by Anne Bishop
“Demon cycles,” she breathed, smiling so widely her cheeks hurt. “Are you a demon cycle?”
It seemed to ponder her reaction. “Wanna ride?”
The voice like gravel in a metal barrel thrilled Sholeh.
“This is Sholeh, who is Lee’s friend,” Sebastian said. “They could use a ride to Philo’s Place. Belladonna will be waiting for them there.”
One demon cycle turned its odd metal body as an invitation to mount while the other drifted above the road until it was looking right at Kobrah.
Sebastian smiled at Kobrah. She swallowed hard but nodded.
“Kobrah will ride with me.” Sebastian walked up to the cycle and swung a leg over the leather seat. “Come on. You can ride behind me.”
“Take the front position,” Lee said, guiding Sholeh over to the cycle that was waiting for them.
“But I don’t know how to steer!”
He laughed. “You don’t steer. You just hold on.”
She mounted. He got on behind her and rested his hands lightly on her waist. A friendly touch that warmed her and made her wish he could remain their friend after he learned about the taboos. It wasn’t likely, but she still wished it.
“The lane will take you to the Den,” Sebastian told the shadowmen. “You should be fine on your own, but I’ll send Addison or Henley to guide you.”
“Appreciate it,” the Knife said.
Sholeh turned her head and spoke over her shoulder. “The horses weren’t afraid.”
“The horses were upwind and don’t understand what they’re seeing,” Lee replied.
They headed down the lane.
After a minute, Sholeh sighed. Now that she was used to how the demon cycles looked and how they floated over the road, they weren’t very exciting.
“Daylight,” Sebastian muttered. “All right. You two go ahead. We’ll catch up.”
Suddenly the ground was a blur.
“Hang on!” Lee shouted.
She whooped in answer. Zeela did exciting things, but even her warrior sister hadn’t done anything like this.
It seemed like they’d barely started when she saw lights coming up fast. Lots of lights.
“We’re here already?” She didn’t say it loudly, but she didn’t take those big, tufted ears into account. As they reached the place where dirt lane changed to cobblestone street, the demon cycle made a tight turn and went speeding back the way they’d come.
“Hey!” Lee shouted.
“Yay!” Sholeh shouted.
“Blaaarrrrrgh!” the demon cycle shouted.
They passed Sebastian and Kobrah, then made another tight turn to race alongside the other cycle, which sped up, responding to the competitive spirit—or something—until Sebastian made a sharp sound that caused both cycles to slow the pace to halfway between amble and blur.
She wanted to tell him it was all right for the cycle to go faster, but a glance at Kobrah made it clear that the other woman had never ridden anything that went this fast and was, according to Lee, very dangerous, even if it was acting friendly. So she contented herself with the more sedate return to the Den.
When they reached the cobblestones, the demon cycles slowed to the pace of a fast walk and finally stopped in front of a courtyard that had tables and statues.
“That was wonderful!” Sholeh said as she dismounted. “Can we do it again?”
“Later,” Lee replied, grinning.
She noticed the blond-haired man who stared at them a moment before hurrying toward them. And she noticed the way Kobrah stood frozen, staring at the statues.
*Oh no,* Zhahar said. *Sholeh, you’d better let me—*
=It’s my turn,= Zeela said.
*Kobrah needs help.*
::I want to stay a bit longer!::
Zhahar withdrew from them in a way that told her sisters she was hurt and upset.
“Lee!” The man bounced up to Lee and hugged him. “Welcome back, you fool.” Then he gave Kobrah a delighted grin—and put himself between Kobrah and her view of the statues. “Hey-a, Kobbi. Welcome to the Den.”
Kobrah blinked. “Teaser?”
“All the way.”
Teaser cocked a thumb over his shoulder. “Nothing but statues tonight. No live performance. But if they bother you, we could go down the street and listen to some music.”
“I think it would be best for us all to stay together for a bit,” Sebastian said. “But we can use the inside room if the statues bother Kobrah.”
“No,” Kobrah said. “I can—” Her mouth fell open. “Shaman Danyal?”
