Hello all! Because of all the holidays coming and going writing has taken a backseat for awhile. Good news is that we have only a couple months till the next Dresden book hits the shelf!
*throat clearing, clicking pens and general lawyer sounds*
Shadow-Yeah, yeah, I know. Hands off and all that. Roll disclaimer!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Jane and Talin… and Fred the cat. Everybody else belongs to Jim Butcher, except Tinkerbelle, she's Disney's. Occasional references to other works of literature, mostly the Brothers Grim and Alice and Wonderland… Other than that, I am just a poor retch who has a love obsession with dark chocolate and Pepsi.
Harry checked around the deserted parking lot before pulling out his staff from the car. Fred had collapsed by his Beetle, the metal beast obscured most of him, the car's shadow was almost unbroken as the cat's form shuddered dispelling more petals. A puddle of watery blood seeped under the car. If it weren't for the smug set to his feline jaw Harry would have been more concerned for the big guy.
"Fred, what happened? Who did this to you?" said Jane kneeling next to the shadowy cat looking more and more like an other worldly creature with her Disney attire.
"I carry a message for you milady," he growled shifting.
"Lie still. Who did this?" she demanded even though she knew very well who had sent him.
"The Queen of Summer had no knowledge of kelpies in Chicago. Titania is not the queen behind this, she searches for a lost knight," Fred hissed quietly. He tried to lick his wounds but flinched before he even made contact. Jane's eyes grew misty for a moment but she focused on the news he was bringing her. A missing Knight was enough to distract Titania but what was it distracting her from and who was doing the distracting? Talin had sent Fred for a reason, he was a solitary fae and was beyond the Queen's power to command but that didn't mean she couldn't force his submission with a little torture. Jane took stock of Fred's wounds as she puzzled, it distracted her brain from wanting to do something violently reckless. As she looked over the lacerations and jagged tufts of fur she tried to remember why it wouldn't be prudent to launch an assault on all of Summer. Taking a breath she looked away from the cuts and concentrated on removing the petals; she needed to be calm for Fred but one thing kept echoing in her head. Where the hell was Talin?
"Why did he not come himself?" she asked brushing away petals as gently as possible.
"My lady knows the Queens of Summer better than most. He was detained," he said with some finality. Jane flinched.
"The frost," she said diverting her attention by brushing off melting ice. She quickly drew her hand back as the cold burned her fingers into numbness. "Winter is on to us?"
"I left non alive to wonder" he told her finally taking note of the frozen Murphy and attentive Dresden.
"Jane, is that some sort of were-cat?" asked Murphy still adjusting to the feline that was competing with the Beetle in size.
"I am fae. Did your mother not teach you that it is impolite to stare?" he said flashing his teeth. Ignoring anything the surprised cop was about to say Jane turned abruptly from the pair smiling slightly. If he was only grumpy after his brush with Summer and Winter, he would be alright.
"This is Fred," she said giving a quick introduction to Murphy. She started to brush off petals as best she could without injuring the fae more but at the sight of fresh ichor running down his side she straightened her spine and grew cold. "We need to talk to the new queen Harry, to hell with what you think you know about the fae," she told him standing. Fred's pinkish blood slid off her fingers and landed with a sickening splash in the puddle forming on the cement. She was almost humming with pent up energy and itching for a fight.
"Did anyone ever tell you, you're extremely excitable? For all your talk and tantrums, you're pretty eager to get back with Summer Miss Fae. You're already under contract with them as is," he shot back. Speaking of being extremely excitable, he could feel himself respond to her agitation, his burnt hand twitched toward his pocket. He took a breath and let it out in a sigh, she was lucky his blasting rod was a collection of splinters.
"Don't you be worrying about me Harry. I'll find a way to wriggle out again, but I'm not as trusting of court fae as you seem to be," she said patting Fred's fur as his breathing regained a semblance of a rhythm. The fae was breathing past the pain, getting it under control and as she watched his claws flex she wondered if using iron on the fae responsible was overkill.
