Page 146 of Sidhe
Jim came over to join them. “Am I missing something?”
“Nothing I’m at liberty to tell you,” Nathan said, and then coughed when Alex elbowed him in the side. “Just, uhh…thinking about what we’re going to do now that this is all over. See, I had an idea. Well, you proved more than enoughthat changelings can turn out just fine. And Solrin…well, he’ll pay his dues, and as much as the things he did can’t be easily forgotten, he’s going to try to be something better too. That means something. Maybe it means it’s up to us to find other changelings before they Awaken and, you know…help. Normal humans aren’t the only ones who need saving.”
A wider smile spread across Jim’s face. No one had needed more convincing than him that he could be something good even as a changeling. “I like that idea.”
“I had a feeling you might…Jesse James,” Nathan said, and jerked his hand up in the shape of a gun as if pulling it from a holster.
Jim laughed before doing the same.
BANG.
Letting Jim and Alex go off together after that, since they had some things to discuss, Nathan scanned the room for Sasha. He was at the bar with Ula and Oberon, laughing and talking like old friends. Blue eyes looked up and caught Nathan’s stare, the smile on Sasha’s face stretching as he excused himself to join Nathan instead.
Even though Sasha had slipped on a T-shirt at some point, or maybe he simply manifested one, the St. Anthony pendant was not hidden beneath the cotton this time, but out in the open for all to see. Nathan reached for it, snatching up the small silver disc in his fingers. It glittered at him brightly, as if it had never seen battle.
Tired green eyes drifted up to meet blue—loving, devoted blue. Nathan couldn’t help himself, he really couldn’t, as a prayer sprang to mind and he sent it out into the cosmos for Dave.
Thank you…
Nathanwasn’tentirelysureat what point staring into Sasha’s eyes, surrounded by the remaining people who hadn’t yet escaped for rest or left the Gatehouse, turned into being yanked by the hand through said bar toward the stairs and their waiting bedroom at the top of it.
They had all showered in shifts once the last of the wounded had been brought back to the Gatehouse, feeling filthy covered in so much blood and grime and sweat from battle. Seeing as how they were clean then, and aside from the general pull to just nap, there wasn’t anything keeping Nathan and Sasha from taking a hiatus from the celebration to celebrate alone. If someone happened to notice the way they sped through the bar, any calls made after them were only of encouragement.
Nathan stumbled after Sasha gladly. Then cursed when his cell phone rang the second they threw open the door.
When the power had gone out, there had been no reason to hang onto cell phones. Nathan had tossed his away entirely after becoming one with Malak. It was sitting on the nightstand now, where it had remained, turned off. At least Nathan had been pretty sure it was turned off, only now it looked like some Good Samaritan had turned it on and plugged it into the charger. Probably Jim, that practical putz and Grade A cockblocker.
“Ignore it.” Nathan pushed on Sasha’s back to get the incubus to keep moving inside the room. He promptly shut and locked the door behind them.
“Nathan,” Sasha whirled on him, his flushed face filling with concern, “it’s your first call since this started. You can’t just ignore it. What if it’s important?”
“We just averted the apocalypse. What could possibly trump that?” But Nathan was already heading over to the phone and snatching it up to look at the glowing screen to see who the call was from. It blinked ‘Leven’and Nathan sighed.
“Go ahead,” Sasha said, laughing a little over Nathan’s shoulder, “I need to hit the bathroom anyway. Make Leven feel better. You saved the world, Nathan.Boastfor a change. Tell him how much ass you kicked.” The redhead winked before sauntering into the bathroom.
“Shouldn’t you be out celebrating in the streets with the rest of the masses?” Nathan said into the phone when he answered, only half annoyed, but stillannoyedpurely on the principle that he really didn’t want to be talking on the phone right now. “You okay, kid?” Nathan added more sincerely.
Leven’s voice replied bright and rapid from the other end of the line as if he couldn’t fit enough words into a single breath, but damn was he going to try. “Nathan! Oh my god, it’s so awesome to hear your voice! What happened? Did you guys win? I mean you had to have, right? That’s why the sun’s shining again? I mean, youhadto have—”
“Slow down, man, where do you find the time to breathe with all that?” Nathan chuckled, easing down on the bed but not daring to lie back in case his fatigue caught up to him. “We’re all fine. Yep, kicked some serious ass, so you can thank our amazing talents for why the sun’s in the sky again. All’s well. You and Wade survive the worst of it okay? We only threw a bit of the news on to see how the world was handling all this. Not too many stations were on yet.”
While Nathan sat there a minute—Leven talked so fast it at leastfeltlike only a minute—the kid explained what had happened to him and his sister during the blackout. They had left Pittsburgh in the end, but with the sun up, power back, and things finally starting to get under control, they planned to head back to the city to check on their home the next day. Depending on how they found their things, they would be on the road again soon after, headed for the Gatehouse for some downtime.Nathan looked forward to seeing Leven again, and they’d all earned the vacation.
Suddenly, there was a shout, a grumble, and then a new voice came over the line.
“Do I know my shit or what?” Wade said.
“Excuse me?” Nathan bit back.
“My reading. Told you Sasha was the key to saving your miserable hide. And thanks, by the way…I know Cam made it through.”
“Urg,” came Leven’s irritated voice, as if Wade had just thrust the phone back at him. “Sorry, she’s such apain in the ass, sometimes,” he said as obviously loud as he could.
But Nathan had to hand it to her—Sasha had saved him in more ways than he might have realized before, and he could admit, much as he loathed her at times, when Wade was right. That didn’t mean he’d let her off the hook, though.
“Hey, Lev,” Nathan said, “glad you’ll both be heading our way. In fact, since I owe you for missing the musical, I might have someone to introduce you to. He’s not here right now but we might be able to work something out if your sister promises not to kill me over it. Why don’t you go ahead and tell her that your love lives might have something in common soon.”
Wade must have been listening in with her ear near Leven’s head because Nathan would swear he heard female grumblings after he said that. Then Leven was laughing, his voice faraway like he was pushing at his sister for her to leave him be, before it came again loud and close to the mouthpiece.
