasha’s chest like it couldn’t really be there, like it couldn’t be real . The positioning was perfect. Right in Sasha’s heart. “No, no…you’re okay…you’re going to be okay.”

“N-Nathan…” Sasha tried to speak, and immediately Nathan’s eyes went back to Sasha’s face, that pale skin shimmering with waves of those horrible veins the way Nathan remembered with Sasha’s aunt. The way the poison of the iron had worked through her body before she…

“No,” Nathan said again, shaking his head, crouched on the floor and holding Sasha in his arms tighter.

“The antidote,” he said with conviction, holding a hand to Sasha’s cheek the way Sasha had been unable to do with him.

“Jim has some. He’s around here…somewhere.

He has to be. Jim!” Nathan yelled. He didn’t know what else to do.

Slowly, Sasha’s eyes began to soften, no longer staring up at him with fear, but with somber affection instead and the small subtle traces of a smile. Nathan knew that look. That look was resignation. That look was giving up.

“You’ll be okay,” Nathan said, tightening his grip on Sasha’s face and leaning in close. “We just…we just need the antidote and you’ll be okay. Walter, where is Jim? Jim!” He called up to the ceiling. Jim should be there by now.

Walter disappeared in search of Jim, but even if he found him, he wouldn’t be able to tell Jim where they were.

“Please, Sasha…just…just…” Nathan clenched his eyes shut and felt a tear run hot down his face.

He couldn’t feel his own body. He could only feel Sasha, trembling against him and looking at him like he was trying to say goodbye.

“You can’t. You just can’t…” Nathan said, but he couldn’t finish what he meant.

He couldn’t actually say the word, the awful truth of what was happening.

The veins shimmered over Sasha’s face again, so much more imbedded then they had ever been from simple cuts. Sasha tried to lift his hand again but it flopped uselessly beside him. So, instead, Sasha lifted his neck, surely an even harder feat, and pressed his lips up into Nathan’s.

It wasn’t even a real kiss because Sasha didn’t have the strength to give him one, so Nathan moved his other hand underneath Sasha’s head and helped, deepening it so he could feel that mouth warm against his.

Nothing seemed more important than that kiss while they were in it.

Nathan wasn’t saying goodbye, even if Sasha was.

He was saying everything else, all the things he never said and maybe never would, because they weren’t things Nathan said out loud.

But he could say them like this, knowing Sasha heard him.

When Sasha’s lips went slack, Nathan pulled away, hating how dim those blue eyes looked now, like fragile human eyes.

Sasha’s mouth quivered and Nathan knew he was trying to say something, maybe Nathan’s name again, maybe something else, but it didn’t matter.

Nathan just nodded, holding Sasha there, his body, his face, holding him.

The change was so abrupt, so final. Sasha was dead weight in Nathan’s arms for real, his head falling back, eyes closing, and as he hung in Nathan’s arms, he began to shift.

The glamours couldn’t hold. Soon Nathan was holding Sasha the incubus in Sasha the seal’s clothing.

It would have been funny to see him like that if it had been any other moment.

“No…you…you’re okay….you’re going to be okay…” Nathan said barely audible, thinking of Jim, of Sasha, of Jim, of Sasha .

Not again, God damn it, not again!

Not the same way. Not for the same reason. Not because Nathan wasn't there when he was needed.

“I thought I understood when it was just your brother,” Gabriel said, his voice dim to Nathan’s ears amidst his grieving. “But this? Nathan .”

The condescending tone made Nathan growl low in his throat as he turned to look back, seeing that Gabriel was on his feet again.

“I was wrong, Nathan, and I’m sorry for that. It seems you aren't worth saving after all.”

For a moment, Nathan agreed so whole-heartedly he couldn’t think of anything to say.

“You didn’t know him,” he said finally, on his knees still so he could feel the weight of Sasha’s body against him, solid and heavy and limp.

“You didn’t know Sasha. Or my brother. You don’t know me. You don’t know…anything.”

“I’m sorry, Nathan. Truly,” Gabriel said and, if Nathan had cared to really listen, he might have heard that there was some truth to those words, however jaded. “I am sorry. But this was your last chance.”

Nathan looked up into the barrel of another gun— his gun, which he must have lost when he crumbled to the floor with Sasha. Nathan should have cared that it was pointed at him. He should have cared .

But, in that moment, he couldn't feel anything.