Sebastian

for his rabbit's attention when there was koffee.
    By the time they'd finished the first cups, Philo returned and set two plates on the table. Slices of steak, buttered toast, and an omelet filled with potatoes, onions, peppers, and sausage. He refilled their cups and went to check on his other customers.
    Sebastian picked at his food, just to have something to do. He needed to find some way to set his plan in motion, but Lynnea dug into her meal with such enthusiasm, he didn't want to spoil her appetite by talking about anything that might upset her. So he ate while he watched the incubi and succubi trolling for prey, watched the visitors wandering down the main street looking for a brothel or a gambling house or a tavern where they could drink themselves blind. The Den was a place where the vices frowned upon in the daylight landscapes were openly celebrated. If a man wanted to lose a months pay drinking, gambling, and whoring, the residents of the Den were more than willing to help him. If a bored, rich wife wanted to buy an incubus's time and particular talents, that was her choice—and if there were repercussions in her own landscape, that was her problem.
    Of course, the residents always found it entertaining when a bored, rich wife and her equally bored, rich husband ran into each other in a brothel corridor. And those confrontations confirmed what the Dens residents had known all along: In its own way, the Den was more honest than the daylight landscapes, because the few rules that existed applied to everyone, regardless of gender or species.
    When Lynnea finally leaned back and let out a sigh of contentment, Sebastian pushed aside his plate and took her hand. The touch made her tremble, and the little rabbit stared at the wolf who was trying not to drool over the coming feast.
    "Tell me what you want, Lynnea," he said. "If you could have anything you wanted for a few hours, what would it be?"
    She licked her lips. His pulse spiked, but he didn't allow himself to pull her into his lap and kiss her until they were both too mindless to know or care where they were. He just held her hand and waited.
    "I'd like…" She closed her eyes. "I'd like to be strong and brave. I'd like to stop being afraid all the time.
    I don't remember what it feels like not to be afraid."
    "Done," Sebastian said softly.
    She opened her eyes and looked at him, her expression baffled.
    "Did I mention I'm a wizard as well as an incubus?"
    The words had barely left his mouth when he felt something snap open inside him, as if a part of him had been waiting to be acknowledged. The truth of it slid through him, filled him.
    Guardians and Guides! He was a wizard .
    Couldn't be. Wasn't possible.
    Why not?
    Because… Wouldn't he have known? Wouldn't Koltak have known?
    Or was that the reason Koltak had brought the son he hated back to Wizard City over and over again?
    What would Koltak have done with a son born of a succubus if that child had shown any sign of having the wizards' kind of magic?
    He didn't want to think about it. He'd said it only to give Lynnea a reason to shake off the chains of her past. Instead it had opened a new, and frightening, future for himself.
    Power without training. Was there anything more dangerous in a world that altered itself to match the resonance of people's hearts? All he knew about the power wizards claimed came from stories, rumors, things he'd heard they'd done to people. He had to talk to someone, but who could he trust? Lee?
    Glorianna? Maybe. Or would their intense dislike of wizards make them turn away from him if they found out? Aunt Nadia?
    His heart rate settled back to something close to normal. He could talk to Nadia. If anyone could help him understand this, she could.
    "Sebastian?"
    He put aside his own revelation and focused on the one he'd planned for her.
    "Yes," he said. "I'm a wizard as well as an incubus." He stood up, shifted until he was beside her chair, then placed one hand on her head. "By a wizard's power and will, I decree that you, Lynnea, are a tigress. You are strong and brave and powerful. You are a woman of beauty and courage. And whatever you want from this night is yours."
    She looked up at him, frightened, confused… and hopeful. "Did you put a spell on me?"
     
    "Something like that." Daylight! He hoped he hadn't done anything more than say a few words convincingly enough for her to believe him.
    His hand slid down that lovely, wavy brown hair. Then he coaxed her to her