Page 23 of Incubus
"I knew...something was wrong," Sasha tried to explain as he righted himself against the wall. "I should have called you. Carol was...already dead when I got here. I chased...the succubus…out of the apartment, but she got away. And when I…got back…you were already here.”
“You chased asuccubusout of the apartment?” Nathan said in disbelief. “First off, if you had chased anything out of this apartment, we would have seen you.”
“Uh…Nathan?” Jim pointed to the large kitchen window on the other side of the room. There was broken glass on the linoleum.
“That doesn’t prove anything,” Nathan dismissed. “That could have been how he got in here in the first place. And we didn’t even get to number two,” he added, glaring down at Sasha without sympathy. “You're after my bounty, right? And there I went falling right into your hands. We’re not idiots. You’re. Not. Human.”
“No...I'm not. I'm an incubus,” Sasha admitted. The blue veins were moving beneath the surface of his skin and climbing ever higher up his neck. “But I am not…the killer. I didn’t know aboutyour bounty...until you told me. My kind can't sense marks. You have…haveto believe me.Please.”
Hearing Sasha’s pleading only made the grip Nathan had on the shotgun tighten further. "Go to Hell," he said, and started to pull the trigger.
“Nate!”
"Nathan, stop!"
Jim had called out first, but it was Walter's voice loud in Nathan's ear that made him hesitate. The ghost of a hand reached out as if to push the barrel of the gun aside, though it could do little more than hover. As Nathan stood with the gun aimed, his hands began to tremble.
"Nate...what if he's telling the truth?" Jim said, not knowing that Walter was the reason Nathan had yet to shoot.
"I was not sure what I saw in him before, Nathan," Walter said. "I knew he wasn’t human, but he did not seem like fae either. Now I understand. He is neither dark nor light fae; he is both. He is an incubus. But the pheromones left in that room are not his. I saw the succubus myself. I was able to follow her farther than Sasha, but lost track of her. I am sorry I was not here, but you must listen. Sasha does not mean you any harm."
"You…knew Sasha wasn't human, when dark fae have abountyon my head, and you didn't tell us?" Nathan shifted his gaze to glare at Walter beside him.
"He is not after the bounty, Nathan," Walter said. "He is the one person who can help you. Would you have allowed yourself to befriend him if you knew the truth?"
"I think I knew too," Jim said, crouching down beside Sasha, who seemed too much in pain to understand what was happening anymore, let alone that Nathan had been talking to some invisible figure. "It was just a feeling before, but...I can see it now, Nate, like a switch turned on in my head. What he really looks like..."
"He's anincubus," Nathan said viciously. "Even if he’s not after my bounty, and even if therewasa succubus here tonight, how can we trust him?"
Jim turned pained blue eyes up at him. "But Wade said—"
"Oh come on, Jim! Who cares what Wade said! For all we know she might have set us up on purpose. Maybe she knew exactly what she was doing and sent us here to die."
"No...she wouldn't do that."
"She had to have known he was an incubus, Jim. If she was on our side then why didn't she tell us the truth?"
"Because of you!" Jim jumped to his feet. "Because she knew you wouldn't listen. You hate fae without any exception, Nathan. You can't look at me and be sure I'm not going to turn into something terrible one day if you really think all fae are evil. You forgive Sasha being a seal, but can't get past him being fae? I thought of betrayal first too, but…he's just trying to do the right thing. I believe that, Nathan. He can help us."
The conviction in Jim’s voice forced Nathan to look at Sasha again. The blue veins had spread to every part of Sasha's body, even his face, making his eyes look bloodshot and sickly. He was barely conscious.
Nathan tore his gaze away. "He's some kind of...sex vampire. And you want me to trust him?"
"Nathan," Jim and Walter spoke at the same time.
Nathan held up a hand to quiet them. "This is crazy," he said, even as he was finally letting the shotgun go limp at his side. "How can you be so sure he won't turn on us?"
A choked sob left Sasha from the floor, like he was struggling to breathe.
Jim crouched down again, and reached out to touch a hand to Sasha's face. "Sasha?"
The contact of skin and hearing Jim’s voice seemed to clear Sasha’s mind. He blinked slowly and leaned in to the offeredtouch. “My mother...was a succubus," Sasha said, not really looking at Jim, "and she fell in love with a seal. He didn’t care…what she was. He became one of us…to be with her. When he wanted to keep hunting…she understood. He just wanted to help people. But one of Dad's…friends…wasn’t as accepting. The only thing that other seal saw when he murdered my parents…was monsters.”
“Sasha…” Jim said again, pained in a way Nathan knew only too well.
The story was achingly familiar.
“Always wondered…if I’d go out the same way…” Sasha trailed.
