Chapter Ten
Disclaimer: I own nothing here. See First Chapter for full disclaimer
Hell's Bells… Mab. Better known as Mab, Queen of Air and Darkness, Queen of the Winter Court of the Sidhe, and all-around someone that you simply do not want to mess with. Imagine, if you will all of those tales of dark, evil queens, of beautiful yet deadly sirens, of wicked witches, hungry ogresses, she-beasts, then consider that at some point, in some way, all of them were real. Mab outclassed all of them. I wouldn't be surprised if she gave them lessons and a test on how to be evil.
It wasn't that Mab was ugly, far from it, really. As she stepped closer to our group, the clouds seemed to part just enough that the sun could shine down upon her, illuminating her beauty. Before now, I hadn't noticed just how tall Mab was, as she'd always been shorter than me at just a hair under six feet. Her snow-white hair flowed down to the small of her back, and it was tied back with a band of ice. She wore a blue dress that seemed to sparkle like ice crystals in the sunlight as it struck her, giving her a form of ethereal beauty. It was her eyes, however, that betrayed her inhuman nature, an emerald green with slit pupils that seemed to be a common trait of the sidhe, and they contrasted nicely with her lips colored like frozen mulberries.
Yes, Mab was beautiful, striking, and frankly, somewhat evil, but she had a purpose. I wasn't entirely certain what that purpose was, but both the Courts had a purpose.
And I owed her two favors. Stars and Stones, I hoped she wasn't going to ask for one on top of everything else.
"Wizard Dresden, relax thy guard, for I do not come seeking conflict." Mab's voice carried melodically on the wind, her words a chilling addition to the already cold breeze. Clearly she already recognized me, which honestly didn't surprise me as much as it could have. Mab likely didn't see how the average mortal saw, so she probably recognized me through whatever form of vision she uses to identify those whom she has a contract or contractual obligation with.
"Queen Mab, I doubt I could do much more than try to run away if you were seeking conflict." I lowered my staff to the ground, looking up toward the Fae Queen's eyes. Sidhe weren't like humans; I didn't have to worry about soulgazing them if I locked eyes with one of them. Instead, I had to worry about fairy glamours and other possible fun things that she could do to me if she felt so inclined.
Mab let out a laugh. "Wizard, we both know that you, of all people, would not run away. The proof is in the building over there."
"The schizofiend? Yeah, now it's roasting…" I started, and then I continued, ignoring Cordelia's protest to the name, "Mab, why have you come here?"
"Schizofiend, creative name, wizard." Mab's lips quirked into an approximation of a smile that added a layer of snow to Hell after saying that. "Two favors I am yet owed by thee, child. Two favors, but I have not come to collect upon them this day. Nay, instead I am here in fulfillment of the duty of a queen to her vassal."
This had happened before, not even two months ago, Mab had appeared to me while I was working the case that got me drafted as a Warden. She had provided help that while not invaluable, had not been entirely unhelpful. Admittedly, I hadn't been trying to seek her out on purpose. I had instead been trying to summon…
"Lea is still incapacitated?" I asked. Lea was my fairy godmother. No, it wasn't exactly like it sounded. Lea is short for the Leanansidhe. Folklore paints her as a muse but also someone who drives people crazy while knowing her. Having met my godmother, I'd say folklore only had it half right. I had been attempting to summon her for some help with figuring out how to deal with the Heirs of Kemmler, but instead Mab showed up.
"It is no swift task to allow her recovery from her affliction." Mab stated calmly. "As such, I would be remiss in my duties as queen if I allowed her own duties as your godmother to be ignored. While I can not offer you the same help that she would in this situation, I can offer a restoration, Wizard."
"A restoration?" I asked, not even daring to hope, given the situation. Besides which, this was Mab, and nothing with faeries came for free. "And what would I give you in exchange for such a generous offer?"
There it was again, the faint hint of a smile. "Along with your debt, I will restore your form to its more masculine proportions if you accept the mantle of Knight."
I won't deny that I was tempted. This would have been the easiest way to return to my normal self, but that was the keyword there. Easy. It was too easy. Additionally, though my debt would be fulfilled, I would be the Winter Knight. I would be working for the Winter Court as their hitman. Their trigger puller. It went against everything I believed in. Besides, I wouldn't be getting out from under faerie thumbs, I would be getting under a genuine bigger one.
