Page 54 of Changeling
Chapter 22
Nathanmovedquicklypasta woman he assumed to be Ula’s mother behind the front desk, and went for their room. His hands shook as he got out his key and reached for the doorknob. He could knock but there was something grounding in opening the door himself.
Swinging the door open, Nathan took stock of the room before him, seeing that both Jim and Sasha looked as though they had been sitting but had stood abruptly upon hearing the key. Ula sat at the table. She was smiling, while Jim and Sasha both looked caught somewhere between joy and relief. Nathan barely made it all the way inside the room to permit Shiarra behind him before Sasha was right there in front of him, grabbing him by the folds of his jacket and kissing him hard enough to bruise.
They pulled apart and Nathan was breathless. He stared into those bright blue eyes—eyes that looked back at him withlove, not just blind childish devotion.
“Hey,” Nathan gasped out. “That better have been a twenty-five-year-old you doing that, baby, coz otherwise it’d be kinda creepy.”
A laugh erupted out of Sasha, and Nathan heard Jim chuckle too. “All grown up,” Sasha said with a smile. “We did talk to you on the phone.”
“Not the same as this,” Nathan said, squeezing Sasha’s shoulder.
Sasha moved to hug his aunt, and Jim didn’t give Nathan any chance to protest as he pulled him in for a hug too. It was tight. Too tight, like maybe Jim had forgotten he had super-strength these days.
“Just so I know I’m not crazy…” came the humored voice of Ula, “I’m guessing one of the other things you didn’t mention was that Nathan is not actually married to Shiarra. Either that…or you have a very open relationship.”
Shiarra barked a laugh, Sasha soon joined in, and finally Jim did as well, hot against Nathan’s neck. When they pulled from their embrace, Jim pointed a finger at Nathan shaped like a gun, half-hidden between their bodies. Nathan did the same in response.
They shared a silent BANG.
“Nathan,” Sasha said, once Nathan and Jim had disentangled, “there’s…something we need to tell you.” He glanced nervously back at Ula, who had stood from the table.
“What? Anything I should be worried about?” Nathan had been certain they wouldn’t need to worry about Ula telling anyone what had really happened—who would believe her that two grown men had been mentally turned into five-year-olds?
“No,” Sasha said a little too quickly, “nothing toworryabout.”
Jim stared at Nathan pensively, while Ula began to fidget.
“Okay. What’s going on?” They’d only just finished averting one disaster; Nathan was not in the mood for mind games.
“Oh, I’m causing trouble,” Ula said miserably.
“No you’re not,” Sasha jumped in, turning back to her. “It’s just…look, you don’t need to worry. We’ve already told you we believe you. And Nathan will too. He trustsme, right?”
Walter appeared suddenly beside Nathan, staring ahead at Ula with wide eyes. It was then that Nathan realized he had never been around Ula while Walter was with him; Walter had always been out on some assignment.
“A fae presence…” Nathan whispered to himself, even before Walter turned to him.
“She isdarkfae, Nathan. Not sidhe, but…” Walter glanced back at Ula. “A shapeshifter.”
Nathan immediately reached back to where he had a gun tucked into his jeans.
“Nathan!” Sasha called out, hands held up defensively as he moved into the line of fire. “It’s okay. Ula knew the truth all along—it wasn’t just the cartoons or guesswork. She knew what Jim and I both were and that we were cursed. That’s why she was so understanding. She knew you were lying from the start. She’s a shapeshifter, but she doesn’t mean us any harm.”
“I told you, Nathan,” Jim said, looking on imploringly as he too moved to stand between Nathan and the young woman, while Shiarra stepped up to Nathan’s other side, looking on with equal hesitation, “Ula’s not like other people. Notnormal. I said that, remember? I could sense it then, even as a child. I knew she was fae, I just didn’t understand, but I never thought she’d hurt us. She’s been nothing but good to us.”
“But…” Nathan didn’t understand this, and his hand twitched on the butt of his gun. “Shapeshifters are dark fae. She’sdarkfae.”
“Not all dark fae are evil,” Ula spoke up, in her same small, sweet voice. “I know that most shapeshifters kill the people they take the form of, but I never have. I swear. The real Ula died fiveyears ago.Naturally. And I…well…I needed a place to hide out, and the family was just so happy to have their daughter back. They know I’m not really her, but I like being Ula. I don’t mean anyone any harm.”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed on the girl instinctually. “Grew up withstoriesabout faeries in your garden, huh? And just who were you hiding from?”
Ula’s expression sank, her blue-green eyes downturned. “Seals...and other dark fae. They didn’t understand that I just wanted to live a human life, peacefully. Please…”
“Nathan, Ula’s on the level,” Sasha said. “Really. Some fae can fool my senses. Not shapeshifters. Right, Shi?”
Shiarra hesitated for only a moment, focusing intensely on the girl, before she nodded. “We often can’t sense fae heritage other than our own, but we can sense intentions. I never would have allowed her to watch over the boys if I thought she meant them harm. And an average dark fae wouldn’t be able to fool me as Faust did.”
