Life After Death
Chapter 7
"Harry Dresden is dead."
The voice coming from directly behind me, in what I had assumed was a currently closed for the night perfumery store nearly made me jump out of my skin. I whirled around to find myself facing a being who was assuredly the last sight that thousands, it not millions, of mortal people had witnessed right before they died; death that I might add were almost always in the most violent of means. But more on that in a moment, I guess I should let you know how I got here into this particular predicament first.
The fact that someone had obviously had taken their shot at removing Gentleman Johnny Marcone was by and of itself enough of a reason to draw my interest in these events. And from the damage to the car and the way Mr. Hendricks appeared to be either unconscious or perhaps dead, that meant somebody or something of real power had been behind the attack. It did not escape my immediate perception that this attack was coming on the heels of my meeting with Marcone when we had jointly considered the possibility that someone had made their attack upon Harry merely as a means to get closer to Marcone. Now seeing the destruction playing out on my hospital television made me wonder just how close to the truth our speculations of the previous evening had truly been. And if I wanted to find out the answer to that particular question then just lying here in my hospital bed watching the news was not going to provide me means to do so.
Harry had always told me when time permits think through all the available options so that I would not get manipulated into making the wrong assumptions. For example, technically it was possible that what really happened at that store was in reality nothing more than what had been reported; the sporting goods shop could have been a target for a terrorist bombing. But that seemed incredibly unlikely to me as there were no immediately reported casualties which was something the news anchor made certain to report often due to the strangeness of that fact.
The terrorists that I saw normally talked about on television usually aimed for events that caused lots of casualties rather than attacking empty building unless they were sending some sort of message like environmental terrorists burning down expensive new houses. I could not come up with a conceivable reason why anyone would attack a sporting goods store to make their point. Sure Harry's office building had been bombed when it was empty or very nearly so, but I knew the truth was that this had been a targeted attack of opportunity only with the dual purposes of killing Harry and his friends as well as a last resort attempt at destroying the records the Red Court kept stored in computer servers in the same building.
Okay removing the terrorist angle there still was the chance that this was exactly what everyone would soon suspect was a targeted hit against Johnny Marcone. Organized crime groups often battled over territory and were not above targeted hits on the heads of their rivals. Car bombs were often a weapon of choice in such attacks as well, ranking second right behind a simple and violent shooting.
The problem with this particular theory is that Mr. Hendricks was far too savvy a bodyguard to telegraph his moves far enough in advance for someone to plant a bomb in the sporting goods building on the off chance that Marcone's car would drive by close enough for this attack. I therefore chalked this up as highly unlikely unless Hendricks himself was in on the attack, which seemed incredibly improbable based on the results the attack caused him. Plus a bomb outside of an armored car driving by was too iffy of an attack by anyone who knew Marcone because they had to know if he lived through it then their own life was suddenly worthless. Therefore, someone gathering enough intelligence to know where Marcone would be at a given time and place would likely also be wise enough to use more direct means to improve the chances of killing the gangster such as using a sniper rifle like was used on Harry. I could not see Hendricks making enough mistakes to allow for the story playing out on my television screen. So like terrorist attac, targeted assassination by bomb seemed just as unlikely a scenario.
There was of course always the option that these events were just random chance. I did not think that a sporting goods store would have a need for a natural gas line but still one may pass directly under the building and because of some mishap also have inadvertently caused an explosion for some reason. But once again the fact that this would happen just when the most notorious gangster in Chicago happened to be passing by strained credibility to a level that I was not willing to accept. So the mere accident scenario was also not a feasible possibility.
So that left me with what I considered the only truly viable possibility; someone had indeed directly targeted Marcone but they had done so with a rather destructive form of magic that left fire and explosions in their wake. I knew of course the last time the Denarians had targeted Marcone they had done so with an exploding building and lots of fire that resembled in many ways what I was seeing. The same group had attacked The Archive as well after that and now she had just reported another attack on her person? The coincidences were certainly starting to add up and I really did not like what they were smelling like to me.
Of course the best way to prove it one way or another was to get down there and see if the smell of brimstone was in the air. The Denarians had access to hellfire and the byproduct on that particular source of magic fire was the rather distinctive odor that once you smelled you never forgot. And since of course there was no way for me to catch that scent lying here in my bed it meant that I would have to get out of the hospital and over to the scene to check things out for myself.
