Mother's Insight, a Building Faith Side Job
By Ellf
Chapter One

Disclaimer: Dresden Files is a series by Jim Butcher. I own neither it nor any of the other series mentioned in this fanfiction.

"Come on, do I really need to show you an ID? I swear I'm on the list." I nodded to the clipboard that the bouncer held in his hand. I wasn't actually supposed to be on the list, but he didn't know that. All the bouncer, a heavyset bald Irish-looking man probably in his mid-thirties knew was that a pretty young woman was standing in a scandalously tight dress in front of him. I adjusted my dress some to guarantee my display wouldn't go completely unnoticed.

"I'm not supposed to give anyone entry if they're not on the list," said the bouncer, and I barely resisted gathering my power. No, too many people were around. Messing with this guy in any way would leave me exposed in a way that would probably end badly and get back to my parents. I definitely didn't want that to happen. If they knew where I was, they'd have words for me, and I'd probably be expected to do other things so that I wouldn't embarrass them further.

I smiled at the bouncer, and I squeezed my arms together while bending forward. Ah, that's what I could do. I needed to be a little subtle with how I did it. The bouncer had a pair of sunglasses clipped on his shirt; I just needed to use the reflection off of them to get the names off the list.

This time I did gather my power, focusing it on my eyes. Muttering a nonsense word under my breath, I looked at the sunglasses and smiled. "I'm definitely on the list, you don't have to worry. My name's Kayden Smith. Check the list. I should be below Samantha Dark."

The bouncer's eyes widened just a fraction as he checked the list once more, and a smile came to my face. The man nodded after a second of glancing from the list to my exposed cleavage and back again. A predatory smile came to my lips as I watched the gears turn in his little head. I hadn't even had to do much of anything. Unfortunately, at that moment, his headset started screeching, and he quickly removed it from his ear. Feedback. Magic did that sort of thing.

"I'm sorry, Miss. It appears you are on the list after all," The bouncer stepped aside, and I entered the club.

The club, Devil's Playground, had once been a discotheque maybe a decade ago, but as that style of music fell out of popularity, it had clearly converted. It still was a dance club, but it catered to a much different crowd now, one that I found myself liking as I hit the dance floor.

Dancing wasn't exactly one of my specialties, but it was easy enough to move to the music, to lose myself to the rhythm as I thought over what I wanted to do next. Running away had clearly been the right decision. There was no way I'd be able to convince my parents to do anything other than ignore their little problem, and if I was gone, then they'd be able to save face among their friends. I'd played the part of their little drug addict for too long, but what I needed, what I loved was to explore what I could do. Stuff like tonight.

An attractive man moved closer to me on the dance floor, and I briefly flirted with the idea of leaving him in the lurch. Something about him convinced me though. His stature, his confidence, maybe, they could be felt through that dark silk shirt and khakis he wore. He offered a brief smile to me as he approached, and I found myself returning his smile. Briefly, he and I locked eyes, but he looked away quicker than I could. His eyes had been a deep blue, which went well with his sandy blond hair that he kept cut short.

"I saw how you handled the bouncer," he said when he finally got close. "Well done, Miss Smith. Not many can get one over on him."

"It wasn't much, and I was on the list," I said, giving a little bit of false modesty.

"No, you weren't," he said.

"No, I wasn't," I found myself agreeing. "But how do you know that?"

"Because I watched you, Miss Smith," he said. "I know what you did. I know because I understand."

He held out his hand, and I lightly placed mine in his own. A jolt of something passed between us. It wasn't quite a static shock, but it wasn't the normal feeling that I'd get for shaking someone else's hand. It was familiar, almost, but I knew I hadn't felt anything quite like it before.

"You have some power," he said, looking intently at my face, still avoiding my eyes. The man in front of me seemed to be very important now. While I had entertained the thought of going home with someone that night, this man trumped all of that. "And some talent."

"Yes," I said because what else could I say? Should I have denied it? I had talent. I had power. It might not have been as much as it could be, but it would work. It had worked this evening.

The man leaned forward, and he whispered in my ear. "I would very much like to teach you to use it effectively."

I swallowed and nodded. He had me from the moment he said teach. That was how I met Gregor.

My time with Gregor from that night, onward is practically a blur. The man took me in, fed me, clothed me, and he kept me with other members of the coven. Together, we worked great feats of magic, mostly to feel the rush and the high we got from casting it. He'd lecture us sometimes. Religion, mysticism. We were becoming part of a greater power by working together. Oh, those days were wonderful. Gregor led us, and we were going to be doing more.

Then, came the summoning spell. Honestly, I wasn't sure what Gregor really wanted to do there. I think there was something about summoning the gods we made offerings too, but somehow they caught wind of it.

November, that year, they approached our commune. The men in the gray cloaks approached us, and they intended on rooting out what they deemed as wrong. They'd said that they were from the White Council of Wizards, and that they were here to assess us on use of black magic. Magic was so wonderful, how could any of it be wrong?

"Miss… Smith, was it? Miss Kayden Smith?" I still used that name, rather than use my real one. As far as it mattered, I was Kayden Smith. They had asked to speak with me alone, without Gregor or any of the rest of the coven present. Gregor acquiesced, letting them speak to each of us, and now it was my turn.

