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It only takes a couple of these rough little episodes of life to teach a ue wizard or three has tried to end your life, or some berserk hexenwolves have worked really hard to have your throat torn out, you start to expect the worst In fact, if the worst doesn&039;t happen, you find yourself somewhat disappointed

So really, it was just as well that Godht up to me, in spite of my best efforts to avoid her I&039;d hate to find out that the universe really wasn&039;t conspiring againstout from underon the assuher poould ot as complicated as it possibly could, I had formed a plan

I jerked the lariat from about my throat and croaked, "Thomas, Michael Now"

The pair of them produced small cardboard boxes from their pockets, palm-sized and almost square With a shake, Michael cast the contents of the first box forward, slewing the box left and right, like aseeds Thomas followed his lead, on the other side of an to rain down atop and nearby me

The faerie hounds let out startled yelps and leapt away My godmother&039;s horse let out a screa distance between us

I scrunched upnails They fell overas they struck, and settled around me Godmother had to let out on the rope that had looped aboutodmother Her lovely face turned livid, furious "You dare defile the Awnsidhe soil with iron! The Queen will rip your eyes from your skull!"

"No," Thomas said "They&039;re aluminum No iron content That&039;s a lovely horse you have What&039;s its name?"

Lea&039;s eyes flashed to Thoround While she did, I dipped a hand into ency plan, and popped it into my mouth Two or three chews and a s and I was finished

I tried not to let the abrupt surge of terror show

"Not steel?" Lea said She beckoned sharply at the ground, and one of the nails leapt up to her hand She gripped it, frowning, her expression abruptly wary "What is theof this?"

"It&039;s hed, and patted "

Lea laid a hand on her horse&039;s neck, and the savage beast cal one of the nails with its snout Lea gave the rope a little jerk, taking up the slack again, and said, "It will do you no good, wizard You cannot escape this rope It is bound to hold you You cannot escapefor you"

"All true," I agreed, and got to ie and shohich trees I can pee on"

Lea stared at one mad, her expression wary

I took hold of the rope and shook it iic already Do I get to pick rey Maybe you could do a nice sandy pelt for me Or oh, I knointer white With blue eyes, I alanted blue eyes, and - "

"Be silent!" Lea snarled, and shook the rope There was a sharp, stinging sensation, and ue literally stuck to the roof of , but itI kept silent

"Well," Thomas said "I&039;d like to see this I&039;ve never seen an external transformation before Do proceed,him, already!"

"This is a trick," Lea hissed "It will avail you naught, wizard Noto cast at me - "

"We&039;re not," Michael put in "I swear it on the Blood of Christ"

Lea sucked in a breath, as though the words had brought a sudden chill over her She rode the horse up to ainst mine She reeled in on the braided leather of the lariat as she did, until she held it by a length of nome almost off balance She leaned down close tofroain, and I clearedmuch I just wanted a bite to eat before we left"

"A bite," Lea murmured Then she jerked me over toward her and leaned down close, dainty nostrils flaring She inhaled, slow, the silken ainstto slow surprise I spoke to her in a quiet voice "You recognize the smell, yes?"

The whites showed around her eel," she whispered "You have taken death, Harry Dresden"

"Yep," I agreed "Toadstool A to show up in my blood in about twoapart my kidneys and liver A few hours from now, I&039;ll collapse, and if I don&039;t die then, then I&039;ll apparently recover for a few days while my innards fall apart, and then drop into arrest and die" I smiled "There&039;s no specific antidote for it And I kind of doubt even you could useclosed a wound is a lot different fromin the direction Lea had coblood and die"

She jerked the lariat tight, haltingto rin "Now, Godmother," I said "You know I&039;m a terrible liar Do you think I could really lie to you? Do you not smell it yourself?"

She stared atslowly into an expression of horror "Merciless winds," she breathed "You have gone mad"

"Not " I turned to glance back at the bridge "Goodbye Michael Goodbye Thomas"

"Harry," Michael said "Are you sure we shouldn&039;t - "

"Shhh," I said, shooting him a look "Ixnay"

Lea&039;s eyes flickered back and forth between us "What?" she deestured at Michael

"Well," Michael said "As it happens, I have so?" Lea demanded "What?"

Michael reached into the pocket of his jacket and produced a small vial, capped at one end "It&039;s extract of St Mary&039;s Thistle," he said "They use it in a lot of hospitals in Europe, forTheoretically, it should do quite a bit to help a poisoning victim survive Provided it&039;s taken in time, of course"

Lea&039;s eyes narrowed "Give it to me Now"

I tsked "Godmother As your faithful pet and coerous it is for one of the high sidhe to accept gifts It could bind you to the giver if you don&039;t return a gift in kind"

Lea&039;s face slowly flushed scarlet, sweeping up from the creamy skin of her collarbones and throat over her chin and cheeks and up into her hair "So," she said "You would drive a bargain with me You would take deadly toadstool to force me to release you"

I lifted my eyebrows and nodded, with a sure it&039;s like this You want me alive I&039;m not of any use to you dead And you won&039;t be able to undo the poisoning with ic"

"I own you," she snarled "You areto differ," I said "I&039;m yours for the next couple of days After that, I&039;ood"

"No," she said "I will not set you free in exchange for this potion I too can find the thistle"

"Maybe," I admitted "Maybe you can even do it in time Maybe not Either ithout a trip to the hospital, there&039;s not , even with the extract And none at all, really, if I don&039;t get it soon"

"I will not trade you away! You have given yourself to ed one shoulder "I believe that you wrought a bargain with a foolish young ht in the heat of the ether"

Lea frowned "No?"

"Naturally not," Thomas said "The extract only offers Harry a chance at life That&039;s all we&039;d ask froo - and bound for a year and a day to do no har as he remains in the mortal world"

"That&039;s the deal," I said "As a faithful pet, I should point soet ive it a shot another night It isn&039;t as though you have a limited number of them, is it You can afford to be patient"

Lea fell silent, staring atnothing The quiet panic I already felt, after eating the toadstool, danced aboutit twitch and jerk

"Why?" she said, finally, her voice very quiet, pitched only for me "Why would you do this to yourself, Harry? I don&039;t understand"

"I didn&039;t think you would," I said "There are people who need er because of me I have to help them"

"You cannot help them if you are dead"

"Nor if I aive your own life in place of theirs?" she asked, her tone incredulous

"Yes"

"Why?"

"Because no one else can do this They need me I owe it to them"

"Owe them your life," Lea mused "You are mad, Harry Dresden Perhaps it comes of your mother"

I frowned "What&039;s that supposed to ed "She spoke as you do Near the end" She lifted her eyes to Michael and straightened on the horse "A dangerous play you ht, wizard A bold play You cut the traditions of ain"

And then, with a casual flick, she reathered up my fallen staff and rod, and Bob in his net sack, and ave me the vial I unstoppered it and drank The liquid within tasted gritty, a little bitter I closedit down

"Harry," Michael said, watching Lea "Are you sure you&039;ll be all right?"

"If I get to the hospital soon," I said "I&039;ve got soer I drank all that pink stuff before we left to line estion on the uts"

"I don&039;t like this," Michael muttered

"Hey I&039;m the one who ate the deadly poison, man I don&039;t much care for it myself"

Tho her the truth?"