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She twisted around to face me, a scowl on her face, and then she punchedwillfully dense! For a s, you’re re the only what you want to see?"

Panic filled h I’ht--I had been filtering quite extensively; I was seeing only what Gaia neededdone And then I realized that was a weak excuse

"Um," I said The truth was, I could have looked at Granuaile in the ical spectrum anytime I wished in the past twelve years, and I hadn’t done so unless I needed to teach her so extraneous to the objective, just as I was doing nohile tattooing her It was denial, pure and simple

Once I removed my blinders and looked at the e at I’d seen knots like this before Some of them were lust And some of them, the ones I hadn’t dared to confirm for fear that they wouldn’t be there, were love

Granuaile could see theured out what they ht I couldn’t pretend anymore

What I could do, however, was feel like a coain

I’ve lost track of how often I’ve felt that way in relationships So more practice than anyone, I’ve never learned how not to feel like a du at the e ee for fifty cents more Even if you ask them nicely ahead of time not to upsell you, they still do it, because the wordin love is like that: You always feel like a du--it’s unavoidable

Before I could offer so beyond a helpless monosyllable, Oberon’s voice in my head demanded my attention

"Atticus, three women and a man in white are headed in your direction They have those thirsty things you toldsoe, and their teeth look really sharp"

A new panic filled me Bacchants were on their way

Chapter 14

Listen, buddy This is extreht where you are and keep still Don’t engage theain until I renew communication Okay?

"Got it I’ll take a nap"

Excellent plan Atticus out

Granuaile could tell by"What is it?" she asked

Before I answered, I sent an urgent plea to Olyht now Disconnect froain?"

"Yes Don’t draw from the earth in any way Drop Olyic whatsoever"

The ainst the stone floor as she co"

"Oberon’s spotted Bacchants They can s this way"

"How do you sic?"

I lowered my voice "I didn’t knoas possible until shortly after wee on I should have been undetectable, right? But one of the Bacchants took a deep breath froht toward me We had a conversation Her eyes were unfocused, but she kneas there My body odor wasn’t that bad, so what did she s ritual has led theed ourselves so that ere lying on our bellies and able to see a severely screened view of the creek and woods below our wee cave A flicker of bright white froht my eye, and I jerked my head in that direction for Granuaile’s benefit, wordlessly directing her gaze

More white appeared, floating draperies weaving through the foliage, and ani but the soft chuckle of the creek below

Skin gradually stood out froroomed by static or maybe playful kittens, provided stark chaotic fraht have been pretty by solazed and polluted with madness

And it was little wonder Behind the three women strolled Bacchus, the lord of madness himself Unlike the last time I’d seen him, he appeared calm and in full control of his mental faculties Indeed, he appeared freshly scrubbed and ed froh the wilderness His lips were not s or even turned up at the corners, but he still radiated a sense of being satiated, drowsy eyelids reveling in Epicurean luxury, an androgynous beauty who’d just gorged hiazed on him, I realized he had known pleasures that I could never know e of envy trembled at the hollow ofto take the shts of pleasure he had sampled in his iues on it, they were his thralls, for they would endure any abuse to taste it again, and, if withheld froo mad Either way, Bacchus orshipped and served

The allure of unthinking animal bliss is powerful; it always calls to us, in the sae of a cliff or the waves of the ocean: Juht and danger in equal ht to spy subtleties and take joy in them, such crude, baser rave peril also: The propensity to ees a poet to avoid the real thing, and a too-passionate love of books canup walls where there should be free range I decided long ago--to keep --that there would be poetry inI would have thee advice of modern beer co responsible about the god of the vine

The Bacchants stopped in front of the cave entrance but did not see it They raised noses into the air and sniffed, scowling One of thee both Granuaile and I understood

"It was here, or near here, but it’s gone now"

A second Bacchant observed, "There’s soic"