Page 25 of Sidhe (The Incubus Saga #3)

Nathan stared in open surprise and awe, having known so little about Walter, and honestly feeling very selfish and guilty for having Walter all to himself all these years, where he couldn’t be with his family in the afterlife, whatever that might be like. He didn’t know what to say.

“Holy shit,” Iain said succinctly, blushing dark red once he realized the words he had chosen. “I just mean…I’m only a lowly librarian. Sure, I’m a changeling, but I can’t do anything special. Makes me feel pretty useless.”

“No one is useless, especially not those who have been called to serve in the coming war,” Walter said with a confident though sympathetic smile.

“You will play an important role as well, Iain, though I cannot see your path clearly. Although, if I might say…I would not terribly mind it if you cursed slightly less from time to time.” He looked at Nathan. “You either.”

Nathan burst into laughter when Iain went pale. “Don’t listen to him, man. Sometimes the only way to accurately describe a situation is with a big, loud ‘fuck’.” He winked.

A chuckle fell from Walter’s lips, and because even he found the humor in Nathan’s words, Iain relaxed and laughed as well.

“Now, where the hell is that book on dimensional rifts?” Iain asked with a grin, diving back into the books.

Nathan picked up a book himself but didn’t think a tome on salamanders would help right now. “You sure this is what you wanna do with that Library Science Masters of yours?”

Iain was as much an orphan as the rest of them now.

He was no seal, but he had nowhere else to go, and to be honest, they really could use a little more Giles in their Buffy and have someone with some real experience rearrange their mess of a resource library.

Iain couldn’t make much money, if any, but he’d get his meals for free, have a place to live, and apparently his mother had left him enough inheritance that he had been able to buy out most of his town’s supernatural texts.

Now that Nathan thought of it, maybe it was a dream job come true for Iain.

“It’s a tough job trying to think of the right categories for all this shit,” Iain said, “but I don’t mind. Home sweet home for me.”

“I’m sure it’ll all come together,” Nathan said, much as the room looked like a disaster area right now.

“So,” Iain said, handing a book to Walter that the Spirit Guide filed in a pile. They had apparently already worked out a system, so Nathan avoided digging into any other books just yet. “Looking for anything in particular?”

“Well, like Walter explained at breakfast, there’s apparently someone we need to watch out for at the Gatehouse. If we play our cards right, maybe we could even make a new friend out of him instead of an enemy, but I want to be prepared.”

“A wise decision,” Walter said. “I, too, hope you can sway him. From what little we know, he would be very dangerous on Malak’s side.”

“Which is why I want to read up on every possible changeling variation there is. Get some idea on potential powers. Might be interesting to you, too,” he said to Iain.

Walter shook his head. “I am afraid that will be of little help to you, Nathan. There are many types of fae, as you know. Changelings manifest uniquely depending on their direct fae heritage, yes, but their abilities are still unique to them as an individual. No two are ever identical.”

“Guess I am special,” Iain snorted.

“So that basically means he could be capable of anything?” Nathan asked.

Walter nodded.

“Wonderful. Want any help with this stuff, then?”

Iain beamed brightly. “Fuck yeah. I mean…please, you have no idea how much we need an extra pair of eyes right now. Not that you aren’t awesome help.

” He flashed a smile at Walter. Then he glanced back at Nathan as he held up another book.

“We’ll teach you the system. Where do you think a book on fae sex should go? ”

It took all of Nathan’s willpower not to bust out laughing again, because Iain was being so serious. Nathan patted his friend good-naturedly on the shoulder and snatched the book up.

“We’ll start a new pile.”

Sasha joined them a while later. Alex had to make the Gatehouse open to the public again soon, especially if they had a changeling to keep their eyes open for, so Jim was helping her clean and reorganize things for new boarders.

After a while longer of book organizing, Nathan left the others so he could check if Jim and Alex needed any extra help.

He was restless, and doing one thing for too long gave him too much time to think.

He moved swiftly down the hallway, but just as he was about to reach Jim’s room, he noticed the door slightly ajar and was able to pick up on a bit of conversation going on inside. He was reminded of that time he eavesdropped on Jim and Sasha up here, and he really didn’t mind eavesdropping again.

“We could probably save room if more of us double up,” Alex said. “Do you think Iain would mind sharing one of the double bed rooms with Walter?”