"And if you don't?"
"I've got time Harry, trust me. I'll figure it out. Contact the new queen and arrange a meeting," she told him pulling out the vial of black curse potion she had extracted from the boys hands. Harry eyed the vial and could had sworn it was trying to pry off the stopper holding it inside. "I'll accompany you to the meeting. Do me this favor and we'll follow one of your plans, fair enough?" she added flicking her wrist tossing it into the air. Harry didn't like the calculating look in her eye, not one bit.
"We aren't going there to fight Tinker Belle, we're going to talk. If anything does happen we stick to the plan and get the hell out of there in one piece. Also, I get to hold this," he said catching the vial before she caught it again. She narrowed her eyes at him but nodded once turning back to Fred humming softly as she did.
By the time Harry had set up a meeting back at Mac's, taken Mouse for a walk and was halfway through a meat lover's sub he realized that he hadn't seen Thomas around since he had started the case. Deciding to mull that over at a later date he pulled on his heavy leather duster and sub in hand descended down the trap door into his basement. He muttered a spell and candles came to life all around the little room. The unfinished walls made it a little drafty but when you were the only wizard listed in the yellow pages, you didn't have many alternatives. The haphazard laboratory that was his basement was an artists rendition of what was left in a tornadoes wake, with shelves filled with old books of magic, folders filled with diagrams and a few trashy romance novels. On the far wall next to said novels was a human skull that looked like it was a prop from a low budget Hamlet play.
"Bob, time to get up. I have something I need you to look at for me," he told the skull shifting some papers and mugs around on the desk. The skull's eyes glowed dimly for a moment flashing brighter then dimmer as though they were blinking away sleep.
"Did you bring me anything?" asked the skull with suddenly bright eyes.
"Yes, it's right in here," Harry said holding up the little vial. Just beneath the glass Harry saw the black goop slosh with purpose toward the stopper. He shook the vial until it settled back on the bottom and pulled the shining skull off the shelf.
"Car trouble Harry? Leak in your oil?" muttered Bob clearly disappointed. "The least you could have done was grab one of those new graphic novels; I hear they come in packs with full on-"
"Bob, focus. I didn't get you anything but I need you to tell me what you know about curses and what this stuff might be."
The skulls glowing pupils danced in its head for a moment in a good approximation of an eye roll.
"All work and no play-"
"Lets Harry keep his head. Now what can you tell me about this stuff. I don't think I want to open the lid."
Bob gave a loud sigh and switched his attention to the offending vial that Harry set carefully on a cleared section of table.
"Harry, where did you get this?" Bob's eyes were intent on the movement behind the clear container. Harry spent the next twenty minutes filling in Bob on the situation while periodically finishing the rest of his sub.
"And now you think Winter might be in on this too?" asked the skull.
"Maybe, but what worries me is if Titania's chasing after a missing knight again then they must have made a move on Fix. That might make Lily do something rash." Harry rubbed his eyes, the dark shadows made him wonder how much darker the rings were under his eyes had gotten.
"Titania's going to micromanage this knight problem, she can't let it get out of hand like it did with Aurora or worse… and Thomas has been out since Jane first stopped by," he continued thinking out loud. "Bob I hate to admit it but Jane's usually pretty close with her odd little conspiracy theories."
"I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think this a container," said Bob looking back at the vial. Harry gave him a strange look.
"What?"
"The potion in the vial, it's meant to contain and suppress a spell for a short period of time. Like a cooler of beer at a party, or a strip club. By the way it's collage night at -"
"Bob, focus. You're saying that this stuff not only holds the spell but it somehow keeps it active until you let it out again?"
"More like holding a ticking time bomb but yeah," replied Bob. Harry looked at the vial again, the liquid had resumed its attempts at escape.
"Do you know if Harry is an English name?"
"Ummm… yes? Why?"
