Page 21 of Changeling
“So I scrambled inside, late one night, trying to find a room where there might be someone…anyone who’d stop me before I hurt someone. I didn’t realize I’d gone into Elaine’s room until she came in.”
That got Nathan’s attention. Elaine Ferris was Alex’s mother. She’d died a couple years ago, but had always run the Gatehouse like a pro. Nathan had often thought of her like another mother, or at least a long lost aunt.
“Once she realized it was me—we’d met briefly when I’d come through before—she wouldn’t listen to a word I said. Just told me to keep as much control as I could…so she could help me. I told her it was too dangerous, but she…she said if feeding was all I needed, there was no way she’d let a seal kill me for nothing. I managed to keep enough control not to hurt her or take too much, but…I’d let almost all of the glamours drop to make sure my focus was on being careful with how I fed. My wings were spread out behind me over the bed as we finished, and…”
“And that was about the time I walked in.”
Nathan gaped at Alex, imagining Jim’s expression had to look just as stunned, though he couldn’t see his brother’s face since it was turned toward her. That was not the story Nathan had been expecting all this time.
“Oh, I almost screamed and brought the whole Gatehouse down on him, but Mom was quick,” Alex said. “She explained, Sasha transformed human, we all went to bed, and things were awkward for…well, awhile. After Mom died…I don’t know, I guess it seemed silly to care about something like that, so I toldSasha to suck it up. We’ve been on good terms ever since. Mom saved his life. Now he might be the only thing that can save yours.” Her eyes stared fixed at Nathan.
“It was what it was,” Sasha said. “Don’t make a big deal out of it. We never did."
Silence settled over them again, and the cold started creeping in enough that they all sat up and huddled under the comforter like before. Eventually, the somber mood was too much for Nathan. He was close enough to drunk to not want the night to end on a sour note. Especially not on New Year’s.
“You know…I always thought of Elaine as a MILF…just never figured that to be so close to the truth.”
One of Alex’s shoes thrown at Nathan’s head later and they were laughing again.
Chapter 9
Nathanwasfacingthenightstand when he woke up and saw his watch sitting there shining the time at him. It was some ungodly hour in the middle of the night but, for some reason, he was awake.
He rolled over groggily and found the firm, immovable body of Sasha beside him. The covers were pulled up over the incubus’ chest, leaving only his pale neck and face and the glorious red hair. Nathan wanted to curl in next to Sasha and sleep for at least a few more hours, but something was wrong. He couldn’t have described the feeling as anything more than just that—a feeling; something wrong enough to wake him.
They had stayed up on the roof only an hour or so after midnight, before the buzz of the wine turned to numb exhaustion and they parted for bed. Thankfully Nathan’s head only mildly throbbed, but he felt more than a little disoriented as he lifted himself up to scan the room. As soon as he did, his chest tightened with panic.
“Jim…what are you doing?”
Jim was standing next to the bed on Sasha’s side, still as anything, wearing only his boxers and a thin T-shirt. His eyes were closed, like maybe he was sleepwalking, and he was shaking, so subtly that it was almost imperceptible.
“Jim,” Nathan said more firmly, though still a whisper, not wanting to rouse Sasha. This time, at the sound of Nathan’s voice, Jim responded, and in the very last way Nathan wanted.
Amber slit eyes opened wide, their color clear even in the dark. At first they just gazed forward, but then they began to shift, changing from being distant to looking down at the sleeping incubus. Jim stared at Sasha with those eyes, those horrible eyes, and a moment later, his hand reached out.
“No!” Nathan gasped, his reflexes faster than this slow, calculating Jim as he sat up completely and grabbed Jim by the wrist before his brother could do what he intended.
Jim wasn’t shaking anymore, but Nathan sure as hell was. Those dark fae eyes slowly refocused onto him, looking right at Nathan and making it unmistakable now that this was very real—this wasn't a dream. The blank unfeeling color of those eyes made Nathan tremble.
What made it all so much worse was that, as Jim looked at Nathan, his expression started to change for the first time. It had been so blank before, but now…now Jim smiled, wide and dimpled as if Nathan had said or done something wonderful. It was awful. Because it was soJim. It was Jim…
The ominous form of Nathan’s brother gave a slight convulsion and his eyes closed. Suddenly, Jim’s whole body went limp, and Nathan had to let go of his wrist or risk being dragged right over the bed as Jim fell to the floor. Nathan immediately jumped out of bed on the other side and went around to see what had happened. Jim’s entire body was shaking again, his muscles spasming all over under his skin like he washaving some kind of seizure. Nathan fell to the floor beside him and reached his own shaky hand to Jim’s forehead. Jim didn’t feel warm or cold. He felt normal.
Jim’s eyes sprang open, and Nathan held back a cry. Blue. They were blue. And not slit.
“Nathan…?” Jim said in a sleep-roughened and very confused voice. He looked around, realizing just where he was and that it wasn’t exactly normal to wake up crumbled on the floor of his brother’s room in the middle of the night. “How did I get here?”
This was Nathan’s chance—his out. He could say anything now and Jim would believe him. He could keep on pretending this wasn’t happening, pretending that something wasn’t waking within Jim when he slept. Sleep was the trigger; that was clear, at least for now. Even in the hospital room, Jim must have been asleep before the amber eyes took him.
“Nathan?”
The words, “It’s okay, Jim,” danced on Nathan’s tongue, but he couldn’t say them. It wasn’t okay. It was as far from okay as things could get. “Jim…” Nathan tried, just sitting there on the floor in the dark as Jim sat up next to him and looked on imploringly, “do you know what’s happening?”
Jim’s brow creased. “Happening? What’s happening? Did I…” Jim glanced frantically around the room, finally returning his wide blue stare onto Nathan. “Did I sleepwalk again?”
Again. Nathan swallowed deep in his throat. “How long have you been sleepwalking?”
“I…” Jim’s eyes darted down, and Nathan knew before Jim spoke that keeping things about this a secret went both ways. “I don’t know. I guess…a while now. But it’s no big deal. I just…I wake up sometimes…out of bed. But never too far. The farthest I’ve ever been was the bathroom. I think I just have too much on my mind, that’s all.”
