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Chapter Thirty-eight

I figured I had an hour, h It was tirab a cab and head to the hospital

Back in the ICU, Will was sacked out in the waiting rooed couple who looked as if they hadn&039;t slept ia said so to the couple and rose to come out into the hallith , rather frizzy hair pulled back into a ponytail

"Harry," she said, huggingit off a little early "How is she?"

Georgia studied me for a second before she answered "In bad shape The doctors don&039;t see to say whether or not she&039;ll recover"

"Better that way," I said "If one of them said she&039;d be fine and then she wasn&039;t"

Georgia glanced at the couple sitting beside Andi&039;s bed, holding each other&039;s hands "I know It would be cruel to offer false hope, but"

"But you&039;re still irrationally angry that the docs haven&039;t saved her yet You know better, but you&039;re upset anyway"

She nodded "Yes Irrationality is not so I&039;m comfortable with"

"It isn&039;t irrational," I said "It&039;s huave me a small smile "Will and I talked And you&039;re in a hurry"

I nodded "I need you both, and right now"

"I&039;ll get hiia&039;s SUV back down to the marina and arrived with ten minutes to spare on my estimated timeI definitely wanted to be out over open water by the ti up The water wouldn&039;t be a perfect protection froic, but it would et

"Okay," I said "You guys wait here for a minute"

Will frowned "Why?"

"I need to talk to soers One minute" I hopped out of the SUV and walked down the rows of cars until I found two vans parked together I slipped between theers of one hand to my lips, and let out a sharp whistle

There was a whirring sound and Toot-toot streaked down from overhead, came to a hover in front of e!"

"Toot, I have two missions for you"

"At once, my lord!"

"No, I want you to do them one at a time"

Toot lowered his sword, his expression crestfallen "Oh"

"First, I want you to find the boat out on the lake that my apprentice is in She&039;s not more than a mile or two from shore" I took off my silver pentacle amulet, wrapped the chain around it, and handed it to Toot-toot "Leave this where she will notice it right away"

Toot accepted the a it under one arm "It will be done"

"Thank you"

Toot-toot&039;s chest swelled out, and he stood a little bit straighter

"Second," I told him "I need to kno many of the little folk you could convince to join the Guard for one night"

He frowned and looked dubious "I don&039;t know, Lord Harry The pizza ration is already stretched as far as it can go"

I waved a hand "The Guard&039;s pay won&039;t change I&039;ll order extra to pay for the new guys&039; service Call them the Za-Lord&039;s Militia We only need theree to that?"

Toot buzzed in an excited circle "For you? Every sprite and pixie and dewdrop faerie within a hundredimprisoned by the Lady of the Cold Eyes! There&039;s not a one who didn&039;t have co in durance vile!"

I blinked at hier Tell them that if they wish to join the Militia, they must obey orders while they serve And I will pay thee pizza for every fourscore volunteers"

"That&039;s less than you pay the Guard, Harry," Toot said sly

"Well, they&039;re amateurs, not full-time veterans like you and your men, are they?"

"Yes, my lord!"

I looked at him seriously "If you can recruit a Militia and if they perform as asked, there&039;s a promotion in it for you, Toot"

His eyes widened "Does it cos?"

"It isn&039;t a pizza" I said "It&039;s a promotion Get this work done, and from that time forward, you will be" I paused dra the Za-Lord&039;s Elite"

Toot&039;s body practically convulsed in a spasiant yellow exclamation point suddenly appeared in the air over his head, I would not have been surprised "A Major-General?"

I couldn&039;t resist "Yes, yes," I said solelee and zipped up and down the little space between vans "What do you wish us to do when I have them, my lord!"

"I want you to play," I said "Here&039;s e&039;re going to do"

I rejoined Will and Georgia, and tenback toward the ot my brother&039;s boat into dock with only a mildly violent iia jumped on Almost before Will&039;s feet were on the deck, I was already untying the lines and following theine in reverse

"Nohat?" she called down to me from the wheel atop the cabin

"Use the corees south of due east, and call me when you spot the island"

"Aye aye!"

Will squinted at Molly and then at me " &039;Aye aye&039;?"

I shook o shiver ti I haven&039;t slept in a while"

"Go ahead, Harry," Georgia said "We&039;ll wake you if anything happens"

I nodded, shambled down to the second bunk, and passed out immediately

Someone shook me two seconds later and I said, "Go away"

"Sorry, Harry," Will said "We&039;re here"

I said several uncouth and thoughtless things, then manned up and openedup I sat up, and Will retreated froan&039;s unconscious for like it had been coated in Turtle Wax It took me a second to identify a new sound

Rain

Raindrops pattered onto the deck of the boat and the roof of the cabin

I sha h the painfully precise ritual of enchanting it to withstand physical force as if it had been plate steel was that the thing was rendered waterproof and stainproof as well-yet it still breathed Let&039;s see Berman&039;s or Wilson&039;s do that

Sufficiently advanced technology,an eye on the sky as I did Lowering clouds of dark grey had covered the sky, and the rain looked to be a long, steady soaker-a rarity in a Chicago suh-and-tumble thunderstorms The heat hadn&039;t let up h to swih

I took the wheel from Molly, oriented myself by use of the compass and the island, now only a few s less pleasant"

"The rain?" Molly asked She passed me my pentacle

I slipped it back overoff the island until closer to dark"

"Why?"