"As… nice as the offer is, Queen Mab, I must decline." I remembered Lloyd Slate, and how he had acted. I couldn't let that happen. Under no circumstances was I going to accept becoming the Winter Knight. I'd have to find another way. "If there's nothing else…"
Mab stepped closer to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "The path ahead of thee, wizard, will not be easy. Tread carefully, lest you succumb to the temptation whispered in thy ear. I would hate to think I misjudged thee, child."
Her eyes flicked to Cordelia and the blonde who stood between us, and she switched to a genuine smile. Somehow that scared me even more than the quirking of her lips. "I have not forgotten thee, Seer. Thy silence betrays thy knowledge. You do deserve to be counted among the Wise."
Cordelia offered some sort of bow and curtsy thing without saying anything, and the blonde just stared in silence as she was dismissed from the notice of Mab. I chose not to bring up names, for Mab knew my own well enough.
"Mab, what was the schizofiend?" I decided to ask the question. Perhaps I would get a straight answer, but I doubted it.
"An abomination whose creation is an affront to what should be." Mab said sharply.
"So it was fey."
"In the way that vodka is water." Mab squeezed my shoulder slightly and I shifted my weight. I didn't want to be where I was at the moment.
"Do you know what caused me to change?" I had to ask. Mab was offering to change me back if I became Winter Knight, but that didn't mean she knew what had happened.
"Yes." A one-word answer was surprising. I was expecting her to draw it out a bit longer, perhaps some misdirection.
"Will you tell me?" Faeries, especially sidhe, are very bound by the literal words that they use. As such, they tend to honor agreements with mortals by interpreting those literal words.
"You have the resources and capabilities to figure it out on your own, Wizard. You simply need some faith." Mab squeezed my shoulder again and walked off into the falling snow, disappearing from sight after a few steps. She probably returned to the Nevernever.
She'd had some purpose here that I missed in that conversation. I couldn't be entirely sure what it was, but there were more layers to that conversation than I thought.
Shaking my head, I turned back to Cordelia and the blonde. "I'm… sorry that happened. Mab's a scary being."
"Whom you owe two favors to. Dresden, how do you owe two favors to the Queen Scary?" Cordelia asked.
"I was young, stupid and in danger." I retorted, and then I turned toward the blonde. "So, you were on the run from the schizofiend… what's your name?"
The blonde ran a finger over something under her gloved hands, but I couldn't tell what. She then spoke, holding off on the stuttering some this time. "C-call me Tara."
She'd said to call her Tara, not that her name was Tara, and that was an important distinction. It proved that Tara knew enough about the supernatural that she knew something about Names, or at least she knew that giving her true name to a Wizard, or any magic user, really, could do something. Such knowledge wasn't entirely inaccurate, either. Names are important.
Everything has a Name, from the lowliest mortal to the most absurd thing in the Nevernever. To know someone or something's name gives you power over it or them. Strange, isn't it? That something so innocuous as your name could give someone such power over you?
It's a bit more complicated than that. A Wizard, or really any supernatural being, can only take advantage of your True Name. Mortals change all the time, and are a bit more malleable with their identities. Additionally, the True Name needs to be pronounced correctly, how you would pronounce it. An example would be how certain syllables are stressed in Jackie. Subtle variations in the pronunciation can imply different things. But give a Wizard or other supernatural being your full name and how you pronounce it from your own mouth, and you give that being power over you. Names can be used in any number of spells or ways to allow the effects to target you, and only you by creating a sympathetic link between you and the spell.
So, of course, I had no real issue with Tara using that as her name. Whether it actually was her name or not didn't matter given the situation she'd found herself in. The schizofiend had been chasing her for a reason.
"Okay, Tara," I started off. No need to alienate the girl right off the bat. Which… unfortunately meant giving my own name would be rather tricky due to the current situation. Maybe she'd buy it though. She did just get attacked by a mutant faerie, and Mab gave my last name out pretty blatantly while she was here. Still, I did have a nice way around giving my given name, and it even actually applied in this situation. "I'm Warden Dresden and this is Warden Chase, we're working with the police."
"D-dresden? Like Harry Dresden?" Tara asked, and Cordelia gave me a meaningful look. What it specifically meant I couldn't tell, but it was almost like she was trying to tell me something.
"You could say that." I responded. While I could mention that I actually was Harry Dresden, this really didn't seem like the time or place to go into details about my transformation. "Could you tell us what happened before we got here?"
Cordelia took a spot next to Tara, to offer some sort of comfort, I thought. Maybe she'd be able to let the blonde feel more at ease. I hated these sorts of interviews, especially after dealing with a monster attack. Speaking of monster attacks, my eyes flit down the street toward the building that I fought the schizofiend in; the flames had spread, starting to climb the walls. In the distance, I could hear the telltale signs of the fire department. The building had a fire break between it and the other buildings, and snow had piled up there. It wouldn't take anything else out besides itself.
