Building Faith


By Ellf

What is Known 7


Disclaimer: Jim Butcher owns the Dresden Files, any other works of fiction mentioned are not owned by me.

Thomas Raith, now that was a name I definitely recognized. Around the time my youngest brother was born, Daddy had been helping Harry out with a ghost problem, and the two of them met Thomas at the Velvet Room where they'd attended a party hosted by the Red Court vampire, Bianca. Thomas had been another guest of Bianca, representing the Raith family and the rest of the White Court in his father's place. Through some events that were most definitely not the fault of either my father or Harry, the Velvet Room had burned down, and Thomas had been inclined to help them. Daddy went with Harry and Thomas into the fairy world of the Nevernever, and Thomas had helped Daddy leave. Into a strip club. Mom was not happy when she found out about that one.

Additionally, Thomas Raith had a few more things to him that I hadn't found out by eavesdropping on my parents when they argued. One. He was Harry Dresden's brother. Two. He was completely and utterly in love with a girl by the name of Justine. She kept him human, and overall she kept him a good person, but he was still a vampire. He might not have been like the Reds out there, but he still was a monster… had a monster. So the question became, should I trust him? Could he genuinely get me out alive? I didn't have an answer to that question.

"Lord, please guide your servant in her choice. Keep me safe," I whispered out a prayer before grabbing my crucifix once more. If there were any Reds out there, I wasn't going to let them get into the room with me. I'd be able to deal with Thomas, one way or the other, but the Reds would be a problem. "Okay, Mr. Thomas Raith, I'm going to open the door."

Once I figured out how, I supposed. The door through which I came didn't have an immediately obvious handle, nor did it have any obvious seams. I really had no clue as to how I opened it the first time, other than simply touching it. So that's what I did, running my hand along the door to try and find a handle to pull with. What I found instead was a circle of some sort of metal embedded in the door. Pushing at it did nothing, and I couldn't get enough of a grip on it to use it as a handle. Of course, looking at the door, I doubted that I could pull this open on my own without some sort of… That's it! If I could just… remember… yes. Okay, circles. Magic circles were used for a variety of reasons, but the primary one was to keep energy out. Most everyone could use a circle of some sort, all they required was an investment of will. So maybe that was how to get this door open. If this didn't work, I was going to feel pretty stupid.

"Gathering one's will" always seemed like a cliché statement when I read it in literature. Steeling yourself was another. It really didn't seem to reflect reality to me. How could you gather up something that you either had or you didn't? Of course, I didn't realize exactly what it had meant or that I'd done something similar. Forcing all distractions out of mind, forcing myself to focus just on the task at hand, activating the circle. I touched the metal with my right hand and gave a mental push, and I felt a jolt. The circle lit up green and the arcane designs within it started spinning like the interior of a clock. I stepped backward at the sound of stone on stone, and brandished my cross, using it to focus my faith, fully prepared for anything that might be waiting outside.

"Finally, you let me in." I wasn't quite prepared for the man who stepped inside once I opened the door. The man, I assumed, must have been Thomas Raith, for who else could he have been? His dark hair came down to his shoulders, framing his way too perfect face. From his dark blue-grey eyes, perfect lips, and high cheekbones to his perfectly white teeth, fucking hell. That man could turn a lesbian straight. His body wasn't terrible to look at either, with a body likened to that of a Greek god or demigod. "Yes, I know. No need to thank me for offering to save you."

Was I drooling? I couldn't have been, but just in case, I wiped at my lips. Thomas Raith was a White Court vampire; I needed to remember that. He was biologically designed to be sexy. Stupid. Sexy. Vampire. Fucking hell. I needed to function. "So, how are you going to get me out of here?"

He looked around the room some, looking over each shelf in turn before concentrating on me. "… Well, I was expecting you to be older. Still, getting you out is easy. I'll just say you're mine."

"Yours?" I asked, not entirely sure I understood what he was saying. Focus, Faith.

