Page 98 of Incubus
“Ohshit…shit.”Nathanclosedhis eyes. There was just so much space beneath him—black empty space.
“I don’t like this, ” Sasha’s voice carried down to him after a few moments of air whipping past Nathan’s face.
You don’t like this?Nathan thought maddeningly, but he couldn’t form the words.
“I can see Gabriel and Jim pretty well now, but it just seems too…convenient." Sasha's voice was that strange growl that Nathan might have enjoyed if he wasn’t dangling above the ground. "It’s like Gabriel’s keeping just enough ahead of Jim so Jim doesn’t lose him, but still moving fast enough not to get caught. Like he’s…”
The flight was frightening, but Nathan had to peek an eye open. He could see the moving figures of Jim and Gabriel too, and there in the distance lay the building Nathan had noticed on the rooftop. “Like he’s…leading Jim somewhere,” Nathan finished.
“Jim’s moving a little steadier. Maybe without his jacket the cold is helping sober him up.”
That was possible, but that didn’t mean Jim was in any condition to fight.
Now that Nathan had convinced himself he wasn’t going to plummet to his death, he allowed himself to look around. If he didn’t hate heights so much it might actually be beautiful. The landscape of Chicago lay in the distance, sparkling up toward the sky. It reminded Nathan of just how many people lived in the city and its surrounding suburbs.
“Have you thought about people seeing us?” he said to Sasha, as if his scolding would make them land faster.
A low chuckle escaped the incubus. “People lie to themselves all the time about what they see. Besides, who would believe the guy who said he saw a gargoyle carrying someone off to its lair?”
“One of the people who watched the cartoon?”
Sasha laughed again, but when he spoke, he was entirely serious. “Okay, they haven’t reached the building yet and we’re almost there. I’m going to go in low so I can drop you.”
Nathan’s head snapped up to look at Sasha's face above him. “You’re going to what?!”
“I’m talking so low you’ll be able to touch your feet down and start running before I even let go," Sasha said above the sound of the rushing wind, red eyes dancing with amused affection. "It’ll just propel you. Trust me.”
That did sound better than ‘so I can drop you’, but Nathan just wanted the ride to be over. It was going to be close anyway. Jim and Gabriel had almost reached the building in front of them, and there was no telling what Gabriel might have planned, waiting inside those walls.
Nathan could see that Jim was running straight and steady, but he remembered how glassy his brother's eyes had still looked when they were crouched together by the dumpster.
“Ready?” Sasha prompted. The ground was mere feet below them and Jim and Gabriel were only a few yards ahead.
Nathan braced himself, feeling a little ridiculous when the ground came up fast and he started pumping his legs even before his feet touched down. Then he was running almost as if Sasha was no longer hanging on, then suddenly that was true, and he felt the rush as Sasha let go and he propelled forward.
With his adrenaline up again, Nathan had almost forgotten about his injured leg. But after landing, he only made it a few steps before pain shot up his body and made him trip over his quickly moving feet. He barely managed to turn his fall into a somewhat controlled fast roll to the ground.
Sasha had already soared over Nathan, landing more easily and keeping up the chase. Nathan tried to push back up onto his feet, watching as a once again human looking Sasha caught up to Jim and stopped him just before Jim could follow Gabriel into the building.
But they weren’t waiting. Sasha gestured Jim to go around and find another door, taking Jim's place and heading after Gabriel himself.
Nathan wanted to yell at both of them, but he was still limping when he got to his feet. The impact had been too much, enough to tear the wound open and start it freshly bleeding. Sasha should know better. He had been conscientious enough to move Jim out of harm’s way, but he was putting himself right in the line of fire.
Pushing past the pain, Nathan struggled to hurry after Sasha into the building. The first thing that struck him was that the door had been unlocked despite the building being an in-use factory. How Nathan knew it was in-use was because of the second thing that hit him:fumes. He almost choked, the smell was so strong.
From the moment Nathan entered the building, he could already hear the sounds of fighting. Sasha had caught up to Gabriel. There had to be an open area behind all of the hanging machinery and storage, but all Nathan could see was a wall of shelving.
"Nathan, this way!" Walter called from ahead of him, visible at the end of a long row of shelves.
Nathan hurried to reach Walter and follow his Spirit Guide’s direction, barreling on into the maze of the factory. He could hear Sasha and Gabriel shouting at each other as they fought and he desperately sought to reach them.
“You looked so much like Deklin, I didn’t even question if you were telling me the truth or not,” Nathan heard faintly from Gabriel over the factory’s hum.
“Itisthe truth,” Sasha said. “I am Deklin Kelly’s son. I never lied—”
“Enough!” Gabriel shouted, and their voices ceased for a moment, replaced by shuffling and the dull sound of pounding flesh and disrupted metal.
“My father wouldn’t condone killing an innocent human being without reason!” Sasha growled soon after. “Jim hasn’t done anything to anyone.”
