Chapter Three

"So we dig our way through," Peter said. He shifted his shoulders, and with a quick look around to ensure the alley was empty, changed to Colossus. "It may take me a while, but I will get through eventually."

I nodded. Something about it seemed off to me, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I began to focus the energy to reopen the Way, which had been disrupted when I banged my head into it. "Wait," I muttered, partly to myself, "I need to think this through."

He turned to look at me, eyes narrowed. "Every moment wasted is a moment my sister may be in danger."

"Running blindly into a potential trap won't help her, Mr. Rasputin," I said, "And something about this stinks. We don't know how thick that is, and I can't keep the portal open forever. You'd likely be trapped on the other side."

I ran some ideas through my head as I dabbed my bleeding nose with the handkerchief. "I'm pretty sure your sister is still alive. I'm sure I would have sensed it if they'd killed her, and she was definitely taken into the Nevernever. Plus, it seems like you were brought here deliberately. Now why would she be taken? Either to be used for her own abilities, or to blackmail one of you two for yours is my guess."

I thought about it - a teleporter in the hands of the Red Court of the Vampires could be devastating. Kitty's phasing power might have some uses too. Colossus would be effective against the fae, but I couldn't see either Summer or Winter using cold iron as a weapon against the other.

Then there was another fear. This Way was my path to the White Council headquarters. If a wizard had taken Illyana, whether for her power or for her access to magics unknown.

"Are you all right, Mr. Dresden?" asked Kitty. "That was a nasty hit."

"Fine. I'm fine. This is actually pretty good for me on a case. I think I need to make some calls," I said. When they both started to object, I continued, "You told me you got here yesterday, so they could be anywhere, here or in the Nevernever. We'd be better off playing this smarter than chasing willy nilly all over the place."

Kitty considered my words, and then turned to her companion and laid a hand gently on his arm, "He's right, Peter."

"Da, I know," he said, "It is just that I do not wish to lose her again." With a flash, he changed back to human form, the slump in his shoulders showing his feeling of helplessness far better than words. "What is our next step?" he asked, his eyes pleading.

"Back to the car. I'll take you to my place, maybe find you both a change of clothes so we can move a bit less conspicuously."

I drove. Kitty fit more easily in the back, and Peter sat, bent over and restless, in the passenger seat. We pulled into the driveway to the old wooden boardinghouse where I live.

I led them down the steps to my front door, unlocking it and giving it a solid shoulder check to get it open. One of these days I would get around to getting it framed right. Probably after the next baddie in my life breaks it down.

"Pardon the mess," I said, reflexively.

"Mess?" Kitty asked, as she entered. "This is the cleanest bachelor pad I've ever seen."

I looked around, and saw what she said was true, which meant my brownie housekeeping crew had come through. If you can do them a favor, and remember to keep your mouth shut about them, I highly recommend their services. "Just a little joke, Ms. Pryde," I said.

The padding of feet announced that my pet Dogasaurus, Mouse, was awake. He came over to give a sniff to my guests. No growl, which was a positive sign. I was mostly convinced the pair was legit, but a little skepticism never hurt. I'd learned to trust Mouse's instincts over the years.

"He is a Caucasian, yes?" Peter asked after passing Mouse's examination. "And a very easy tempered one, it seems."

I spared them my standard joke, and headed into my small bedroom to fetch some clothes for Colossus.

Mouse approved of them, and they'd walked in across my threshold unhindered without an express invitation. More evidence that they were who they said they were. I grabbed a pair of old sweatpants, and a sweatshirt declaring the wearer to be a member of the Miskatonic University athletic department. I'd have to get something for Kitty from Molly's stash down in the lab, for when her lessons rendered a given outfit unwearable.

I walked back into the main living area and tossed the sweats to Peter, "Try these - they should fit."

"Spaciba," he replied, pulling the sweats on over his costume.

"They aren't made of unstable molecules, so if you have to transform, maybe you can get the sweatshirt off first? It was a gift." Butters had given it to me on my last birthday. "I mean, don't get killed over it or anything, but, you know."

"Da, I will try," he said.

I started to pull up the carpet covering the trapdoor to my lab. "Just so you know, my apprentice has had an ... interesting wardrobe in the past. I'm not entirely sure what's down there." In truth, the Grasshopper had toned down a lot from the Frankenhooker outfits she favored back when I rescued her from the heart of Winter, but I had no idea what I would be able to scrounge that might work for the nearly half foot shorter Kitty Pryde.

