Anne Bishop - Bridge of Dreams

“Then an enemy may have found a way in,” Sebastian finished. “Do you think Michael and I resonate with that other landscape enough to cross the border and visit? What about Dalton and Addison? I’d like to take a look at the bridge Lee was checking, and I’d like to have trained guards coming with us.”

“I—” Nadia took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “I don’t think any of you would have trouble, but if something has changed…”

“Lee gave me a couple of one-shot bridges that would bring me back to the Den,” Teaser said. “I asked for them so I’d feel easier about crossing over to…ah…visit a new friend.”

“I have a couple of one-shots for the Den,” Sebastian said.

“If I get separated from the rest of you, I can just take the step between here and there and return to my bit of garden on the Island in the Mist,” Michael said.

Sebastian nodded. “Then let’s send word to Dalton and Addison. The sooner we figure out where Lee has gone, the better.”

Dalton, a law enforcer in Aurora, had his own horse. So did Addison, who worked as a guard in the Den. Since Sebastian wasn’t sure the demon cycles that lived in the Den would be able to cross over to the landscape they needed to reach, he and Michael borrowed horses from the law enforcers’ stables in Aurora.

Following Nadia’s directions to the cairn that marked the border between Aurora and Tully, the four men reached the bridge without incident, but they didn’t see any sign of Lee and couldn’t find any indication that they were on the right side of the bridge.

“If Lee crossed over to check on this bridge from the other side, he could have run into trouble there,” Dalton said, shifting in his saddle. “Even a daylight landscape has dark hearts in it. He could have been robbed and left somewhere, wounded.”

Sebastian shook his head. “Why would thieves be interested in him? He wasn’t carrying anything. His pack was on the island. If he’d felt threatened, he would have stepped back on the island. That’s all he needed to do to be in a place thieves couldn’t reach.”

“Except the island isn’t answering him anymore, is it?” Michael said quietly. “So maybe he thought the danger couldn’t reach him, but it did.”

“Maybe.” Sebastian dismounted, glad to feel his own feet on the ground. Ordinary horses wouldn’t try to kill you for fun—or eat you—but if he had to depend on something besides his own feet, he still preferred dealing with the demon cycles.

Michael, Dalton, and Addison dismounted. Dropping his reins to ground tie his horse, Addison moved away from the others, studying the ground.

Dalton ground tied his horse, drew his short sword, then tipped his head toward the bridge. “I’ll cross over.”

“No,” Sebastian said. “You have a wife and children.”

Dalton gave Sebastian an odd smile. “Justice Maker, this is a stationary bridge between known landscapes. This is as safe as a man can be in Ephemera. And I have the one-shot bridge you gave me that will get me back to the Den.”

“All right, then—”

“Captain!” Addison called. “Found something.” He pointed at the ground just ahead of where he stood.

They hurried to join him. Addison shook his head and took the reins from Michael and Sebastian.

Sebastian hesitated, then picked up the pocket watch, tugging the chain out of the soil.

“Is that Lee’s?” Dalton asked.

Michael muttered under his breath about the wild child.

Sebastian smiled as he handed the broken watch to Michael. “It belongs to the Magician, in a manner of speaking.”

Dalton walked ahead of them for a few paces, then stopped and pointed. “Here’s another one.”

“I’d best fetch the other horses.” Addison handed the reins to Michael.

They found two more broken pocket watches while they were still in sight of the bridge.

Sebastian looked at Michael. “Looks like Ephemera is giving us a trail. Should we walk for a bit?”

Michael nodded. “If we keep the creek on our right, we’ll be able to retrace our steps.”

They walked for several minutes at a brisk pace, Dalton in front and Addison in the rear, leading the four horses.

“Haven’t seen another of those watches,” Dalton said. “Maybe Lee—”

The wind shifted.

“Guardians and Guides,” Dalton said, choking. “What’s that smell?”

“Stinkweed,” Sebastian and Michael said as they broke into a run.

They slowed when they spotted pieces of broken planks floating in the creek. Holding a hand over their noses and mouths, they cautiously approached what was left of a rough footbridge. At Dalton’s signal, Addison hung back with the horses.

The stinkweed spread two man lengths in front of the bridge. What was left of the planks had been crushed by some kind of thorny vines. Five plants with leaves so dark a green they looked black grew around the area where someone had built a campfire. As they stared at the plants, a flower began pushing out of a fleshy pod.

“Shit!” Dalton yelped, taking a step back.

“A turd plant?” Sebastian asked as he too stepped back. The smell made his eyes water.

“The wild child has been more expressive since Glorianna returned,” Michael said.

“Meaning what?” Sebastian backed away from the plants. “That there were five people here the world didn’t like?”

“Or didn’t like being here,” Michael said grimly.

“There’s a bit of a rise there,” Dalton said. “Enough to hide a small camp. Stay here. I’m going to take a look.” He headed toward the rise.

Sebastian studied the ground around the creek. Not that he could tell much beyond the obvious. “Lee didn’t make that bridge.”

“No,” Michael agreed, “but somebody did—and that person managed to bring over others who shouldn’t have been able to reach a place held by Nadia.”

He could think of one kind of person who had been able to travel in the daylight landscapes, regardless of the foulness in their hearts. Wizards. Not just the wizards who were Justice Makers, but the ones who acted on behalf of the Dark Guides.

Dalton whistled, pointed to them, and made a “come along” motion. Another hand signal to Addison had the other guard tying the horses to a couple of young trees before pulling out his short sword and joining them.

Sebastian and Michael hurried up the rise.

“What?” Sebastian asked.

“I’ve made enough of both kinds of camps to know the difference between making an overnight stop and settling in,” Dalton said, looking at Sebastian.

Dalton had been the guard captain who had helped Koltak, Sebastian’s wizard father, capture him and bring him to Wizard City—and had protected him when Koltak tried to kill him after Sebastian maimed the wizard’s foot. Dismissed and stripped of his rank because he’d protected the incubus, Dalton and his family had ended up in Aurora.

Now Sebastian and Dalton were both law enforcers in their own ways—although the incubus-wizard’s interpretation of those duties didn’t tend to match the former captain’s.

“They waited here for someone?” Sebastian asked, wanting confirmation.

Dalton nodded. “And whatever happened here happened fast enough that they left without breaking camp.”

“Then let’s take a look around.” Michael headed down the rise. He stopped when he reached the tents and tipped his head toward one, then the other. “Sebastian, give me a hand with this.”

Moving to the back of the tent, Michael wrapped a hand around the tent peg and waited until Sebastian held the front tent peg. They pulled out the pegs and flipped up that side of the tent, revealing the contents stored inside.