So that left me with the choice; do I check things out as Molly or as Harry? On the one hand Molly would attract far less attention since the university was just up the street and I was the perfect age to be attending classes. One more college age coed hanging around and staring at the fire and destruction would hardly make the news or set off anyone's suspicions who saw her. Of course the downside was that the police regularly took pictures of those in the crowd at a crime scene because of sometimes those responsible hung around to enjoy the show. This was particularly normal for crimes like arson since pyromaniacs performed these actions because of their love for fire. A simple coed Molly Carpenter photographed at a crime scene when she is supposed to be laid up in the hospital was perhaps the worst situation that I could put myself in for it would remove all plausible deniability of my involvement in things and then lead to people assuming that Harry was indeed dead. This of course would require my immediate termination by the Wardens as well. So Molly was obviously not the best choice for this operation.
On the other hand Harry Dresden was supposed to be dead, and let's be honest, the leather duster and staff were hardly what anyone, well anyone but Harry, would consider discrete. He would most certainly be remembered by those who caught a glimpse of him in the crowd more so than just another coed. And with the FBI still wanting to talk to him about events from last week, having Harry show up at the scene of what might be a third terrorist event in the City of Chicago would cause him even more trouble in the long run.
"That is indeed true my dear, but it is only a factor if Harry is actually still alive." Margaret's voice reasoned in my mind as she had listened to my internal deliberations. "And on the other hand having Harry spotted at so obvious a place that suffered a magical attack would go a long way to convincing those in the magical know such as the Wardens and the White Council that Harry Dresden was likely very much still alive even if they could not locate him or understand his purpose."
"I cannot believe you would willingly want me to harm the memory of your son like that." I said with a shock. I could not picture how a woman who loved her child would want to see him as a terrorist or villain of any sort. That did not fit the maternal instinct I had observed in my own mother.
"I do not want that Molly." His mother's voice corrected my assumptions. "I would much prefer that my son be found alive, healthy, and happy. Barring that possibility I would then like everyone in this city and the magical community to acknowledge the goodness in his heart and that he had tried all his life to do the good and right thing." She explained. "I find it ironic that the ones who had been the most likely to do it was when that Red Court vampire Bianca gave him a tombstone saying 'Here Lies Harry Dresden. He Died Doing the Right Thing.' I find it ironic that in the end it was his enemies that knew my son better than those who should have been his allies." I knew by this reference she was speaking of the White Council and not those of us who had fought and bled with Harry up until the end.
"The first scenario is beyond our ability to control, and the second is completely unlikely to happen while the White Council is controlled by those who are focused upon obeying its laws more than looking for truth or justice." I remembered that Luccio had told us that this is why the Wardens had considered Margaret Dresden so dangerous to the White Council; she was filled with revolutionary ideas about justice more than divine right of the Senior Council or the right of those who wielded power.
"That leaves me with only one true way of honoring my son's memory." Margaret Dresden said both defiantly yet with a deep sense of sadness. "It is to ensure in death he continues to perform as he did in life. Can you really tell me that if he had the opportunity to protect you from an execution by the White Council and the Wardens that he would not try to do so with everything he had available to him and care less about what it did to his reputation in the process?" She asked me.
I could not find an argument to refute this logic. Harry would most certainly place himself on the line for me yet again given the opportunity because he had already done just that so many times in the past. But still while it is one thing for him to do it for me it was another for me to do it in his stead. But then I heard his voice telling me before I left that I had the choice to run far away and hide as deep as I could or to face up and fight when called upon to do it. I might like the idea of running and hiding but I could not do that; not if I wanted to remain true to everything Harry taught me. So I found myself in the rather odd position that in order to honor him and his teachings, I had to help to destroy his reputation even further.
"Alright let me grab the coat and hat." I said getting myself out of bed and once I had those on remembering to reset my illusion wards one more time as I left. Dawn was still three or more hours away and thankfully the hospital served breakfast an hour or two after that so with any luck I would be back long before any of this became an issue. Of course the twinge of pain my leg every time I stepped on it reminded me that taking things slow and easy if I was not going to rest was going to be important.
