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Chapter Five

Thea slender book against his thigh with one hand "Stand aside," he muttered, and dead Phil sidestepped

Butters had scrahnuts behind his glasses "Wow," he babbled "Great entrance Love the hat"

The guy in the fedora took a step forward and reached out with his other hand, at which point I decided to act A raised hand isn&039;tcoat with his own flock of zoun

"That will be enough," I said, and I said it loud enough to hurt ears I stepped away from the ith my left hand extended My silver bracelet of heat-warped shields hung on h power into the bracelet to prepare a shield to leap up ied-up fro it had taken the last tiotten it working again As a result, it channeled the energy pretty sloppily, and blue-white sparks leaped out and fell to the floor in a steady drizzle "Put your hand down and step away from the coroner"

TheFor a second I thought he was another dead man hih on his cheeks, faint but there He had a long face, and though it was pale it was leathery, as if he&039;d spent years in the blowing desert wind and sand without seeing the sun He had dark eyes, thick grey sideburns, no beard, and a scar twisted his upper lip into a perpetual sneer

"Who," said the man, his accent thick and British, "are you?"

"The Great Pumpkin," I responded "I&039;ve risen from the pumpkin patch a bit early because Butters is just that nifty And you are?"

Thesecond, eyes focused onwrist, then on my throat, whereoutside my shirt "You may call me Grevane Walk away, boy"

"Or what?" I said

Grevane gavehis book, and nodded at his un companions "There&039;s rooot a job already," I said "But there&039;s no reason for this to get nasty You&039;re going to stand right there while Butters and me leave"

"And I," he said, his voice annoyed

"What&039;s that?"

"Butters and I, fool Do you seriously think that a defensive shield barely held together by a clu you to leave?"

"No," I said, and drew my44 revolver from my duster&039;s pocket I pointed it at hiht this"

He lifted his eyebrows "You intend to elidus?"

"No, I&039;ll do it right here," I said "Butters, get up Couy hauled hied around the eaze of the late Phil

"Good," I said "This isnicely, Grevane Keep it up and I won&039;t need to make Forensics pick your teeth out of that wall behind you"

Butters scuttled over toThe necrolance for Butters Then a slow and fairly creepy smile spread over his face "You are not a Warden"

"I flunked the written"

His nostrils flared "Not one of the Council&039;s guard dogs You are, in fact, more of my own persuasion"

"I really doubt that," I said

Grevane had narrow, yellow teeth and a crocodile&039;s sic on you"

The last person to talk about "true ht off a shiver "Uh I guess that&039;s the last tieneric deodorant"

"Perhaps we can ement," Grevane said "This need not end in bloodshed-particularly not now, so close to the end of the race Joinlieutenant is far ," I told him in the voice I usually reserved for backed-up toilets Butters got to me, and I bumped him toward the door with my hip He took the hint instantly, and I sidestepped to the door of the rooun on Grevane,heatless sparks to the floor "But I don&039;t think I like your ement technique Butters, check the hall"

Butters bobbed his head out and looked nervously around "I don&039;t see anyone"

"Can you lock that door?"

Keys rattled "Yes," he said

"Get ready to do it," I said I stepped out in the hall, slammed the door shut, and snapped, "Lock it Hurry"

Butters fumbled with a key He jammed one in the door and turned it Heavy security bolts slid to with a co heavy and solid hit the door hard enough for h ain, and a fist-sized dent mushroomed half an inch out of its center

"Oh, God," Butters babbled "Oh, God, that was Phil What is that? What is happening?"

"Right there with you,down the hall as quickly as I could drag the little guy "Who else has keys to the door?"

"What?" Butters blinked for a second "Uh Uh The other doctors Day security And Phil"

The door rattled again, dented again, and then went silent

"Grevane&039;s figured that out too," I said "Coht key Do you have your car keys with you?"

