Page 121 of Sidhe
It didn’t help that, although Sasha maintained his glamours so that his clothing vanished and wasn’t torn,allof his clothing vanished, leaving nothing to the imagination as the incubus stood there in his natural glory.
“Nathan…” Sasha breathed hotly against Nathan’s lips, large and menacing andnaked. Nathan’s hand dropped away, andSasha looked so pleased standing before him, so filled with desire, despite how his eyes had been filled with tears moments before.
“Now you understand, don’t you, baby?” Nathan whispered, hands trailing promisingly down Sasha’s hips as he moved into Sasha’s body.
A low growl, almost like a purr rumbled out of Sasha, who looked willing to do whatever Nathan asked of him. “I should never have doubted you,” Sasha said, his voice gruff and low. “Of course I trust you, Nathan. You’re always so good at making things…better,” he finished like a breath, barely a real word. Then they were kissing, hungrily and wet, without any sense of modesty.
Walter felt sick to his stomach. The way they kissed, the way they fit so well together, it was pure passion, almost tangible in the air, but it was wrong.
Another growled purr erupted from Sasha as he pulled from Nathan and glared over his shoulder right at Walter. “I think someone doesn’t approve…” Sasha said, his red cat-eyes shimmering like a warning, athreat.
“I-I…” Walter shook his head, nearly taking a step back.
Nathan turned with a wide grin to look at Walter as well. “Don’t worry about him. Unless you want me to send him away?” He looked back to Sasha.
No. Walter couldn’t be sent away now. They were one by one either being turned by Nathan or banished. He couldn’t just be another failure passed aside. He had to do something. Though what, he had no idea.
He could only stare wide-eyed and pleading at the large, frightening incubus that looked like he would sooner tear him to shreds than let him stay.
But Sasha surprised him. “I want whatever you want, Nathan. He’s important to you. He’s our friend. No one else has toleave or…get hurt. Right?” His fangs glinted in the light as his grin went devilishly crooked. He seemed to take more notice of himself then and stared for a moment at his changed appearance.
“Better than the cave, right?” Nathan ran a hand slowly along the inside of one of Sasha’s overlarge black wings, fingers pressing into the skin and causing the incubus to purr loudly and his red eyes to flutter. “You can be your human self. Make it easier to go through doors when you don’t need the wings. Only maybe…” Nathan licked his lips as he looked over Sasha’snakedform. “Maybe not right now. Stay like this…for a while yet. We’ll leave you alone, Walt,” Nathan said without actually looking at Walter as he began to lead Sasha by the hand—claw—from the library for what was no doubt going to be some very intense sex against the next hard surface they came to.
“What do we do now?” Walter said aloud in a hushed voice, staring at where Nathan and his newly reacquired consort had headed off. He paused a moment to look back at the tomes he had been perusing, hoping to find some way to protect those remaining in the Gatehouse should the worst happen. Now, he didn’t have the stomach for it, had too little faith that it would even matter.
He wasn’t entirely sure what he was now, but he knew he wasn’t the same Spirit Guide made flesh, not after whatever Nathan had done to him. He felt vulnerable and alone. Trapped. Helpless.
With weary feet, he walked the short distance across the hall to his room, passing a brief look down the hallway at Nathan and Sasha’s room, happy it was far enough away that if something were happening in there, at least he didn’t have to hear it.
Wally was curled up on his pillow, and hopped up as soon as the door opened, defensive mode in place before she realizedit was him. She relaxed and bounded over, practically jumping into Walter’s arms.
“I am afraid we have lost Sasha now as well, little one.”
He stroked Wally on the head a few times more before setting her on the bed and going over to where he had stashed some food. If he left it out, she’d have eaten it all by now. Her metabolism could handle anything, thankfully, so he took out a sandwich he’d made earlier and sat on the bed to share it with her. He handed her half, and she snatched it from him deftly in her human hands, plopped down on her fluffy behind, and ate beside him.
“I keep thinking…any moment Nathan’s plan to save us all will reveal itself. But…” Walter’s smile twitched as he shrugged.
All Wally could do was chirp sadly.
Walter doubted, oh how he doubted, but he clung regardless to the belief that Nathandidhave a plan. Nathan’s light was still there—his goodness, his real light, not whatever it was that Solrin saw and equated to Malak—and it was bright, unquenchable goodness that Walter did not believe even Malak could fully extinguish.
He mumbled all this in soothing tones to Wally, the motion of his hand over the fur of her head constant as his other hand held his half of the sandwich.
Minutes passed, over an hour, and Walter realized he hadn’t heard much of anything outside the door in some time. Wally had fallen off to sleep, something he was very grateful for. He knew he should go down to the kitchen for more provisions; half a sandwich might be enough to tide Wally over, but not him, not even when he’d still had his Spirit Guide abilities to aid him.
Nathan couldn’t be up to much, or surely he would have called for them all to bear witness. They were still trapped for now in the Gatehouse, still preparing. For all Walter knew, Nathan and Sasha might not have left their room yet.
He pet Wally gently on the head. “I won’t be long,” he whispered to her sleeping form. He hoped that was true as he mustered the strength of will to go to the door and walk cautiously downstairs.
As Walter had hoped, the Gatehouse was quiet and no one seemed to be around. He set to work gathering more food from the kitchen, snacking a bit on another sandwich he hastily made, then seeing about water bottles that would be easier to carry upstairs than filled glasses. He was just about finished when he heard a dull creak from behind him.
Walter whirled around, expecting to see someone standing there, but he saw only the empty doorway. He tried to breathe, justbreatheslow and deep as he turned back around.
The sandwich dropped to the floor, a gasp leaving Walter’s lips at the sudden sight ofNathansitting on the stool beside him. “N-Nathan,” he trembled, “I was only…I was j-just…”
“Grabbing a snack?” Nathan filled in for him, the stool’s legs rubbing against the kitchen floor as Nathan pushed it back and stood as if he had been sitting there all along. He bent down to retrieve the lost sandwich. “Thirty second rule, right?” he said as if he was purelyNathan. “I’m sure it’s still okay. Alex keeps a pretty clean house, ya know. Here.”
Staring half at the floor, half at the edge of the counter, Walter could only see a glimpse of Nathan’s hand outstretched toward him, holding out the half-eaten sandwich. Knowing he was trembling and trying so hard not to, he accepted it without looking up.
