Page 61 of Changeling
"We have to take a few days to let you recover properly," Sasha said. "You’ve barely had time to heal from the wounds you had in the hospital, and you keep getting thrown into fights."
“I’ll have plenty of time to rest and recover on our way to Pittsburg,” Nathan said. “Don’t sweat it. Let’s just try and make sure I avoid any serious injury for a while, huh? The normal human really shouldn’t be the one always coming to the rescue, you know.” He grinned.
Jim rolled his eyes. “Well, I suppose the sooner we find this dark fae in Pittsburg and call on the bounty holder, the better. After we free you from your mark, Nathan, we can take as long of a vacation as you like.”
Now that sounded heavenly. “You got a deal, Jesse James.”
They gathered their coats, finished packing away any remaining articles of clothing and personal belongings, and headed for the door to say goodbye to Ula, when something occurred to Nathan.
“Hey…guys,” Nathan said, just as Jim grasped the doorknob. Jim and Sasha turned back to look at him quizzically. “It’s nothing really, just…Faust said something to me, and I can’t help thinking, well…he said the reason you two were pulled into that room and I wasn’t had to be because youwantedto see the future. That you must have actually seen something or you wouldn’t have turned into kids. So…did you? See anything in there?”
It was as if someone took an eraser to both of their faces, Jim and Sasha went so suddenly pale. They looked at each other before turning back to Nathan, and when they shook their heads with the same, “No, nothing,” on their lips, Nathan knew they were lying.
“Right. Well…better get moving, huh?” Nathan smiled big and pushed on past them, taking a deep breath once he was out of their visual ranges. He couldn’t help thinking about the other thing Faust had said, about what everyone saw in that room because it was the only inevitable thing.
Nathan had a sinking feeling that Jim and Sasha hadn’t seen themselves.
Chapter 25
Evenwiththeirnextdestination firmly set on Pittsburg, Nathan had no desire to drive thirteen hours straight from Ellsworth, Maine, and the nearest Veil doorway wasn’t much closer. They stopped just past the halfway point in a little nowhere New York town off Interstate 84. The place they’d holed up in had rooms with two double beds and a full kitchen, which Nathan would have loved to take advantage of, but he also really wanted a drink, so they decided they’d head out for something to eat after getting settled in.
Nathan sat at the table in the main room, reading through the information they’d gathered so far about strange deaths at a private Pittsburg high school, but he didn’t get very far before Sasha came out of the bathroom with only a loosely draped towel resting low on his hips—something Nathan was certain the incubus did just to torture him. Jim had left in their borrowed car for a convenience store where he could replenish their toothpaste and other essentials, so the two of them were alone.They hoped to catch a Veil doorway the last leg into Pittsburg the next day.
Jim would be a while yet, so Nathan was sorely tempted to take advantage of the situation, but he couldn’t let the redhead win him over so easily—just with bared skin. So he thought quickly of a distraction to at least keep Sasha from changing into his clothes just yet, even though the topic that sprang to mind was one he knew he would have to tread lightly.
“You know,” Nathan said as he turned in his chair to face the incubus, catching Sasha’s attention as the redhead rummaged for a change of clean clothes. “Your aunt implied there were a lot more than just Lindsey and that Charis chick in your childhood clique. Think any of ‘em will ever…call or look you up?”
Sasha glanced over at Nathan, seemingly stunned by the question. “I…I don’t know. The way you said Charis still seems to care, that maybe Lindsey does too, makes me hopeful, but…I was hopeful for years. Just seeing any of them would be nice. Charis was always sort of like a big sister. She held the fort together when we were kids. I guess I wouldn’t be surprised if she wanted to try mending fences after running into each other like that.”
“Which brings me to my next question.” Nathan might have some ulterior motives, as far as keeping Sasha in a towel, but he also really wanted to know Sasha better, any way he could. “You obviously didn’t make any more of an effort to see them than they did to see you over the years. Why? You were so happy to have seen Charis for like five seconds and you didn’t even try before? Were you really that scared they’d want nothing to do with you?”
Sasha stared down at his bag propped up on the bed. “You weren’t there. You don’t know what it was like when I first told them I was leaving. All of them were…terrified of me. Like they thought I was suddenly going to turn around and kill all of themjust because I wanted to be a seal. I…I didn’t know what else to think.”
“But you were kids. You were sixteen, right? It’s been years. You don’t think some of the others besides Charis miss you? I’d miss you.”
“You’re biased,” Sasha said with a smirk.
“Yeah, well…maybe just a little. Still, that Cam guy, he seemed pretty easygoing. I bet he’d—”
“How do you know about Cam?” Sasha broke in. “I never mentioned him.”
“Uhh…well…you see I was just, uhh…”
“Nathan, I’m teasing you,” Sasha grinned wide again, turning away from the bed. “I know you spied on me in that one room in the Animus House. You don’t have to make up some lie to avoid telling me.”
Nathan gaped at Sasha. “You know? But how? You didn’t even turn around once.”
“I think my five-year-old predecessor said it best,” Sasha said. “You feel really loud.”
A chuckle escaped Nathan’s lips. “Damn it, I didn’t even think of that. Okay. Ya got me. Sorry I spied. I was just…I just wanted to know more about you before all the seal stuff. I know it’s hard for you, but if you ask me, you’re the one who’s making it hard. I know they haven’t made much effort, either, but maybe that’s the problem. Maybe you’re all waiting for someone else to make the first move, and that, I can promise you, usually gets you nowhere. Charis can’t be the only one who wants to see you. I know it was years ago, but…watching you with Lindsey and Cam back then…that kind of friendship doesn’t just go away. Maybe I’m not the best person to say anything aboutfriends, but…” Nathan trailed. After all, he’d never really had any friends. Few he could remember from childhood, other than Alex, andthen just Jim his whole life. Not that he didn’t cherish Jim’s friendship, but that was…different.
“You’ve been an amazing friend tome,” Sasha said sincerely, but when Nathan glanced back up at the incubus, there was a definite heat to Sasha’s stare rather than just sincerity.
Without the slightest hesitation in his strides as he sauntered the rest of the way over to Nathan, Sasha turned the entire chair toward him with one firm pull. He crawled forward onto Nathan’s lap without invitation, the towel hitching enough to leave very little to the imagination as he settled in. He was still a little damp, enough that Nathan could feel wetness seeping into his clothing.
“What is it with you and getting me soggy? Wait…” Nathan made a face at his unintended double entendre, especially since ‘soggy’ wasn’t the sexiest way to put it.
Sasha merely scooted forward so that the very naked parts of him beneath the towel pressed firmly against Nathan through his jeans. Nathan couldn’t help gasping. That was hot. Especially with how the towel stayed on Sasha’s hips, hiding their intimate connection like a tease.