It was Danyal heading for them with a dark-eyed, dark-haired man.
“I’m happy to see you all,” Danyal said. He looked at Lee. “And I’m glad you found your way home.”
“Me too,” Lee replied.
“Lee!”
He’d barely had a chance to turn toward the voice when a woman leaped into his arms.
“Lynnea!”
Sebastian leaned over Sholeh’s shoulder. “Let’s find some seats for you two. People are going to be pouncing on him for a while.”
“Is that his lover?” Sholeh asked, worried because jealousy was seeping through despite Zhahar’s withdrawal from her and Zeela.
Sebastian choked on a laugh. “No, that’s my wife, which makes her family.”
The hug might have been from a lover. The punch in the shoulder that followed it? That was family.
Sholeh relaxed, determined to enjoy as much as she could before Zeela demanded some time to explore this place.
A round man with dark, receding hair hurried up to them.
“Sit. Sit. I’m closing off this half of the courtyard for you,” Philo said.
Before Lee could take his seat at the table, a male voice said, “Lee, you ripe bastard. It’s about time you stopped ignoring a helping hand and got yourself back home.”
She saw pleasure in Lee’s face as he turned toward the man, but there was shame mixed with that pleasure.
“Magician,” Lee said. A hesitation. Then he grabbed the man in a hard hug.
More people. So many people, Sholeh had trouble keeping track. There was Yoshani, the holy man with Shaman Danyal. There were Nadia and Jeb, Lee’s mother and stepfather. There was Caitlin Marie, Michael the Magician’s sister.
And there, at the edge of the courtyard, part of the group and still apart from it, was Glorianna Belladonna.
“Come on, Kobbi. Have a seat,” Teaser said, pulling out a chair across from Sholeh and Lee. As he pulled out a chair for himself, he looked at her. “So you and your sisters are together all the time?”
“We are Tryad. We are three who are one, one who is three,” Sholeh replied, noticing how sharply Medusah watched Teaser—and how sharply Nadia also watched Teaser.
He gave her a smile that was naughty and boyishly good-natured. “How does that work when one of you has sex?”
“Teaser,” Lee warned.
“If one of you is romping, do you all feel the fizz-bang at the end, or is it each to herself? And if one of you has a lover, do the other two have to do without cuddles?”
“Teaser!” a chorus of voices shouted.
“What?” He looked around. “I’m just asking. It’s not like I’m inviting myself to the party. Although…” He gave Sholeh a considering look. “Would it be cheating if the other lover was just a dream? Ow ow ow!” That last because Nadia grabbed his ear and pulled him toward another table.
Sholeh hunched down in her chair, hoping to look smaller as she tried to interpret the look on her mother’s face. She was certain that no one had ever said such things in front of Medusah before now.
=By the triple stars,= Zeela whispered.
::Are you appalled or amused?:: Sholeh asked.
=I don’t know.=
Sebastian gave Medusah a smile that had heat and said, “It’s a valid question. Especially when asked by an incubus.”
“Oh, daylight,” Lee groaned. “Don’t say things like that to Zhaha
r’s mother. Mothers.” He put his hands over his face. “Why did I miss any of you?”
“I’m thinking the man now knows what it’s like to be dealing with the rest of you for the first time,” Michael said, giving Lee a friendly clap on the shoulder.
“Yeah,” Sebastian said. “I haven’t seen him this embarrassed since the first time I walked in on him and a girl and he had his hands—”
Lee grabbed for his cousin at the same time Nadia said, “Sebastian Justicemaker! If you don’t want to be telling that story to me, you won’t be telling it to anyone tonight.”
“Yes, Auntie,” Sebastian replied. But he winked at Sholeh. “So where’s the other sister?”
She didn’t want to give up the chance to experience this place for herself, but she yielded to Zeela as everyone sorted themselves out among the tables, leaving them the lone female at a table that included Sebastian, Lee, the Apothecary, and the Knife.
Morragen Medusah a Zephyra, Zeela noted with relief, was at a table with Nadia, Jeb, and Danyal. Glorianna was sharing a table with Michael and Yoshani.
