Sebastian

Chapter Twenty-five

Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Lee, Glorianna watched the sun ease its way toward the western horizon of Sanctuary.

“It’s almost time,” Lee said.

She nodded. “You’re going to be in the eye of a storm. Can you hold your island above the wizards’ landscape?”

“I’ll hold it. You just make sure you stay within reach of it. If the wizards keep their wits enough to unleash the lightning…You’re not invulnerable, Glorianna.”

“I know. But once things are in motion, once Heart’s Justice has begun, they won’t dare try anything until the power is released. By the time they realize what I’ve done, it will be too late for them to attack me.”

“I hope you’re right.”

So do I.

She felt Lynnea approaching, causing ripples in Sanctuary’s serenity. Fear and hope. Uncertainty and courage. The catalyst whose presence had brought change to the Den. Who had brought opportunities and choices.

Now, in the face of what was to come, she hoped Lynnea could hold on to the fledgling courage the young woman was still discovering lived inside her.

She touched Lee’s arm to alert him. Then they both turned and waited for Lynnea to reach them.

“I’m going with you,” Lynnea said, her voice a mixture of fear and defiance. “Sebastian needs me.”

Yes, he does, Glorianna thought. More than you realize.

“Lynnea—” Lee began.

“She can come with us,” Glorianna said, cutting off her brother’s well-meant discouragement.

Teaser joined them, trailed by Yoshani. The incubus looked at Lynnea, then at her. “I’m going, too.”

“No.” The stricken look in Teaser’s eyes surprised her, then pleased her. The young incubus she’d met in the Den fifteen years ago wouldn’t have cared enough about anyone else to offer to help, let alone feel hurt when the offer was refused.

Before he could gather himself enough to argue, she added, “I need you to go back to the Den, Teaser.”

“But—”

“I need that.”

Yoshani stepped up beside Teaser. “Since Teaser is going back to the Den, would it cause a dissonance if I went with him? I have mentioned many times over the years that I would like to visit the Den.”

Yoshani had mentioned wanting to visit, but she’d always said, “Not yet,” because his presence would have caused a dissonance, could have shifted something before the hearts that were attuned to the Den were ready to change. But things had already changed in the Den, and Yoshani’s steady heart would balance Teaser’s more volatile one.

“An excellent suggestion, Honorable Yoshani,” Glorianna said.

Teaser sputtered. Yoshani smiled.

Lee looked over his shoulder to gauge the sun’s progress. “We’d better go.”

Glorianna nodded. “I want to get there ahead of the council so that I can choose the ground.”

Yoshani raised his hand. “May the Guardians of the Light watch over you.”

Teaser looked at Lynnea, then Lee, and finally at Glorianna. “Travel lightly.”

She turned away and followed the path that would take them to Lee’s small island.

Travel lightly. She hoped she would. She hoped she could.

Everything depended on it.

Teaser watched them go, wondering how he’d gotten stuck playing keeper to a holy man instead of doing something to help Sebastian.

“I left my bag on the bench over there,” Yoshani said. “I think it best if we reach the Den before the sun sets.”

“Sun doesn’t shine in the Den,” Teaser muttered.

“Before it sets here.”

Since he couldn’t think of a reason to delay, he followed Yoshani to the bench, then to the bridge he and Lynnea had used to reach Sanctuary. Then he tried to argue.

“You really shouldn’t be going to the Den,” he said.

“Why not?” Yoshani asked mildly.

“Because you live here, and the Den is the Den of Iniquity. There’s drinking and gambling.” When Yoshani just smiled, he felt a reckless panic rise up inside him. “And whoring. Lots of whoring. And…and erotic statues. Right out in public!”

“It sounds like a fascinating place. Shall we go?”

Teaser stared at Yoshani. The man should be outraged, scandalized!

“Something has not occurred to you, my friend.” Yoshani set his bag on the ground and held his hands out, holding them far apart. “You see Sanctuary and your Den as two places far from each other, too unlike to be connected in any way.”

“They are,” Teaser insisted.

