Page 106 of Changeling
Another explosion followed after them, and with the combination of rain and confusion, Sasha’s flight path tilted haphazardly in Nathan’s direction. As Sasha came in low downthe slope, he was having trouble steering. If Jim could have helped their landing at all he was either too tired or too stunned to do anything. They crashed into the muddy and wet grass about three yards from where Nathan was sitting, tumbled a few times, and finally came to a stop with Jim sprawled over Sasha’s incubus body.
They immediately started laughing.
Nathan glanced back to Walter but he was, as expected, gone after Jim’s arrival. He turned back and crawled cautiously toward his companions. He wanted to ask what the Hell had just happened but he could already tell something was…off. He could see their twin smiles and hear their wild laughter over the rain as Sasha morphed human and hugged Jim to his chest.
“That was amazing! I almost didn’t think you could do it and then BAM.” Sasha laughed again. “I can still feel it.Fuck. All throughout my body, ya know?”
The answering chuckle from Jim was low and mischievous. He lifted his head to look at Sasha, still pretty much on top of him and allowing the firm hold Sasha had on his body. “I don’t think it’s gonna go away any time soon, either.”
Getting close enough to really see them clearly, finally only a couple feet away, Nathan almost choked at the sight of their eyes. Jim’s were slit amber with sparks of electricity dancing around them like static. Sasha was the same, his incubus eyes red even though the rest of him was human, with electricity sparking everywhere.
It was then that Jim and Sasha noticed Nathan, both of them looking to him with those strange eyes at the same time. Nathan shuddered down to his toes.
“Uhh…you guys are kinda…crackling,” he said, feeling a sense of fear that he usually only felt when he was dreaming. He swallowed. They both looked like they were about to eat him alive. And like they would really enjoy it.
“The energy,” Jim said with an almost manic grin, rolling off of Sasha’s body finally to better face Nathan. Sasha sat up and did the same. “Sending all those sidhe back through the Veil…took a lot of effort. They were so strong. But that guy in the middle was the last to go. And when he went,shit. All that energy they’d been pouring into him just shot out everywhere. It had to go somewhere, so…it went into the only things available.”
Nathan felt a cold hand wrap gnarled fingers around his heart and squeeze.
“Us.”
Chapter 41
Sashachuckledandleanedhis head back to enjoy the rain like he was sunbathing. “Us and the fuse box. Thing was so old it totally blew. Whole place went up in seconds.Man, that was a rush.” There were fangs in his smile.
A knot formed in Nathan’s stomach. “All that…evil…dark energy…went intoyou?”
Jim and Sasha looked at him at the exact same moment, their expressions intent. Then they reached for him and there wasn’t any time. Nathan only had one weapon on him now and he went for it, pulling out his ankle blade and brandishing it out in front of him. He knew he could never use it but he didn’t know what else to do.
The intent expressions on Jim and Sasha’s faces immediately broke and what Nathan read on them wasn’t malice. It was concern. Shame.
“Nathan,” Jim said first, his eyes drooping at their edges, “it’s us. It’s just the energy. Sure, it’s intense but…it’s not evil.”
“Power’s just power,” Sasha added, both of them up on their knees facing Nathan. “Oh, god, Nate, I’m sorry. It’s a crazy high, I’ll admit, but we’re still us, I swear. We didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You have to believe us.”
“Please.”
“Stop,” Nathan held up his free hand. “Just…just stop.”
He stared hard at both of them, at the way their eyes pulled down all puppy-like even though they were slit amber and red and still crackling. As he watched, trying to sort out if he believed them or not, Jim closed his eyes and slowly the sparks of electricity faded until they were gone. He opened them again to reveal dark blue that just tore into Nathan. A moment later, Sasha had managed the same. Nathan knew that the energy, the power, was still in them, but they held him with their collective gaze and Nathan had no choice.
His arm dropped.
“Don’t ever fucking scare me like that again,” he said, scrubbing his face even though it really didn’t do much to help with the rain. “Energy high? You big freaks, what the hell am I gonna do with you?”
Jim and Sasha laughed again—giddy.
“This is gonna wear off, right?” Nathan re-sheathed his ankle blade, finally relaxing.
Jim nodded. “It’ll wear off. Twenty-four hours probably.”
“Awesome. Can we get the Hell out of here then?” Nathan said, nodding up the slope. “That fire’s bound to bring someone.”
Sasha and Jim quickly agreed and they all got to their feet. It became immediately apparent that the energy surging through Nathan’s companions was something they both wanted to burn.
“We gotta do something,” Jim practically bounced. “I’d say we shouldn’t let this extra power go to waste, but that was literallyevery sidhe in the tri-state area. And believe me, I know.” He closed his eyes a moment. “My radius is a lot bigger right now.”
