Page 49 of Changeling
“I’msorrybut…whatisthis about exactly?”
Nathan and Shiarra had made it to Henry Faust’s place in less than an hour. He looked younger than Nathan had expected since the guy was supposed to be in his forties; more like a young twenty-something, like someone who took good care of themselves. He lived alone and had answered the door to his small country home without a shirt.
It was Shiarra who smiled warmly and spoke to answer him first, apparently pleased that her charms could be of some use. “We’re here regarding the property of your late relative, William Hollander. If you have a moment,” she added.
“Uncle Bill’s place? Sure, sure.” Faust ran a hand through his hair and stepped aside to let Nathan and Shiarra into the house, looking like maybe he had been taking a nap before they arrived since his eyes were tired. He brushed his fingers through his hair to tame it and led them into a living room, where he swiped a shirt from off the back of a chair. The rest of the place was verytidy and, Nathan had to note, a little too old poke country for his tastes.
Nathan couldn’t help noticing how Shiarra eyed Faust appraisingly while he put on his shirt. He was in good shape, sure. A little tooblondmaybe.
With a sharp elbow to Shiarra’s side, Nathan managed to knock her eyes from the guy’s ass before Faust turned around and caught her. Charm was fine, but actually getting interested was not what they were there for. Of course she just shrugged at Nathan innocently in response to his elbowing. The look was remarkably akin to one of Sasha’s.
Nathan glanced at Walter, who had joined them just as they were pulling up to the small cottage. His brown eyes were narrowed on Faust with a look of concern and…confusion.
“Is this about the vandalism or the squatters?” Faust asked, offering Nathan and Shiarra seats on the sofa.
“Vandalism?” Shiarra questioned.
“Yeah. Didn’t you hear the whole place went down yesterday? Sturdy buildings like that don’t just fall over.” Faust sat himself down in a cushy-looking chair next to the couch.
“We’re here about a little bit of everything, Mr. Faust,” Nathan said.
“Or should we call you Henry?” Shiarra jumped in, batting her eyes at him.
Faust cracked a sideways grin. Nathan didn’t miss the way his eyes swept quickly over Shiarra’s body. “Hank, actually. Henry was my father. Our family has a long tradition of juniors.”
“So,” Nathan pushed right on, “Hank. First, I don’t suppose you could tell us why you were letting the Animus House just sit there, abandoned. Even if you didn’t want to continue in your uncle’s footsteps with the place, it could have been renovated and made into a nice home inside the city. It is still in your name, after all. The place just sitting there seemed a little…odd to me.”
A concerned frown crossed Faust’s face. “Why? Because I want nothing to do with the place,” he said simply. “To be honest, the house has always given me the creeps. Uncle Bill didn’t want to see the place torn down after he died, so of course I took it. I didn’t want to let him down, but being too close to the place or living in it, even for Uncle Bill’s sake, I just couldn’t imagine.” Faust sighed, pain etched between his brows at the mention of his uncle.
“We’re sorry to bring all of this up for you again,” Shiarra said tenderly.
Nathan thought he was beginning to understand how to read the succubus, and she seemed entirely genuine toward Faust. Nathan glanced between the two of them and saw Faust smile in her direction. Then Nathan looked to Walter.
“Faust is human, Nathan,” Walter said, standing beside the man’s chair as he looked down on him. “But there is fae magic here. Strong magic. He is almost certainly lying about any grief for his relative, but his power seems capable of convincing…even a succubus.” He turned to look at Shiarra as he spoke.
“It just gets to me that he spent so much time on that house, whatever he did with it, and no one even really cared when he passed away,” Faust went on. “I didn’t want to think of that happening to me, so I just let the house sit. If you want information about what happened to it or about those squatters, I’m sorry but…I can’t help you.”
“Thanks for your time,” Nathan said, getting up and looking at Shiarra as a sign that it was time to go. “It was a beautiful building and we were just curious about it. The story seemed like something that might be worth writing about.”
"Oh, you're journalists?" Faust asked, standing and extending his hand to shake Nathan's.
Nathan just smiled. "We'll call if we think of anything else we need to ask."
Shiarra looked at Nathan a little strangely at this sudden departure but reached for Faust’s hand as well, shook it, and made with polite goodbyes before following Nathan out.
As soon as they reached the car, Nathan shook his head at Shiarra with a soft chuckle.
“What?” she said haughtily. “I am allowed to admire. It’s not like it did any harm.”
“That’s not why I’m laughing.” Nathan climbed into the car and started up the engine.
Shiarra joined him, staring at him as she waited for Nathan to explain himself.
“You, thinking you can read people so well, were just swindled,” Nathan said.
“Excuse me?”
“Faust played you. He waslying. I don’t know about what, but he’s hiding something. I’m sure of it.” Nathan had thought as much even before Walter confirmed his suspicions.
