Page 143 of Sidhe
Jim placed his hands over Nathan’s. “Nate. Sasha’s fine. He’s outside helping the soldiers further off. There’s a lot of damage out there, a lot of injured, and…” The light dimmed in Jim’s eyes as he trailed.
“A lotdead,” Nathan finished.
Glancing past Jim, Alex, and Walter to the large amount of survivors slowly entering or being brought inside the Gatehouse, Nathan saw that crotchety old seal coming in, assisting some nameless fae. They were helping each other toward a pile of first aid while the old seal went on about what a damn good fighter the fae was.
There were others that had made it out of the fight alive. Charis and Lindsey, among them, were across the bar, Charisresting on a makeshift gurney, her wounded wing being bound carefully by Aloysha while Lindsey stroked the hair from his wife’s face.
Nathan saw no sign of Shiarra, or Oberon and Gwen. He also couldn’t deny that he really wanted to see Sasha. Simply knowing that the incubus was alive was not enough. If Sasha was helping lead the cleanup outside then Nathan was glad for that, couldn’t imagine anyone better for the job, but he needed to get out there too.
“So neither of you ended up using your powers, huh?” Nathan said to Jim and Alex.
“I did,” Jim said with a slightly nervous smile.
“You did? On who?”
“You’ll see,” Jim said, nodding toward the Gatehouse doors.
It was all the invitation Nathan needed.
Leaving the others to help however they could inside the Gatehouse, Nathan soon stumbled out into the sunlight. He was almost knocked back by the glare illuminating what remained of the battlefield and all the bodies on it, and by the smell rising up from the fields of blood and flesh and death.
The first thing he noticed when his eyes adjusted further to the bright light was Solrin—Solrin, alive and well and helping others! Jim had used his power of Death—of Life—on the enemy.
There were several seals helping bring in wounded, but Solrin was helping Ula and a handful of others gather bodies. Thedeadbodies of their comrades. There was a neat pile of them along the front of the Gatehouse.
Solrin froze in place after lowering the body he and Ula had been carrying, seeing that Nathan had joined them outside. The guilt that seemed solidified on his face as he carried out his task intensified when their eyes met. Nathan took that as his cue. He bounded forward across the lawn and hugged Solrin regardless of how much the other man stiffened.
“Knew you could do it. Knew all along you’d tell that bastard to take a hike,” Nathan said into Solrin’s shoulder.
“But…Nathan,” Solrin’s voice was low, “I didn’t. If Sasha had not banished Malak’s influence, I would have continued to lead Malak’s forces against you.”
“Nah. Sasha just cleared your head,” Nathan said resolutely, pulling away but keeping his hands on Solrin’s shoulders. “You still had to make the call, and you realized your mistake. Doesn’t matter how long it took you.”
Solrin looked aghast. “Jim said the same, that this would be what you’d want. Ula, too, did not ask for my penance, though I insisted I help in the aftermath. Why? People died because of me. Many directly. Iain…” His pale green eyes—both green still—watered and he clenched them tight. “I was such a fool.”
“Yeah, you were,” Nathan said, “and now you have to live with it. Can’t imagine a worse punishment. Though carrying the dead is a start.” He thought about mustering another smile but realized how cold it would look. He met Solrin’s eyes steadily instead. “I’m not saying I forgive you for Iain. That…that’s gonna take longer. I’m not saying it’s a good idea for you to stick around after this, either, coz I honestly don’t know what might break this fragile truce we got going between everyone. But you being alive, here, doing what you’re doing this moment, because you realize you were wrong …I just can’t find any reason to think that’s bad.”
When Solrin looked back at Nathan it was with the same reverence he’d shown since he first saw Nathan’s ‘light’, whatever that really meant. But this time it was not because of blind devotion, only gratitude.
“Nathan?” a small, prompting voice spoke close beside him, reminding him that Ula was also there. She smiled somberly when Nathan glanced at her. “What about you? You okay? Iknow that’s a pretty dumb question, considering everything, but…well,areyou?”
Ula was too sweet for her own good. And to think that she was a shapeshifter, a dark fae, something Nathan had once thought he would only ever be able to hate. “Good as I can be,” he said. “What are you doing this work for, Ula? Help wounded if you want, but…it’s not your place to handle the dead. You don’t have to do this.”
“I want to do it. Besides, I figured Sol could use the company,” she said with a soft, understanding glance at him, her manifested face smudged with dirt and blood and who knows what else. She reached over hesitantly to squeeze Nathan’s arm. “If you’re heading out into the fields, do you think you could maybe…look for Danny? Or, I mean…Oberon? I haven’t seen him, and…I just want to know if he’s okay.” Her eyes darted to the ground, a mild flush filling her cheeks.
To think, Ula had a soft spot for that wily trickster who’d been the king of light fae all along. But then, if Nathan was being honest, he had a soft spot for the guy too.
“You bet,” he told her.
For a good while after leaving the front of the Gatehouse, Nathan didn’t come upon many wounded or others still alive. Most of the people who had been closer had already made it to the Gatehouse. It was difficult for Nathan to work his way over the rocky terrain with so many bodies littering the ground, and it made him wonder how they would ever be able to clean up the fields completely.
Coming upon the point where the light fae and sex demon camp had eventually intertwined, Nathan finally spotted some familiar faces heading his way. The twins, Epica and Attoinette, looked well, cooing over some fae kid that was with them, who had waist-length lavender hair miraculously free of dirt and blood. Cam, in contrast, looked to be in pretty bad shape; nomissing or half torn off wing like Charis, but he was actually beingcarried, hoisted up into Oberon’s arms, of all people. Nathan tried not to snicker.
“You alright there, Cam!?” Nathan called.
The bronze incubus was close to being passed out, it looked like, but he smiled weakly and managed a nod. The twins started bounding ahead to reach Nathan faster, leaving that fae kid in the dust.
“Nathan!” Attoinette called first. “You did it! You’re alive! You totally kicked ass!”