*What about Kobrah?* Zhahar whispered.
=She’s with Teaser and…Caitlin?= Hard to remember all those faces when they moved about separately. Especially when she wanted to pair Lynnea with Caitlin as siblings, but it was Michael and Caitlin who had that connection.
Philo and an adolescent boy returned with two large trays. “Lynnea modified some of the specialties for Teaser’s table,” Philo said, “but the consensus was that adjustments weren’t needed for you.” Saying that, he set down a large basket and two bowls of melted cheese, a platter of mushrooms stuffed with breading, and various other bowls, while the boy gave them plates and silverware. “Drinks?”
“Bottle of wine and a pitcher of ale,” Sebastian said.
Zeela picked up an object from the basket and considered its length and diameter.
“This is a Phallic Delight,” Sebastian said.
“This is wishful thinking,” she replied. But after Lee finished choking, she followed Sebastian’s example and swirled the tip of the penis-shaped bread in the melted cheese. Giving the cheese a moment to cool, she took a big bite.
Sebastian looked at the men around the table and laughed. “Daylight. Shadowmen blush and the holy men don’t even blink when these are set on the table. What does that tell you?”
“That holy men don’t understand why they should blush?” the Knife asked.
Lee shook his head as he filled his plate. “Nope. Neither Yoshani nor Danyal is required to be celibate, so they’ve had experience enough to be thinking all kinds of things.”
::Could you try one of those round black things?:: Sholeh asked. ::They look interesting::
“What are these?” Zeela asked as she picked up the bowl.
“Olives,” Sebastian replied. “Bite carefully. They have a pit in the center.”
“Bite carefully” was good advice for pretty much everything on the table, but the flavors were unlike anything she’d tasted. She wanted to eat until she was full, but she stopped when she had half of everything left on her plate. She leaned toward Lee and said quietly, “Would the other people here be offended if Sholeh came back into view to eat?”
Lee smiled. “This is the Den, Zeela. It takes a lot more than a Tryad to offend anyone here.”
::I like this place,:: Sholeh said a minute later as she took a dainty bite of a Delight.
=So do I.=
Zhahar, they both noticed, said nothing.
Michael walked down the Den’s main street with Lee, heading for the lane that would lead to Sebastian and Lynnea’s cottage.
“I don’t how many times I ended up sleeping on that couch,” Lee said, huffing out a laugh. “And here I am again.”
“Since they’re staying at your cottage, Danyal did offer to let you have your room back,” Michael said. “We weren’t sure if you’d be coming back, so it seemed practical to let him and Yoshani stay there.”
“It was practical, and I’m not complaining.” Lee slowed his steps.
“We can keep walking as long as you need to,” Michael said quietly. Yoshani and Danyal were waiting at Sebastian’s cottage to help Lee put in the eyedrops, but when Lee asked him for help getting back to the cottage instead of going with them, it was clear the man had something on his mind.
“There are shadows in every garden,” Lee said when they reached the end of the cobblestone street and headed down the lane.
Michael nodded. “One of the lessons the Landscapers learned at the school, yes?”
“Yes. But not a lesson that was taught at the Bridges’ School, because the bridges that are made are neutral. Someone who has that ability just connects the pieces Ephemera wants to connect. Dark, Light—doesn’t matter. Those things are the Landscapers’ responsibility. But I have shadows in me, Michael. Last year, my mother was touched by a wizard and influenced just enough to begin to wonder about the dark side of Glorianna’s heart. She wondered about it because Glorianna’s father was a wizard.”
“He was your father too.”
“That didn’t seem to occur to anyone—that I would have a stronger connection to the Dark currents because of it.”
“Are you making a point?”
Lee stopped walking and stared straight ahead. “I blamed you when Glorianna locked herself in that landscape with the Eater of the World. I blamed you for stopping me while there was still time to get into that place. I blamed you because I thought you stopped me so that the Warrior of Light would drink from the Dark Cup, that you’d convinced her to sacrifice herself in order to accomplish your own plan.”
