Belladonna

your island and she set foot in Sanctuary — and I realized I had never seen her truly happy or at peace with herself and the world around her. That's a hard thing to swallow since I'm one of the reasons she didn't have that peace."
    Lee leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. "She wasn't happy at Lighthaven either, Magician. She knew she needed the Light, but that wasn't the place for her. And yet she never went up to Darling's Harbor to walk between the Sentinel Stones. I think that's one of the differences between your part of the world and mine. You can avoid a resonating bridge and stay where you don't belong. But it can't be an easy thing to deny your own heart day after day, year after year. And in the end, you can't deny it.
    Ephemera won't let you."
    "She wouldn't have abandoned two children."
    Lee nodded. "Having decided to help, she wouldn't have left you to fend for yourselves — especially while Caitlin was so young. But we're not talking just about your aunt. That's the thing about heart wishes. You might have to travel through several landscapes—and spend time in each one, living and learning and changing inside — before you're ready for the place you truly belong, the place your heart recognizes as 'home.' Brighid has found her place. So has Caitlin. What about you? Do you have the courage to cross over to the landscape where you belong?"
    Michael turned enough to look at Lee straight on. "And you're thinking you know where I belong?
    Lee shook his head. "Your heart does."
    He knew where he wanted to belong. Which wasn't the same thing.
    "My father left when I was ..." Lee paused. "Well, I was so young I don't have my own memories of him. My mother didn't know if he had crossed over a bridge and couldn't get back to us, or if he didn't want to come back to us and had crossed over to a landscape where she didn't belong. It was only a few months ago that we found information that makes us think he was killed because he had learned the wizards who were purebloods weren't human; that they were really the Dark Guides."
    "It changed things, his leaving," Michael said, having a clear memory of his father walking down the road, alone, for that last time.
    "Yes, it changed things."
    "But your mother's heart didn't turn barren of everything but storms and rages."
    "My mother was where she belonged, in a house that had been in her family for generations. And my mother has always known the nature of her gift and the way of the world. She wouldn't have stayed in a place where she didn't belong."
    "Well, my mother didn't stay either," Michael said, bearing the bitterness in his voice. "Of course, where she thought she would end up by walking into the sea is anyone's guess. Where she did end up was a pauper's grave." And it hurt. All these years later, it still hurt.
    "She didn't love us enough to stay."
    Before Lee could reply, Michael stood up, signaling the end of talk.
    Lee rose as well. "Shall we join the ladies?"
    "Lucky timing on your mother's part to be visiting Sanctuary today," Michael said as they headed for the guest house.
    "Luck has nothing to do with it," Lee replied, smiling. "My mother's sense of timing is uncanny — especially if you're a young boy doing something you shouldn't be doing."
    "Ah." Michael hesitated, then decided this was good timing too. "Speaking of ladies, I noticed your sister has been absent from the tour of Sanctuary."
    "Something needed tending. She'll be back soon."
    Where? Although unspoken, they both knew the question had been asked — and not answered. Still an outsider, Michael thought. And maybe I deserve to be.
    As they approached Brighid and Nadia, he tucked that thought away in the far corner of his heart, hoping no one would be able to find it. Including himself.
    "You shouldn't be poking around there," a male voice said. "The place isn't safe."
    Glorianna turned and studied the man standing a few strides behind her. About Lee's age, maybe a little older. Pleasant face.
    Old eyes that narrowed now that he had a clear look at her.
    "You came with Caitlin Marie to look at her garden," he said. He wasn't standing in the right place to see it, but he looked toward the meadow. "That strange, rust-colored sand disappeared after you were here." His eyes widened. "You're a sor —"
    "Landscaper." She put enough emphasis on the word to silence him. "And a Guide of the Heart. Be careful of your words.
    They have more meaning than you realize."
    He hesitated,