Sebastian by Anne Bishop Read Free Book Online

something preposterous could really be true. Of course, they'd all been young enough then not to understand that nothing was preposterous in Ephemera.
    Especially for Glorianna.
     
    " Stuffed Tits and Phallic Delights," she said. "And what might those be?" He gave her a wicked grin. "Come with me and see for yourself." So they went to Philo's, and when the plates were set before her, her laughter rang through the courtyard — and for a few hours, while they drank wine and ate the various offerings Philo placed before them, he saw her as the bright-eyed girl he remembered and not whatever being an outcast and a rogue was shaping her into .

    Sebastian raised his glass, discovered it was empty, and reached for the whiskey bottle.
    No one dared touch one of Belladonna's landscapes. That was the lesson wizards, Landscapers, and demons alike had learned nine years ago. Which meant a Bridge had linked two landscapes recently, enabling a killer to cross over to the Den, or another Landscaper had managed to add something to the landscape—or Philo and Teaser were right and Glorianna herself had brought something into the Den.
    Which he didn't believe. Couldn't believe. But if it wasn't Glorianna…
    "Could be a human," Sebastian said.
    Philo stiffened. Teaser looked at him, shocked.
    "It could be a human," he repeated. "A sick mind, or an evil one, that's come to hunt in the Den because it's a dark landscape."
    "Well, daylight! What are we supposed to do about that?" Teaser said.
    The words lodged in Sebastian's throat like sharp stones, while the whiskey churned in his stomach along with heart-deep revulsion. "We have to inform the wizards."
    "Guardians and Guides, Sebastian," Philo sputtered. "You'd give those creatures a reason to come back here?"
    "What choice is there? A human died here."
    "Humans have died around here before," Teaser muttered. "They cross over, see a pretty horse that acts tame enough to give them a ride, and they're in the lake and drowning before they understand a waterhorse has ensnared them. Or they follow marsh lights instead of keeping to the path that leads them home and end up the guest of honor at a Merry Makers feast. Or they figure a bull demon isn't smart enough to notice if they cheat while playing cards."
    "It's not the same thing," Sebastian said. "Anyone who wanders through the dark landscapes that surround the Den is taking a chance of never getting home again. And anyone stupid enough to cheat a bull demon is asking to be gored. This is different. Besides, you said this woman had a rich husband, which means she probably has some status in her own landscape. Someone's going to start looking for her when she doesn't come back."
    "Maybe," Teaser replied. "But she gave me a different name every time I saw her, and she never said which landscape she came from."
    "Which brings us back to informing the wizards," Sebastian said, suddenly weary.
    Philo said hesitantly, "Perhaps we should wait and ask the Landscaper?"
    "No one knows how to find her," Sebastian replied. Which wasn't quite true. Aunt Nadia probably knew how to get a message to Glorianna, but he didn't want to tell his aunt what was happening in the Den and see a horrible truth in her eyes: that Belladonna had sent that evil to walk among them.
    "So that leaves the wizards, since we do know how to find those bastards. Besides, the Justice Makers are supposed to take care of this kind of… problem." He looked at Philo and Teaser… and accepted that there really was no choice. "I'll go."
    Teaser pushed back from the table. "I'll try to convince a demon cycle to give us a ride."
    "Us?" Sebastian asked, surprised. "You're coming with me?"
    Teaser moved his shoulders in what was probably meant as a shrug but looked like an uneasy twitch. "As far as the bridge, anyway."
    Which was farther than he'd thought the other incubus would go. "I've got to go back to the cottage and pack a bag." Even if the journey didn't take more than one rising and