Tara licked her lips and looked at me before answering. "I was… I w-was l-looking for s-s-some things about Lisa… I f-found.. I didn't see anything… before it started after me… honest."
This was the woman whom I had bumped into and was waiting outside of the hotel. If she had been Lisa Hendricks's friend, then she had deserved to know what happened. The question is, what more did she have on the victim than… Well, never mind, if she were the victim's friend, she'd have quite a bit more. I had next to no knowledge of her beyond the fact that she was related to Cujo, Marcone's bodyguard.
"Lisa… you're friends with Lisa Hendricks?" I asked. I didn't know if the cops had spoken to her yet, but in this particular instance, I was acting simultaneously as PI and Warden. Cordelia seemed to be observing my questioning style. "I'm… sorry for your loss."
Tara nodded, licked her lips and continued, only the slightest hint of tears coming to her face. "T-thank you… Lisa, yeah, she was a good friend…. Almost like a sister to me. She was studying law at Northwestern, but she still made the time to see me and… we talked."
"Oh, about?" I asked.
"The usual stuff, I guess. S-she was always complaining that despite l-living in the same city as him, she didn't get to see her brother all that often. He works a lot, some sort of bouncer gig, I think. It pays well, but it k-keeps him busy." Tara said, and I nodded. Bouncer sounded like a good cover for what Cujo really did with Marcone, and I wasn't going to disrespect the dead by telling Tara the truth about that.
"Did she mention a boyfriend? In your talks, I mean." I needed her to trust me some more. I wasn't entirely sure I could get her to do it. It's kind of hard to do the tall, reassuring man thing when you're not quite as tall and have a more feminine form. I mean, Cordelia had maybe a hand on me in height now.
"O-oh, y-yeah… Larry…" Tara said, her pink tongue coming out to wet her lips once more. It was cold; perhaps I should have offered her some chap stick, if I'd had any. "L-larry was her boyfriend from Undergrad, and h-he'd become a banker."
Banker. Lawyer. Well, not even lawyer yet, but sister of a mobster's enforcer is what Lisa Hendricks was. She just didn't know it, or at least she didn't know enough to tell Tara, but what if I had been coming at this the wrong way? What if Lisa hadn't been the actual target of this?
"What bank?" I asked.
"W-windy C-city International…" Tara said, looking away from me for a second, her face ducking down. I got a glimpse of her eyes, but looked toward those red lips again after a couple seconds so to not trigger a soulgaze. "H-he worked there… And… t-that's…"
"That's where you say you didn't see anything." I finished for her. I held out hope that she wouldn't go after a line as blatant as that one, so I asked, "So, what is it you didn't see?"
"I…" Tara clenched her hands, and Cordelia gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "It… T-they had done s-something… they'd taken a key… And they w-went into the safety deposit room. The k-key had… s-something with it, but I couldn't see."
"So, they were going into the safety deposit room, and then what? What had you running like this?" I asked, trying to keep my voice level.
"N-no, I c-couldn't have s-seen it... H-he and… glowing… four eyes… then…" Tara closed her eyes and suddenly came forward, burying her face into my shoulder. "I'm not crazy… I'm not… She can't… I'm not crazy… I'm me…"
"Tara?" I asked, gently. "Sweetie, what did you see?"
"F-fingers…. Into his head… Blonde hair…" I looked over to Cordelia, whose tan seemed to be draining out of her face. "… She's… dead… She's supposed to be dead..."
"Who is?" I asked, and Tara pulled away from my shoulder to lock eyes with me for a second before I looked away.
"Glorificus."
While I didn't exactly recognize the name Glorificus, clearly Cordelia had and it had her eying Tara warily. Whoever this Glorificus was, she obviously was some sort of bad news, and possibly from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Hell's Bells, that meant that Tara was as well if Cordelia recognized the name. I'd have to ask her about it when we were on the road again, but just the reactions that it drew from both of them had me nervous as well.
I breathed out a sigh. "Tara, we'll handle this, trust me."
She looked to my face again and nodded. Shakily, she said, "B-but… Glory is…" Oh, that was much easier to say than Glorificus, and I could make a few jokes about it later. "Glory is… she's strong…"
"I've dealt with strong people before, and Cor- Warden Chase isn't any slouch either," I said.
