Page 10 (1/2)

I got up the ladder in time to hear a car door shut outsidea battle between the Faerie Courts hosted on clouds over Lake Michigan the previous midsu on a gun belt on a peg beside the door, just over a wire basket I&039;d attached to the wall Holy water, a couple cloves of garlic, vials of salt, and iron filings filled the basket, intended to be door prizes for anything that showed up in an attempt to suck my blood, carry me off to faerieland, or sell me stale cookies

The door itself was reinforced steel, and could stand up to punishment better than the wall around it I&039;d had a de before, and I didn&039;t want an encore performance I couldn&039;t afford new furniture, even secondhand

I belted on the gun, shook outrod Anything that cah my door would have to contend with y around any hos didn&039;t do so ith thresholds After that, they&039;d have to force their way past y that would block out physical or y back upon its source A sentle push at ainst whatever was trying to get in A swift or heavy push would result inback onto the attacker Within the wards were sigils of fire and ice, which were designed to deliver bursts of destructive energy about as powerful as your average land mine

It was a solid and layered defense With luck, it should be enough to stop a considerable a uy, I took a deep breath, pointedrod at the door, and waited

It didn&039;t take long I expected flashes of e, deic clashed against ot seven polite knocks

I peered at the door suspiciously and then asked, "Who&039;s there?"

A low, rough rowled, "The Archive"

What the hell "The Archive who?"

Evidently the speaker didn&039;t have a sense of humor "The Archive," the voice repeated firmly "The Archive has been appointed emissary in this dispute, and is here to speak to Wizard Dresden about the duel"

I frowned at the door I vaguely re the last White CouncilI&039;d attended, as a neutral party At the time, I&039;d assumed it had been sos ontoo closely "How do I knoho you are?"

There was a rasp of paper on stone, and an envelope slid underout "Docue to abide by the laws of hospitality during this visit"

Soun That was one good thing about dealing with the supernatural coave you its word, you could trust it Within reason

Then again, s I&039;d encountered, I&039;d beenmy word than any of the someone else

I picked up the envelope and unfolded a sheet of plain paper certifying that its bearer had been approved by the White Council to act as emissary in the matter of the duel I passed my hand over it and otten fro pentacle appeared centered on the paper like a bioluit

I folded the paper closed again, but I didn&039;t set my rod and staff aside just yet I undid the dead bolt, h to see outside

A man stood on my doorstep He was nearly as tall as h to htly on his upper arms He wore a navy blue shirt and stood so that I could see the wrinkles caused by the straps of a shoulder rig A black ball cap reined in dark golden hair that ht have fallen to his shoulders He hadn&039;t shaved in a few days, and had a short, white scar below his rey-blue and empty of any expression in a way I had seldo what he felt More like there was si there

"Dresden?" he asked

"Yeah" I eyed him up and down "You don&039;t look very Archive-esque"

He lifted his eyebrows, a mildly interested expression "I&039;un"

"Only when company comes over"

"I haven&039;t seen any of the Council&039;s people carrying a gun Good for you" He turned and waved his hand "This shouldn&039;t take long"

I glanced past hiirl started down uide rail She was adorable, maybe seven years old, her blond hair still baby-fine and straight, clipped neatly at her shoulders and held back with a hairband She wore a plain little corduroy dress with a white blouse and shiny black shoes, and her coat was a puffy down-filled jacket that seemed like a bit of overkill for the weather

I looked fro a child into this"

"Sure I can," Kincaid said

"What, couldn&039;t you find a babysitter?"

The child stopped a couple of steps up so that her face was even with my own and said, her voice serious and marked with a faint British accent, "He is my baby-sitter"

I felt my eyebrows shoot up

"Orto let us in? I prefer not to remain outdoors"

I stared at the kid for a second "Aren&039;t you a little short for a librarian?"

"I am not a librarian," the child said "I a on a minute," I said "What do you-"

"I am the Archive," the child said, her voice steady and assured "I assume that your wards detected my presence They seeot to be kidding" I extended erly toward her The air around her fairly hummed with power, different fro all the sah-tension power lines

I had to suppress a sudden rush of apprehension froirl had power She had a hell of a lot of power Enough to h to stop her if she decided to coh to make me think of little Billy Muht Zone

She regarded me with implacable blue eyes I suddenly did not want to take the chance of looking into "I can explain it to you, wizard," she said "But not out here I have neither an interest nor an inclination to do you any harm Perhaps the opposite"

I frowned at her "Promise?"

"Promise," the child said solemnly

"Cross your heart and hope to die?"

She drew an X over her puffy jacket with one index finger "You don&039;t kno lanced warily around the street "Make up your "

"What about him?" I asked the Archive, and nodded toward Kincaid "Can he be trusted?"

"Kincaid?" the girl asked, her voice whimsical "Can you be trusted?"

"You&039;re paid up through April," thethe street "After that I irl said to me "Kincaid can be trusted until April He&039;s an ethical man, in his way" She shivered and put her hands into the pockets of her puffy coat She hunched up her shoulders and watched , ht potentially end up doing adult things with ood I trusted the Archive&039;s pro and looked like she was starting to get cold "Fine," I said "Come inside"

I stepped back and opened the door The Archive came in and told Kincaid, "Wait with the car Come fetch me in ten minutes"

Kincaid frowned at her, and then me "You sure?"

"Quite" The Archive stepped in pastoff her coat "Ten ins"

Kincaid fixed his eirl, wizard I&039;ve handled your kind before"

"I get et all day," I responded, and shut the door on him Purely for effect, I locked it too

Me, petty? Surely not

I lit a couple of candles in order to get a littlerooWhile I did, the Archive took off her coat, folded it neatly over the arht, hands folded in her lap Her little black shoes waved back and forth above the floor

I frowned at her It&039;s not like I don&039;t like kids or anything, but I hadn&039;t hadto talk to e her vocabulary, et appointed an emissary?

"So, uh What&039;s your name?"

She said, "The Archive"