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The rain alsocloser, I could see faint hints of color in the cloth, which wasn&039;t actually black It was a purple so deep that it was close

"Wizard Rashid?" I asked

The Gatekeeper&039;s staff never wavered as he facedand sharp-featured and weathered like old leather He wore a short beard that was shot through with silver, and his silver hair was short, stiff brush One of his eyes was dark The other had a pair of horrible old silver scars running through it, from his hairline down to his jaw The injury had to have ruined his natural eye It had been replaced with so "Indeed," he said calmly

"Should have seen it sooner There aren&039;t many wizards taller than me"

"Lay aside your staff, Wizard Dresden Before anyone else is hurt"

"I can&039;t do that," I said

"And I cannot pere the White Council to battle"

"No?" I asked, thrusting out my jaw "Why not?"

His deep, resonant voice sounded troubled "It is not yet your hour"

I felt o up "Not yet?"

He shook his head "Places in time This is not the time, or the place What you are about to do will cost lives-a wizard But if you will not surrender, so be it"

I narrowed my eyes at hi to die I don&039;t want to fight you But I&039;an and dance off behind the curtains so that they can do it again in the future"

He tilted his head slightly "Black Council?"

"Whatever you want to call the for The ones who keep trying to stir up trouble between the powers Who keep changing things"

The Gatekeeper&039;s expression was unreadable "What things?"

"The weirdness we&039;ve been seeing Mysterious figures handing out wolf belts to FBI agents Red Court vahts with Outsiders on the roster Faerie Queens getting idealistic and trying to overthrow the natural order of the Faerie Courts The Unseelie standing by unresponsive when they are offered an enor on their territory The attack on Arctis Tor I can think of half a dozen other things to go with those, and those are just the things I&039;ve personally gotten involved with" I o "The world is getting weirder and scarier, and we&039;ve been so busy beating on one another that we can&039;t even see it Someone&039;s behind it"

He watchedmoment Then he said, "Yes"

I frowned at hi on "And you think I&039;-but then, he damn near always did "Perhaps there is reason Add to your list of upset balances such things as open warfare erupting between the Red Court and the White Council A Seelie crown being passed fro Queen to the next by bloody revolt, and not the will of Titania Wardens consorting with White Court vaic sufficient to allow theether and organizing Thefro kept by a wizard who does not so much as pay lip service to the faith, much less believe"

I scowled "Yeah, well When you put it like that"

He smiled faintly

I held up ic, that I a to put out all these fires they keep starting And if questionable things surroundthat happens when you&039;re as outclassed as I usually am You have to find solutions where you can, not where convenient"

The Gatekeeper pursed his lips thoughtfully, considering ree to a short truce, to talk this out?" I said "And so that I can keep aze moved past me to Molly He frowned and lowered his staff at once "Five minutes," he said

"Thanks," I said I turned around and got Molly hauled back onto the boat She never stirred Once she was safely snoozing on deck, I went down the dock to stand in front of the Gatekeeper He watched ently "So," I said "Where&039;s the rest of the Senior Council?"

"On the way, I should think," he said "They&039;ll need to secure transportation to the island in Chicago and then find their way here"

"But not you You cah the Nevernever?"

He nodded, his eyes watching me carefully "I know a Way I&039;ve been here before"

"Yeah?" I shookto find a Way out here, but I didn&039;t want to chance it This isn&039;t exactly Mayberry I doubt it hooks up to anything pleasant in the Nevernever"

The Gatekeeper e I didn&039;t understand and shook his head "I cannot decide," he said, "whether you are the nificent liar I have ever encountered in norant as you appear"

I looked at him for a e "Dude"

He burst out into a laugh that was as rich and deep as his speaking voice, but more, somehow I&039;h was filled with a warmth and a purity that almost made the air quiver around it, as if it had welled up from some untapped source of concentrated, unrestrained joy

I think hed

"You," he said, barely able to speak through it "Up in that tree Covered withat him "Yeah I remember"

He shook his head and actually wiped tears away froood eye It took him another mo eye sparkled, an echo of his laughter "You&039;ve enduredpeople," he said "And tasted n that you can still laugh at yourself"

"Well, gosh," I said "I&039;norant, I don&039;t knohat else to do"

He stared at me intently "You don&039;t knohat this place is"

"It&039;s out of the way of innocent bystanders," I said "And I know it better than most of the people who are on the way"

He nodded, frowning "I suppose that is logical"

"So?"