"Thanks, Dresden." Cordelia managed to work some sarcasm into that statement. "But we will handle this, Tara. There's three more Wardens in town, and I'm sure we can get some more help if necessary."
Tara nodded and hugged me close again. This time, I could practically feel the gratitude coming off of her, and she smelled a bit like raspberries. Cordelia shot me a look and I patted Tara's back in response.
"Tara… do you have a safe place to stay?" I asked softening my tone a bit more. I wasn't going to offer that she should stay at my place or anything crazy like that. With Thomas living with me, I didn't really want to deal with any of the Wardens coming by and finding out that a White Court vampire was staying with me. No, given the beings that had been attacking her, there was one place I knew would likely be safe.
"No… I d-don't…" Tara breathed in through her nose and out a sigh. "Not a safe place…"
I nodded, expecting that. "I know of a place that will be safe enough. St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church. Father Forthill is a friend, and he is clued in."
I'd sent Forthill people before for him to keep safe, and I just needed to keep Tara as safe as I could while we investigated this further. I didn't want her to be bait or a lightning rod for whatever we ended up running into beyond this point, and I did want her in an accessible area to discuss this Glory being more. Thomas might also be an invaluable resource. Additionally, Tara's description of glowing eyes… Glory was working with a Denarian. Probably, anyway… Given my encounter with Ursiel in Sunnydale, it wasn't all that surprising that they might show up. However, whatever this was didn't seem to be Nicodemus's style. I was missing too many pieces of the puzzle, and worse, I was hungrier than when we left Butters's place.
Tara nodded. "I c-can get there."
"No need," Cordelia said. "We're parked about a block from here. Dresden can take you by the church before we go to where we need to next."
"R-really?" Tara looked at me, eagerly hopeful, and I nodded.
"It's not very far out of the way. It's not any trouble." I answered, and I was rewarded with a gorgeous smile. "You'll uh, have to let go of me first though…"
Tara blushed and nodded. It was a cute blush, and I made a mental note that I might want to try to get it out again. She let go, and I started to lead the two girls back to the Loaner. Luckily enough, the Jeep had managed to avoid becoming a target in the fight, and we remained unmolested when we got in. Cordelia and I put our staffs in the back, and Tara climbed into the passenger seat, buckling in.
The ride to St. Mary's was a bit of a quiet one, as I focused primarily on driving there in the increasingly snowy conditions, but Cordelia made some small talk with Tara along the way, quietly, of course. As we pulled into the parking lot at St. Mary's we got a bit of a lull in the snow, and it looked like the lot had been freshly plowed. The lot had a few cars in it, and I pulled up closer to the rectory entrance that I had entered two days before.
"Well, here we are…" I commented, attempting to keep my voice in a somewhat civil tone, but my hunger put in a bit of a bite.
"I'll walk you up, Tara." Cordelia commented. "We'll let Father Forthill know that Dresden recommended him."
"O-okay…" She reached over to my hand with her gloved one, and she gave it a squeeze. "You'll be coming back, right?"
"Promise." I said, simply. "I might need to ask you some more questions when you're ready too, Tara."
The blonde nodded and squeezed my hand again before letting go. She opened the door, and, along with Cordelia, she stepped outside. The pair headed toward the rectory entrance, and I breathed out a sigh as my stomach growled. Saving Tara from the schizofiend was a good thing, and it had managed to net us some potentially valuable information about those that killed Lisa Hendricks and "Larry." However, it did mean that I still hadn't managed to get my Burger King, and I was hungry, damn it.
"She's under your spell, how else could it be, her flirting with you so easily?" Lasciel's dulcet tones came out almost in a teasing manner as she faded into my vision in the passenger seat. "My host, you really do find yourself in the oddest of predicaments."
I pursed my lips. On the one hand, the shade's presence meant that I didn't leave her back with Willow, not endangering the redhead nor tempting her into calling the coin that currently was under several tons of cement.
"Lasciel, what are you even talking about?" I asked, almost knowing what the Fallen's shadow would probably offer, and in fact, I second guessed it. "If it's to offer me a way to turn back to normal by taking up the coin, you can forget it."
The shade laughed. "I like the female form, my host, and it is quite obvious that your rescued potential victim enjoys it as well. While it ultimately does not matter the gender of the holder of the coin, that you are now a woman in body is pleasing in some ways. Yes, taking up the coin could allow you to change back, assuming you wanted to, but from what I've seen of you, you may just find a way back on your own."
"So, if not that sort of offer, then what?" I looked out the window, Tara and Cordelia were knocking at the door. To the rectory, and they waited.
