I heard voices speaking somewhere nearby. My head was killing me, and my face felt tight and swollen. I could feel warmth on my right side, and smelled the scent of burning wood. A fire popped and crackled. The ground beneath me was hard but not cold. I was lying on blankets or something. heard voices speaking somewhere nearby. My head was killing me, and my face felt tight and swollen. I could feel warmth on my right side, and smelled the scent of burning wood. A fire popped and crackled. The ground beneath me was hard but not cold. I was lying on blankets or something.
"... really no point to doing anything but waiting," Ebenezar said. "Sure, they're under a roof, but it's leaking. And if nothing else, morning should take care of it."
"Ai ya," Ancient Mai muttered. "I'm sure we could counter it easily enough." Ancient Mai muttered. "I'm sure we could counter it easily enough."
"Not without risk," Ebenezar said in a reasonable tone. "Morgan isn't going anywhere. What's the harm in waiting for the shield to fall?"
"I do not care for this place," Ancient Mai replied. "Its feng shui is unpleasant. And if the child was no warlock, she would have lowered the shield by now."
"No!" came Molly's voice. It sounded weirdly modulated, as if being filtered through fifty feet of a corrugated pipe and a kazoo. "I'm not dropping the shield until Harry says it's okay." After a brief pause she added, "Uh, besides. I'm not sure how."
A voice belonging to one of the Wardens said, "Maybe we could tunnel beneath it."
I exhaled slowly, licked my cracked lips, and said, "Don't bother. It's a sphere."
"Oh!" Molly said. "Oh, thank God! Harry!"
I sat up slowly, and before I had moved more than an inch or two, Injun Joe was supporting me. "Easy, son," he said. "Easy. You've lost some blood, and you got a knot on your head that would knock off a hat."
I felt really dizzy while he said that, but I stayed up. He passed me a canteen and I drank, slowly and carefully, one swallow at a time. Then I opened my eyes and glanced around me.
We were all in the ruined cottage. I sat on the floor near the fireplace. Ebenezar sat on the hearth in front of the fireplace, his old wooden staff leaned up against one shoulder. Ancient Mai stood on the opposite side of the cottage from me, flanked by four Wardens.
Morgan lay on the bedroll where I'd left him, unconscious or asleep, and Molly sat cross-legged on the floor beside him, holding the quartz crystal in both hands. It shimmered with a calm white light that illuminated the interior of the cottage much more thoroughly than the fire did, and a perfectly circular dome of light the size of a small camping tent enclosed both Morgan and my apprentice in a bubble of defensive energy.
"Hey," I said to Molly.
"Hey," she said back.
"I guess it worked, huh?"
Her eyes widened. "You didn't know if it would?"
"The design was sound," I said. "I'd just never had the chance to field-test it."
"Oh," Molly said. "Um. It worked."
I grunted. Then I looked up at Ebenezar. "Sir."
"Hoss," he said. "Glad you could join us."
"We waste time," Ancient Mai said. She looked at me and said, "Tell your apprentice to drop the shield at once."
"In a minute."
Her eyes narrowed, and the Wardens beside her looked a little more alert.
I ignored her and asked Molly, "Where's Thomas?"
"With his family," said a calm voice.
I looked over my shoulder to see Lara Raith standing in the doorway, a slender shape wrapped in one of the blankets from a bunk on the Water Beetle Water Beetle. She looked as pale and lovely as ever, though her hair had been burned down close to her scalp. Without it to frame her face, there was a greater sense of sharp, angular gauntness to her features, and her grey eyes seemed even larger and more distinct. "Don't worry, Dresden. Your cat's-paw will live to be manipulated another day. My people are taking care of him."
I tried to find something in her face that would tell me anything else about Thomas. It wasn't there. She just watched me coolly.
"There, vampire," Ancient Mai said politely. "You have seen him and spoken to him. What follows is Council business."
Lara smiled faintly at Ancient Mai and turned to me. "One more thing before I go, Harry. Do you mind if I borrow the blanket?"
"What if I do?" I asked.
She let it slip off of one pale shoulder. "I'd give it back, of course."
The image of the swollen, bruised, burned creature that had kissed Madeline Raith as it pulled out her entrails returned to my thoughts, vividly.