"Yes, yes, wait, oh, yes, right here," Butters said His teeth were chattering together so loudly that he could barely speak clearly, and he stumbled every couple of steps "God Oh, God, it&039;s real"

In the halls behind us,keys in a lock "Butters," I said I grabbed his shoulders and had to resist the urge to slap him in the face, like in theThink later Move now or there won&039;t be a later"

He stared atto throw up Then he sed, nodded once, and said, "Okay"

"Good We run to your car Come on"

Butters nodded and took off for the front of the building at a dead sprint He accelerated a lot faster than I did, but I have long legs and I caught up pretty quickly Butters stopped to hit the buzzer at the guard station, and I held the door open wide enough to let hi lot, and I was only a couple of feet behind hi, and Butters dashed toward a pint-sized pickup truck parked in the nearest space I followed hiht sounds of the city were a blaring hway Sirens sounded in the distance, ambulance rather than patrol car Somewhere within a two-hundred- bass stereos pounded out a steady beat al lot was out, asoline came sharp to my nose, and I seized Butters&039;s collar and pulled The little guy choked and all but fell down, but stopped

"Don&039;t," I said, and slipped my truck&039;s hood It flipped up, already open

The engine had been torn apart A snapped drive belt hung out like the tongue of a dead steer Wires were strewn everywhere, and finger-sized holes had been driven into plastic fluid tanks Coolant and windshield cleaner still dribbled to the parking lot&039;s concrete, and froasoline had been in the tank

Butters stared at it ide eyes, panting "My truck They killed aze around

"Why did they killthrough the October night I paused for a second, focusing on the sound It was changing, getting a little bit higher pitched with each beat I recognized what that h my head for a second

Doppler effect The source of the ru toward us

In the darkness of the industrial park&039;s lanes a pair of headlights flashed on, revealing a car accelerating toward the Forensic Institute The lights were spaced widely apart-an older car, and judging by the sound of the engine so Olds

"Co to the lot next door, back to the Blue Beetle We&039;d already been spotted, obviously, so I fired up ain, so that my hand looked like it had been replaced with a suy credit-he was a good runner

"There!" I shouted "Get to my car!"

"I see it!"

Behind us the ru lot and lurched over a concrete-encased grassy e The car roared up onto the grass and skidded to a broadside stop The door flew open and a lance at hiht athair, and pale, loose skin with a lot of liver spots He moved stiffly, like soun out of the car with him and raised it to his shoulder with careful deliberation

I juked to one side so that I was directly between the driver and Butters, twisted at the hips, extended my arhostly half doun blooht and thunder The shield flashed and sent off a cloud of sparks the size of a sed bracelet on ain in tiun&039;s other barrel The old e, broke the barrel, and started loading in fresh shells

Butters was screaot to the Beetle and piled in I stoine to life, and the Beetle sputtered once and then ga lot and onto the road, started to skid, turned into it, fishtailed once, and then shot off down the street

"Look out!" Butters screalance over my shoulder and saw Phil and the other three dead rounds at us I don&039;tIt was a full-out sprint, faster than Phil could have done even in the prias and kept my eyes on the road

The Beetle lurched, and Butters cried out, "Holy crap!"

I looked back again and saw Dead Phil clinging to the back of the car He had to have been standing on the rear bumper The other three deadup with the car Dead Phil drove his hand down at the back of the Beetle, and there was a wrenching sound of impact, then a series of snaps and squeals as he tore the back cover froine

"Take the wheel!" I shouted to Butters He reached over and seized the steering wheel I twisted and thrust ht hand at Dead Phil I focused er It was another focus, like the shield bracelet, one designed to store back a little kinetic energy every ti, clenched my hand into a fist, and shoved it directly at Dead Phil, releasing the energy within

Dead Phil had raised his arine, but I beat hi hit hi his whole lower body out straight The force tore his grip loose fro the street with heavy, crunching sounds of is splayed The other deadclear over, and Dead Phil lay twitching on the ground like a broken toy

I got back to the wheel and shifted the car into the next gear In ain, but he missed the car by a couple of feet, and I left the rest of the out of the industrial park and onto public streets

I drove for a while, taking a lot of unnecessary turns I didn&039;t think anyone was pursuing us, but I didn&039;t want to take the chance that the old otten back into his Caddy and onto our tails Maybe teneasier, and I finally felt safe enough to pull over into a well-lit convenience-store parking lot

