Thankfully, the car gods were apparently pleased with me, because the Blue Beetle didn't suffer a single hiccup on the way to Michael's place.
We stopped by Our Lady of the Angels, and Sanya deposited his Denari in the sanctuary. There was no way a demon was getting in there.
Then we made our way to Michael's house. I parked the Beetle, and the three of us disembarked. I noticed that there was an extra forth car: Michael's truck, Charity's mini-van, Daniel's clunker sedan, which was worse than the Beatle, if that was possible, and a well-worn Jeep that I had never seen before. I shrugged. Maybe Michael's or Charity's parents were here.
I knocked on the door, and it was immediately answered by a young man, apparently in his mid-thirties, who looked like a young version of Michael, or an older version of Daniel. He was dressed in a military uniform of camouflage-patterned fatigues, and had a beret on his head. "Can I help you?" he asked.
"Arthur!" Molly screeched, and threw herself on him.
He caught her awkwardly. "You're home." She released her grip around him and looked at him. "Are you staying this time?"
"Yes. My enlistment is up. Who's this?" he asked, indicating me and Sanya.
"Friends of your father. May we come in?" Sanya said.
"Sure," he opened the door and we walked through. "Mom," he called, "Molly's here, with some…friends."
Charity Carpenter walked into the entrence way from the kitchen. "Harry, Sanya, come in, come in. Michael's in the living room. I see you've met Arthur, our eldest."
"Eldest? I thought Molly…"
"Nope," Molly said. "You better go see Dad before the munchkins swarm all over us."
Sanya and I walked to the living room, where Michael was sitting in a large arm chair. His head was bowed, and was resting on his clasped hands.
"Regular praying, or something special?" I asked.
Michael looked up and saw Sanya and me. "Harry, Sanya, so glad you could make it." He got up, but I could see the pain it caused him flash across his face. Old wounds, my fault.
"Take it easy," I said, directing him back into the chair.
"How can I, when you keep putting quandaries in my way?" He sounded serious.
"What?" I asked.
"Did you recommend my business to Marcone?" he asked. "He's been calling me for two weeks now, wanting to hire me to build and repair a lot of buildings. And he's offering a price well above what it costs. I don't know what to do about it."
"Take his money. Do a good job." I suggested.
"Dresden, I may not be a Knight anymore, but I try to be a moral man. Why did you involve me in it? I know it was you, how else would Marcone, a gangster, know about me and my construction business?"
I sighed. "Yes, I recommended you, both as a good builder, and as someone who knows how to build against magic. What's the moral quandary?"
"He wants me to reinforce a bunch of the old buildings around the town, especially schools and hospitals. I don't know what to make of it. Oh, and he wants me to use my knowledge as a former Knight of the Cross to put up wards against evil. Why?"
"Guilt. When Marcone was starting out, someone tried to kill him and a young girl was caught in the crossfire. Now, the war between the Red Court and the Council is about to flare up again, and his guilt's making him try to protect those he can, especially children."
"So I should help him help others. That's all I can do now."
I saw a shot and took it. I pulled Amoracchius out of the duffel bag, and offered it, hilt first to Michael. "You could take it back. If there's one thing I know about love, its never too late to go back."
Michael smiled. "It is for me."
Sanya stepped forward. "Dresden, he's done. Resigning a Knightship is more than just giving up the metal sword, relic-embedded or not. Put it this way, if he was still a Knight of the Cross, his injuries would have been healed by now."
There it was. Michael was officially out, and I had to look else where for help. The three of us stood there in silence, awkwardly. Then we heard voices from outside the door, in the adjoining hallway. It was Molly and her brother, Arthur.