Page 73 of Changeling
Nathan grinned, and leaned in to kiss Sasha again. “Eh, you’re wearing me down.”
Chapter 29
“Okay,sothisiswhat we got so far, right?” Nathan said, staring over Sasha’s shoulder at his laptop screen while Jim sat next to them looking at their notes on paper. They had settled in at their newest motel but weren’t wasting any time. “Winchester Thurston Prep School has had six deaths in the past month. They only got about fifteen-hundred students, so that’s crazy no matter how you look at it. Four were students and two teachers, all having something to do with this show they’re working on.”
“Their Spring Musical,Aida,” Sasha said. “Good show. It’s a modern retelling of the opera. Set in Egypt, with a Romeo and Juliet story, and great music. Elton John and Tim Rice.”
Nathan stared at Sasha skeptically. “Andwhydo you know all that?”
“Oh shut up,” Sasha said without losing a step, “I’ve heard you hummingSinging in the Rainmore than once so don’t even try to play innocent with me. Tocontinue,” he said with a crooked grin, “both teachers were helping on the play, the lead pianistfor the pit orchestra and one of the costume people, and all of the students were somehow involved, whether chorus or just stagehands. Any number of malevolent trickster fae could be at work, but the tie to the musical makes me wonder if it’s a siren.”
Jim sifted through their notes. “Possible. Not all of the deaths happened near the auditorium but they did all happen in the same campus. No deaths reported in the buildings for the younger kids and middle school. And the types of death are all different. One teacher fell from the catwalk, the other was found at the bottom of a staircase. And the kids…inhaled paint fumes, slipped on a wet floor in the hallways, impaled on a…urg. Power drill,” he read off the notes.
“And the last one?” Nathan asked.
“Most recent,” Jim went on, “Cynthia Hedin. Senior. Stage Manager. Found with seven industrial staples in her jugular. Bled out.Man.” Jim looked up. “I can’t believe these people keep passing this stuff off as accidents.”
“Well, they do all look like accidents,” Sasha shrugged. “And you know how people always see what they want to see.”
“Sounds like asking faculty and students is gonna be our best bet for finding out more,” Nathan said. “Still wanna hit the school tonight?”
“Definitely,” Jim insisted. “If the dark fae we’re after is living in the auditorium or other buildings, even if we don’t find it tonight, I might be able to sense something.”
“You can’t sense anything now?” Sasha asked.
“I don’t…think so. Not the way I could when I was…the other night. I’m not really sure how to tap into it for long distance. At least not…safely. Not yet.”
Nathan patted Jim on the shoulder. “Don’t sweat it. We’ll find something.”
“We’re going to have to be careful though. I’m sure a place like this has security, not just a janitor mulling around,” Sasha added. “And the last thing we need is police attention.”
Theywaitedafewmore hours before heading out, taking along as many weapons as they believed they could easily hide. Since they had taken a Veil Doorway the last leg of the journey into Pittsburg—they used the one into Wade’s waiting room, only to find her suspiciously absent and therefore left without getting the chance to talk to her—they had quickly borrowed a new vehicle for getting around town.
After parking a few blocks down from Winchester Thurston’s high school, they made their way stealthily through the mostly residential areas until finally reaching the building with the auditorium. They figured it was the best place to start considering their theories about the school play. The building was pretty impressive once they managed to stay out of sight from the one security guard watching the grounds. They expected there to be at least one more guard inside the buildings, but assumed he only made checks each hour.
Actually breaching the building’s automated security was a joke. After Nathan picked the lock to the auditorium’s building, the alarm system kicked in silently, allowing him thirty seconds to punch in a security code in the pad beside the door. He typed in ‘WTPS’, the school’s initials, and groaned at human idiocy for that being the correct answer. He’d been prepared with several ways to override the system, but that was just sad.
“Seriously, could people be more predictable?” he grumbled at Jim and Sasha.
“Come on,” Jim said, pointing his flashlight down the hallway that led from the door. “Let’s get a look around. If we run into anything, we’ll have to deal with it, so let’s stick together.”
Sasha pulled his gun, Nathan pulled out the pheromone detector—they didn’t know for certain what they were dealing with yet, after all—and Jim led the way with his flashlight, apparently trying to see if he sensed anything now that they were inside the building. Judging by the way his lips were pursed, Nathan assumed he didn’t.
“So what’s this musical about?” Nathan whispered to Sasha. Jim was a little ways ahead of them as they made their way in and out of a few classrooms.
A grin spread across Sasha’s face, though he tried to keep his eyes facing forward. “I told you, Romeo and Juliet, only it’s an African princess who’s taken as a slave for the Pharaoh, and she falls in love with the man in line to marry the Pharaoh’s daughter. They risk everything to prove their love is worth any sacrifice even if some people think it’s…wrong.” Blue eyes glanced over just long enough to flash down Nathan’s body beside him.
Nathan smirked. “And it’s a musical?”
“Ohyeah.”
“So…schools actually put on that stuff?”
Sasha stopped just outside the most recent room they had scanned. “You’re kidding. Of course there are musicals and plays. Drama club? Theater programs? Even I had theater in school.”
Nathan turned to face Sasha with a slight gape. “Were you in any of ‘em?”
“Uhh…” There was definitely a new shade of pink that flushed to Sasha’s cheeks.