I started shaking as soon as I set the parking brake Adrenaline does that tojust fine when the actual crisis is in progress, but after it&039;s over, my body makes up for the lost terror I closedslow and cal I could do about the tre harder and harder to maintain my composure ever since the battle where I nearly lost my hand The e me harder and harder lately, and sometimes I had to literally close ht then I wanted to screae that someone had tried to killwaste with it, to feel the raw energy of creation scorching through hts and body, mastered by raill I wanted to cut loose

But I couldn&039;t do that Even ahtweight I don&039;t have the finesse and class and experience that a lot of the older practitioners do, but when it comes to raw metaphysical muscle, I rank in the top thirty or forty wizards alive I had a ton of strength, but I didn&039;t always have the fine control to go with it- that&039;s why I had to use specially prepared articles such asto focus that power Even with them, it wasn&039;t always easy to be precise The last time I had surrendered my self-control and really cut loose with my power, I burned as many as a dozen people to scorched skeletons

I had a responsibility to keep that destructive strength in check; to use it to help people, to protect them It didn&039;t matter that I still felt terrified It didn&039;twith pain It didn&039;t ain, or that someone had tried to kill one of the few people in town I considered a real friend

I had to hold back Be careful Think clearly

"Harry?" Butters asked after a ive me a minute"

"I don&039;t understand this," he said His voice didn&039;t sound any too steady either "What just happened?"

"You don&039;t want to know," I said

"Yes, I do"

"Trust me," I said "You don&039;t want to be involved in this kind of business"

"Why not?"

"You&039;ll get hurt Or killed Don&039;t go looking for trouble"

He let out a frustrated neighing sound "Those people ca for the for me"

He had a point, but even so, Butters was not someone I would want to see involved in a conflict between people like Grevane and his dead men and his liver-skinned partner Mortals usually didn&039;t fare too hen it cauys In my day I&039;d seen dozens ofI did to help them

"This is unreal," Butters said "I know you and Murphy have talked about this black-s that are tough to explain But I never i like this could happen"

"You&039;re happier that way," I said "Hell, if I could do it, I et I ever found out about any of it"

"I&039; scared?" he asked al if ht the whole tier, and having no idea what to do about it?"

I didn&039;t have a quick answer for that one I stared athad almost stopped

"Help me understand this, Harry," he said "Please"

Well, dah my hair Grevane had been after Butters, specifically He had backup waiting outside, and he trashed Butters&039;s truck to uy couldn&039;t escape He openly said that he needed Butters, and needed him in one piece to boot

All of which er And by now I&039;ve learned that I can&039;t always protect everyone I screw up sometimes, like everyone else I make stupid mistakes

If I kept quiet, if I forced Butters to wear blinders, he wouldn&039;t be able to do jack to protect hi happened to him, it would be my fault that he didn&039;t have every chance to survive His blood would be on my hands

I couldn&039;t take that choice away froel or his sovereign king I wasn&039;t blessed with the wisdoht of a prophet If I chose Butters&039;s path for him, in some ways it would make s, huht to control others

"If I tell you this," I said quietly, "it could be bad for you"

"Bad how?"

"It could force you to keep secrets that people would kill you for knowing It could change the way you think and feel It could really screw up your life"

"Screw up my life?" He stared a me for a second and then said, deadpan, "I&039;le, Jewish medical examiner who needs to pick up his lederhosen from the dry cleaners so that he can play in a one-lasses with his forefinger, folded his arht, but there was both fear and resolve just under the surface of theh to be scared But he was also a fighter I could respect him for both

"Okay," I said "Let&039;s talk"

Chapter Six

Butters hadn&039;t taken time to collect his coat when he left, and the last time the Beetle&039;s heater had worked was before the deot us each a cup of coffee, then untwisted the wire that holds down the lid of the storage trunk I dug out a worn but mostly clean blanket that I kept in the trunk to cover the short-barreled shotgun I stored in the event that I would ever need to give Napoleon&039;s charging hordes a taste of the grape Given the way the night was going, I got the shotgun, too, and slipped it into the backseat

Butters accepted the blanket and the coffee gratefully, though he shivered hard enough to slop a little of the drink over the side of the cup I sipped a little coffee, slipped the cup into the holder I&039;d rigged on the car&039;s dashboard, and got ain I didn&039;t want to wait around in the saht," I told Butters "There are two things you have to accept if you want to understand what&039;s going on"

"Hit ic is real"

I could feel hi at me for a moment "What do you mean by that?"

