Belladonna

you." Somehow.
    "It's a kindness," Sebastian replied as he shook Michael's hand. Then he stepped back. "Travel lightly."
    "How do you know the Traveler's Blessing?" Michael asked, startled.
    "It's called Heart's Blessing in this part of the world," Sebastian replied. Then he smiled. "There's hope for you yet, Magician."
    Hope. Heart's hope lies within Belladonna. I need to find Belladonna.
    Taking a deep breath and blowing it out slowly, Michael walked between the stones.
    Sebastian stared at the empty space between the stones. "Guardians of the Light and Guides of the Heart, if he is who I think he is, keep him safe on this journey."
    Turning away from the stones, he walked back to the demon cycles. "I'm going to visit my auntie, so you two should go back to the Den."
    He could almost feel the friction caused by bits of demon cycle brain rubbing together to spark a thought.
    "Cottage?" one of them finally said.
    "Lynnea's still at the cottage."
    They left him without a second thought, zooming through the woods at reckless speed in order to get to the cottage.
    Sebastian set off at a leisurely pace, enjoying the quiet of a crisp autumn morning as he followed the almost-hidden path that would take him back to his aunt Nadia's house.
    He just hoped Lynnea wouldn't be annoyed at him for the unexpected company. And he hoped Dalton, who had been a guard captain in Wizard City and was now working as a law enforcer in Aurora, wouldn't have a reason to cross over to the Den and inquire about the whereabouts of missing livestock since they both knew that if the demon cycles were responsible, missing livestock, translated to thoroughly eaten livestock — although the farmer did find a hoof and the end bit of a tail the last time Dalton had felt the need to come calling. And the three demon cycles that had given him, Lynnea, and Teaser a ride to Nadia's house on that particular occasion had rattled for days, sounding too much like bones and hooves being shaken in a metal barrel.
    Not that he'd mentioned that detail to Dalton. When a man was the Den's Justice Maker, as well as being an incubus and wizard, he had a more flexible definition of law enforcement than the men who performed similar duties in the daylight landscapes.
    Reaching Nadia's house, he gave the back door a perfunctory knock before he opened the door and stuck his head in the kitchen. "Anyone flying around in here?"
    No one flying, but the stranger standing near the kitchen table spun around and dropped the cup and saucer she'd been holding.
    "Who are you?" the young woman said in a shrill voice. She darted around the table to put it between them. "What do you want here?"
    Sebastian was in the kitchen with his right hand halfway raised to call the wizards lightning when Nadia rushed into the room.
    "Caitlin, darling, what's the — Oh." Nadia stopped, then brushed her hair back with one hand. "Sebastian. I didn't hear you come in. Caitlin, it's all right. Sebastian is my nephew."
    Caitlin.
    Sebastian lowered his hand and took in the young woman's details. A little younger than Lynnea, but the same height and general size. Same color hair but straight instead of wavy — and very short. No one would mistake one face for the other, but seen from the back, he could understand Michael's error.
    Oh, Guardians and Guides.
    He walked out of the kitchen and ended up in front of a flower bed that still had some late-blooming plants. He just stared at them, even when Nadia caught up to him.
    "Sebastian." She sounded harried and a little breathless, and he wondered what sort of emotional mess he'd left behind in the kitchen. "What is going on?"
    "That's Caitlin Marie, isn't it?" he said, keeping his eyes fixed on the plants rather than looking at his aunt. "Her hair is so short because she cut it off. That was the tail of long hair we found a few days ago."
    "Yes. Lee found her in the bonelovers' landscape. She had altered the landscape enough to create a protective circle that kept the bonelovers from reaching her, but that's all she knew how to do. And even that was instinctive rather than a true understanding of what she was doing. She held on and held up until Lee brought her here. Once she truly believed she was safe, she ... fell apart.
    Just as well that she did it here where my will dominates, so she's not manifesting."
    "I didn't talk to Jeb directly when he came to deliver Lee's message," Sebastian said. "He met up with Teaser near the edge of the Den and said