Sebastian by Anne Bishop Read Free Book Online Page A

setting of the moon, he'd still need a fresh shirt to wear when he presented himself to the bastards who lived behind their walls and rituals.
    He borrowed Philo's bicycle and rode back to the cottage as fast as he could. By the time he packed some toiletries and clothing, changed into the leather pants and jacket that would probably outrage the wizards but made him feel less like a supplicant, and walked out of the cottage, Teaser was waiting for him, straddling a demon cycle.
    Like the motored carriages that had been invented in one of the big-city landscapes, the motored cycles had been unknown in the Den until a dozen men had crossed over a few years ago to cause some trouble and have a spree. They'd thought they were bad. They'd thought they were mean. They'd thought they were powerful—until they'd clashed with demons who were badder, meaner, and much more powerful.
    The wheels were gone. So was the motor and whatever else had originally powered the cycle. The demons who had taken up residence in the cycles didn't need those things.
    The demon who inhabited this one stared at him with red eyes. Its pushed-in face and tufted ears made it look comical—if a person could ignore all the razored teeth, the powerful torso, the thick arms, and the fingers that ended with curved talons.
    Satisfied that the other passenger was the person promised and not a potential meal, the demon flowed back into the hollow belly of the cycle until only its head stuck out of the hole that had once held a light.
    Adjusting the straps of his pack so it settled comfortably against his back, Sebastian mounted the cycle behind Teaser.
    Since the demons had the ability to float the cycles above the ground, they didn't need roads, but this one followed the lane from the cottage back to the main street of the Den, then beyond the crowded buildings to the open countryside.
    About a mile outside the Den, they stopped at a wooden bridge that crossed a stream.
    There were two kinds of bridges. The stationary bridges linked one or more specific landscapes and were usually a reliable way of crossing over from one landscape to another. Resonating bridges allowed a person to cross over to any landscape that resonated with that persons heart. Most of the time, focusing the will was sufficient to reach a particular destination. But there were other times when a resonating bridge ignored the will and listened only to the heart—and a person ended up in a landscape that wasn't remotely close to where he intended to go. Which made traveling in Ephemera a gambler's adventure.

    And this was a resonating bridge.
    Teaser looked over his shoulder. "Will this do?"
    Sebastian took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "This will do." It wasn't as if he had a choice. There weren't any stationary bridges that linked any of Belladonnas landscapes to the landscape that held Wizard City.
    He got off the demon cycle and walked to the edge of the bridge. He tried to clear his mind of everything but the need to reach Wizard City.
    "Sebastian?"
    He looked back.
    Teaser shifted his shoulders, looking embarrassed. "Travel lightly."
    Heart's Blessing. It warmed him to hear someone say it. "I'll be back soon." He hoped.
    Wizard City. Wizard City. Other images tried to intrude—the feel of sand beneath his feet—but he chanted the words "Wizard City" under his breath as he crossed the bridge.
    The land didn't look any different, but the sky was now a predawn gray or the fading light of dusk. And when he looked back across the stream, there was no sign of Teaser or the demon cycle.
    So. He'd crossed over. Now all he could do was hope he'd crossed over to the right landscape.
    A rough cart path led away from the bridge. Settling the straps of his pack more comfortably on his shoulders, he followed the path to wherever it would take him.
    *
    Glorianna walked into the alley, then stopped and opened the lantern's shutter to illuminate the ground as much as possible. One cautious