Page 57 of Changeling
After a while, Jim ran his fingers down Nathan’s face to get him to close his eyes. He shushed Nathan and even said, “It’s okay. It’s okay, Nathan,” and Nathan tried to stay calm like Jim wanted. He knew it wasn’t just the mojo either. Nathan needed to stay calm and think his way out of this. There were so many ways this could go horribly wrong.
It felt like hours passed with Nathan practically dozing while Jim stroked his face and smoothed his hair in that eerie,awkward way. All of the plans Nathan came up with fell flat when he remembered, ‘oh yeah, but then there’sthatpower he could use against me,’ until all he was left with was dumb luck or divine intervention, and Nathan really didn’t like either of those options. He was both relieved and frustrated at not having more time to think when he heard the door open at Sasha’s return.
Nathan felt Jim get up from the bed and realized thankfully that he could move again too. For now he decided not to push his luck and just sat up, opening his eyes and squinting toward the door at Sasha. The incubus looked maybe a little beaten like he had been in a fight, but was otherwise okay.
What horrified Nathan was the young blonde woman in Sasha’s arms with an iron knife sticking out of her chest.
“No…” Even if Nathan had wanted to move just then he wouldn’t have been able to. Jim hadn’t actually sent Sasha out to kill someone, had he? It became clear, however, that the girl was still alive when Sasha set her on the floor in front of Jim. She was breathing heavily. Then her eyes opened and it all made sense to Nathan as he took in the sight of her nearly whitesliteyes.
A dark fae—and thankfully not Ula. The knife wasn’t quite centered through her heart, but close enough that she was weakened and unable to move. Nathan took in her blonde hair, pale skin, white eyes, and willowy figure. A Sylph. There had even been a small gust of air when Sasha set her on the floor, but she didn’t have enough of her powers about her to hurl a blizzard or tornado their way—not with the knife so embedded. The slit eyes marked her as dark fae, so Nathan tried to be thankful of that; but no, that seemed wrong, too, because hadn’t they proven again and again that light or dark didn’t matter?
Sasha stepped back, leaving the fae to Jim, who studied her a moment before suddenly grabbing her by the throat, lifting her effortlessly from the floor, and slamming her hard up against the wall.
With Jim preoccupied, Nathan got up from the bed and moved toward Sasha, praying he wouldn’t come up against another wall of TK. He reached the incubus just as the mojo left Sasha and bright blue eyes blinked from being blank to blessedly coherent.
“Nathan…?” Sasha said, sounding understandably confused as Nathan came to stand in front of him. “What…?” Sasha’s eyes darted just enough to the side to take in the sight of Jim holding the dark fae up against the wall. He paled. “Is that…my knife?”
Nathan was thankful he didn’t have to explain right then because they were distracted by the one-sided conversation going on behind them. Jim wasn’t talking but the dark fae sure seemed to be hearing something and she did not like what was being said.
“No!” she nearly shrieked, making Nathan glad they didn’t really have any neighbors since so few people were staying at the motel. “Stay away! Leave me be!”
The knife was still in her chest, making it impossible for her to struggle against Jim. Nathan had never seen a dark fae look so scared of another being. Not since the Dryads.
“I don’t know!” she yelled, barely able to shake her head. “I swear I don’t know! I’m on the run. Not even my own kind will take me in. I know nothing of this bounty. I’d be killed if I tried to summon the one you speak of after being banished.”
There was silence again as Jim apparently said, thought,whatever, something else.
“Others…? P-Pittsburg. I know…I felt the presence of another there, dark for certain, and very powerful. Whoever is there can summon the contract holder, I promise you.” She paused a moment again. “I…I don’t know where, or who, or what specifically, only a presence. I can’t help with more than that.”
As another brief silence filled the room, the dark fae’s eyes went wide with terror.
“No! Please!” she begged. “They’ll kill me! There’s no point! Even if they fall for your trap, you have no hope of defeating them…notthem.” For a moment her voice went soft again, and Nathan thought maybe she was trying to be understanding rather than hurtful when she said, “Nothing can save your brother now.”
A sound escaped Jim like a feral growl, like the way Sasha sounded when he was frenzied, and suddenly the Sylph imploded into a cloud of dust with a shriek that echoed and then quickly faded as soon as it sounded. It was as if Jim had turned her into vapor, into the element of air she represented, and then she was nothing, leaving only the knife that clattered to the floor amidst a few blue, sparkling specks.
As the dust settled and Nathan stared in awe at the aftermath, Jim turned to look at Sasha.
“No!” Nathan cried, stepping in front of Sasha to block him from Jim’s gaze. “You’re not making him do anything else. God, Jim…what did you do to that girl?”
Sasha’s voice came unexpected and quiet from behind Nathan. “Don’t you get it?”
Whipping around to face the redhead, Nathan found Sasha’s expression calmer now, staring haunted but determined at Jim and where the Sylph girl had been. After a moment, he met Nathan’s gaze.
“He’s trying to save you, Nathan. When he’s like this, when he gives in and lets his powers overtake him, they…amplify, and he can sense where nearby fae are. He knew that Sylph was close, and just how vile she was. She was shunned even by other dark fae, because she was a murderer and killed her own kind. Do you really want to mourn her when Jim only did this to help you?”
Nathan gaped openly. “How…how do you know all that?”
“Because. He just told me.” Sasha’s eyes turned to look at Jim again, and Nathan’s gaze followed.
Jim waited patiently, the fury that had been on his face when he killed the Sylph having melted away. He didn’t look sinister. Not really. Not like in Nathan’s dreams. But his power, his anger when he didn’t get what he wanted, was terrifying.
“It’s still Jim, Nathan,” Sasha said. “He’s just split in two—human and changeling; asleep and…Awakened. The human Jim’s been fighting so hard to keep from Awakening fully, but he has to give in. It’s the only way he’ll be able to control it.”
Jim took a few steps toward them, apparently done being patient.
Again, Nathan blocked Sasha, holding his arms outstretched. “No.”
“It’s okay,” Sasha said softly. The incubus stepped up close behind Nathan and placed a hand on his good shoulder. “She gave us a lead. Pittsburg. There’s a dark fae there for sure, we just don’t know the specifics. We can check in with your friend Wade, the psychic, and finally end this. He just wants me to scout ahead.”
