Page 78 of Sidhe (The Incubus Saga #3)

Nathan jerked, cut off as an arrow pierced him in the heart, seemingly out of nowhere.

Their recruits were armed with all sorts of weapons, everything they could think of that they could either make or tip with iron.

Of course it didn’t matter what the head of the arrow that struck Nathan was made of; it couldn’t faze him now.

He looked down at it, at the arrow sticking out of his chest , and laughed. He didn’t even bother pulling it out, just snapped off the end while the rest of it melted, falling away like ash and disappearing.

“Someone has an itchy trigger finger,” Nathan said with a slowly widening smile, looking about the bar intently as he searched for whomever had fired at him. “Are we going to have a problem? I just saved all of your lives.”

Much like days ago when chaos overtook the bar while Nathan had been trying to say his peace about seals and non-humans working together, everything erupted too quickly—too much noise, too many people, and most of them were yelling and gunning right for Nathan.

No one cared that the dark fae were gone.

They only saw Malak’s eyes, Malak’s influence radiating out of Nathan, and leaving them no choice but to act.

It was pure, immediate anarchy without the Gatehouse wards to stop it, and Jim could do nothing but stand there, watching as Nathan was shot, stabbed, everything and a million things more, as the crowd swarmed.

It would have been horrifying to witness if Jim didn’t know the worst was still coming.

He felt Sasha grab his wrist and then move down to lace fingers and hold his hand, gripping so tight it made Jim cringe.

There was no point in moving, in trying to intervene. Alex understood that. So did Shiarra as she landed just outside the doors, having leapt from the roof, with Sasha’s old friends, and Ula and Danny all huddling behind her. But others attacked, seals and fae alike.

And then, after a simple pulse of power, all those others were gone.

It happened so fast, Jim barely even blinked and there was just empty space, just Nathan standing where he had been before only no longer surrounded.

Then they were plunged into darkness, the power gone when the pixie, Serileth, was sent away with the others.

Yet somehow they could still see Nathan, amazingly perfect and unmarred from all the ways he had been attacked.

“Never liked crowds anyway,” Nathan said, straightening his tie, though even that hadn’t been disturbed. Then with another snap of his fingers the power surged to life and the lights returned.

Jim supposed he should be happy there wasn’t any blood, but it still nauseated him wondering what had become of everyone.

“What?” Nathan shrugged, almost normally, looking around the room at those he had allowed to remain as they stared at him, horrified.

Jim took quick stock of who was left. There was him and Sasha, Alex, and Shiarra at the doors, but their other friends were gone.

“What’s wrong with everyone?” Nathan narrowed his gaze even though he was still smiling, moving like his body didn’t quite fit, with laughter in his voice that sounded wrong, just wrong .

“No one wants to listen to me, huh? You don’t care that I just sent all those dark fae back to the Veil so they wouldn’t rip you into tiny little pieces? ”

“What…what did you do to all those people?” Shiarra braved the communal silence, looking behind her at where Lindsey and several others had once stood. Even the campers outside who had not been a part of the attack on Nathan were gone.

Then something changed, and Jim felt the first wave of doubt lap at him like water. That awful smirk fell away from Nathan’s face, and even though his eyes remained red on black, everything else about him suddenly looked and felt like Nathan.

He tugged at the lapels of his jacket, in an instant holding onto the edges of flannel instead as the suit disappeared in favor of the clothing Nathan had been wearing before.

“Come on,” Nathan said pleadingly, actually pleadingly , “it was just a joke. Okay, maybe a bad joke.” He tried to smile easy, like his old self would have, but upon seeing that his smile wasn’t easing anyone, he stressed, “It’s me . You know I’d never be able to live in one of those monkey suits.”

Even the simple wit was so very Nathan , but none of them could say anything, only stare, each of them holding back, afraid to get too close.

“Guys…come on,” Nathan said, his expression twisting as if he were heartbroken. “I sent the dark fae back to the Veil. I sent the recruits home . I didn’t hurt anyone. I was just playing it all big because…because I figured that was the only way to know who was really with me.”

He turned slowly to look at all of them, his movements more natural now, but how could Jim be sure this wasn’t just part of the act.

“You guys are with me, right? I did what I had to do, what I knew was the right thing. I didn’t… betray you.” He centered his gaze on Sasha, on Jim. “I’m in control. It’s okay. I promise it’s gonna be okay.”

“No. It’s not,” Sasha broke the silence, the hand that had been clutching Jim’s falling away to form a tight fist. “All I see is Malak…and those damn eyes . I’d trust you in a second, Nathan. Trust your decisions, your choices. But how can I trust this when I know that bastard is inside of you?”

Nathan managed to scoff and look hurt at the same time.

“My eyes? That’s what’s bothering you? You ?

It’s true Malak’s…in me, all his power, all his memories, everything.

But this is me talking, me making decisions that you can still trust. I sent the others away because we don’t need them anymore. The dark fae army is gone, remember?”