Yoshani shook his head. “They are like this.” Holding up one hand, he ran a finger down the palm, then down the back. “They are just two sides of the same heart, two facets of Glorianna Belladonna.”

There was nothing Teaser could say to that, so he stared at the bridge.

Yoshani picked up his bag and rested a hand on Teaser’s shoulder. “If it eases your heart, I will tell you this.” He grinned. “I was not always a holy man.”

“You don’t have to exert yourself,” Harland said. “I promise you, justice will be done.”

Balanced on crutches, Koltak ignored the pain in what remained of his heavily bandaged left foot and looked the head of the Wizards’ Council in the eyes. “I want to be there when justice is done. I want to see that bastard get what he deserves. And I want to see her destruction.”

Harland studied Koltak for a moment, then smiled. “I thought that would be your answer, so I arranged a pony cart and a driver for you.”

As Koltak slowly made his way to the door, Harland said, “Yes, Koltak, this day will change the world. Before it ends, we will succeed in doing what generations of wizards have worked to accomplish. We will vanquish the last enemy, and the world will be ours. All ours.”

It flowed through the landscapes, a rippling shadow. The lesser enemies who had managed to escape Its attack on the school could not hurt It. Not anymore. They were caged in the landscapes they had fled to, unable to reach the other landscapes anchored in their gardens. Their power was fading in those abandoned places. Soon their resonance would be gone, leaving Ephemera without any guides to shape what was manifested. But It would be there, drifting among the landscapes, whispering to the dark side of the human heart until Ephemera changed itself to resonate with those hearts and became a dark, terrible place. But It would leave some threads of Light in those reshaped landscapes. After all, It could not crush hope if none existed. It could not devour kindness if there was no kindness left. It could not devastate love if no love could bloom. Yes, It would keep trickles of Light in Its Dark landscapes so Its prey would remain a delicious feast. But the Places of Light, those beacons of power…They had to be destroyed.

The Dark Guides’ leader, trembling with delicious fear, had reached through the twilight of waking dreams to tell It they had found a way to lure the True Enemy into their grasp. They would destroy her to prove they were friends. And when she was eliminated, the Places of Light she had hidden would be revealed once more—and It would devour them.

Something shivered through It. Anticipation. Excitement. It wanted to be there when the Dark Guides destroyed her.

Moving swiftly, It headed for the closest access point that would take It back to the Landscapers’ School, where It could be sure of finding a way to reach the city in time to feel the True Enemy die.

Standing at the edge of Lee’s island, Glorianna studied the land in front of her. On her left was a road leading out of Wizard City. Ahead of her was the eastern side of the city. East of that…

Revulsion clogged her throat, her lungs. Made her heart heavy. She was still standing on the island, still, in a way, standing in Sanctuary. She shouldn’t have felt the Dark emanation coming from that field, not until she’d actually stepped into the wizards’ landscape.

The wizards would want to use that field for Heart’s Justice, would want her standing on that ground when she became the channel that would direct Ephemera for a specific purpose—to send someone to the landscape that resonated with that person’s heart.

Raising a hand, she waggled a finger. Lee immediately stepped up beside her.

“This will do,” Glorianna said softly. “But I need to go out there for a few minutes and connect with Ephemera in this landscape.”

“You’ll be seen,” Lee protested. “There’s a wagon and riders coming through the gate right now.”

“But they aren’t turning away from the road. They aren’t the wizards, just ordinary folk. I have to know what I can work with.”

“You’ve got all of Ephemera to work with,” he growled.

Do I? She shifted her feet, started to take the step that would bring her into the wizards’ landscape. Then she hesitated and turned to look at her brother. “Lee, there’s something you have to do once this starts. It will be hard, but you have to do it.”

“What?” he asked warily.

She looked toward the center of the island. She couldn’t see the other woman, who was sitting in the enclosure, but she could feel the resonance of that heart. “Don’t interfere with Lynnea’s journey.”

Startled, he, too, looked toward the center of the island. “What about Sebastian? Once you begin Heart’s Justice—”

“Don’t interfere with Lynnea’s journey.”

