Anne Bishop - Bridge of Dreams

“Is that what you want to do to me?” Yoshani asked.

Did she? Desire swept through her.…

???

…and Ephemera trembled, but the world wouldn’t disobey her. No matter what she asked of it.

She took a deep breath, willing the side of her that belonged to the Light to be the part of her sitting by the koi pond with a friend.

“No,” Glorianna said. “I don’t want to do that.”

“Yes, you do.” Yoshani placed his other hand over their clasped ones. “But today you choose not to. Isn’t that how a life is shaped? By all the choices that we make each day?”

“How did you get to be so wise?”

“I watch the koi and the clouds, and I learned from you.”

They sat in companionable silence. Then Glorianna said, “Did Brighid bake today?”

Laughing, Yoshani pulled her to her feet. “So that was the reason Michael’s journey began today and you agreed to visit.”

“Maybe. It seemed a shame to ignore fresh bread.”

“Indeed.”

As they headed for the guesthouse, currents of power swirled around her, through her. She stopped and looked toward the small island that divided a stream.

Something is changing , she thought. Has already changed.

“It appears someone else has kept track of baking day,” Yoshani said.

“No.” Glorianna headed for the island. “Something’s wrong.”

Nothing is wrong. The heart has no secrets from you. You just haven’t wanted to acknowledge what you felt in Lee’s heart the last time he visited the Island in the Mist. Wasn’t that one of your own sorrows all of these years? That he never had a life of his own because you needed him? But…

“Lee?” she called. “Lee!” She ran across the stepping stones. The moment her feet touched the island, she knew.

“Glorianna!” Yoshani rushed up behind her.

“He’s not here.” She walked to the center of the island where the fountain drew fresh water from the stream. Lee’s pack was sitting there, unbuckled, as if he’d intended to come right back.

“I’ll look around,” Yoshani said, sounding calm yet grim.

She sat on the bench by the fountain and closed her eyes. She had created this island, had intended it to be a private sanctuary within Sanctuary. But the island had resonated with Lee the moment he set foot on it. It had become a small landscape that he could impose over any other landscape. Safe ground.

The grief swelled up inside her—and a painful joy. Her eyes filled with those feelings until the feelings spilled over as tears.

“Travel lightly, brother,” she whispered. Ephemera, hear me. Give him opportunities to find the life he seeks. But if he wants to come back, help him find his way home.

“Glorianna.” Yoshani went down on one knee in front of her.

“He doesn’t resonate with me anymore,” she said. “He doesn’t belong in my landscapes anymore. He crossed over to somewhere else.”

“Where would he go?” Yoshani asked.

“Somewhere I can’t.” She swallowed tears. “I need to return to the Island in the Mist and leave a message for Michael. Then I need to get messages to Sebastian and my mother. Will you help me?”

He let out a pained sigh as he started to rise. “Yes, of course.” He froze, then sank back down. “Your mother’s landscapes are held protected within your garden. And so are Michael’s.”

“Yes.”

“If Lee no longer resonates with your landscapes, he won’t be able to reach theirs either, won’t be able to reach Sebastian in the Den or Nadia in Aurora.”

“No. He won’t.”

“What about Caitlin Marie’s landscapes?”

“Her garden isn’t held within my garden, so he should be able to cross over to her landscapes if he wants to.”

Yoshani bowed his head. “But he won’t.”

“No, he won’t.”

“Then he’s left all of you.”

Because of me , she thought. He left everyone he knew because of me.

“Come away,” Yoshani said, rising to his feet. “We’ll take the pack and store it in his room at the guesthouse. Unless you think he’ll call the island to him and would want the pack?”

She rose, wishing they’d had one more of those silly sibling quarrels so that she could smile about it when she thought of him. “Lee can’t call the island. It doesn’t belong to him anymore.”

Friends and family gathered at Philo’s Place in the Den, using the indoor dining room for this private meeting. Glorianna wasn’t sure why she’d chosen the Den instead of Nadia’s house in Aurora. Maybe because she needed to say these words in a landscape that was hers instead of one held by her mother?

She and Yoshani had left a message for Michael where he would find it the moment he returned from Foggy Downs, the village that was first on his list to visit. After leaving a message at Nadia’s house, she and Yoshani had gone to the Den.

She had created this landscape for Sebastian when they were fifteen years old. He had needed a place where he would feel welcome, would feel at home. She had taken a dark piece of a city and reshaped it into this carnal carnival out of the wants and dreams and needs of the young incubus Sebastian had been.

The Den and the man had changed over the years, had matured. Had almost parted ways. In fact, she had almost lost her cousin when he’d been captured and taken to Wizard City, but he was still here. She needed to remember that a person could find his way home if his heart still belonged to a place or the people who waited for him there.

She managed to remain seated until Teaser walked into the room and grinned at her.

“Hey-a, Glorianna. I wanted to tell you—”

“Not now, Teaser,” Yoshani said quietly.

Glorianna pushed away from the table and began to pace. Being a Guide didn’t make her any less unhappy as a sister.

Teaser looked from one to the other, his grin fading. “Has something happened?”

“Yes,” Yoshani replied, “but let’s wait for everyone to arrive before we discuss it.”

“Daylight,” Teaser muttered. “I’ll go see what Philo has to drink.” He walked through the door that led to the kitchen.

Before he returned, Sebastian’s wife, Lynnea, entered the dining room. “Glorianna! It’s wonderful to see you here.”

“No, it’s not,” Teaser said as he swung back into the room with a tray full of bottles and glasses. “Well, it is, but she’s not here to play cards with the bull demons and win a jar of olives.”

“You play for olives?” Yoshani asked.

“ I play for money most of the time, but Philo will trade meals for jars of olives or olive oil, so…” Teaser shrugged.

“Is something wrong?” Lynnea asked. “Where is Michael?”

“Foggy Downs,” Glorianna replied. “I left a message for him to meet us here, but we won’t wait for him.”

She saw the alarm in Lynnea’s blue eyes, but before Lynnea could ask any questions, Nadia and her husband, Jeb, walked in, followed by Sebastian.

Dressed in a moss green shirt and snug black denim pants, Sebastian had a body that would earn him a second look from any female old enough—or young enough—to dream about a man. The sable hair, sharp green eyes, and sinfully handsome face guaranteed he could have his pick of lovers. And he’d had his pick until he turned in his membership in the “I’m a badass incubus” club, married Lynnea, and became the Justice Maker for the Den. Of course, learning that he had inherited the deadly powers of a wizard from his father and was the heart Glorianna had used as the anchor for the Den might have had something to do with his decision to change careers.

Sebastian looked around. Anticipating him, Glorianna said, “Michael will be back as soon as he can. I didn’t ask Caitlin to join us. She’ll need to be told, but she doesn’t need to be here right now.”