"Yes," I said. "How can I help you…"

"Warden Banks," said the man in the gray cloak. His dark hair was pulled back, and his face held classically Italian features. Under his cloak, the man wore street clothing, a pair of jeans and a long sleeved polo shirt. At his waist, however, was the thing that marked him as a Warden: his silver sword. The man would not be afraid to use it if he needed to.

"Warden Banks. What is it you need to ask?" Gregor had spoken with each of us. The White Council wanted to bring us down, tear up our group. We needed to cooperate because they still had the power, but we needed to not give in to them.

"Well, Miss Smith, we're actually here to investigate any sources of black magic, as you may have heard. The summoning that your group leader did brushed up against the Laws."

"Laws?" I asked, and he told me.

The Laws of Magic were something that the White Council apparently took very seriously. Mess up once, break one of their laws and you were summarily executed. I wasn't entirely certain how the summoning Gregor did brushed against the Laws of Magic, but the Warden assured me it did.

"So you see, Miss Smith, this is a very serious situation. Black magic can be corrupting and harmful. We will execute anyone performing it." I practically could see the fire in his eyes, and I flinched away from it. He wasn't talking about me. I had to reassure myself. He wasn't talking about me. I didn't do anything wrong. Gregor didn't do anything wrong. I needed to calm myself.

I breathed in and out. "No, I've not seen anything like that here. The magic we perform is harmless to others. We're just trying to explore things."

"Exploration can be dangerous, Miss Smith." His voice almost sounded like a mountain lion on the prowl.

"I'll keep that in mind." I said, glancing up to him for a second before looking away. The Warden let out a harrumph and turned away.

"We'll be watching," Warden Banks said, leaving me to my thoughts.

Eventually, the Wardens left. They hadn't been able to find anything to indicate black magic use, and I was pretty sure that they wouldn't. Still, the look on Gregor's face, when they left… I wouldn't soon forget it. He resented them. Resented their presence. Resented their laws. So, he began doing research, gathering us to do spells that skirted the edges of morality. A slight emotional influence here, an opening there. He communed with spirits, Fae, and other things that should have made our toes curl, and our spirits fear. But Gregor was our leader, our confidant. He led all of us into it, and we would waltz into Hell on his say-so.

Then Jason disappeared, then Lisa, then Brian, and then Doris. One by one, the others began to disappear. I asked around, but nobody could say where they went. We considered that they might have gone back to their families, but why wouldn't they tell us? Why couldn't they tell us?

Gregor told us not to worry, that they would be fine. I had wanted to trust him. I really did, but Gregor had been different lately. His abilities grew. He was doing more magic, using more magic to skirt the Laws. Gone was the Gregor that was our rock, our support. He had changed, and for some reason I was the only one to see it. Something in him had changed the day the White Council got involved, but that didn't explain the power.

Wait. It couldn't be… could it?

That morning, I looked over at Gregor, a pit forming in my stomach. He'd grown in power as members of our coven, members of his flock, began to disappear. What if… What if he had been the reason? What if Gregor had been taking us, trading us for his own abilities? For his own power? God, the more I thought about that, the more it rung true. Gregor had been so resentful of the Council, he wanted the power to challenge it. He wanted it so he was giving up us.

Gregor smiled. I was right, and he knew that I knew I was right. Gregor was trading us for something… to something. This knowledge meant something. He was going to… He was going to trade me. How could he? After all we'd done together. After everything we'd been through. He was trading us, trading me…

I moved out of there, and I headed to my room to prepare. I knew I couldn't run. Gregor would find me. He found me before. What I could do was get ready for what was coming. Gregor wasn't stupid, but neither was I. I wouldn't be meek prey that would roll over and die for him. I picked up a fireplace poker, and I waited. I'd attack the moment that he opened the door.

The doorknob jiggled slightly before turning, and I adjusted my grip on the poker. One good swing is all I needed. One good swing and I'd be able to get out of here. The door opened, revealing Gregor, and I charged bringing all of my power to the forefront to help me, and he smirked. The traitorous bastard smirked.

"Charity." A chill went down my spine as he said my name, but I didn't let that arrest my movement. Gregor needed to be out of the way, taken out so I could call the Wardens on him. "Stop."

I halted mid-swing. It really seemed like the right thing to do, even if I knew Gregor needed to be taken out. Swinging the fireplace poker just wasn't quite what needed to do in order to have it happen. I needed a gun or something, but I couldn't really bring myself to move.

"Gregor…" I growled. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because it needs to be done, my dear Charity," Gregor said. "You simply don't have enough power on your own for it to matter, and I can tell that you're not willing to just give in to this."

"You're trading people to something. You're insane." I couldn't quite bring myself to yell this. I knew I should. I should have yelled at the top of my lungs, warning everyone of what Gregor was planning. "Did we mean so little to you?"

"Of course not!" Gregor said. "But this is the only way. None of us is powerful enough on our own to take on the White Council and win. But together, together we can do anything. You just need to be able to add your power to my own. With me directing it, even with your meager addition, we can become strong."