Lee stared at her, understanding better than anyone else could—because he understood her. “Have you told her Sebastian’s life is in her hands?”

“No. It has to be her choice. And it has to be his.”

Lee closed his eyes. “We could lose him.”

“I know.”

He opened his eyes and nodded.

“We’re about to start a war,” she whispered.

“Just make sure you win the first battle.”

Turning away, she stepped off the edge of Lee’s island—and almost cried out in dismay.

Thick currents of Dark power crisscrossed this entire landscape, but the Light…thin threads. Nothing more. Just enough to indicate the Light was sustaining—and was sustained by—some good hearts, just enough to keep the whole place from turning malignant. But not enough to provide any chance of change, of truly making the city a good place for people to live.

The Dark Guides and the Eater of the World abhorred the Light. So why hadn’t they snuffed out those currents of power completely?

The obvious answer: because they needed those currents of Light. Why?

That was something she would have to consider later. Now she had to travel lightly, be the channel for Heart’s Justice.

Ephemera, hear me. Listen to my heart.

As she began to resonate, opening herself to the hearts around her, she felt a flickering response nearby. Turning her head, she stared at the wagon and riders still coming down the road. Hearts yearning for the Light—and hearts yearning for a different kind of darkness.

Then she saw the carriages coming out of the gate and knew she had only a few minutes left to prepare.

“Lee,” she called softly. “Get Lynnea. It’s time.”

Ephemera, hear me. Listen to my heart. Today we give Heart’s Justice.

Feeling the world’s resistance, she resonated more strongly, attuning herself to the Light. Some hearts behind the city walls resonated in response to hers.

Those hearts don’t belong in this place.

She felt Ephemera slowly respond, becoming fluid to match her resonance, ready to manifest what she commanded. She felt the currents of Light grow stronger around her. As the Light filled her, she added her Dark resonance.

And felt some of the Dark currents of power already in this landscape break as the resonance of her heart began to take over this place.

That was something else to think about. But not here, not now.

While she watched the carriages that held the Wizards’ Council turn off the road and bump along the open land to the place where she waited, she thought of nothing but the terrifying power that was called Heart’s Justice.

A power she was about to unleash.

Dalton stared at the woman who came out of nowhere. His heart thundered in his chest. Was that Belladonna?

When she turned her head and looked in his direction, he felt as if his heart had just been stripped naked. Even when she looked away, he felt breathless…and shaken.

“Dalton?” his wife, Aldys, asked nervously. “Why did we stop?”

“Best be moving on, Cap’n,” Addison said. “Heart’s Justice. Not something you want the youngsters to see.”

“Why?” Aldys asked. “We’ve always been told it was a humane punishment. That no one got what wasn’t deserved.”

If there truly is any justice, the man Koltak tricked into coming here will be sent back to wherever he calls home, Dalton thought.

As he gathered up the reins, he saw two more people suddenly appear behind the woman.

Was the man a Bridge? Had they just crossed over from a different landscape? Was there time for him to ride out to where they waited and ask where the bridge crossed over?

“Cap’n.” A warning.

Dalton looked back and saw the carriages moving across the open land. Too late, he thought with regret, not sure if he was thinking about himself or the man who was riding in the closed prison wagon. Too late.

Something shimmered around his heart, as if considering the flavor of his feelings.

“Best be moving on, Cap’n,” Addison said.

But he couldn’t look away. He watched the carriages come to a halt, watched the Wizards’ Council descend to form a line facing the Landscaper, watched…Was that Koltak being helped out of that pony cart? It figured. The bastard would have shown up for this if he’d had to crawl all the way down from the Wizards’ Hall to get there.

The prison wagon moved farther on before it halted. One of the guards unlocked and opened the door. The man he’d helped Koltak capture stepped out of the wagon and moved away from the guards and wizards.

There was no escaping Heart’s Justice. Everyone knew that. You couldn’t run fast enough to escape the reach of a Landscaper focused on Heart’s Justice.