"Keep it," I told her.
She smiled again, this time showing teeth, and bowed her head. Then she turned and left. I idly followed her progress down to the shore, where she walked out onto the floating dock and was gone.
I looked at Ebenezar. "What happened?"
He grunted. "Whoever came through the Nevernever opened a gate about a hundred yards back in the trees," he said. "And he brought about a hundred big old shaggy spiders with him."
I blinked, and frowned. "Spiders?"
Ebenezar nodded. "Not conjured forms, either. They were the real thing, from Faerie, maybe. Gave us a real hard time. Some of them started webbing the trees while the others kept us busy, trying to trap us in."
"Didn't want us getting behind them to whoever opened the gate," Listens-to-Wind said.
"Didn't want anyone to see who it was, more likely," I said. "That was our perp. That was the killer."
"Maybe," Ebenezar said quietly, nodding. "As soon as those trees and the webbing came down, we started pushing the spiders back. He ran. And once he was gone, the spiders scattered, too."
"Dammit," I said quietly.
"That's what all this was about," Ebenezar said. "There was no informant, no testimony."
I nodded. "I told you that to draw the real killer out. To force him to act. And he did. You saw it with your own eyes. That should be proof enough that Morgan is innocent."
Ancient Mai shook her head. "The only thing that proves is that someone else is willing to betray the Council and has something to hide. It doesn't mean that Morgan couldn't have killed LaFortier. At best, it suggests that he did not act alone."
Ebenezar gave her a steady look. Then he said, "So there is is a conspiracy now-is what you're saying? What was that you were saying earlier about simplicity?" a conspiracy now-is what you're saying? What was that you were saying earlier about simplicity?"
Mai glanced away from him, and shrugged her shoulders. "Dresden's theory is, admittedly, a simpler and more likely explanation." She sighed. "It is, however, insufficient to the situation."
Ebenezar scowled. "Someone's got to hang?"
Mai turned her eyes back to him and held steady. "That is precisely correct. It is plausible that Morgan was involved. The hard evidence universally suggests that he is guilty. And the White Council will not not show weakness in the face of this act. We cannot afford to allow LaFortier's death to pass without retribution." show weakness in the face of this act. We cannot afford to allow LaFortier's death to pass without retribution."
"Retribution," Ebenezar said. "Not justice."
"Justice is not what keeps the various powers in this world from destroying the White Council and having their way with humanity," Ancient Mai responded. "Fear does that. Power does that. They must know that if they strike us, there will be deadly consequences. I am aware how reprehensible an act it would be to sentence an innocent man to death-and one who has repeatedly demonstrated his dedication to the well-being of the Council, to boot. But on the whole, it is less destructive and less irresponsible than allowing our enemies to perceive weakness."
Ebenezar put his elbows on his knees and looked at his hands. He shook his head once, and then said nothing.
"Now," Ancient Mai said, turning her focus back to me. "You will instruct your apprentice to lower the shield, or I will tear it down."
"Might want to take a few steps back before you do," I said. "If anything but the proper sequence takes it apart, it explodes. It'll take out the cottage. And the tower. And the top of the hill. The kid and Morgan should be fine, though."
Molly made a choking sound.
"Hngh. Finally made that idea work, did you?" Ebenezar said.
I shrugged. "After those zombies turned up and just hammered their way through my defenses, I wanted something that would give me some options."
"How long did it take you to make?"
"Nights and weekends for three months," I sighed. "It was a real pain in the ass."
"Sounds it," Ebenezar agreed.
"Wizard McCoy," Mai said sharply. "I remind you that Dresden and his apprentice aided and abetted a fugitive from justice."
From behind me, Listens-to-Wind said, "Mai. That's enough."
She turned her eyes to him and stared hard.
"Enough," Listens-to-Wind repeated. "The hour is dark enough without trying to paint more people with the same brush we're going to be forced to use on Morgan. One death is necessary. Adding two more innocents to the count would be callous, pointless, and evil. The Council will interpret Dresden's actions as ultimately to the support of the Laws of Magic and the White Council. And that will be the end of it."
There was no expression on Mai's face-absolutely none. I couldn't have told you a darn thing about what was going on behind that mask. She stared at the two older wizards for a time, then at me. "The Merlin will not be pleased."