"You know, Mr. Dresden, I think I can work with the Cubs jacket," Kitty said. She then cocked her head slightly, and I saw her weight shift subtly. Peter noted this, and drifted back a few steps, out of the sight line to my front door, where the sound of a key in the lock noted my young padawan's arrival. The door thudded once, and then again as my apprentice opened it. I then realized that the sound of her footsteps on the gravel must have alerted the X-men, whereas I must have heard the same sounds subconsciously as non-threatening, and I figured Mouse, who was looking up at the door with a big doggy grin, had done the same. I suppose paranoia isn't limited to wizards – for every invisible demon trying to eat my face, they probably had a crazed supervillian or anti-mutant mob.

My apprentice, Molly Carpenter, burst in, her agitation radiating off her. "Heya, Boss. You would not believe the day I've had. The Jawas were in my room again, can you believe it? Are you sure I can't put a ward on my door, just a little one. At least one on my diary-can you believe Amanda... Oh, you have visitors." she said, finally noticing Kitty. "Boss, is everything OK?"

"Fine, Molly. These are my clients, Katherine and Peter." I used Kitty's full name on purpose. I figured that at best she might have seen the movies, and these two weren't exactly the stars of those. "I'm helping them on a missing persons deal."

"What can I do to help?" she responded immediately.

I started to say that I could handle it, but then reconsidered. "Not sure right now. If something comes up, I'll let you know. Right now I have to make a call."

I picked up the phone and moved over to my bedroom, pulling the cord along with me. I wasn't terribly worried about my clients trying to steal White Council passwords, but I had to put on a show for my apprentice. "Maybe you could take Mouse out?" I called to her as I shut my door behind me.

It took a couple tries, but I finally got through, gave the pass codes and was put in touch with a fellow warden.

"This is Morgan," snarled the voice, the disdain clear over the static on the line.

"Why hello, Morgan, so very pleasant to speak with you today," I said.

"What do you want, Warden?" he spat out that last word, as if it had an unpleasant taste, and, I supposed, it certainly did.

"Just calling to report a disturbance in the Way from Edinburgh to Chicago," I said, trying to keep my voice neutral. "There's a wall of ice of indeterminate thickness blocking it on my end." Then my mouth added, "Did you run into Mab and dazzle her with your scintillating personality?"

"You are the one who has acted as her Emissary, Dresden," he reminded me. And refused a long-term job offer, too, but he didn't need to know that. "If you've managed to jeopardize our free passage through Faerie with your immaturity, I will personally-"

"The passage that I won for us?" I said. "I haven't done anything, Morgan, so lay off. It happens that someone was abducted through the Way before it was closed. I've been hired to find her."

"And you want us to do your job, Dresden? Remember, you work for us, not the other way around."

Yeah, I remembered getting dragooned into the Cloak a couple years before. "Listen, Morgan, is Wizard McCoy or Wizard Rashid available? I need to ask them..."

"What you need, Warden Dresden, is to remember your place. You aren't some Brown Robe to come running to your master over some minor issue. You are a Warden of the White Council. I suggest you act the part, and not bother the Senior Council with trivialities. Particularly," he snarled, "when they have more important duties, attending to the war you started."

There was truth to the statement – I had started the war, but a very wise man, one who'd died for me, had pointed out that it was inevitable. Something occurred to me, and my mouth said it before I could stop myself, "Morgan, whoever is responsible for the blockage has likely broken the Seventh Law too."

"What?" he said, shocked.

"My sentiments exactly," I said, "So you'll pass this along to Captain Luccio?"

"I will, Warden," he growled, but there was worry in his voice, "And the Gatekeeper, as well." Seventh Law violations were not taken lightly.

"Gee thanks, Warden Morgan, and a pleasure chatting with you." I hung up on him and frowned. I wasn't sure why I brought up the Seventh Law – "Thou shalt not seek beyond the Outer Gates" – but at the time, it seemed to me to be necessary to bring someone from entire other universe.

I carried the phone back into my living area, just as Molly was bringing my dog in. She took one look at my face and said, "Warden Javert again,"

It wasn't a question. I grunted in assent. Both of us had that in common, with the Commander of the Wardens ready to strike off our heads should we step outside the Laws of Magic. I was actually on my second tour under the so-called Doom of Damocles; I wondered if I was the first to bear that particular distinction. "Had to report something to the Council, just my luck he picks up, I guess."

"The big jerk probably has standing orders that your calls get routed to him if he's around," Molly said.

I shrugged, "Something's made you overly cynical, Grasshopper."

"I learned from the best, boss."

I'd hoped to get some information from Edinburgh, but it looked like I was going to be left to my own devices. Again. Fortunately, my devices can be pretty astounding at times. I grabbed the phone again and dialed the local Pizza 'Spress.

