Page 19 of Changeling
“You mean a decoy,” Nathan said. “Get a dark fae to pretend to turn me in so we can catch this bounty holder without summoning them.” The thought of those red on black eyes made Nathan’s stomach turn sour and he suppressed a deep shudder at the thought of seeing them in person. “Okay…risky move, but I guess it’s better than nothing.”
“My powers could be an asset for once,” Jim said, and Nathan refrained from reminding him that the powers had been useful on several occasions. “I could keep the bounty holder from taking you andmakethem let you go. We just need one more chance to find a dark fae who can help us. I really think we can do this, Nathan.”
Jim’s hopeful tone made Nathan almost believe it, and almost forget that more was at stake than they were admitting. Using Jim’s powers seemed to be what brought him closer to remembering what happened in the Veil, closer to those amber eyes maybe sticking around for good. But Nathan couldn’t saythat. He couldn’t admit he had eavesdropped or that he feared Jim’s True Awakening really was close at hand. Maybe hope and something else to focus on was all Jim would need to beat this; then again, maybe saving Nathan would be the last step before Jim was truly lost.
“Nathan.”
Walter’s voice startled Nathan; it had been days since he had heard it, after all.
Nathan looked up and saw Walter perched on an overhang of roof off to his left, like some man-sized and yet somehow benevolent vulture. Apparently the power of the Gatehouse didn’t quite extend to the rooftop.
“Your mind weighs heavy with this, I understand. You must be cautious. This plan risks all of you, but could also be Jim’s downfall as much as your own. You know as well as I do that his time is short, and as much as you may want to dismiss my warnings, there may not be anything you can do to prevent it.”
“Nate?” Jim prompted, as if perhaps he had asked Nathan a question.
“Huh?”
“What do you think? The location in Maine sounds best to me. It’s a longer trip, but seems more likely to be dark fae activity,” Jim said, clicking away on the laptop keyboard to bring up several windows on a town called Ellsworth. “We have more options for later, too, if Maine doesn’t pan out.” He continued reaching over Sasha to click through screens.
Nathan stared ahead at Walter, watching the way his Spirit Guide’s brown eyes glowed almost golden in the dark of the night, almostamber, as if to amplify the warning that Jim and Nathan’s time was running out.
Reaching over Sasha like Jim was, Nathan grabbed the laptop right off of Sasha’s lap and pulled it out of both of their reach to his other side beside the scanner. He clicked the laptop closed.
“Nathan,” Sasha said in irritation.
“This is important,” Jim added.
“Yeah,” Nathan agreed, “and you’ve done a fine job. But I’ve got at least one more day of vacation time due, and I’m not sitting throughMonster Squadmeetings for any of it. We know where we’re headed next and you’ve got some of the finer points down. Good. Goodenough. Now, can we move on to some mindless indulgences instead?Please.”
“It is New Year’s Eve, after all.”
Nathan, Sasha, and Jim all turned toward the window in unison, surprised by Alex’s voice. The lovely brunette was already climbing out onto the roof to join them, smartly dressed in a long wool sweater over her T-shirt and jeans. She carried a bag in one hand perfectly sectioned to hold four bottles of wine. Wally clung to her shoulder.
“I was going to bring glasses,” she said, “but they’d probably just get broken up here anyway.”
Nathan grinned. Maybe the others had forgotten, but he had been paying more attention to the days, and had realized the date earlier and mentioned it to Alex. He hadn’t expected her to respond like this, though, and it was a welcome surprise. Nathan couldn’t help but think he might not get another year to usher in.
Alex moved for Jim’s free side and snuggled under the now stretched to its limit comforter. Nathan noticed that Jim only looked slightly ruffled by her proximity against his side, while Wally scrambled down into Alex’s lap to avoid the chilly air.
“Al, that’s not even just halfway to awesome. That is full blown awesome times three. Pop one of those babies open,” Nathan said excitedly.
“We’re not waiting until midnight?” Sasha asked.
Nathan let out a laugh. “That’s for tourists. Real men can drink whenever they want. And ladies. And hey, how exactly are you getting that thing open?” he asked, glancing across the others asAlex pulled one of the bottles from the bag. “You didn’t think to bring a wine opener?”
“Well,” Alex said with something of a blush, then moved her gaze to Sasha, “I was kinda…hoping…” She passed the bottle to the incubus, and he laughed.
Sasha took the bottle in his left hand as his right formed claws. He stabbed his taloned thumb into the cork and pulled it cleanly out. “I also do parties,” he chuckled as Jim politely plucked the cork off of his thumb and chucked it into a corner of the roof. “Bottle opener gets first drink,” Sasha finished with a grin, downing back a long swallow of wine. He licked his lips appreciatively before handing the bottle back to Alex at the start of the line.
Nathan leaned forward to read over the bottle’s label as Alex took her first drink. He didn’t know wine but he certainly didn’t mind drinking it, especially when he didn’t have to pay for it. This was a red with some sort of Spanish name. The alcohol content was impressive, but the wine tasted fantastic, something Nathan found out after his first swallow. He couldn’t have beamed at the others any bigger.
Walter stepped from his perch onto the main part of the roof with a sigh. Nathan continued to ignore him. He would have plenty of time for worrying later; tonight he wanted to enjoy good wine and good company and forget whatever might lie ahead. Not soon after, Walter turned and stepped dramatically off the edge of the roof to disappear into the night. Nathan decided to take the departure as a blessing.
As the night progressed, Jim tried to keep Nathan from getting too many pulls on the bottle—or bottle number two, three, and four—worried that too much alcohol and his meds would be dangerous, but he wasn’t very successful at stopping Nathan, and soon, Nathan was blissfully buzzed. He hadn’t had any otherdrinks in more days than he could count because of the meds, but damn it, this was a special occasion.
“Yep, totally slept with her,” Jim laughed, “after we’d only just met her, too.” He laughed again and downed the last of bottle number four, to which Sasha whined and then snagged the empty bottle afterwards. “I didn’t expect Nate to actuallydateWade, so I wasn’t surprised when things didn’t work out.”
“Hey, she cheated on me!” Nathan protested.