"Where did you take them? What did you do to them?" Oh, now my voice decided to become hysterical. My heart had to have been beating a thousand times per minute.

"You'll find out, Charity. Now Sleep." I fell forward, unconscious.

When I came to, I was on a stone platform, and I couldn't tell where I was. Next to me was an iron post, stuck in the middle of the platform, and running off of it were a set of chains, each with cuffs that clipped to my arms and legs. The sun had nearly set, and I could hear Gregor's chanting. I let my eyes wander, and… I was in the middle of some sort of circle. I couldn't tell what. Was this where Gregor had taken the others? Was this where he'd murdered them? Traded them? I couldn't tell what he was going to do… My head hurt.

"SIRIOTHRAX! I BRING YOU ANOTHER OFFERING! ANOTHER MORSEL FOR YOU TO DEVOUR!" Gregor's chanting had turned to yelling, and a chill went down my spine, increasing the base terror I felt at the situation. This man had chained me to a post to sacrifice me to what? To a monster named Siriothrax? What was Sirio—Oh. Oh, goodness.

That was… That was a dragon. Siriothrax was a dragon. Dark scales, long neck, massive body and teeth, webbed wings and everything. Siriothrax was a dragon, and my terror increased. Lord, God, what am I supposed to do against a dragon? My magic wasn't strong enough to let me resist Gregor, what was I supposed to do against a full-blown dragon like this one?

"So, this is the one for this week, Gregor?" The dragon asked. The dragon could speak, but I wasn't entirely sure that I was hearing it with my ears alone. Whatever it was doing, I felt it in my bones and my mind. This dragon was more than a mere thing. It was too strong. Lightning struck behind the terrible lizard. Oh, Lord, I didn't want to die. Not to this. Definitely not to this.

I couldn't hear Gregor's reply to the dragon, to Siriothrax, but I knew it was about me. Siriothrax snorted, and turned his attention toward me, stepping across the stone platform to do so.

"Please step away from the young woman, dragon," said a man's voice from the other side of him.

"And if I do not, Sir Knight, what is it you plan?" The dragon turned toward the source, but I could not see it from where I was chained.

"I do not wish to fight you, but I will if it is necessary to save that woman," said the man, the Knight?

A chortling sound came from the dragon. "I will indulge you, then, Sir Knight. Until you figure out just how outmatched you are. I am Siriothrax. I am the Dragon of the Sky."

"I am Michael, wielder of Amoracchius, and I will not let you have that woman." The man, Michael, stepped forward, and I could finally see him. He wore the tabard of the Knights Templar, but he didn't have any armor on him. He had dark hair, a dark beard, and he had the most rugged features for his face. In his hands, he held a European broadsword, glowing with some sort of magical energy.

I couldn't focus on what had happened in the fight itself. Siriothrax, the dragon, versus Michael, the Knight, with me playing the part of the Damsel was not something I could keep my focus on. No, instead, my focus lay with the Knight himself, watching as he moved, wincing at every time the dragon managed to land a blow. I didn't know who he was or why he was doing this, but he was doing it for me. He was fighting a dragon for me. He didn't know who I was either, but I could tell he had a good heart. Nobody could fight that well for a stranger without one. I swore to myself, that if he managed to succeed, if he managed to win, I would give it up. I needed to give up my power, my magic. It got me into this situation, and if I hadn't had it, Gregor would never have been able to use me. To try and use me. If I made it through this, I needed to give it up.

I wish I could describe the feeling that came over me when I saw Michael succeed. He severed the dragon's head from its body, and he stabbed the torso for good measure. The dragon slumped over, leaning forward and laying there unmoving. Michael calmly started walking over to me.

"Nooo! How could this? You! You! I worked so hard, and I was going to do so many great things! And this is your fault and I was going to be! AAAGH!" Gregor ran over to me, ranting and raving about his plans, but with each passing breath, I knew what I wanted to do to him, what I needed to do to him. He sounded mad, but he needed to be gotten rid of. He wanted my power? I could give it to him. Shove it right up in him, and show him just what he wanted. I could do it too. With what Gregor had been having us do lately, all it would take is the gathering of a bit of will and the release of all of the terror and hatred I had for the man.

My chains made a clinking sound as hey separated due to Michael's sword strike. He lightly shoved Gregor away from me, sending the man stumbling, and I got a sick sense of perverse glee from watching that.

"Miss," Michael said, offering his hand to me with a smile. Oh that smile. It radiated like all the light in the world was shining right on me. God, what was I thinking? How could I even think of breaking that promise already? If he knew… If Michael knew, what would he think of me? Would he regret saving me? Killing the dragon? Would he never smile at me again? "What's your name?"

"Charity," I answered, giving my real name to him. He deserved it for saving me. I took his hand, and he helped me to my feet.

"Charity," Michael said with a smile. "Why don't we get out of here, Charity?"

"Okay… I'd like that…" I followed him out, away from Gregor's mad rantings, and I didn't look back. Michael was special. I could see that clearly.

It did my heart a lot of good to be near the man. I left with him, determined to set out on my new life.