"There&039;s an entire world that exists alongside the everyday life of mankind There are powers, nations,Wizards are a part of it So are a lot of other things you&039;ve heard about in stories, and even more you&039;ve never heard of"

"What kind of things?"

"Vampires Werewolves Faeries Demons Monsters It&039;s all real"

"Heh," Butters said "Heh, heh You&039;re joking Right?"

"No joke Cos out there You&039;ve seen the evidence of theh his hair "Well, yes So else entirely here I mean, if you want to tell me that people have the ability to sense and affect their environment in e don&039;t really understand yet, I can accept that Maybe you call it ic, and someone else calls it ESP, and someone else calls it the Force, but it&039;s not a new idea Maybe there are people whose genetic makeup makes them better able to es like make them reproduce their DNA more clearly than other people so that they can live for a very long ti that there&039;s an arht under our noses and we don&039;t even notice them"

"What about those corpses you analyzed?" I said "Humanoid but definitely not human"

"Well," Butters said defensively, "it&039;s a big universe I think it&039;s sort of arrogant to assus in it"

"Those corpses were the bodies of vampires of the Red Court, and you don&039;t want toone There were a lot of them in town at one point There aren&039;t so many now, but there are plenty more where they came from They&039;re only one flavor of vampire And vampires are only one flavor of supernatural predator It&039;s a jungle out there, Butters, and people aren&039;t anywhere near the top of the food chain"

Butters shook his head "And you&039;re telling me that nobody knows about it?"

"Oh, lots of people know about it," I said "But the ones who are in the know don&039;t go around talking about it all that much"

"Why not?"

"Because they don&039;t want to get locked up in a loony bin for three months for observation, for starters"

"Oh," Butters said, flushing "Yeah I guess I can see that What about regular people who see things? Like sightings and close encounters and stuff?"

I blew out a breath "That&039;s the second thing you have to understand People don&039;t want to accept a reality that frightening Soet involved-like Murphy did Butto do with the supernatural So they leave it behind and don&039;t talk about it Don&039;t think about it They don&039;t want it to be real, and they work really hard to convince themselves that it isn&039;t"

"No," Butters said "I&039;m sorry I just don&039;t buy that"

"You don&039;t need to buy it," I said "It&039;s true As a race, we&039;re an enor facts if the conclusions they lead to make us too uncomfortable Or afraid"

"Wait athat a whole world, multiple civilizations of scientific study and advancement and theory and application, all based around the notion of observing the universe and studying its laws is what? In error about disic as superstition?"

"Not just in error," I said "Dead wrong Because the truth is so that people are afraid to face They&039;re terrified to ad universe and we&039;re not"

He sipped coffee and shook his head "I don&039;t know"

"Co did the scholarly institutions of civilization consider Earth to be the center of the universe? And when people came out with facts to prove that it wasn&039;t, there were riots in the streets No one wanted to believe that we all lived on an unremarkable little speck of rock in a quiet backwater of one unrealaxy The world was supposed to be flat, too, until people proved that it wasn&039;t by sailing all the way around it No one believed in germs until years and years after soists scoffed at tales of wild beast- in the mountains of Africa, despite eyewitness testiht up until so table"

He chewed on his lip and watched the streetlights

"Time after time, history demonstrates that when people don&039;t want to believe soether"

"You&039;re saying that the entire human race is in denial," he said

"Most of the ti It&039;s just e are But the weird stuff doesn&039;t care about that-it keeps on happening Every fahost story in it Most people I&039;ve talked to have had so happen to them that was io around talking about it afterward, because everyone knows that those kinds of things aren&039;t real If you start saying that they are, you get the weird looks and jackets with extra-long sleeves"

"For everyone," he said, voice still skeptical "Every tiet it"

"Tell you what, Butters Let&039;s drive down to CPD and you can tell them how you were just attacked by a necro car and ot up and threw your desk across the room" I paused for a moment to let the silence stretch "What do you think they&039;d do?"

"I don&039;t know," he said He bowed his head

"Unnatural things happen all the time," I said "But no one talks about it At least, not openly The preternatural world is everywhere It just doesn&039;t advertise"