Anne Bishop - Bridge of Dreams

But a pureblood incubus could do plenty of damage even if the woman lived. And he wondered what being two-faced meant to a people who normally had three.

“Who has met an incubus here?” he asked.

Zhahar hesitated, then said, “Kobrah. I think there have been two others—two inmates, a man and woman.”

“Are they all right?”

“The woman was getting better for a while. But I didn’t know the dream lover she talked about was a demon , was something real trying to get to her. When I told Shaman Danyal the dreams had helped her, I didn’t know they came from a demon. And when Kobrah told me about her friend, I didn’t know he was a demon. ”

She paced a few steps away from him, then back, her agitation growing. In another minute, she might rush back to Danyal and stir everyone up. And that would have everyone looking too hard for someone who wasn’t completely human.

Had it occurred to her that he and Danyal were also people in the not-completely-human column?

“Slow down,” Lee said. “Zhahar, slow down. Not all dark landscapes are bad places, and not all demons are bad either. They’re like any other people. Have the people who connected with the incubi or succubi said anything about them?”

“The man kept insisting that he had to cross over, had to meet his lover in the flesh. He became violent when he ran across one of the footbridges on the grounds and nothing happened. He’s been in isolation ever since.”

“If she gets as much pleasure in tormenting a man as she does from sex, being in isolation won’t help, since the succubus can still reach him. What about the woman?”

“She was improving until the previous Keeper ordered her to be heavily sedated at night so she couldn’t dream. She’s failing now. The Shaman rescinded the order, but the dreams didn’t come back.”

“The incubus moved on,” Lee said quietly. “He couldn’t reach her anymore, so he moved on.” He waited a beat. “What about Kobrah? I had the impression she hates men.”

“Yes, she hates men. Something happened to her before she came here. I don’t know what it was, but a man named Chayne did it.”

“And yet she’s drawn an incubus to her?”

“Her… friend… comes to her in dreams. They take walks in the moonlight. Hold hands. That sort of thing. He doesn’t push to have sex.”

“Wait a minute. Wait.” Lee took off the dark glasses. She wasn’t more than a dark blob, but he didn’t want any kind of barrier between them. “Kobrah is Teaser ’s friend?”

He saw her body blob jerk. “You know Teaser?”

“I’ve known him for years. He lives in the Den of Iniquity.”

“That place is real ?”

“Sure. My cousin Sebastian lives there.” He hesitated, then decided it was better to tell her now. “You read Sholeh’s report, didn’t you? Well, Sebastian is an incubus and he’s also a wizard, but he’s a Justice Maker—the good kind of wizard. So I’ve grown up knowing some incubi, which is why I’m a good kisser. Just a point of information.”

The body blob got shorter.

“You feeling all right?” he asked.

“Dizzy.”

Translation: she was bent over, probably with her hands on her knees.

Then he caught a whiff of stinkweed. Someone Ephemera didn’t like—or didn’t like around him—was approaching.

“You can’t believe anything a madman says,” Lee said quietly, urgently. “You do remember that?”

Zhahar straightened slowly. “You made all this up?”

“I didn’t say that.” He kept his voice low. “We need to go now, Sholeh. We need to go back to the residence now. ” He slipped the dark glasses on and breathed a sigh of relief when he felt her resonance change from Zhahar to Sholeh. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Sholeh said. “I guess I had too much sun. I need a drink of water and a little time to sit in the shade.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me.”

“Here.” She brushed her arm against his. He cupped his hand around her elbow and let her take them back to the inmates’ residence at a pace too brisk for the heat.

She didn’t greet anyone, didn’t speak to anyone, and the smell of stinkweed faded. Which meant whoever had been approaching had slipped out of sight.

“How different do you and Zhahar look?” he asked quietly.

“She has brown hair and blue eyes. I have auburn hair and green eyes. Zeela has dark brown hair and eyes. We look different.”

Based on his physical contact with each of them, he agreed. Sholeh: thinner and nervier. Zeela: more muscle and physical strength—and that scar on her left arm as well as the tattoo that was a sign of her people. Zhahar: between the two, and a figure he suspected had a bit more softness and curve than her sisters. At least, that was his impression from the times when she’d assisted him. He wanted a chance to put his hands on her and find out.

“You think someone was coming?” Sholeh whispered.

“I know someone was coming. But I don’t think he got close enough to see us.”

“That’s good,” she murmured. “That’s good. We’ve gotten careless. Can’t afford…Oh!”

“What?” He swayed a little to balance the abrupt halt.

“The waterfall and pond are gone. And the fish. That smelly reflecting pool is back.”

Lee sighed. “You’re not used to things being so…fluid?”

“Are you?”

He sighed again. “Tell Danyal that he and I need to talk.”

“All right.” She started walking again. He hoped they were heading for shade and water.

“Don’t worry about Kobrah. She’ll be fine with Teaser.”

“Why are you sure of that?”

He laughed softly. “Because if he gets out of line, my mother will whack him with a wooden spoon.”

He heard male voices. The Handlers Nik and Denys. Good resonances that belonged in this landscape.

“Thank you for the walk, Sholeh,” he said.

“I was glad to help,” she replied. “I hope we can talk again.”

Lee grinned. “Just ask your sister to arrange it.”

She walked away without saying another word.

Nik and Denys let him find his own way up the stairs, but he felt them stand ready to help if he stumbled.

“Sholeh mentioned that the pond changed to a pool?” Lee put enough doubt in his voice to make the statement a question. After all, something like that changing would be unsettling for a man who couldn’t see.

“It changed,” Nik said grimly. “Not even the Shaman knows how or why.”

Not a good answer. “Anything else change?”

“Those stone walls with the vines are gone. Had to wrap Vito in restraints when he saw the place was gone. He’s been wailing ever since.”

“Anything else?” Lee asked.

A hesitation, as if they were deciding whether they were answering an inmate or a fellow Handler.

“Nothing significant,” Denys finally said. “Just that weird treasure hunt.”

“Treasure hunt?”

“Yeah. These old pocket watches keep showing up in the flower beds. And Teeko found a piece of a sundial this morning. Somebody must be slipping out at night and burying them around the plantings.”

“I guess it provides a bit of interest,” he said. “And like you said, it’s weird but harmless.”

Counting the steps from the door, Lee tapped his way to the lounge chair that was under the window in his room. Kobrah appeared a few minutes later with a large glass of water.

He sat alone, letting his mind drift as it picked up the pieces of information he’d been given and put them down again, shifting things around until they formed a different pattern.

Message received, Magician.