Still, he admired the man for standing tall and looking the Landscaper in the eyes.

And he wished, once again, that he’d made a different choice.

Lynnea twisted her fingers until they hurt. Something was wrong with Sebastian. Terribly wrong. His face seemed carved out of wood, and there was such emptiness in those beautiful green eyes. What had those wicked men done to him?

He didn’t seem to notice—or care—that she had come here to help him.

Maybe he didn’t care. Maybe he had never loved her. Maybe coming here had been the wrong thing to do.

Her courage faltered. She wobbled suddenly, as if the ground had shifted under her feet. Lee grabbed her arm to steady her.

Sebastian, she thought, feeling her heart ache. Sebastian.

What had they done to Sebastian to turn his heart into a desert in so little time? Glorianna wondered as she stared into his empty eyes.

Then she felt a blast of heat that shot straight from his heart into hers. A heart wish so intense the ground around her trembled with the strength of it.

She turned her back on Sebastian and the wizards, focusing on Lynnea.

“His heart is bleak, barren, cold,” she said, stripping her voice of all emotion. “When Heart’s Justice takes him, he’ll end up in a landscape that is bleak, barren, and cold.”

“It’s not right,” Lynnea whispered. “He’s not like that. He deserves more than that.”

“Ephemera will send him to the place that resonates with his heart. I can’t change that.” Glorianna waited, hoping for some sign of defiance, but Lynnea’s courage was withering. “But his last heart wish was for you. That you find a landscape that truly feels like home. That you have what your heart most desires. I will honor that wish, Lynnea. I, and Ephemera, will give you what you most desire.”

“How am I supposed to choose?” Lynnea cried.

“Follow your heart.”

Before Lynnea looked away, fixing her eyes on the ground, Glorianna saw a flash of strength.

Turning away from Lynnea and Lee, Glorianna walked a few paces away, ignoring Lee’s low protest.

Hear me, Ephemera. Feel this heart. She focused on Lynnea, on the resonance growing stronger and more determined moment by moment. Give this heart what it most desires. And this one. Now she focused on the resonance that was Sebastian. Let him follow his heart. Listen to nothing in him but the core of his heart.

The currents of Light and Dark power that resonated with her grew stronger, almost too strong to contain.

She stared at the Wizards’ Council. They stared back at her, not quite able to hide their malevolent glee at finally getting her within reach.

What they hadn’t considered was that they, too, were within reach. Because no Landscaper had ever tried to give Heart’s Justice to more than one person at a time.

Listen to every heart in this landscape, she commanded. Find the landscape that resonates with each of those hearts and send them on to that place. Send every heart to the Light or the Dark that it deserves. Strip every heart of the masks used to hide its true resonance. Now, Ephemera. Now!

Throwing back her head, she raised her arms—and let the world channel Heart’s Justice through her.

“Guardians and Guides,” Dalton whispered, as something powerful swept through him, resonating, seeking. “She’s unleashed Heart’s Justice on all of us!”

He set the brake and tied off the reins to keep the horses from bolting, then turned to grip his wife’s arm, forming a barrier in front of their children. “Henley! Addison! Tie up your horses and get in the wagon.”

Henley and Addison dismounted. But they moved away from the wagon.

“You’re a good man, Cap’n,” Addison said. “But I’m not a good man. Not that way. I like drinking and gambling and the company of women who aren’t ladies. Same with Henley.”

“But—”

“You hold tight to your family,” Addison said. “Henley and me, we’ll make our own way. Good-bye, Cap’n. Travel lightly.”

The two guards were fading, as if they weren’t quite there anymore.

As he held on to his family, waiting to be swept away by the storm of power, one thought echoed through Dalton’s mind: Heart’s hope lies within Belladonna.

He hoped, for all their sakes, the man Koltak had brought to Wizard City was right.

Follow your heart. I, and Ephemera, will give you what you most desire.

Lynnea looked up, startled. The ground felt so strange, so…fluid. And everything around her looked…wispy.

It was happening. Heart’s Justice.