Thankfully the university was only a few miles from the hospital and at this time of night that meant I did not encounter any real traffic until I got closer to where the police had cordoned off the crime scene. Like I said I look like a college student even before I put up my illusion and dressed up in my Harry costume so even though my car did not have a parking sticker for the campus I was waved through by a nice young uniformed officer who looked really tired to park in the dormitory parking lot. I chose a spot in the darkest area away from where he was standing an only when I was sure no one was around did I don the outfit, and put on my Harry face, so to speak.
I stayed naturally to the darker sides of the street as I made my way toward the scene of all the activity. The good news was that those from the campus who were still awake and interested in seeing what was going on had all pretty much arrived ahead of me, and thankfully the fire was still burning well enough that this crowd of students had not reached the point of boredom and started shuffling back to their own beds. That meant I had the roads pretty much to myself and that no one was watching me coming up the street behind them. All in all this was a good beginning as far as I was concerned.
The occasional flash of light told me that the crime scene photographer was on the job taking his pictures of the damage and the crowd so I made sure to work my way far around the backs of the groups of students seeking a spot where I could observe what was taking place but hopefully not draw too much attention to myself. It seemed that the location that met these needs the best was a boutique over on the far side closer to Marcone's overturned car and while it would take a little bit of stealth for me to get there, the arrival of a third fire engine, accompanied by its lights and sirens, coming up the same street I had just traversed provided a convenient distraction to keep most people looking the other way. I mean really, show me any person who does not look when a fire engine comes racing up toward them.
The twelve foot wide front display window of the boutique had interestingly enough not taken any damage from the explosion, but the mere three foot wide door right beside it had been complete shattered from one or more flying bricks from the sporting goods shop explosion. The damage they had inflicted had been done so well in fact that almost no glass remained in the door and even the aluminum crossbar and door handles had been sheered cleanly away by the projectiles' passage as well. I figured as long as I was careful where I placed my feet so not to slip or make too much noise then this should make the perfect location to observe things from and hopefully begin my own investigation once the situation was brought under control. I stepped inside the building's shadow bathed entrance and turned to watch what was taking place outside, happy to note this position gave me an angle on Marcone's car that the television had not been able to.
On television I had merely observed an overturned car, which was a fairly normal occurrence from an explosion. But from this line of sight I saw what could only be the remnant lines of magical force that had been used to rip the car to shreds and from this direction almost like the giant talons of some sort of truly enormous creature. I had seen more than a few enormous creatures and was comforted that while similar in general result, these marks were way too big to be anything like those. I figured they had to be the result of some sort of specially designed buzz saw like spell designed to cut through resistant metal like bank safe doors and so forth. And the spell had accomplished its purpose by tearing through the car's steel and Kevlar reinforced armored body like scissors going through paper.
And then I figuratively nearly jumped out of my skin. Were my name Peter Parker I'm sure I would have had my spider sense give me an appropriate warning but since I was merely an apprentice wizard blessed, or cursed depending on your views, with a gift of magic and not a teenager who had been bit by a radioactive spider I had no such warning at my disposal. My first indication that I was in any danger at all was from the sudden presence of a chillingly cold yet incredibly sharpened touch of the blade of a sword placed on the side of my neck by the jugular vein, and on my actual neck no less not where Harry's neck would be. The cold of its unexpected touch nearly made me shiver in response but the feel of this way too sharp steel overcame even this otherwise uncontrollable action.
"Harry Dresden is dead." The obviously lethally feminine voice spoke from directly behind me. If death came with a silky and sultry voice then that particular specter was right then standing directly behind me. And at that moment while she had me dead to rights, the blade moved away from my neck allowing me to spin around to face the last living thing many of history's greatest warriors had ever seen.
Ms. Gard was the living epitome of a true Viking woman. Standing slightly taller than my own six feet in height and with hair so bright blonde as to make my own natural locks look shaggy and discolored by comparison she was every bit a deadly beauty. Rather than armor and a horned helmet she wore a tailored business suit that showed off all her feminine curves in a complementary rather than an exhibitionist way. Furthermore the master craftsman still found the means to pad the suit sufficiently to mostly hide the pair of automatic pistols she kept holster under each arm; well her own natural padding had something to do with disguising those as well.
The appraising look that she gave me was at once both sisterly and entertained, however I could sense an underlying tension that had her alert and on edge. She did not consider me an actual treat at the moment, not more than anyone else, which is why the blade stayed immediately ready to respond to her arm's commands. I had to be careful just which of Harry's sarcastic witticisms I decided to toss out for her to parry or skewer on the gleaming sword in her well manicured hand.
