Page 52 of Sidhe
Especially after they settled into casual conversation and Solrin said a little too offhandedly, “God may not exist butevildoes. That I have never doubted. The world should be one way, but itisanother.” He looked up sharply, focused right on Nathan across from him at the table. “I strive to wipe thatotherfrom the world.”
Nathan swallowed, shuddering despite his best efforts to keep still.
“I think perhaps…Nathan…you might understand that.” It didn’t go unnoticed that Solrin did not turn to include Jim and Sasha, like maybe he knew, or at least vaguely sensed that they were different from Nathan. It made Nathan wonder suddenly if this was a very bad idea.
“Uhh…” he struggled for how to respond.
“I have some things I would like to get before we go.” Solrin stood before Nathan could say anything. “Shall I meet you back here in a few minutes?” This time he looked to all of them.
It was Sasha who managed a smile. “Sure. We can take our car and split in town. Rushville’s small enough for us to walk and let Jim and Nathan have the car once we’re there. If that’s okay?” Only because Nathan knew the incubus so well could he tell that Sasha was actually unnerved to be assigned as Solrin’s partner for the afternoon.
Solrin nodded, his face more or less blank but at least devoid of hatred for now. He turned without fanfare and left the bar.
Now it wasn’t just that they needed to get Solrin to trust them, they might also need to reeducate the guy that not all supernatural things are evil. That could be tricky, Nathan knew firsthand.
It struck Nathan as odd that Malak would want someone like this, if Solrin really was so against all things inhuman, but then he was a changeling, and had to know what he was considering his powers—or didn’t he? Nathan didn’t doubt that Malak had a plan, that the dark sidhe knew things they didn’t. So if it had to be up to Nathan to sway this guy and also greatly change his perspective, then by god, he hoped they were doing the right thing.
Assoonastheywere out of the morgue, Nathan did his best to keep the contents of his stomach inside where they belonged. At least they had been able to sneak inside without much trouble. Small towns didn’t think much about tight security over dead bodies.
“Why did there have to be human teeth marks?” Nathan said with a deep shudder as they settled back into the car. “Of course it still could just be a serial killer, taking the kids out first and then…Jesus…”
Jim chewed on his bottom lip as he thought things over. “Coroner report said no foreign substances but that each of their hearts had stopped before any…eating began. Not even recreational narcotics or plain old over the counter meds for any of those kids. Couldn’t have been a chemical thing. But human teeth? We might not even be dealing with fae, but…I don’t think it’s as simple as a serial killer.”
He turned to Nathan a little nervously, or maybe he was just unsure and didn’t quite know how to explain himself.
“When we dropped Sasha and Solrin off,” Jim said, “I thought maybe I…sensed something in the town. It was really faint so I sort of let it go, thought maybe it was just something innocuous because Solrin’s around and…well,drawsthings. But now I’m thinking maybe I was sensing what we’re looking for. It felt kind of human, but…not. Felt familiar.”
“Familiar?” Nathan said. “Like maybe you know this guy or girl personally or it’s just a type of thing we’ve come across before?”
Jim’s brow scrunched a little further. “Just a type of thing. But I want to talk to Sasha and Solrin before I make any guesses. I’ll let them know we’re heading back.”
Nathan revved up the car and pulled back onto the road while Jim texted a message to Sasha. “That guy better have taken good care of my baby,” Nathan grumbled to himself.
He sighed relief when he spotted Solrin and Sasha coming from across the street just as he parked. They had decided to meet up by the ball field, one of the few recognizable landmarks in the tiny town. There were less than 300 people that lived there so there wasn’t a lot of ground to cover. Nathan hoped that meant they had something more to go on than human teeth marks and stopped hearts.
“Sasha look a little spooked to you?” Jim asked from beside him.
Nathan glanced out the window again. Sasha and Solrin were coming around the side of the ball field, just a few yards away. They were walking basically side by side but not speaking, and while Solrin had his eyes set on the car, Sasha cast his companion furtive glances, looking every which way but right. Nathan knew that look, that scared but not wanting to show it look.
“Something happened,” he said.
“Can’t be too bad if Sasha’s…you know…”
“Notdead? Come on.” Nathan nudged Jim’s shoulder before climbing out of the car. It was unseasonably warm out for Spring so he was hot even in his lighter jacket. He decided to leave it off, going out to meet Sasha and Solrin in just his T-shirt and jeans.
Solrin was still dressed as he’d been that morning, while Sasha wore a burgundy Henley. Both of them were sweating from being out in the sun. For the life of him, Nathan could not understand why Solrin hadn’t ditchedhisjacket yet.
“Don’t look so happy to see us or anything!” Nathan called as they got closer.
Sasha cracked a slight smile, still looking troubled, but Solrin didn’t even flinch.
“Sasha relayed that you had found some useful information,” Solrin started right in when they reached each other, not even bothering with pleasantries.
Nathan eyed Sasha and received a fierce look that said ‘we need to talk—alone’.
“Yeah, we learned a lot actually,” Jim said, “just not sure what it all means.”
They filled the others in on what they’d discovered at the morgue, that the first body hadn’t been eaten, only the ones after him, but stopped hearts was a common thread in all, and the animal attack theory the coroner was going on had to be off considering the wounds looked like they had been made by human teeth.