"Yeah. My prey, not to be touched by Red Court. Of course, I'll be letting you free afterward. I just need you to trust me," Thomas said, looking at me up and down. I shivered slightly at his look. He shook his head slightly. "They wouldn't risk a fight with my father over a mere human girl. What's your name, anyway?"

"Faith. C-Carpenter." My name slipped out before I could even think of giving a fake. Was he… "Stop that!"

"Stop what?" Thomas's eyes remained that bluish grey. "… You wouldn't happen to be related to a Michael Carpenter, would you?"

"St-Never mind… My father," I answered. I'd have to deal with it. He was Harry's brother. He wouldn't harm me. I needed to trust that. Underneath his façade, he was a good person.

"Right." Thomas grimaced, sexily. Damnit, did this man only do things in a sexy fashion? Gah. White Court. That had to be the reason I found him attractive. He looked around the room once more, walking over to the writing desk and lifting the raven off of it. His grimace deepened and he turned back to me. "Let's get you out of here and back to your family."

Thomas offered a hand to me, and I took it, ignoring the flip-flopping of my belly when I held onto the vampire's hand. I needed to keep reminding myself that Thomas was a vampire. He was too supernaturally good looking to be anything else. "Okay, but, why are you here, really?"

"I'm getting you out, Faith." Thomas squeezed my hand, and damnit if my heart didn't skip a beat. Stupid sexy vampire. Giving another glance at the room, he led me out without answering my question. I'll admit I clung to him a bit, wrapping my other arm around his. While he wasn't quite as tall as Harry, he did remind me of him, in the shape of his eyes and his jaw. I suppose if I didn't know he was related, I probably wouldn't have noticed, but there were things you remembered about how people look when certain events happen. I don't think I'll ever forget Harry's face.

As the two of us stepped out into the hallway, I noticed three shapes lying on the stairs. They laid unmoving, torn asunder by … something. As we got closer to them, it became obvious to me that they had been three of the Red Court vampires. I couldn't tell what had caused the wounds on their bodies, nor did I really want to know. They were dead, that was good enough for me, but only three were. Where were the last two?

"Well, isn't that a shame?" Thomas asked sardonically. "Someone's going to have to clean that up."

Giggling nervously, I let Thomas lead a bit more. We carefully stepped around the bodies and made our way up to the primary basement, which we needed to cross before we could make it up to the actual library. We made it about halfway across the level toward the staircase when Esteban stepped out in front of us, having regained his flesh mask. I stiffened and looked back behind. Sure enough, Esmeralda had flanked the two of us.

"Well, if it isn't Thomas Raith," Esteban said in a taunting tone. "You are holding something that belongs to me and my wife."

"Yes, give the little bitch up, Raith," Esmeralda growled. "She caused the death of three of ours."

"She is mine, Batiste." Thomas said, his voice level. "My prey; your fools killed themselves. I saw their bodies. There's no way this girl of mine did anything of the sort."

Esmeralda sneered, and I moved my hand from Thomas's arm to my crucifix. I wasn't going to let them do anything to me, but I needed to trust Thomas. "Your prey? I'm going to need more proof than that, Raith. You might be Duke Ortega's Second, but we've heard stories."

Proof? What sort of proof might they be wanting? Would Thomas give in?

"I don't need to prove anything, Batiste. We're going to walk out of here, and you're going to leave it be and collect your dead." Wow. Thomas's sternness could be- Gah. Stupid sexy vampire.

"No, I do not think you shall, just yet," Esteban said, looking me over. "We will let you go, after two things happen, in payment for our dead. One. You must prove she is your prey. Feed upon her. And then she must allow Esmeralda and myself to feed upon her as well. "

"What?" I asked sharply, but when Thomas looked at me, I settled down somewhat. I didn't like this, but they had us surrounded, and I wasn't confident that I could do anything to help take this pair down.

"I need your word, Batiste." Thomas stared Esteban down, while I nervously looked at Esmeralda. Fuck. How much did I trust Thomas? How much could I trust him? Could I make a break for it and get home before any of this went to shit? Not unless I could pull a repeat of earlier, and I had no clue how I did that.