"You sound awfully sure of that fact when you are looking at him." I said finding my voice and just enough courage to not sound like a squeaking mouse standing before the smiling house cat. "With such a tone it is almost as if you were suggesting that you were the one to send him on to his final destination." I said vaguely in my choice of words both to challenge if she knew who was behind the attack or, if she was truly a Valkyrie, perhaps she would have insight if Harry was truly dead.
"While your master would have certainly been welcomed as a warrior of renown by my kind I know his soul was not carried to that particular destination by myself or by any of my sisters." Ms. Gard said without insult at the challenge I had tossed her way for in her eyes being offered a place among the greatest warriors of Valhalla was the highest of honors that a mortal could receive at their death.
The fact that she referred to Harry as 'my master' confirmed for me as Margaret had surmised that the Valkyrie not only had the ability to see through my illusion and therefore knew I was not him, but also she was familiar enough with who I was to be able to recognize me. That second fact was disappointing as I had hoped that perhaps she would not be keeping regular track of me as I usually played only a minor supporting role in those situations where she and Harry had worked together. While notoriety might be cool as a master wizard to intimidate your foes, for an apprentice it was merely another target hung around your neck saying open season to those with interest to take up the hunt.
"The question remains why would his apprentice choose to dress up like a notable warrior?" She said with steel in her voice; and of course also ready in her hand as well. "In my own culture such an act is considered an insult to both the one who cannot stand upon their own merits, and a taint on the one deceased.
"Perhaps that is true of Vikings." I responded. "But Harry Dresden kept many evil things at bay and away from our city because of his mere presence. He may have even given his life defending those who could not defend themselves. Now your boss is well aware that there are evil things from the magical side of the spectrum who think Harry is dead and are even now currently testing the waters to see if Chicago is safe for them to hunt in once again. I do this not out of any self promoting ideas to live off of his reputation but instead to protect those that he fought so hard himself to protect."
Ms. Gard looked upon me solemnly as she considered my words then finally she raised her sword in salute. "You do your master honor in picking up his burden." She said with respect. "Just do not become complacent with hiding in his shadow. I see in you the potential for a warrior every bit his equal." She said surprising me. "We female warriors must not let the men come to think we require them for anything more than a good roll in the hay!" She said with a naughty smile.
"Ummm… thanks." I said not knowing how to respond to such a statement. I mean really, there was almost no chance I would ever live up to the reputation Harry had. If for no other reason my magic was sensitive based and Harry's was combat based. I could trick and deceive some of the time but when the time came to actually throw down with the bad guys, I was usually highly outclassed by the types of things that sought to kill me.
"Consider it merely sisterly advice from one who has dealt with males of large ego for more years than either of us want to think of." She said with a strained smile before turning to watch the continuing battle of the three fire units against the blaze in the sporting goods shop.
"I take it you were not in the car when Marcone was attacked?" I asked looking to see what she knew.
"No." She explained while we both watched the fire blaze up even higher. "Hendricks was driving Marcone to a location near here to meet with me in order to discuss what I had found so far. He had also told me that he had agreed to share information with 'Harry Dresden' as part of the bargain they had come to last night. You must understand that I found his Harry's survival to be every bit as intriguing as Marcone had." She looked upon me with a stare that said she knew I had been the one who had deceived her boss and perhaps gotten him into this situation.
"Yeah about that…" I said somewhat awkwardly. "My goal in seeking out your boss was to learn what he might know about the attack on Harry. I figured he was more likely to talk to someone who had survived the attack rather than a mere apprentice who wanted to get revenge for her boss." I explained and could feel her considering my action and judging their worthiness based upon a Viking sense of justice.
"We both considered that the attack on Harry might have been just a means of clearing the way for another attack upon your boss." I said relaying the earlier conversation. "Because of this we agreed to share information at least until the point where we could confirm that our interests in these events were no longer shared." I explained the deal and its full implications on these events.
"I know. I came to the same possible conclusion when word reached us that the police were investigating the possible murder of Harry Dresden." She replied without looking at me. "It was I who advised Marcone to prevent the papers and television from running the story as it would put whoever was behind the attack off balance and unsure of their success."
"You did that?" I asked in shock.