"Mostly because I just challenged the Senior Council to a brawl there at sundown," I said

Molly choked on her gunored her "I didn&039;t want to make it easy for theed to trade Thoet word of where to go until later, though I think otherwise he&039;d cheat and show up early He looks like a shifty character"

The pun went past Molly, orit "You&039;re trading Morgan for Thonasty out here with Thomas in one piece so that the White Court can take him down"

Molly stared at me "The White Court, too?"

I nodded happily "They&039;ve got a stake in this as well"

"Um," she said "Why do you think the Senior Council will take you up on your challenge?"

"Because I told theive testimony about who really killed LaFortier"

"Do you have someone like that?" Molly asked

I beamed at her "No"

She stared atThen she said, "But the killer doesn&039;t know that"

My smile widened "Why, no, Miss Carpenter He doesn&039;t I e to the Senior Council He&039;s got no choice but to show up here if there&039;s any chance at all that I ht actually have found an informant ready to blow his identity-which, by the ould also provide substantial proof of the existence of the Black Council"

Her golden brows knitted "What if there&039;s no chance of such an inforroups like these guys, the ones who maim and kill and scheme and betray-they do what they do because they love power And when you get people who love power together, they&039;re all holding out a gift in one hand while hiding a dagger behind their back in the other They regard an exposed back as a justifiable provocation to stick the knife in The chances that this group has no one in it who hts and try to back out by bargaining with the Council for a personal profit are less than zero"

Molly shook her head "So he or she will call in the Black Council to help?"

I shookbecause the killer slipped up and exposed himself to LaFortier He had to take LaFortier out, but with all the security at Edinburgh, there was every chance so else he&039;s done has smacked of desperation I think that if the Black Council finds out that their hly, they&039;d kill hi back to the mass of Demonreach "His only chance is to tie off any loose ends that ht, Molly And he&039;s got to win He has nothing to lose"

"But you&039;re putting everyone together in a confined space, Harry," Molly said "This is going to be a huge mess"

"Pressure cooker, padawan," I said, nodding "The perp is already desperate enough to be acting hastily and s a step too far and trying to incriminate the White Court in LaFortier&039;s death as well"

Molly stared out at the water thoughtfully "So you put hiroups of poill want to kill hiot to be the wizards and the White Court being drawn into a closer alliance because of what he&039;s done And with asto be able to fight them all"

I smiled at her "Yeah It sucks to feel helpless," I said "Especially for a wizard, because we usually aren&039;t Or at least, we&039;re usually able to convince ourselves that we aren&039;t"

"You think he&039;ll crack," she said

"I think he&039;ll be there I think that with enough pressure, so to pop loose, so stupid Maybe a pree to take everyone down before they know a fight is on"

"A sneak attack," Molly said "Which won&039;t be a sneak attack if you knohere he is and what he&039;s doing Intellectus!"

I tapped rasshopper"

Thunder ruhed "Thomas can sail in bad weather, but I don&039;t kno to do it intelligently So to have to head into the dock and take our chances"

I navigated Sheesh, listen towheel and a lever to o faster It was about as complicated to make move as a bu as easy, but even so The actual process of pointing the boat and h to deserve to be called navigation

I drove the Water Beetle around to the safe passage through the reef, and pulled her into the dock,by the rail and ready He hopped onto the dock and Georgia threw hi lines

"Don&039;t step onto the land until I get a chance to get there, first!" I called to them "I want to, ah, sort of introduce you"

Billy gave me an oblique look "Ue and was just about to hop to the dock when a tall, slender figure in a black robe, black cape, and black hood appeared fro at the very end of the dock He lifted his old rune-carved staff,down onto the wooden planks

A disk of sparkling blue light washed out from the point of impact I had time, barely, to draw in ainst my chest, and sla my mental defenses

Sreen appeared like puffs of sia, and the three of the heaps on the dock and the deck of the boat My vision darkened and for an instant I felt unbearably tired-but in a panic I forced y into my defenses, and the instant passed

The robed figure stood staring at me for a few seconds Then it spoke in a deep voice "Put the staff down, Dresden" Swirling narcotic colors gathered around his staff, and he pointed it at un "It is over"

Chapter Thirty-nine

The rain calance at the others They were all down, but breathing Molly&039;s head, shoulders, and ar off the side of the boat Wet, her sapphire-dyed hair looked like aShe was in danger of falling into the water

I turned back to the cloaked figure and peered at hi billowy cloaks and robes are nicely dra into the wind-but under a cal to the figure, looking rather miserable