"Very well, I give it," Esteban said.

"I as well." Esmeralda slinked around from behind us to join her husband in front, still blocking our way.

I looked up at Thomas. I really didn't want to do this, but I wasn't Harry. I didn't have much of a choice in the matter. Thomas didn't look like he wanted to do this either, a fact confirmed by what he mouthed as his eyes took on a silver tone.

"I'm sorry."


The conditions set by the Eebs were terrible to think about. They required me to get fed upon by two different kinds of vampire, and then they'd let us walk out alive. I prayed for help, for guidance, and this is what my decision to trust Thomas, a vampire, had wrought. Just because he was Harry's brother, and honestly was a pretty awesome character in my memory of him, didn't mean that the sexy vampire was going to be how I remembered.

"Look, she's trembling. Is it anticipation, or is it fear, Raith? Either way, we get what we want," Esteban taunted, as Thomas continued to look down at me with his increasingly silver eyes. He hadn't started yet, but I almost could feel his Hunger. I didn't know how long it had been since he'd last fed on Justine, but it ultimately didn't matter. He was going to try to feed on me. He was going to feed on me, and I wasn't entirely sure that there was a way out of this situation.

I looked up at his face, focusing on his eyes. He'd moved so that his back was to the Eebs, using his body to block mine, so I mouthed out the words to him that would hopefully change his mind. I would hopefully get through to him to get me out of here properly. "What would Harry do?"

Four words. Four simple words, and if Thomas wasn't too far gone, he'd get them. The vampire cupped my chin, tilting my head up toward his, and his lips twitched into a smirk. I shivered, uncontrollably, that wasn't... he hadn't started feeding yet, I could feel it, but the smirk meant something. I knew in my heart that it meant my trust hadn't been in vain. Thomas was Harry's brother, and he wanted to be a better man for him and for Justine. Thomas had a plan. I just needed to trust that whatever it was, it would get me out safe.

Thomas continued cupping my chin, and I parted my mouth slightly. I knew that this probably was a part of the plan, but I still feared it.

Then I felt it. In that moment, I knew why the White Court had been so successful throughout the years, and the Raiths specifically. I knew why Thomas would have such a successful business as a hairdresser later on. I knew why the Raiths were able to get their victims to come seemingly willingly. For the briefest of moments, I felt a taste of what Thomas had to offer, and I felt him partaking of a taste of my own. Just a taste, ever so slight. I could feel it, and at that moment, I would have given him more. Freely. Intellectually, I knew. I knew what was going on, but I just didn't care. I could care later, I just wanted more of that feeling. I'm sure I made a noise or two, but I couldn't tell you what they were.

But as quickly as it began, it stopped, and damn if it lasted more than a few seconds. Those few seconds had felt like an eternity. Part of me, I'm ashamed to say, wanted to continue. To let Thomas have every single way with me that he could, but the rest of me knew. The vampire could have done more. He could have taken more. He didn't. That made him trustworthy.

"There." Thomas's eyes still held that silver sheen as he looked back at the Eebs. His skin perhaps was a bit whiter too. "I've fed on her, but… I think we'll forego you feeding directly upon her, Batiste."

"The deal was for the three of us to feed, Raith," Esteban growled out.

"Yes, the bitch is…"

"Not your prey. She is mine, Batiste. If you try to take her from me, I will inform Ortega of your dereliction of duties when I meet up with him later tonight. After all, he doesn't know you're here," Thomas said, running a hand through my hair before going into his pocket. "I am not, however, an oathbreaker. You will get a taste of her blood, but you will not be biting."

Thomas produced a knife and handed it to me. I reached into my backpack with my other hand and pulled out a small cup that I tended to use for water.

"Cut your hand, and bleed into the cup for them," Thomas ordered. I nodded, acting the part of demure prey, a person already broken by the White Court. This wasn't exactly the plan that I'd hoped the vampire had wanted, but given the situation, and its precariousness, I admired this way out of having the Red Court's Kiss in my system.

