Sebastian

letting her near anything she could pick up and use as a weapon.
    "Well, then." Philo pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbed his forehead. He looked at Hastings and Mr. Finch, who both nodded. "Well. The thing is, Sebastian, after those… creatures…
    were disposed of, the merchants and business owners got together and talked things over. If you're going to be protecting the Den from now on, you should be compensated. Like… wages."
    "All the businesses would put in a percentage of their take each month," Hastings added. "Some credit slips, some coin. A place like the bordello would just reduce the rent on your room for their share."
    "Besides," Philo said, glancing nervously at Lynnea, "we all sort of figured you'd retired from your previous occupation."
    That was the truth. If he'd had any doubts about being Lynnea's exclusive lover, he was sure of it now after seeing her in a fullblown mad.
    Suddenly her body relaxed. She cocked her head. "You want Sebastian to be like a law enforcer in a village?"
    "Yes," Mr. Finch chirped. "Exactly."
    Sebastian reluctantly let go of her as she turned to face him.
    Her blue eyes still flashed with temper. "They wanted to talk to you about protecting the Den, and you thought they wanted you to leave. You moron."
    He yelped when she reached up and pulled his ears to bring his head down. The hard kiss on the mouth was nice, but didn't quite make up for getting his ears pulled.
    Then she walked out of the dining room.
    "Any bets that she'll scare the customers into eating all their vegetables?" Sebastian asked.
    "Wouldn't take the bet," Hastings replied. "Not today." He looked at Sebastian and frowned. "Why did you think we'd want you to leave?"
    "I'm a wizard."
    "Justice Maker," Mr. Finch chirped.
    He studied the three men. "Are you serious about this offer?"
    Philo chuckled. "A badass incubus wizard as the Den's law enforcer and Justice Maker. What could be more perfect?"
     

 

     
     

Chapter Nineteen

 

     
     

     
    With Jeb beside her, carrying a carpetbag and grumbling about the foolishness of making this visit, Nadia switched the basket she'd brought from one hand to the other and continued walking up the main street of the Den of Iniquity. Bursts of music and voices came from various buildings as the doors of taverns and music halls opened and closed. The colored globes on the poles turned the streetlights into something festive instead of providing mundane illumination. It made her think of the seedier part of a harvest fair—

    the tents and booths that most of the people who attended a fair didn't realize existed. There was an edginess here, and enough resonance of mean to rub at the grain of doubt that had lodged in her heart during the past few days.
    "Don't see why we couldn't have left this at the cottage," Jeb grumbled.
    "It didn't look like anyone was staying at the cottage," Nadia replied, trying to ignore the uneasiness she'd felt when she'd realized Sebastian had abandoned the place he'd called home for the past ten years. "I want to see how Lynnea is getting on, that's all. And I wanted to see the Den."
    "It's been here a few years now," Jeb said, looking at her with the awareness of a man who'd been awakened too many times in the past few nights when the dreams had plagued her. "Any reason you felt the need to see it now?"
    Every reason . But she wouldn't say those words out loud, wouldn't give them that much weight. For fifteen years, she had maintained an unshakable faith that Glorianna was not a deadly, dangerous creature, as the wizards claimed. When Glorianna had shaped the Den of Iniquity and altered the way Ephemera's landscapes flowed into one another so that several of the demon landscapes were connected to one another, Nadia had trusted that her daughter, so gifted in her power, had seen some need other Landscapers couldn't.
    For fifteen years she had trusted, because to do less might have shaken Glorianna's faith that she had her mother's support—and Glorianna was already too alone in the world. Now a grain of doubt was wearing away at that trust, and she had to see, had to know what kind of dark landscape had been made of this place.
    "First-timers?" a voice asked, pulling Nadia out of her thoughts.
    The blond-haired man watching them had the cocky grin of an appealing troublemaker, but when she got close enough, she detected a bruised wariness in his blue eyes.
    "Why do you think we're first-timers?" Jeb asked, sounding