"No reason. That just might be the easiest question I have to answer today," he said grabbing a tattered manuscript and book of Irish faerie tales. Dousing the lights on the way up he dropped the books when Mister collided with his shin sending all the loose pages in the book of spells out over his couch and floor. Scowling at Mister Harry started picking up the pages and recovered the book of tales from across the floor. It had opened to a forward at the beginning of the book listing acknowledgments from the author and under it was a Celtic knot.
"It can't be that simple," he said picking up the book. The three intertwining curves in the knot were older than witchcraft in America; each loop represented something but for the moment he had not idea what that was. Holding up one of his spell book's pages it suddenly clicked.
"It's all connected," he told Mister. All he got in return was a flick of whiskers and a look of disdain. Ignoring the feline contempt he reached for his phone he dialed Murphy drumming his fingers on the table, suddenly energized by his discovery. He got her voicemail instead and growled his irritation at the plastic receiver. When her message was done and after the beep he filled her in on the fae meeting and finished with "It's all connected Murph. See you at Macs at 6, bring the case photos." He hung up the phone and pickup up the little vial that Mister was batting around on the floor.
"Now, what was she going to do with this?" he wondered aloud. Mouse nuzzled him almost throwing him off balance again. Looking down at his beast dog he sighed, grabbed the leash, and decided that having Mouse take him on a walk was as close as he was going to get to a break today.
A tittering sound came from outside but Harry had just started to doze off, so with stubborn diligence he rolled over and ignored whatever it was. The tittering stopped and just as he had found a comfortable silence a solid thunk, hit his door. Groaning he stared at the clock for a few seconds without much recognition. The next crash sent him over the edge of the couch he had happily passed out on and he swore he heard glass shattering on his stairs. The tittering was back but had gained a semblance of words, it sounded like someone was shouting from far away. Hazily he sat up and lumbered toward the door which shuddered as his wards held back some sort of fury from coming in.
"Harry Dresden, you get your English ass out here before I blow your door down!" came an angry female voice. Harry rubbed his eyes and called back.
"Not by the hairs on my chinney chin chin." There was silence outside, and for a moment he thought it might have actually worked.
"You're late Dresden and it's for a very important date."
Harry against his better judgment let his wards down and was rewarded with a door to his face as Jane kicked it in and almost off its poor hinges.
"That was hardly necessary," he said rubbing his forehead.
"Timing is not usually a problem for me, but I don't want to keep an immortal waiting do you?" she said scanning his rumpled clothing. "I take it you were napping?" He sent her a withering glare but she was already oblivious as she went around looking at his haphazard couch and sweet talking Mouse who wagged his tail at all the sudden attention.
"You almost broke my door," he said deciding that dawdling long enough to at least put on a fresh shirt was probably out of the question.
"Just returning the favor. Are you ready sleeping beauty?" she said noticing Mister for the first time. She held her hand out to be assessed by Mister who sniffed and consented to being petted briefly. While her attention was captured by his cat, he considered throttling her but that would take time and effort that he didn't have. Growling under his breath about damn flippant women and disloyal pets he pulled on his coat and searched for his staff. Mouse huffed in his general direction and brought back his staff from its hiding place behind the couch. And they say animals are dumb.
"Are you done standing there? We have to go!" called Jane tugging at his duster.
"Women, I'm up and I'm moving in that direction. Don't test me," he said feeling around in the corners of the couch. He noticed that she had changed into dark tight fitting jeans and an even darker top. He mentally sighed and decided that he needed to get out more. A quick movement caught his attention.
"Looking for this?" she asked flipping it up into the air again. He made a move to grab it, but she snatched it away and clipped it to the belt around her waist that had enough compartments to make Batman jealous. He eyed the drawstring pouch at her hip.
"This is a meeting, not an ambush," he said rubbing his eyes. He crossed over to his coffee table and picked through the mess. He gathered a few pages together and after a minute of consideration slipped on his kinetic rings hoping that a weeks worth of energy was enough kick for whatever they were up against. Playing it safe was not his middle name, paranoid was but he had a pretty good guess that whatever she had up her sleeve was payback for Fred.