“Gone,” Alex repeated, moving away from where she had been standing near the windows to approach Jim and Sasha. “Sent back to the Veil. But not killed?”

Jim gladly accepted her hand when she slipped it into his.

“So I should have killed them all? So sorry I decided they might be more useful to us someday alive ,” Nathan said.

“None of you are willing to give me a chance, even with what I did, even knowing I didn’t hurt any of our people?

” He shook his head, turned toward the still open door, making Shiarra flinch.

“The power I have, the things I can do now…I’ll show you that you don’t have to be afraid of me. ”

He didn’t raise a hand this time or even twitch, just stood facing the outside until that darkness that had blanketed everything for so many days was broken by the first rays of sunlight.

Jim didn’t even know what time it was, so hard to keep track lately, but maybe late afternoon by the way the sun hung in the sky as it shone brilliantly.

It was more than just the sun, though. The land started to shift too, to return to the way it should look, covered in grass, with trees, and god damn dandelions, and flat land instead of insane cliffs and drop-offs.

Of course that was also when Jim noticed a lone figure heading toward them from where the army of dark fae had been, closer than should be possible and not banished with the rest. Jim could see white hair glowing in the renewed sunlight, and knew without having to ask that it was Solrin.

Nathan looked out at all of them after he had done his supposed miracles. “See? I got this. Everything’s gonna be fine.”

No one made a move.

Jim stiffened when Solrin reached the Gatehouse, Shiarra hurrying inside finally, not knowing what to make of him.

Solrin looked so out of place, a black eyepatch over his dark fae eye, shirtless without caring that his scars were visible, and in plain black pants, barefoot even.

When he stepped through the doors of the Gatehouse and beheld Nathan, he dropped to his knees and bowed.

“I knew,” he gasped into the floor, “I knew from the moment I saw your light, glorious and beautiful, that you would lead the world to its future. I will serve you however you see fit to use me,” he finished as he looked up, his pale green eye shimmering with devotion and reverence for this changed, new Nathan.

Nathan was still half facing those inside the building, so Jim could see the way his lips curled into a satisfied smile. He turned to Solrin, walked to him, lifted him by the chin with a gentle hand until they were both standing.

“No bowing, Sol. We’re all in this together. I’m just glad you’re with me,” he said, moving his hands to Solrin’s shoulders and squeezing supportively.

“You surround yourself with strange friends,” Solrin said, his smile of gratitude flickering as he looked past Nathan to Jim and Sasha.

“Don’t worry about them,” Nathan said sternly. “They’ll understand. You did a good job, Sol. Malak was pretty brutal, asked you to be pretty brutal too to make sure I’d make the right choice. Now I have. Now I know what I have to do.”

Nathan released Solrin and turned to look at Jim. His eyes were beseeching, hopeful and loving, and somehow spoke of Nathan even through that awful color.

Jim hesitated. Jim doubted. But Nathan couldn’t be right. This couldn’t be right…

“Nathan, what has happened?”

Jim felt a shock of panic as he recognized this new voice, turning around to stare at the center of the room where Walter now stood. He had been somewhere inside the Gatehouse helping others, and had probably only surfaced because they disappeared.

Jim’s assurance that this had to be wrong strengthened as he watched realization strike Walter slowly.

Maybe he didn’t trust his eyes at first, didn’t trust the sense of dark sidhe , of evil that he had to be able to feel from Nathan.

But when Walter could no longer fool himself into thinking otherwise, his brown eyes widened with horror.

He backed away like lightning, like his life depended on it, nearly tripping over his feet to get away from Nathan.

“Walter,” Nathan said, a hiss like when he had first said ‘Jim’ upstairs, “there you are.”

Jim could only stare as Nathan moved swiftly past everyone to reach his Spirit Guide.

“Why so scared, huh? I’m not gonna hurt you,” Nathan said, so unlike Nathan, so clearly something else that Jim reached over and grabbed Sasha’s arm for support again, still holding Alex’s hand in his other.

“No, I wouldn’t hurt you, Walt. But ya see, the thing is… I don’t need a Spirit Guide anymore.”

“Nathan…” Walter gasped as if weeping, though there were no tears on his face. He stood frozen after his initially frantic backing away. “What have you done to yourself?”

With Nathan having moved further into the bar, Shiarra joined the others, all of them keeping their distance from Solrin.

“Were you trying to get away from me?” Nathan circled Walter.

“Where would you go? To warn Oberon and Gwen and the others like I’m something that needs to be stopped?

Coz that’s a shame, Walt; that would make you as bad as all those others I sent away.

Not much else I can do then…is there?” He stopped his circling in front of Walter.

It wounded Jim how mournful, how apologetic Walter looked, not pitying, his eyes filled only with regret of all the things he hadn’t done to prevent this.

If Jim ever doubted that Walter was part of the family, he knew now.

Which was why he called out, hands tearing from contact with Sasha and Alex the moment Nathan touched Walter’s forehead with the butt of his palm and the Spirit Guide started screaming.