I cut my right hand at my right ring finger. In this life, I was a leftie for some reason, and I squeezed the finger, draining some drops of blood into the cup. I handed the cup to Thomas, but I kept the knife in my hand.

"There now," Thomas said as he placed the cup on a nearby shelf. "You get to feed of her, and we get to go free. As promised, or perhaps, you can test just how much those stories you've heard are true."

Esmeralda looked like she was ready to attack, but her husband placed a hand on her shoulder before walking over to the cup and picking it up. He looked inside. "The deal was that we both could feed, Raith."

"Share," Thomas and I said in unison as we pushed past them to the stairs that led to the lobby. We didn't stop walking until we made it out into the parking lot.

Once we made it into the parking lot, I let go of Thomas's hand, and I looked around. "Looks like they followed their word. For now."

"Yes, they did and—" Thomas was cut off by my right cross across his jaw.

"You asshole!" I yelled at the vampire. "What was that in there? That was your big plan to get me out safe? That was how you were going to protect me? If I hadn't mentioned Harry's name, would you have let them feed off of me?"

Okay, my hand hurt a little bit from hitting him, but no worse than any other guy I'd managed to need to hit over the past few years. It didn't look like it hurt him much so much as just a surprise.

"Of course not!" Thomas retorted, rubbing at his jaw. That had to be something to assuage my ego, and it did a little. "What do you think your father would do to me if I let you get hurt? That's why I only fed a little bit."

I took a deep breath. Okay. Thomas did what he could. Because of my father. Because of his brother. Because of Justine, probably.

A car door opened, and a pair of stiletto heels touched the ground, walking around the car to the area of the parking lot we were in. My gaze was drawn to the dark-haired beauty that was in them. She wore a tight miniskirt and a very low cut blouse. Her face was made up with a delicate pink blush, and her lips were a vibrant red. Her eyes were a bit clouded over, but not by much. She clearly walked with purpose toward Thomas and I. It quickly became obvious to me who she was, which made it funny when she walked past Thomas's open arms toward me.

"Come on, let's get you in the car," the woman said. "You can yell at Thomas more while we're on the road."

"Now that's not fair," Thomas complained. He followed us into the car though. It was a red Lamborghini Murciélago, expensive car, and I sat in the passenger seat with the dark-haired woman to my left and Thomas in the driver's seat. He ran a hand down the woman's exposed back and she shivered, leaning into him.

"My name is Justine," the woman said, after finishing her minor trip off of Thomas's touch. A part of me almost was jealous, but my anger and the beginnings of a headache shut that up. "I'm sorry that he got you angry."

"It's… not really his fault, Justine." I sighed and rubbed my temples. "He saved my life. I don't know how I would have gotten out on my own."

Thomas drove out of the library and onto the streets. "Where do you live, Faith?

I gave him the address, and I asked to be dropped off at the bus stop so I could look like I was coming home from that. Then his cell phone rang, and he answered it. It was a flip phone of some sort. Looked like a Nokia model.

"No, I didn't find it," Thomas said when he answered the phone, not even bothering to say hi. "Some Reds were there, and it looked like they had been looking too."

Thomas listened for a second, and I turned to Justine. "Who is he talking with?"

"His sister, I think," Justine said. "She called earlier today, and he's been in a foul mood since. He's even putting me up at a hotel tonight rather than spending it with me."

"Rough." There was only one sister I could think of that'd have Thomas that out of shape over a phone call. Lara Raith, his elder sister and retired porn star. I just wished I could remember her stage name. For academic purposes, of course. I needed to know what she looked like, after all.

"Fine. Ten minutes," Thomas said into the phone before turning the car into a hard right and then his phone sparked. The screen went dead, and he looked at it. "Damn. Going to need a new phone. Faith, I'm sorry, but I can't take you straight home."

"Why not?" I asked.

"We've got to meet someone for dinner," Thomas said, "I'll treat you."

"We? Who are we meeting?" I asked.

Thomas's answer sent a chill down my spine. "The Archive."