"How much time do we have?" he asked watching her eyes dart to the papers.
"Time enough, what have you been doing?" she said watching him put them all into an envelope.
"Things," he said over his shoulder as he passed her on the way out the door. He heard her grumble and jump when he suddenly set his wards back in place. He couldn't help but feel a bit smug, she had poked the bear awake, what did she expect? He heard her sigh, but he knew better than to take that as defeat, if anything she was regrouping.
"They took out Fred so I would not have any help, his nose could tell me who cast the spell on the boy. Now we must rely on your plan," she told his back. He raised an eyebrow.
"I dislike relying on others when I know a better way," she told him. He pulled out his keys and fired up his Blue Beetle.
"There's no I in Team," he said as they made their way through traffic.
"There's also no U in Team, your point?"
"Never mind. Just keep your cool and your end of the bargain," he said shaking his head. Jane watched him skirt a corner and almost choke the people on the street with his exhaust.
"Nervous?"
"No, I'm perfectly alright with the fact that even now you're planning something that will most likely get me killed. I'm completely calm. The only thing that gets me is what would you be like if they had actually killed Fred? You're itching for a fight as is and you don't seem the type to just breakdown and cry." Harry slowed down for a red light and watched her loosen her grip on the seat.
"You'd best hope you never meet me like that. No, I'm not the sort to cry over the dead. We don't cry when we lose someone, we smile because they are in a better place," she told him tightly.
"And if they're not?" said Harry thinking about the master vamp that had expired on her kitchen floor.
"Then they're exactly where they belong," she said smirking darkly. The light turned green and it took him a moment to get the Beetle moving again.
"You know, for a crazy little Irish girl you're kinda scary sometimes."
"And don't you forget it." After a moment she smiled and looked out the window at the cars he was passing as he tried to make up for lost time. "I suppose for an English giant you're not so bad."
"Thank you?"
"It's a good thing I got to you though, the potion wears off after a day if it's not renewed and I would have been out another alli,"
"That would explain the wake-up call. Anything else you want to let me in on?" he said pulling in to a parking spot at Mac's.
"I think that logically I will be the next target if they can't get their new banshee to work without a Granny Rose to give it the spell the power it needs. The Summer Court has me on contract with one of their own so I'm an ideal bargaining chip for your Queen, all my allies are being attacked more than usual while we chase leads and we still don't know for sure who is behind it all. Frankly I'm scared and I want to face the bitch that's pulling all the strings so I can cut her throat before she cuts mine."
"Well don't sugar coat it."
"We should get inside," she said glancing over to the door to watch the large group leaving.
"What are you planning on doing in there?"
"I'll just turn the curse back on the caster if they're in there just like I said I would."
"Then what's in the bag?"
"Pixy dust."
"You're kidding me."
"You pay in pizza, I pay in pie. It took me a while to get them to come out; your little friends are rather loyal to you. They did a straight trade for the dust, wouldn't tell me a thing about you, they even threatened to do nasty things to me if anything happened to you."
"Had you scared did they?"
"Shaking in my imaginary boots, I welcome the day that homicidal pixies are my biggest concern. You sir, are stalling," she said shutting the car door.
"So were you."
"Nonsense, I can't wait to have tea with a Queen. I think afterward I'll antagonize the tiger at the zoo for good measure. "
"Then what are we waiting for?" he said pulling open the taverns door. The scent of wildflowers blew away the exhaust and other street smells. Jane breathed in just before she crossed the threshold and held it.
"You going to be alright?" he asked brows furrowed.
"Ask me in a few days."
They stepped in to the tavern which was almost deserted, Murphy stood up from the table closest to the bar and gathered up the case photos she had been sifting through. In the corner Jane saw a kelpie in human form turn sniffing the air. An equine sneer flashed her way but she only had eyes for the figure beside it who had not turned when they had entered.
Yeah guys, I was wondering... what do you think about Jane? If you have time I'd appreciate a little feedback on her. Thanks for reading!
~ShadowsAndDreams