Page 19 of Incubus
Jim started to back-peddle, too fast to keep on his feet. When he finally fell, Nathan was there to catch him.It’s okay, Jim, Nathan wanted to say, but he couldn’t, not when Jim no longer believed those words. Not when Nathan had seen his brother with those same slit eyesagain. So he helped Jim steady his footing and let his hold linger. It was an awkward backwards hug but Jim needed it. Jim needed to know that Nathan wasn't afraid.
Even if that wasn’t true.
“If we can’t even save one girl…” Jim whispered, “...how are we supposed to save each other?”
Nathan flinched at the words. “Jim...we can try, okay? All we can do is try. If that’s not enough then we shouldn’t be doing this at all.” He started to let Jim go but kept contact with his hands on Jim’s shoulders as he turned him around.
A shadow had crossed Jim’s face, but his eyes were pained in a familiar way now, no longer catlike or shimmering. “I know you’re right, Nate," Jim said. "I know I’m just letting it all get to me, but I…I don’t want to screw this up. I can’t. I can’t lose you.”
The stress of those words made Nathan feel like he had been punched in the gut a second time. “Jim…”
“Umm…I got her address.”
Nathan turned to find Sasha standing at the entrance of the restaurant with a piece of paper in his hand, looking as guilty as if he had walked in on a lover’s quarrel. His eyes drifted over the brothers’ heads to stare down the street at the bent over signs.
“Did I miss something?”
There was no way to be certain how long Sasha had been standing there, so Nathan simply shrugged. "Must have been the wind,” he said.
Jim huffed but didn’t contradict the assessment.
“Oh. Sounds about right,” Sasha said. “The protection from these buildings is nothing compared to trees. Happens all the time.” He smiled at Nathan and Jim as if to say he understood and would not press for more. Then he held up Carol's address. “We better get a move on.”
Nathancouldnotbelievetheir luck when they pulled up in front of Carol’s apartment building. She was standing outside talking to a man. It seemed almost certain that they had found their incubus. But Sasha was wary and, in fact, the man eventually left and Carol went inside her building alone. From what they could see through the street-facing windows as she entered, there wasn't anyone waiting for her.
Carol had a corner apartment, so they decided to keep watch with two of them waiting out front in the car while another watched her windows from an alley around the side of the building. Nathan took his turn down the alley first. His gut feeling told him that the killer would show any minute, but after almost an hour of nothing but a flickering TV screen shining at him from Carol’s windows, Nathan’s mind began to wander.
If Jim had been facing a different direction when he made all of those signs and lampposts bend in half like they were pewter, any number of awful things might have happened to some unsuspecting passerby. Or just as likely toNathan.
Jim had never shown any sign of abilities or power before, other than being able to sense and access aspects of the Veil. Sometimes Nathan wondered if his brother’s extreme intelligence was a byproduct of being a changeling, but there had never been any other telling signs that Jim was becoming more like a dark fae.
Not until tonight.
Nathan jumped when he glanced down from the windows to find Walter directly in front of him. “I swear toGod, man, if I could put a bell on you…”
Walter raised an eyebrow. “Would you prefer I remained visible?”
“No. Knowing you’re always watching is bad enough,” Nathan grimaced. “Now what do you want? Care to be helpful and watch from inside the apartment?”
“Nathan, we need to talk about what happened.”
“Whathappened? Jim’s fine. The sign thing was an accident.”
“Exactly. He is not aware of his own power. He is dangerous. You need to take better precautions.”
“Likewhat?” Nathan snapped. He was nearly yelling again and quickly thought better about being too loud in the alleyway. “What, Walt? Huh? You’re supposed to guide me, but you can’t actually tell me what I’m supposed to do or what’s going to happen. If you can tell me how to help Jim or if…if he’s going to turn evil on me, then tell me.”
As disapproving as Walter often looked, he seemed more and more somber and disappointed lately. “I cannot see that clearly, Nathan, you know that,” he said. “Your path is ever-changing. I can only try and keep you on the right one.”
“Walter—”
Nathan jumped, this time because his cell phone was vibrating inside his pocket.
Jim had texted him,My turn.
“Just…be helpful, Walter, okay?” Nathan said, turning to head back out of the alley. “The Doomsday advice is really getting old.”
Nathan returned to the car to switch out with his brother, passing Jim a small smile of encouragement as he reclaimed his spot in the driver’s seat with Sasha beside him. Walter had thankfully disappeared.