Nathan tried not to snort. He knew who she’d like to double up with.

Jim laughed uneasily. “I…don’t think he’d mind.

It’s weird actually seeing Walter. I always believed he was real, that Nathan really was seeing his Spirit Guide, but to have proof…

it’s hard to know how to act around him.

He knows things he can’t tell us, but he can still be here to help.

It’s…complicated. I like the way it’s made Nathan lighten up a bit more though.

Like he feels more confident having Walter here. ”

Nathan couldn’t deny that. He’d felt mildly confident before, but having Walter physically with them made all the difference.

“Sometimes I wonder…I wonder if he’s just faking it all so we won’t know how bad it really is. I should trust that he’d tell me if he was still…still messed up, but…but it’s Nathan and he never—”

“Jimmy,” Alex interrupted with humor and understanding in her tone to counter Jim’s fervent rambling, “whatever Nathan’s feeling right now, I think if it was still as bad as before, we’d know. He wasn’t exactly good at hiding it when he first came back.”

No shit , Nathan thought.

“And besides,” Alex said, “I really think he’d tell you this time.

After everything, even running away and still having the courage to come back to us, he’d tell you.

He doesn’t want a repeat of all that mess any more than you do.

Than any of us do. It is possible to worry too much, you know, though I realize how difficult that is for you. ” Her tone was teasing, playful.

Nathan imagined Alex and Jim were met together somewhere near the door, close into each other’s bodies. When Jim didn’t reply but instead Nathan began to hear awkward silence and rather telling, wet noises, he knew he was right.

He felt proud more than anything. He felt peaceful. Strange to feel something like ‘peaceful’ at the prospect of Jim making out with someone, but that’s what it was—peace. Because it was Alex.

“I just…I can’t disappoint him again,” Jim said, the kiss having ended and his voice back to petulant.

“It’s not about me turning evil anymore and becoming…

god, I don’t know what. But if Nathan thought it was his duty to make sure I never went darkside, then he better know I’m gonna be just as stubborn to make sure we don’t lose him that way either.

I trust him to make the right decision, it’s Malak I’m worried about.

I still can’t believe the bastard hasn’t made another play for Nathan yet. ”

“Shouldn’t that be a good thing?” Alex asked.

“No news isn’t always good news,” Jim said forlornly. “I have this bad feeling, I don’t know, something that just isn’t sitting right about this changeling we’re supposed to intercept here. He could be really bad news if he’s as close to falling into Malak’s hands as it sounds.”

“Jim, for all we know, this new guy could be a huge asset. And besides,” her tone went flirty again, “there’s no way Malak could contend with that Grier charm. Some of the strongest, most willful people I know have fallen for it.”

Nathan smirked to himself, especially when Jim responded, a smile in his voice now too, “Well, I suppose you do have a point there.” Wet noises again, a contented hum from Alex, a satisfying pop as they broke apart. “You know…I think I might be in love with you.”

Alex giggled. “You only think so, huh?”

“Just a little.”

“I suppose that’s good then since I… think …I might be in love with you too.”

Nathan briefly contemplated barging into the room at that point—Jim deserved it after all the time’s he’d interrupted something—but he figured they deserved the alone time, and slipped off downstairs instead.

When things had calmed down for the day, and all of them had helped with any other needed chores, the group settled in at the bar for a quiet night. Until more seals and fae showed up at the Gatehouse doors, all they could do was stick around and hope their mystery changeling presented himself.

“So I guess you got a few extra hands for a while, Al, while we wait for this guy to show up,” Nathan said, enjoying his first beer in quite some time; he had been trying to keep a better eye on that after his love affair with a few bottles of Jack.

“Can’t say I mind,” Alex said, with a none-too-subtle glance at Jim at the far end of the bar. “Though I wish we had more to go on for this changeling than the waiting game. Physical description? Age bracket?” She looked to Walter.

Walter stood by the jukebox, having been enamored with going through songs, and glanced back with a sheepish frown.

“It is not that I am purposely keeping anything from you, but that this person seems to be veiled. What I know is revealed little by little. To know more, we need a direct source, or to see him for ourselves.”

“I’d say he’s twenty-four, twenty-five, tops. Not that it matters.”