Ghost Song

Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from The Dresden Files, and I'm not making any money from this fic. Any character you don't recognise from the show or books, I probably own. Anything you recognise from another fandom, I don't own

Warning(s): Spanking (eventually); swearing; strong violence; spoilers for some of the books

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed this fic so far!

Even as the ghost hurtled in my direction, I wasn't panicking; at least not as much as I could have been. After all, a circle created to hold one of the sidhe should easily be able to hold out a ghost, right?

Wrong.

As the spirit breached the circle, I threw myself backwards, and then let out a cry as my head cracked back into something solid. The barrier of the circle. And as I stared up at the indistinct, tentacled creature, my head hurt too much for me to even think about using my power, even if I had the inclination to do so.

"Aw… Damnit," I moaned. It wasn't fair! I felt like crying. I couldn't die here, in the mortal realm. It was here that ghosts had the power to harm – and even kill – one of the sidhe.

Then, as one of tentacles – covered with suckers – reached for my throat, something went whizzing past my head. Before I could see what it was, my wrist was grabbed, and I was pulled along and up the stairs by the wizard. At the door, he paused, turned, and cast a spell back at the spirit, before literally dragging me up and slamming the door behind us both, locking the ghost – if that was what it was – down in the room.

"I thought ghosts couldn't physically attack the living!" Harry gasped, speaking to the skull – which he had apparently grabbed just before getting me out of the circle.

"What about me?" I demanded, before the skull – Bob or whatever its name was – could reply. "That was no ordinary spirit! It shouldn't have had the power to breach the circle, and even if it did – it should have been broken for me as well." I put a hand up to rub at the back of my head, wincing. "Oww…"

Harry stared at me, his eyes – and I couldn't help noticing that they were particularly nice ones – wide. "You're hurt," he said, almost as if he couldn't work out exactly what had happened. I didn't only notice his eyes – I could see that he was obviously exhausted, and his body was overtaken by a fine trembling.

Mortals. They're so much weaker than most of us sidhe.

I rolled my eyes. "No shit," I replied. "Or didn't you see the huge, tentacled ghost launch itself at me?!"

"It shouldn't have been able to breach the circle," the skull commented. "You couldn't get out, and it wasn't supposed to get in."

"Tell that to my head." All right, so I'm snappy when something tries to attack me. Sue me. It's not like I went in thinking, Oh, I'm gonna be attacked by an angry spirit! I'd better have some offensive spells prepared! This whole thing hadn't gone according to plan! Might as well face it – it's not like anything I've ever tried doing has gone exactly right. If it had, Kestrel wouldn't have been taken and transformed into a hellhound.

I was pulled out of my thoughts as I felt someone take my hand – Harry. Despite obviously being tired, he led me over to one of the chairs, and helped me to sit down. As he moved to take a look at the back of my head, he asked, "Can I get you something? A glass of water? Wine? Food?"

"A glass of water will be fine," I answered, without really thinking about it. "Could I get some ice in it?"

"Sure." Harry lowered his hands from where he'd been lightly probing my head. "Are you feeling dizzy, nauseas, anything like that?"

I arched an eyebrow at him.

"Oh, right." Harry shrugged, and made his way to what I assumed was the kitchen area. I sighed and sat back, then turned my attention back to the door behind me, wondering what the tentacled ghost was going to do. Wouldn't it make more sense for us to get out of here? The spirit was clearly violent.

"You should have more faith in him." Apparently, Bob had noticed where my attention was. "That was a banishing spell he cast at the spirit. Only temporary – but it should hold for a while, at least."

"He's good," I admitted, a little reluctantly. "Also clearly hasn't slept in quite some time. Are things really that bad here?" I'd never thought about it before – but what if these spirits succeeded in destroying the mortal world? Where would that leave us sidhe, and the other supernatural entities?

It was a terrifying thought.

"Harry is under the impression that he is invincible," Bob told me. "It's a notion I've made many attempts to dissuade him of. Not that he ever listens to me, of course…"

As the skull prattled on, I sighed and closed my eyes. For some reason, I felt incredibly weary. Maybe it was the thrashing and everything else that had happened which had drained me – but somehow, I didn't think so. I'd only ever heard about spirits with the ability to take energy once or twice – and never with one of the sidhe – but that's what I felt like.

And if only that blasted skull would stop talking…

Next thing I knew, I felt a cold glass being pressed into my hand. I glanced at Harry's face, but avoided meeting his eyes. The last thing I needed was a soulgaze right now, when I was feeling so tired. Chances were, it would reveal to him too much about myself that I'd prefer to keep hidden.

I leaned back into the chair a little and started taking small sips of the water. I kept my head down, since Harry didn't seem to be taking enough care not to look into my eyes. Then again, there was no reason he should be. Wizards thought that every creature from the Nevernever didn't have a soul – including us sidhe.

To be honest, it's a nice thought, particularly regarding Lea. To think of her being some soulless creature… Well, it's not true. I wasn't going to correct the misconceptions, though. I have my own reasons for allowing people to believe that we don't have souls. So I couldn't let myself get trapped in a soulgaze.

"What I can't work out is why you got hurt. You have magical abilities, after all. One little ghost shouldn't be that much of a problem to a full-fledged sidhe."

I zoned in again in time to hear Bob make that comment. I blame what I said next on extreme stress, grief and tiredness. "Well, it wasn't like I came into this expecting to get into a confrontation with an angry spirit."

Harry paused in the act of lighting a few candles and glanced at me. "So you did tell me your name deliberately."

Oh, crap! My eyes widened as I attempted my most innocent look. "Not at all," I lied. "But being summoned is always a possibility. And those circles are supposed to be protective – to let no one out or in."

I hadn't seen Harry pick up his wizard's staff, but he suddenly had it aimed in my direction. "I broke the circle," he said. "According to the rules, you getting out of that circle gives you free rein to attack me. Yet my attention has been away from you for most of the time, and you haven't once made any attempt to do so."

He had me there… I shrugged. "Maybe I'm just wary of your magic. Did you ever think of that?" It was true, to an extent.

The skull gave an impatient-sounding snort. "When he was getting that water, there was a pretty good chance he wouldn't be able to defend himself – and I'm sure you're smart enough to realise that." Bob paused, and then continued, "If you're going to tell anyone anything, it might as well be Harry. He has these notions about females and chivalry. If you're in trouble, he's the only one who'd be stupid enough to put himself in danger to help you."

I stared at Harry – who wasn't faltering – but I somehow believed the skull's words. And maybe I had a different way of getting what I needed from him.

So I decided to tell at least part of the truth.

"Lea has my friend, Kestrel," I said quietly, letting my shoulders droop and my expression turn pained. "It was my fault – I had a plan that didn't turn out quite the way I hoped. Now… I don't know how to get her back." I didn't have to fake the note of exhausted hopelessness in my voice.

"It could be a trick, Harry," Bob warned.

The wizard had already laid aside his staff, though. He stepped right up to me, his expression sympathetic. I had him. I'd had the answer all along, after he'd taken the time to get me out of that circle. I just couldn't see it until his spirit had unwisely pointed out Harry's thoughts towards chivalry.

I suppose I should have felt bad about deciding to use him like that. But I really didn't. In this case, the ends more than justified the means. So I felt relieved – and had an odd pang in my chest – when Harry spoke next.

"What can I do to help?"