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Michael parked his truck on the street outside Bianca&039;s mansion He put the keys in his leather belt pouch, and buttoned it with the silver cross button Then he straightened the collar of his doublet, which showed through the neck of the mail, and reached behind the seat for the steel helain, Harry, why this is a good idea Why are we going to a masquerade ball with a bunch ofpoints us this way," I said

"How?"

I took a breath, trying to be patient, and passed him the white cloak "Look We know that so up the spirit world We know that they did it in order to create this Nightirl, Lydia, was connected to the Nightht"

"Bianca," I said, "sent out her thugs to take Lydia And Bianca&039;s hosting a party for the nastiest bad guys in the region Stallings toldoff the streets They&039;ve probably been taken for food or so Even if Bianca isn&039;t behind it, and I&039; she isn&039;t, chances are that anyone who could be is going to be at the party tonight"

"And you think you&039;ll be able to spot them?" Michael asked

"Pretty sure," I responded "All I&039;ll have to do is get close enough to touch thehtet away froain"

"I don&039;t like it," Michael said "Why didn&039;t the Nightmare come after you the minute the sun went down?"

"Maybe I scared it I cut it up a little"

Michael frowned "I still don&039;t like it There are going to be dozens of things in there that have no right to exist in this world It will be like walking into a roomful of wolves"

"All you have to do," I said, "is keep your uys have to play by the rules tonight We&039;ve been given the protection of the old laws of hospitality If Bianca doesn&039;t respect that, it&039;s going to kill her reputation in front of her guests and the Vampire Court"

"I will protect you, Harry," Michael said "As I will protect anyone who thesethings threaten"

"We don&039;t need any fights, Michael That&039;s not e&039;re here"

He looked out the truckand set his jaw

"I mean it, Michael It&039;s their turf There&039;s probably going to be bad stuff inside, but we have to keep the big picture in focus here"

"The big picture," he said "Harry, if there&039;s so it"

"Michael! If we break the truce first, we&039;re open gaet us both killed"

He turned to look at ranite "I am what I am, Harry"

I threw ed my hands on the roof of the truck "There are people who could get killed if we mess this up It isn&039;t only our own lives we&039;re talking about, here"

"I know," he said "My fa"

"Michael," I said "I&039;et cozy Just keep quiet and stay out of the way Don&039;t shove a crucifix down anyone&039;s throat That&039;s all I&039;"

"I won&039;t stand by, Harry," he said "I can&039;t" He frowned and said, "I don&039;t think you can, either"

I glared at him "Hell&039;s bells, Michael I don&039;t want to die, here"

"Nor do I We must have faith"

"Great," I said "That&039;s just great"

"Harry, will you join me in prayer?"

I blinked at him "What?"

"A prayer," Michael said "I&039;d like to talk to Him for a moment" He half s Just be quiet and stay out of the way" He bowed his head

I squinted out theof the truck, silent I don&039;t have anything against God Far from it But I don&039;t understand Hio around clai in His best interests Faeries and vampires and whatnot - those I can fathom Even demons Sometimes, even the Fallen I can understand why they do what they do

But I don&039;t understand God I don&039;t understand how he could see the way people treat one another, and not chalk up the whole huuess he&039;s just bigger about it than I would be

"Lord," Michael said "We walk into darkness now Our eneh to do what needs to be done Ae, no flashy beseeching the Alet done, and a request that God would be on his side - on our side Simple words, and yet power surrounded hi my aroing for us We could do this

Michael looked up at ht," he said "I&039;m ready"

"How do I look?" I asked hioing to turn heads That&039;s for sure"

I had to smile back at hiot out of the truck, and started walking toward the gates around Bianca&039;s estate Michael buckled on the white cloak with its red cross as he went He had a uards on his shoulders He had a pair of heavy gauntlets tucked through his boots, and wore a pair of knives on his belt, one on either side He smelled like steel and he clanked a little bit when he walked It sounded coht kind of way

It would have been ates and have a valet park the truck, but Michael didn&039;t want to hand over his truck to vampires I didn&039;t bla, fiend of the shadows valet, either

The gate had an honest-to-goodness guard house, with a pair of guards Neither one of theuns, but they held theance that neither myself nor Michael missed I held up the invitation They let us in

We walked up the drive to the house A black li the drive as we did, and we had to step off to the side to let it past When we got to the front of the house, the occupants were just getting out of the car

The driver came around to the rear door of the li loud and hard There was a lided out of the limo

He was tall, pale as a statue Sable hair fell in tousled curls to his shoulders He was dressed in a pair of opalescent butterfly wings that rose from his shoulders, fastened to hiloves, their gauntlet cuffs decorated in winding silver designs, and sins were set around his calves, down to his sandals At his side hung a sword, delicately lass The only other thing he had on was a loincloth of some soft, white cloth He had the body for it Muscle, but not too ood set of shoulders, and the pale skin wasn&039;t darkened anywhere by hair Hell&039;s bells, I noticed how good he looked

The h for a toothpaste commercial, and then reached a hand back down to the car A pair of gorgeous legs in pink high heels slid out of the car, followed by a slender and scruirl barely covered in flower petals She had a short, tight skirt made out of them, and more petals cupped her breasts like delicate hands Other than that, and the baby&039;s breath woven into the tu And she wore it well In the heels, she ht have been five-seven, and she had a face that made me think that she was both lovely and sweet Her cheeks were flushed in a delicate pink blush, vibrant and alive, her lips parted, and she had a look to her eyes that told

"Harry," Michael said "You&039;re drooling"

"I&039;irl can&039;t be nineteen years old"

"I&039;ripped my cane in hand, and stalked on up the driveway to the house And wiped at my mouth with my sleeve Just in case

The man turned toward me, and both his eyebrows lifted He looked me andlaugh "Oh, ot s me when someone knows me and I don&039;t know them "Yeah," I said "That&039;s me Who the hell are you?"

If the hostility bothered hiirl with hiainst hi et that you probably know very little of the intricacies of the Court My name is Thomas, of House Raith, of the White Court"

"White Court," I said

"Three vampire Courts," Michael supplied "Black, Red, and White"

"I knew that"

Michael shrugged one shoulder "Sorry"

Thomas smiled "Well Only two, for all practical purposes The Black Court has fallen on hard tiested lee rather than pity "Mister Dresden, allow irl beneath his arave me a sweet smile I half-expected her to extend her hand to me to be kissed, but she didn&039;t She just molded her body to Thomas&039;s in what looked like a most pleasant fashion