"Hhed Wizards "So? What is this place?"

He considered his words for a moment "What do you think it is, beyond the obvious physical and tactical terrain?"

"Well," I said "I know there&039;s a ley line that coy I know that there&039;s a genius loci present and that it is real strong and isn&039;t very friendly I know that they tried to start up a s interests in the Great Lakes, but it went sour Demonreach drove them away Or insane, apparently"

"Demonreach?" he asked

"Couldn&039;t find a name on the books," I said "So I made up my own"

"Demonreach," the Gatekeeper "

"So?"

He gave ht s more-except for this: one of your facts is incorrect The ley line you speak of does not go through the island," he said "This is where it wells up The island is its source"

"Ah," I said "Wells up from what?"

"In my opinion, that is a very useful question"

I narrowedelse"

He shrugged "We do have other lanced back at my unconscious friends "Yeah We do"

"I a to accept that your intentions are noble," he said "But your actions could set into ed "I don&039;t know about that," I said "What I do know is that you don&039;t kill a man for a crime he didn&039;t commit And when someone else tries to do it, you stop them"

"And you think that this will stop them?" the Gatekeeper asked

"I think it&039;s my best shot"

"You won&039;t succeed," he said "If you press ahead, it will end in violence People will die, you ast them"

"You don&039;t even knohat I have ina trap for the traitor," he said "You&039;re trying to force hiht have felt less clever than he had a moment before "Oh"

"And if I can work it out," the Gatekeeper said, "then so can the traitor"

"Well, duh," I said "But he&039;ll show up anyway He can&039;t afford to do anything else"

"And he&039;ll come ready," the Gatekeeper said "He&039;ll choose his ot other assets"

Then he did so The glea at so because of the twitches of his other eyelid A moment later, the Gatekeeper opened his eye and said, "The chances that you&039;ll survive it are minimal"

"Yeah?" I asked him I stepped around him and hopped off the dock and onto the island, i the connection with Demonreach as I turned to face him "How about now?"

He frowned at me, and then repeated the little ritual

Then hesound "Blood of the Prophet," he swore, opening his eyes to stare at me "You you&039;ve claimed this place as a sanctum?"

"Uh-huh"

"How?"

"I punched it in the nose Noe&039;re friends," I said

The Gatekeeper shook his head slowly "Harry," he said, his voice weary "Harry, you don&039;t knohat you&039;ve done"

"I&039;ve givenchance"

"Yes Today," he replied "But there is always a price for knowledge Always"

His left eyelid twitched as he spoke,the scars that framed the steel orb quiver

"But it will bethe price," I said "Not everyone else"

"Yes," he said quietly We were both silent for several er than five minutes," I said "How do you want it to be?"

The Gatekeeper shook his head "May I offer you two pieces of advice?"

I nodded

"First," he said, "do not tap into the power of this place&039;s well You are years away fro altered by it"

"I hadn&039;t planned on touching it," I said

"Second," he said, "you ardless of the outcome of this confrontation, someone will die Preferably, it would be the traitor-but if he is killed rather than captured, no one will be willing to accept your explanation of events, no an will be executed Odds are excellent that you will be as well"

"I&039; this for me"

He nodded

"Don&039;t suppose you&039;d be willing to lend a hand?"

"I cannot set foot on the island," he said

"Why not?"

"Because this place holds a grudge," he said

I suddenly thought of the drag-thump limp of the island&039;s manifest spirit

Damn

He turned to the dock behind him and flicked a hand at the air A neat, perfectly circular portal to the Nevernever appeared without a whisper or flicker of wasted power The Gatekeeper gave me a nod "Your friends will awaken in a moment I will do what I can to help you"

"Thank you," I said

He shook his head "Do not It may be that true kindness would have been to kill you today"

Then he stepped through the portal and was gone It vanished an instant later I stood there in the rain and watched the others begin to stir Then I sighed and walked back to the on

We had to get er, and there were a lot of things to do before nightfall