"That is good," Listens-to-Wind said. "No one should be pleased with this day's outcome."
"I'll take Morgan into custody, Mai," Ebenezar said. "Why don't you take the Wardens back to the city in the boat? It should give you less trouble without me and Injun Joe on it. We'll follow along in the other boat."
"Your word," Mai said, "that you will bring Morgan to Edinburgh."
"Bring him and bring him unharmed," Ebenezar said. "You have my word."
She nodded her head once. "Wardens."
Then she walked calmly out. The four Wardens fell into step behind her.
I kept track of them once they were outside. They started down the path that would lead them back to the dock.
I looked up at Listens-to-Wind. "I need your help with something."
He nodded.
"There's a patch of blackberry bushes out there. One of the Little Folk tried to play guardian angel for me. The naaglosh-"
"Don't say the word," Listens-to-Wind said calmly. "It draws power from fear, and from spreading its reputation. Referring to them by name can only increase their power."
I snorted. "I saw you send it running. You think I'm giving it any fear?"
"Not at the moment," Injun Joe said. "But speaking the word doesn't accomplish anything good. Besides, it's a sloppy habit to get into."
I grunted. I could accept that. He'd probably phrased things that way intentionally. Besides, of the two of us, which one had a better track record against naagloshii? I decided to not be an idiot and listen to the medicine man.
"The creature," I said, "knocked him out of the air. Maybe hurt or killed him."
Injun Joe nodded. His broken arm had been splinted with a field dressing and wrapped in medical tape. The Wardens had probably brought their own gear. "I saw the very end of your fight. Which is why I felt it appropriate to give the creature the same treatment." He shook his head. "It took a lion's courage for the little one to do what he did. I already went looking for him."
I felt a little bit sick. "Was he ... ?"
Listens-to-Wind smiled faintly and shook his head. "Knocked senseless for a while, and wounded by blackberry thorns, though his armor protected him from the worst of it."
I found myself barking out a short little laugh of relief. "That armor armor? You're kidding."
He shook his head. "Worst thing hurt was his pride, I think." His dark eyes sparkled. "Little guy like that, taking on something so far out of his weight class. That was a sight to see."
Ebenezar snorted. "Yeah. Wonder where the pixie learned that."
I felt my cheeks coloring. "I didn't want to do it. I had to."
"You picked a good fight," Listens-to-Wind said. "Not a very smart fight. But that old ghost is as close to pure evil as you'll ever see. Good man always stands against that."
"You had it on the run," I said. "You could have killed it."
"Sure," Listens-to-Wind said. "Would have been a chase, and then more fight. Might have taken hours. Would have made the old ghost desperate. It would have started using innocents as shields, obstacles, distractions." The old medicine man shrugged. "Maybe I would have lost, too. And while it was going on, spiders would be eating fat old hill-billies and picking their fangs clean with their bones."
Ebenezar snorted. "Never would have happened. I don't much care for vampires, especially not those White Court weasels, but I'll say this much for them. They can fight, when they have a mind to. After the first rush, those bugs were a lot more careful."
"Yeah," I said. "They didn't have much of a spine when they tried to stop me on the trail to Edinburgh."
Both of the old wizards traded a look, and then Injun Joe turned back to me. "You got jumped by spiders going through the Way?"
"Yeah," I said. I thought about it and was surprised. Had it happened so recently? "Two days ago, when I came to Edinburgh. I told you about it. The killer must have had some kind of watch put on the Chicago end of the Way, to get them into position in time to intercept me." I let out a weary little snigger.
"What's so funny?" Ebenezar asked.
"Nothing," I said. "Just appreciating irony and getting punchy. I guess he didn't want me letting the Council know where Morgan was."
"Sounds like a reasonable theory," Injun Joe said. He looked at Ebenezar. "Got to be somebody at Edinburgh. Cuts the suspect pool down even more."
Ebenezar grunted agreement. "But not much. We're getting closer." He exhaled. "But it won't do Morgan any good." He stood, and his knees popped a couple of times on the way. "All right, Hoss," he said quietly. "I guess we can't put this off any longer."
I folded my arms and looked at Ebenezar evenly.