"My host, I merely wish to see you happy," the shade said. "That girl could help with that, and she certainly wishes to. It looked like she was working up courage to do something more than hold your hand for a little while."
"You're crazy." I frowned, but then I watched the door open. Cordelia stepped inside the rectory, and Tara started pulling off her gloves before going inside. I noticed a flash of something pink on her fingers , but at the distance we were at, I couldn't make it out. After they headed inside, the door shut behind them, so once again, I looked at an empty lot.
"My host, you are talking to someone who resides in your subconscious mind." Lasciel simply commented. "So I must ask, how may I serve your needs?
"I'm probably going to be asking this of every source. What do you know about Glorificus?" It couldn't hurt to ask the fallen angel that knew nearly everything if she knew about this one thing.
"While there are a great many things that I do know, my host, I do not know much about beings from a fictional universe." Lasciel answered. Of course, she could lie with the best of them; she'd been around since the dawn of time. "Up until your excursion as Miss Rosenberg, I would not even have thought of that particular universe as a potential for going to. Especially in that fashion."
"So what you're saying is that it was a new experience for you." I surmised. "Did you even know it was there?"
"Of course I did, my host. However, alternate timelines and alternate universes, though connected by the Nevernever, are not things that even an angel would often consider going to, let alone in the manner you did so. Glorificus, judging from both this 'Tara' and Cordelia's reactions…. Is dangerous, but it is unlikely that she would be able to deal with you if you were to take up the coin."
Ah, there it was. The suggestion wasn't entirely unexpected. Lasciel's shade's job was to get me to take up Lasciel's coin, but it wasn't going to work. Not this time, at least.
"I'll deal with her my own way." I said, but then my attention was drawn to the church doors as they opened sharply, and a very different blonde stepped out, taller than Tara had been, maybe an inch or two under six feet. She was fair-skinned, blue-eyed, and built like the proverbial brick house. She somehow combined strength, grace, and beauty that showed through, well, everything, not just her appearance.
It took me a second, but I recognized her. The last time I'd seen this girl, she had been changing out of her goth clothing into a more conservative outfit so as not to offend her mother's sensibilities. Now, her clothing choice ran somewhere in the middle of the road between them. Her jacket hugged her chest a little too tightly, and the jeans she wore fit snug against her. While I doubt her mother really appreciated what Molly had worn, at least it wasn't entirely inappropriate for wearing to Church.
Charity Carpenter stepped outside not long after Molly did, and the familial resemblance was uncanny. Charity's clothing, in contrast to her daughter was not only fitting for the weather, but it was also what you would expect a good Catholic mother to wear. She wore a winter coat overtop of what looked like a dark blouse and slacks that weren't too tight on her body, conservative clothing, of course. It was clear that she was following Molly down, and judging from the color of each woman's face, it looked like they were having an argument, and Molly left.
"Well, something has her angry." Lasciel commented, her own blonde hair now tied up with her toga. I turned to glare at the shadow of the Fallen.
"Why are you still here?" I asked.
"To offer my help, once more, my host." Lasciel said. "If you are going to insist on throwing yourself into danger once more and still refuse the coin, then I must simply offer all that I can."
While the copy of Lasciel claimed she didn't know anything about Glorificus, Lasciel herself was a being that had existed since the Dawn of Time, and the Angel had likely forgotten more about magic than I would ever learn in my lifetime. The problem was that Lasciel's shadow was like a drug dealer. The first one would be free, but each progressive one would be worse, until eventually she'd have me eagerly picking up the coin and giving up my free will to the Fallen inside it. I wouldn't allow that.
"Like Hell. You can go back to my mind and come out when I ask for you to. If you can't follow that simple task, I'm going to have to lock you up in a small black box." I ground out. "A small black box with no holes in it."
Lasciel shook her head. "If you wish, my Host. But before I go, weren't there two women in the parking lot?"
I looked up and around. Charity Carpenter, though obviously angry had had some of the color drained from her face as she started looking around the lot. The soundproofing on my car must have been excellent because I couldn't hear anything she was yelling, but if I had to guess, she was calling out to Molly.
Molly had disappeared, seemingly into thin air. All that was left of her were some footprints upon the snow. I frowned. Would I have to rescue another blonde before I finally got my chance to eat? God knew I was hungry, and I wanted my burgers, damnit.
What else could go wrong?
Author's notes:
So you guys are more or less caught up to where I've written so far. I'm still working on this, don't worry. I'm hoping to put out about a chapter a week until it's done. Some weeks I won't quite hit that, but most weeks I'll do it.