“I told her the story,” Michael replied. “The heart has no secrets, Lee. Not from her. She knew I had the answer to saving Ephemera. Denying it would have betrayed her trust. Just like…” No. That wasn’t his to say.
“Just like you broke my arm because she asked you to keep me safe? To keep all of us safe?” Lee’s smile held sadness as well as understanding. “By stopping me, you protected everyone who was there that day.”
“Yes.” Michael touched Lee’s arm. “I’m sorry for the broken bone.”
Lee shook his head and started walking again. “Funny how losing one kind of sight made other things so clear.”
“You’ll get your sight back.”
“I hope so. But I seem to be hoping for a lot of things lately.” Lee hesitated. “Can I ask you something?”
“Which side are you asking?” Michael countered. “Man or Magician?”
“I’m not sure. The day I tangled with the wizards and ended up in Vision, I was checking a stationary bridge. Should have connected landscapes that belonged just to Glorianna and Nadia, but the resonance for Glorianna included the possibility of someone crossing over to Foggy Downs. Wasn’t the first bridge that had connected landscapes that belonged to them and now also connected to you. I heard faint music. It made me angry that it was never just my sister anymore. You were always there.”
“You were still adjusting to the idea of Glorianna having a man in her life who wasn’t passing through,” Michael said. “Part of being a brother, I’m thinking. Caitlin Marie goes to a dance in Darling’s Harbor—and she’s as safe and snug in that village as a baby in its cradle—and I still feel twitchy about the boys.”
“Could be worse,” Lee said in a singsong voice. “Could be Teaser.”
At another time, he would have felt obliged to respond to that reminder of Caitlin’s friendship with the incubus, but not tonight. “Glorianna hears the music in my heart. It’s what Ephemera used to guide her home. And I hear the music in her heart. All of it. Dark and Light. Every day I play the music that is Glorianna Belladonna. I play both the tunes I hear, and then I blend them to be one song again. Hearing who she is provides a kind of bridge between the two sides of her heart, and some days she stays in that in-between place for hours—the place where she is both, as she used to be. She can travel with me to most of my landscapes, but out of those
, Foggy Downs is her favorite. So…” Michael shrugged. No one thought Glorianna would be completely whole again, but the music was connecting the two halves of her heart bit by bit.
They walked for a few minutes in silence before Lee asked, “What kind of music do you hear in Zhahar’s heart?”
“You’re asking about something that’s very private. If you want to know her heart, you should ask her.”
“The part of the question that’s personal is private,” Lee agreed. “But I’m asking Bridge to Magician. She doesn’t belong in the Den, does she?”
“No. Zhahar’s music is out of tune with the Den. Zeela, on the other hand, is very in tune with the carnal carnival. So is Sholeh.” Which had surprised everyone except, perhaps, Glorianna Belladonna.
Lee laughed softly. “Sholeh wants to interview the bull demons.”
“Lady of Light,” Michael muttered. Then he sighed. “Not fitting in with one place that you do doesn’t mean she won’t fit in with the rest. And because her sisters are easy with the place, she can reach the Den.”
“I know. I’m just not sure she wants to fit in—and I’m not just talking about the Den.”
“And you’d like her to fit in?”
“Yes, I would. But as we got closer to Tryadnea, I had the feeling there were things she hadn’t told me about her people. It’s made me wonder if a Tryad would—or could—care about—” Lee stopped walking abruptly. “Who’s that?”
“It’s Yoshani.” Michael raised a hand in greeting. “It appears he’s been waiting for you at the bridge.”
“In that case, why don’t you go back? Glorianna is waiting for you, and we’ll all have a great deal to discuss tomorrow.”
“Yes, we will. Good night, Lee. Welcome home.”
Lee hesitated. “I’m not sure I’m back to stay.”
Michael smiled. “I’m not sure anyone expects you to stay. Yoshani? We’ll see you and Danyal tomorrow?”
“Yes,” Yoshani replied. “We are to meet at Nadia’s house.”
Michael nodded and headed back down the lane to the buildings and colored lights that made up the Den.
Travel lightly. Lee’s heart had not been traveling lightly when he tangled with the wizards, but…