Page 46 of Sidhe
As soon as he stabbed Sasha, the illusion began to fade, just as he’d believed and hoped it would. He was on the Gatehouse stairs, not one from that nameless house. He wasn’t in the Veil. But that was just the thing. He had been here all along.
The knife was real. The stairs. The ability to do harm now that the Gatehouse wards were useless. And although the image had been glossed over to paint a horrifying picture, Nathan saw with sick realization that Sasha was real too.
“No, no, no…” he chanted, pushing himself up, his knee twinging with pain from colliding with the stairs. He was half on top of Sasha—Sasha—who was already convulsing, seizing painfully as the ghost of blue veins shimmered beneath his skin. He could barely focus on Nathan, his blue eyes wide, his mouth moving like he wanted to say something, anything, but couldn’t.
Laughter from behind Nathan reminded him that they were not alone. Malak was still there. But Nathan couldn’t deal with Malak now. He tried to ignore that laughter too close behind him, and focused on Sasha shaking uncontrollably as the poison of the iron worked quickly through his body.
Nathan knew he had some antidote on him, always carried some just in case the worst happened. He found two vials in his pants pocket, shifted off of Sasha to give the incubus space, and readied himself to pull the knife free. His mouth was already open, ready to tell Sasha that it would be okay, everything would be okay, when the hand reaching for the hilt of the knife was snatched up and pulled back behind him.
“Of course I can’t take you back to the Veil, Nathan,” Malak said, snatching up Nathan’s other hand as well so that the vials clattered onto the steps, “but I can certainly make this world feel like it.” He pulled Nathan back against him with just that hold on his wrists, so unfairly strong and immovable that Nathan couldn’t even struggle, could only jerk vainly forward trying to get to Sasha.
“Please…” Nathan pleaded, begged,beggedof the king of dark fae, “just let me help him.Please. Baby, I didn’t know it was you,” he swore to Sasha. “You can’t do this!” he screamed over his shoulder, hating how close Malak was, pressed up tight against him.
“Me? Why, Nathan, I haven’t done anything,” the bastard had the gall to sound oblivious and innocent, “youdid that.”
“I…I didn’tmean—”
Malak hummed in contentment, folding Nathan’s arms in front of him with his own arms folding around Nathan. They were just off the stairs, Sasha splayed out over the first few steps still convulsing, but less pronounced, more like jerking trembles that proved how little time he had. His eyes were hazy but on Nathan—always on Nathan.
“Not a clean kill,” Malak said in a conversational tone that made Nathan so angry he nearly choked, “but you definitely nicked the heart with that. I’d say he has…another minute? Less.My…” he whispered close and hot against Nathan’s ear, “he is beautiful when he’s dying.”
“Please…” Nathan tried again, because he couldn’t move in Malak’s too strong embrace, let alone hope to struggle free. “Not him. Anything but him,please.”
“Yes,” Malak nearly hissed, mouth ghosting along the edge of Nathan’s ear, “anything but him. I know. Perhaps you’d say the same if it were Jim, but…either of them, yes, I know how you would do anything to keep them safe. Why do you think I used them to begin with, Nathan? I didn’t know if my little visit tonight would amount to much, but then down came your incubus to your rescue, and you reacted so wonderfully. So why don’t we make this simple, hmm? I can let you go. Let you save him. Or I can hang on and let you watch himdie.”
The tears in Nathan’s eyes stung.
Even though he couldn’t see it, Nathan felt Malak’s grin widen as lips pressed to his neck. “Nothing is free, Nathan. You know what I want in exchange.”
Nathan closed his eyes, even though Sasha was fading right in front of him, blue eyes beseeching, the knife still stuck so deep within him with all those awful veins shimmering. If Nathan fell today then all of them would fall. He wouldn’t be able to save Solrin or Jim or anyone. But he couldn’t let Sasha die.
He thought of calling out to those still upstairs, but for whatever reason they hadn’t yet heard any of what was happening so far, so it had to be a lost cause, something by Malak’s doing. The dark sidhe king may not be all powerful here, but he was powerful enough. Even in the Gatehouse, his ties to Nathan gave him strength most fae would be stripped of.
So without a favorable option, Nathan went for door number three, against all his better judgment, and damn it if he couldn’t believe he was even doing it, but if it was all he had left, he’d do anything.
So he prayed.
Please,he sent out to whoever would listen.Help me.
The shock was immediate, taking Nathan so much by surprise that he almost didn’t believe he had been thrown forward onto Sasha until he pushed up and saw the incubus’ anguished face.
“You overstep your bounds,Malak,” said a new voice, powerful and fierce in a way that shook Nathan to the core.
Walter.
Nathan couldn’t dwell though, didn’t even listen to whatever Walter said further or how Malak responded. He was frantic as he snatched up one of the vials from the steps. He gripped the hilt of the knife and ripped it free, making Sasha gasp and tremble even more intensely.
Quickly, Nathan tore Sasha’s T-shirt away and poured half the vial. He was worried then that it was too close to the end and a normal dose wouldn’t be enough, so he poured all of it, snatched up the second vial and tipped all of that one down Sasha’s throat. The incubus seized more violently, his eyes rolled back into his head. That scared Nathan more than he could say, even as he saw the antidote beginning to work, the wound gone away to smooth skin, and that green glow spreading through Sasha’s body like a flash fire.
Then Sasha gasped, gulping in air and shivering as he rolled to his side and coughed.
“I’m sorry,” Nathan said, heart in his voice, “I’m so sorry.” He cradled the incubus close to him, both of them a little awkward on the steps, but Nathan couldn’t bear to not be touching every part of Sasha possible right then. Having Sasha’s head tucked underneath his chin, feeling breath on his neck and the warmth from Sasha’s body, filled Nathan with some of the peace Malak had so neatly ripped away from him.
“N-Nathan…” Sasha tried to speak, his teeth chattering, his body still shivering as it fought to come back from being so unfairly close to death. Again.
“Aren’t you a confident guardian,” came Malak’s voice, loud enough that Nathan was pulled back into the conversation, finally able to turn his head and see what was happening.
Malak and Walter were facing each other, equally close to Nathan and Sasha on the steps. Walter looked just as Nathan had last seen him earlier in the evening, in his usual casual attire, and yet Nathan didn’t remember Walter coming down the steps—he had just appeared. His face was stone, entirely impassive and severe the way Nathan thought was very befitting of a Spirit Guide. Malak seethed but hid the expression behind a twisted smile.
