Sebastian

Phallic Delights, and olives."
    Nadia picked up a roll, realized how it was shaped, and dropped it.
    "It's just bread, Aunt Nadia," Sebastian said.
    She wanted to smack him for looking so amused.
    "Here." He took another Phallic Delight, broke it into three pieces, and put it on her plate.
    Nadia narrowed her eyes. "Are your hands clean?"
    "Yes, Auntie, my hands are clean. And I still remember to wash them after I pee. Most of the time."
    She laughed. How could she not laugh? "All right. So you all think I'm being foolish."
    Sebastian smiled as he dipped a Delight into the melted cheese. "You're a first-timer. It would be a keen disappointment to all of us if there wasn't something in the Den that shocked you."
    Nadia picked up a chunk of bread and dipped it in the cheese, "This is just a strange little village, isn't it?
    It's wicked with a sense of humor, naughty for the fun of it."
    "Yes, exactly."
    She set the bread and cheese down without tasting it. "Then the Den isn't the problem. May the Guides of the Heart forgive me, I had hoped it was."
    He tensed. "You came to check out the Den?"
    "Yes."
    "You think it's the weak spot in the landscapes Glorianna holds?"
    "No, Sebastian. I think I'm the weak spot."
    A long silence. Then Sebastian said gently, "Drink your koffee. It's getting cold."
    Obediently, she pulled the cup and saucer closer—and noticed that he reached for a glass of wine.
    "A few days ago," she began hesitantly, "the resonance of a town within one of my landscapes changed, became discordant. I couldn't tell if that discordance came from some hearts that needed to move on to a different landscape or if it was a change in the town overall. So I crossed over to the marketplace in that town.
    "Uneasiness and worry resonated from many of the people who went about their daily business, but it was the malicious glee of a few, thinly disguised as shock and disgust, that disturbed me. Even in the daylight landscapes, there are hearts that are nourished by dark feelings. They're like weeds in a flower bed, except they can't be plucked out. It's more like they get trimmed back so that the good plants around them grow strong enough to overshadow them."
    "I understand that, I guess. If you sent everyone who had cheated or lied or had done something spiteful at some time in their lives to a dark landscape, there wouldn't be anyone left in the daylight landscapes."
    "Exactly. The heart is capable of the most noble feelings and the most vile. The possibilities are inside each of us. It's the feelings we embrace, as well as the ones we turn away from, that shape who we are."
    "So what happened in the marketplace that disturbed you so much?"
    Nadia sipped her koffee. "Stories about bad things happening in the next town over. A boy killing his younger sister with an ax, screaming that she turned into a big spider at night and crawled on him while he slept. A man beating his wife to death because she'd been late serving his dinner. Whispers about families having a run of bad luck. It felt like the words had smeared something vile over me, and when I left the marketplace to find a quiet spot where I could resonate with feelings that belong to the Light, I realized I was resonating in tune with that vileness. I was reinforcing it, helping it become stronger."
    Sebastian put his hand over hers. She held on to that warmth, that connection.
    "The dreams began that night," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Not dreams in the usual sense. Almost like someone whispering in the dark. But I didn't want to listen, and the one image I can remember from those dreams is me pushing and pushing a heavy wooden door, fighting to get it closed and lock out whatever was on the other side. Except I'd lost the key, so the door wouldn't stay closed."
    Sebastian sat back, picked up his wine, and drained the glass. "Sounds like something is trying to reach you through the twilight of waking dreams."
    "The what?"
    He gave her a grim smile. "That's how the incubi and succubi hunt their prey most of the time. We don't have to cross into another landscape, don't need physical contact. Oh, we like real sex, but it's the feelings we feed on. So we send out a tendril of our power, searching for a receptive mind, and we weave a fantasy—or participate in a fantasy. We're dream lovers who can make a dream feel so real there's physical gratification."
    Nadia cleared her throat. "I see. I never… I never asked you about that part of your