I, and Ephemera, will give you what you most desire.

“Sebastian,” she whispered, pulling away from Lee and taking a step toward the man who had shown her laughter and love. Who had given her a chance to discover she was more than Mam and Pa and Ewan told her she could be. She was a tigress, and she could do anything she wanted with her life. Anything.

Follow your heart.

She took another step, feeling as if she were being buffeted by fierce winds even though no wind tugged at her clothes or blew on her skin.

The winds of change. And she could have anything she wanted.

“Sebastian,” she whispered again, taking another step.

He didn’t deserve a place that was bleak, barren, and cold. He deserved to live in the Den, where the people needed him to be their Justice Maker. And he deserved to live in his cottage, where he could just be a man. And he deserved sunlight and warmth and friends and family and…love.

She took another step. And another.

Those wicked men had done something to him, had made him believe he didn’t deserve those things, just like Mam had made her believe she didn’t deserve anything. No. Mam hadn’t made her believe anything. She just hadn’t been strong enough to believe anything else.

She was strong enough now. She was a tigress.

He needs me.

If he wasn’t able to believe for himself, she would believe for him.

Follow your heart.

Sebastian. Sebastian. Sebastian.

She ran while the ground seemed to fall away beneath her. She ran, keeping her eyes on Sebastian.

He was her heart’s desire. They deserved laughter and friends and love. They deserved to live in the cottage, in sunlight. And they deserved the Den, that strange carnal carnival. And they deserved to be together.

Sebastian. Sebastian. Sebastian.

She felt the world shifting, trying to reach for her heart to take her away.

Not yet. Not yet.

She bore down, striving with everything in her to reach him before the world swept them away.

Closer. Closer.

His eyes were closed. That was why he didn’t see her, why he wasn’t reacting. But she had no breath to call out to him. So she let her heart call for her.

Sebastian!

His eyes snapped open. His beautiful green eyes weren’t empty anymore. They were filled with shock, disbelief, and a frightened yearning.

Ephemera pulled at her. In another moment it would be too late.

With all the strength she had, she leaped.

The last thing she saw was Sebastian reaching up to catch her. The last thing she felt was his arms wrapping around her.

Then the world swept them away…and there was only darkness.

Glorianna staggered, barely able to stay on her feet. She felt hollowed out, scoured clean.

Insanity. That was what it must have been to think she could give Heart’s Justice to an entire landscape. But…

The city was filled with Dark currents that didn’t match her Dark resonance. And the hearts in the city that had yearned for the Light…

Gone. All gone. Free of this place.

She looked around. Sebastian and Lynnea were gone, and she hoped with all her heart that she’d done the right thing for both of them.

Everyone had disappeared…except a wizard with a bandaged foot. He was on the ground, moaning.

She looked up at the city, then at the man. Not one of them, but too much like them. Had there been a moment when his heart could have made a choice? Was that why he was still outside the city?

Pity stirred in her, and she wondered if there was something—anything—she could do rather than leave him in this place.

Then the wizard saw her and struggled to sit up.

“Glorianna,” Lee said in a low voice. “Just back up. I’m right behind you, on the island. Get out of there before that bastard has a chance to do anything.”

She took two steps back, then stopped. “I have to finish this. If I don’t, all the risks we took will be for nothing.”

“Glorianna.”

She reached inside herself for all the power she had left—and altered the landscape, taking the piece of Ephemera that held Wizard City out of the world.

So exhausted she could barely stand, Glorianna backed up another step closer to Lee and the island. Almost there. Almost.

“You bitch!” the wizard screamed. “What did you do to the council?”

“I gave them Heart’s Justice,” she replied, although her voice was so weak, she doubted he could hear her.

Fury twisted his face. He raised his hand.

She stared at him, knowing what was about to happen but too drained to move.

Then Lee grabbed her and hauled her onto the island just as the wizard’s lightning struck the ground where she’d stood a moment before.

“That was too close,” he said, sounding scared and furious.

“I know.” Her voice sounded funny, far away. “Lee?”

Then everything faded away.