"This is no time to be thinking with your stomach, Mr. Dresden," Peter objected, anger creeping into his voice.

"Harry knows what he's doing," Molly told him, coming to my defense.

I held up a finger as I ordered a couple pies for delivery. After I hung up, I said, "Trust me - it isn't what it looks like."

"What, can you tell the future in the pizza toppings?" Kitty said, sarcastically. "Or use the grease as a scrying device?"

"Not exactly. Do you have a picture of your sister, Mr. Ra- er, Peter?" I asked.

"Da, of course," he answered, reaching inside the sweatpants before frowning. "I am sorry, Mr. Dresden, I do not have my wallet. However, if you have some paper and a pencil?"

"I'll get them," said Molly, darting down the ladder to the lab, returning moments later. The kid probably knows the layout better than I do.

Peter took the items with a word of thanks, then quickly began to draw a picture of his sister, a full body drawing of her in what I guessed was her costume, along with a closeup of her face. It was really quite good, and I felt a pang of jealousy. "Thanks," I said, then went to the door to await my order.

It took twenty minutes for the pizza to be delivered. I paid the driver with a couple bills from my own wallet and took the pies to the secluded area in back where Mouse generally did his business. I softly whispered a name, infusing my words with a little of my power. It didn't take long for Toot-toot to appear. The dewdrop fairy, as delicate as any of his kind with his lavender hair and iridescent wings, flitted up to me. I thought back on how he'd grown, now twice the six-inch height he'd had when I first learned his Name those many years ago.

"How may I be of service, my liege?" he asked in his tiny, piping voice.

"Hiya Toot," I responded. "I need the Guard to find someone for me. Or at least, find some information for me." I pulled out the drawing. "Can you ask around to see if anyone knows what happened to this girl?"

"Yes, Za Lord, I can certainly ask a round. Do I count as a round?"

I blinked, "Are you saying that you've seen her?"

"Oh, certainly, Harry! She went off with the Summer Knight. And then Winter blocked the closest mortal Way."

"What?" I choked.

"I said that she went off with the Summer Knight," he repeated, dutifully.

"No, I heard you, Toot, I just don't understand why. Winter and Summer just don't work together like that." Which wasn't entirely true. After all, Winter Knight Lloyd Slate, was in cahoots with the Summer Lady Aurora a few years back, and Maeve had conspired with Aurora's replacement, Lily, when we'd rescued Molly from Arctis Tor. So, not impossible, but still damned suspicious. I addressed the fairy, "So why would work together now?"

"What a silly question. When all of Faerie is threatened, the Queens will stand together to defend it, of course," he said, in his isn't-it-obvious-tone. "All the Wyldfae too."

"Are you telling me the girl threatens the Nevernever?" I asked increduously.

"Well, I just did, didn't I? Can I have my pizza now?" He started at the steaming cardboard boxes greedily.

"A couple more questions, Toot," I said.

"Fine, fine. Just make it quick! Cold pizza isn't as good as hot, Harry."

I took a breath, then asked, "What has the girl done?"

"She hasn't done anything. She could do something, though. She has a magic sword everyone was told not to touch. And it isn't even iron or anything."

"Have they harmed her?" I had a sick though of an enraged Colossus taking vengeance on the Sidhe.

"Of course not, Harry, she's their guest." He said it as if were the most obvious thing in the world. "Can I eat now?" he asked, plaintively.

"Oh, yes, go ahead. Don't forget to save some for the rest of the Guard, though."

"Sure, sure," he said, "but I answered your questions so one of the pizzas is mine and mine alone."

"Knock yourself out, Toot," I said, opening the lids for him.

"Why would I want to do that, Harry? I couldn't eat pizza then!"

I shook my head and walked back to my apartment. Peter and Kitty looked up at me. "I've got good news and bad news," I said.

"What is the bad news?" Peter said as he stood up from the couch, fists clenched.

"Well, it's all tied together. Your sister is alive and unharmed, having been taken by one of the Knights of the Sidhe." Molly, who was up in my little kitchen area making herself a sandwich, dropped her knife and turned white. "My source described her as a guest, which means she will be kept safe, and that she went off with the Summer Knight, which implies some measure of consent. But," I paused, trying to figure out how to say it, "she's being held by the High Sidhe, apparently by command of both Winter and Summer Queens, and that she is a potential threat to all of Faerie."

"What does that mean?" Kitty asked.

"It means," I said as I picked up the phone to call Fix, the Summer Knight, "that we need to talk this out over a beer."