The Dresden Files is property of Jim Butcher


About a month, give or take a few days, passed after the morning Wisteria had been gone when I had woken on the floor. Chicago was in the middle of a heat wave and not even the wind off of the lake could bring down the temperature below seventy-five. As such, I had abandoned my duster in favor of an old bomber jacket for when I had to go outside and a coat was needed. The coat mostly stayed at home.

Murphy was waiting for me outside of my office building wen I got back from lunch. "Dresden," she said.

"Hey Murph." I opened the door and held it open. "You want to come in?"

"Nah. Can't. On my way to SI."

"New case?" I asked.

"No. Paperwork."

I cringed. "That's even worse."

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "You're telling me."

"So what do you need?"

"Just stopped by to say a late thinks for helping with Wagner last month."

"Not a problem. It was actually a nice change from the cases you usually give me."

"How so?"

"I got out of it without any serous wounds. I'm quite happy over that," I told her.

"Yeah, I bet." She checked her watch. "I gotta go. Stay outta trouble."

"I'll try. Trouble usually finds me though."

"Ain't that the truth. See you, Harry." She walked to her car parked on the side of the road and got in. A quick wave and she was gone. I turned and went inside to the wonderful air-conditioned lobby. I gave a nod to the security guard and was halfway to the stairs when he called after me.

"What?"

"You've got a visitor. I sent them up."

"Thanks," I said tonelessly. Visitor: another word for a person coming to ask if I was serious.

I took the stairs up to my fifth floor office. I didn't trust the elevator. It hadn't run right since a giant scorpion had supposedly gone through the rood of it and the car had gone crashing down to the ground. I still maintain it's an urban legend. I mean, a giant scorpion? Right.

My door was open slightly when I reached it. Which was odd, considering I could've swore that I had locked it. Paranoia being what it is in me, I pushed it open slightly with my foot and looked inside. The only person in there was a girl with blonde hair. I stepped in the rest of the way and asked, " May I help you?"

"Mr. Dresden?"

"Yes," I replied. I had heard the voice before. Now all I had to do was place it. "May I help you?" I repeated. I motioned at one of the chairs reserved for my clients and waited until she was seated before taking my own seat.

"You don't recognize me, do you?"

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, but no. Should I?"

"I guess I should take that as a compliment." And she snapped her fingers and shook her head. The hair turned brown, beginning at the top and going down the blonde color like a waterfall. "How 'bout now?"

"Wisteria?" I asked. She smiled and nodded. "Stars and stones!"

"More people know me as Yolanda now," she told me.

"What are you…how are you doing?"

She shrugged. "Not bad. Magic's easier for me to use now. But I miss my Demi side. I run out of energy too fast."

I laughed. "And what about the necklace. Can't you grab some out of that?" "I tried. But I'm apparently not a wizard, and without my Demi side, I can't pull energy out of anything but me." She didn't look all that sad about it though. In fact, she looked happier that I had ever seen her.

"But you're doing fine?"

"Yeah. New college, new…well, old name and a glamour to change my look. Now no one but you knows who I am. So, thanks for everything."

"I do what I can."

"Could I maybe ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why didn't you leave me in the warehouse when you had the chance?"

"Apparently for something that never existed."

"What?"

"Chivalry demanded it."

"So it's not dead. That's nice to know." She grabbed and envelope out of her pocket and put it on my desk. "Your payment," she said in answer to my unasked question.

"You don't need to…"

"And I'm ignoring it." She stopped by the door on her way out. "Say hi to Mister for me," she said. Then she was gone.

I opened the envelope and found two slips of paper and her blue stone necklace. The first slip was a letter that, when read, made me laugh.

"I don't have enough to pay you, so I'll give you this instead. I found the water at your house extremely cold when I was there. After I left, I worked on this spell for a really long time. You should be able to use the energy stored in the stone to fuel it. I don't know how long it will last though, as I have no clue how much energy is in the stone. Stay safe. And don't let Mister hog the covers."

I went home that night and hung the necklace on my showerhead. I didn't use it. The cold shower actually felt nice for once. But the stone in a dragon's claw is still there. And the spell Wisteria had written is on the nightstand next to my Mickey Mouse alarm clock.

Maybe one day I'd want a hot shower and find out just how much energy one Demi can store in a blue stone. But until then, it would hang there, a reminder to me that not everything with the word "vampire" in it was evil.


That's that then. The end of Demi Darkness. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please feel free to R&R with suggestions for improvements for this or future stories.

And be on the lookout for a series of Bob-centric drabbles coming soon involving Bob before Harry had him and a certain...teacher at a certain...school. That's all I'm saying.

Claire C. Griffon