Page 87 of Changeling
Nathan was face-down as he plummeted. He thought of calling out to warn the girl, was actually pretty surprised he hadn’t already, when he suddenly felt as if something was trying to slow his fall. He felt what might have been hands around his waist, though he knew Cam was still above him.
Then he heard Walter’s voice beside his ear, “I’ve got you, Nathan.”
Before he could register what that meant, there was a rush of air as Cam swooped down after him and carried him off low to stage left. They got tangled in one of the curtains thanks to Cam’s somewhat clumsy catch, and ended up tumbling to the floor about five feet off the ground. Nathan’s heart was beating so fast he didn’t even notice that Cam was human again and lying on top of him until the brunette lifted himself up and stared down into his face.
“That was way too close. You okay?” Cam asked, concern etched into his youthful features.
Nathan took a few slow, even breaths, waiting for his shoulder to scream at him in pain, but he’d managed to roll well enough not to aggravate anything. “Yeah. Sure. I think…I think so. That was very stupid on my part.”
“No, it was my fault. I should have been able to hang onto you, I was just—”
“Hello? Someone back here?” came the voice of a teenage girl, and before Cam could finish what he was about to say or maybe roll off of Nathan so their position didn’t look quite so incriminating, the girl from the stage parted the curtain and found them tangled on the floor. “Oh…uhhh…sorry?” she said, quickly dropping the part of the curtain she had pulled back. She was younger, probably a sophomore, and had long brunette hairtied back from her face. They heard her walk quickly away from them.
Cam started chuckling.
“Shut up,” Nathan said through a grin, tossing Cam off of him. He spotted Walter standing nearby as they scrambled to their feet. Nathan wanted to ask if he’d imagined that brief physical presence that had slowed his fall before Cam caught him, but he didn’t want to address Walter publicly—too many questions he didn’t feel like answering.
“Well as much as I’d love to continue this moment of male bonding, maybe we should check in with Jim and Sasha, see if they’ve made any headway,” Cam said. “And for the record, if you ever tell this story, I didn’t drop you. Falling doesn’t count. Long as I catch you.”
“Deal. And I owe you one.”
The girl who had been on stage was doing homework in an auditorium chair when they headed for the exit. She cast them strange looks as they left, but Nathan just smiled wide and went on by without a faltering step.
Jim and Sasha were finishing talking with a girl in the corner of the choir room when they got back. She had natural red hair, pale skin, and looked about as freaked as anyone they had yet seen. They waited until she dashed off before approaching their companions.
“Why are you two all dusty?” Sasha asked, staring at Nathan’s slightly dirty jacket and Cam’s now very grey winter coat.
“Uhh…catwalk trouble,” Nathan said.
Cam nodded. “It’s crazy dirty up there. But we didn’t find any clues. You?”
“We got through everyone but one of the girls,” Sasha said. “That last one was Jennifer, the one Leven mentioned last night. Jim?” Sasha turned to Jim for confirmation but he didn’t look too accusing.
“It’s not her. Or any of the others so far, at least that I can tell. Jennifer is definitely scared though, which makes me think she could be a new target. She’s hiding something we couldn’t quite read but she’s no dark fae. There’s just one more kid to see. When we talked with Mrs. Larson,” Jim said, pointing to the now closed office door of the choir room, “she said that Tina, the last girl on our list, would be in the auditorium now practicing.”
“Sure,” Nathan said, “there was a girl in there when we left. Let’s go.”
The four of them headed back the way Cam and Nathan had come from. The girl was stretching on stage when they returned. Surprisingly, Jennifer was there too, hanging by the door. Nathan made to approach her since she still looked freaked about something, but as soon as she saw that she was no longer alone, she made a quick exit.
“Better keep an eye on that girl,” Nathan said.
The others nodded but continued for the stage. The brunette turned out to be Tina, just as they suspected, and talked openly when they asked her questions. Nathan didn’t get any feeling that she was anything but a normal high school girl, and glances at Cam and Sasha said they weren’t picking up anything strange from her either. Jim was another story.
No one else would have been able to notice, but Nathan knew how to read his brother. Jim was tense and very alert as he talked to Tina, gauging her much more scrutinizingly than he had Jennifer. There was definitely something going on beneath the surface that neither Nathan nor the incubi could sense.
Jim very quickly ushered them all out of the auditorium after they were finished speaking with her and said without any hesitation, “It’s her. I’m positive.”
“What?” Cam looked completely taken aback. “What are you talking about? She wasn’t lying about anything. Totally genuine. Sash?”
Sasha frowned, his eyebrows tightly furrowed. “I didn’t sense anything off either, but you seem pretty sure, Jim. How do you know it’s her?”
“Because. I couldn’t read anything from her.”
“You couldn’t tell if she was fae?” Sasha asked.
“No,” Jim shook his head, “I couldn’t tell if she was fae, human, or even actually standing in front of us. She was just…blank.”
Levenwasnotpleasedwhen they told him they were sure the person they were after was Tina. She was another younger friend of his that he did not feel like losing. She also played the part of Aida, the title character, even as a younger student. Given the pattern of fear in the victims before their deaths, they were almost certain Tina was targeting Jennifer next.