"Indeed." She replied. "Harry Dresden has this annoying habit of ultimately destroying those who underestimate him. As I saw it anyone smart enough to try and take a wizard out first, assuming this were part of a plan for going after Marcone, would demonstrate the same level of intelligence by making sure that Dresden was indeed actually dead before implementing the second part of that scheme. Therefore the fact that there was no reporting of this event in the news would likely make the assassin delay his or her attack upon Marcone until they could confirm Dresden was dead which of course would also allow me time to hunt them down."
"And did you find out who was behind the attack?" I asked hoping she had and that she had done something incredibly cruel to them as a form of punishment before sending them to Hell. I know that though was probably evil but I am only mortal when it comes to turning the other cheek on those who hurt the people that I love.
"No I did not." Gard said through clenched teeth. Obviously failure was not something she dealt with well.
I thought on this for a while as we both stared at the fire and those still doing battle with it. With three fire trucks on the scene the blaze had been contained from spreading, mostly by knocking down the walls closest to the adjoining buildings, but the fire itself showed no signs of going out until it had consumed everything in that store. The water tossed upon it merely seemed to flash to steam without doing much, if anything, to knock the flames back. Even small puddles in the street seemed to resist the ability of mere water to extinguish it.
"That is some incredibly potent fire." I said aloud to Gard.
"Indeed." She replied. "It is more akin to the spouting of a volcano than to a mere blaze. I think it has the emergency crews confused as to its nature which is why their response has been so lacking in success."
"Did you perhaps catch a whiff of brimstone?" I asked hoping to confirm this once and for all.
"I did not." She replied knowing that I was hinting at hellfire. "But I have approached from upwind and not been in a position to." I had come through the smoke cloud and might have smelled brimstone, but with all the various plastics and other products burning out of control in the building I could not say so for sure.
Now focused upon the scene and not having to sneak around or deal with a sword blade at my throat my enhanced sensitivity to magic told me that something rather large had occurred here. I know you are probably thinking 'well duh' but I mean this is more than just the average magical battle. I had been on a small island when the Handmaiden of the Summer Court had tossed about so much lightning magic that the very air seemed charged with a tingling and the smell of ozone. Standing here now, even a distance away, I got much the same feeling though instead of lightning, fire had been the element of choice with which to reap this level of destruction.
The crowd of observers was still fairly large and I noted for some it had taken on a party atmosphere as one of the local convenience store began doing a rather brisk business on six packs of beer. Yes I guess a three alarm fire did qualify as a reason to drink when you are in college.
Like the police I also kept my eyes focused more upon the crowd than the fire to see if anyone of interest was lurking among their numbers. If Ms. Gard was right about a cautious adversary then it would not be inconceivable that the attack on Marcone could just as well be a means to try and draw Harry Dresden out from hiding and prove he had survived the attack. Probably the big wig behind the attack with this level of spell power would not have stuck around, but I was finding out big wigs also like to have a few minions around to handle just these types of menial tasks for them while the bosses focused upon more important matters. The problem of course was minions were not actually three foot tall and sporting yellow skin and big eyes like a recent animated movie suggested. But still I had learned with careful observation you could find those who seemed out of place.
In this case there was indeed one person who did not fit the normal attitude of a crowd of late teens watching a building burn down and cheering as each portion of the structure collapsed upon itself. In the flickering light I could see she was of dark complexion with a bronze-like skin of a Native American. She also had long brown hair that carried a few streaks of grey in it that testified to me as further evidence she was almost assuredly not one of the regular college coeds.
I guess she could have been a professor, but the way she moved with a pure animal grace and the sense of taught rippling muscles running right beneath her skin told me she was more closely aligned to an athlete than an academic. But it was the intensity of her eyes, the way she measured up the people in the crowd and the first responders, accepting some as a potential threat and dismissing the others as merely prey that told me she was much more than an average middle aged woman. The only other odd thing was the deep sense of respect she seemed to have for the fire for she always stayed a much more reasonable distance from it than others in the crowd.
I stayed standing hidden in the shadows as her gaze finally drifted toward my direction. Her eyes paused when they got to me even though there should have been no way she could see me between the combination of the flickering firelight and the deep shadows in the boutique in which I stood. Then I noted that her eyes opened just slightly as if in recognition of who I was. Before I could make a decision on what to do about all of this she turned and slipped back into the crowd, and even though she would naturally stand out, she disappeared from sight in only three steps.
I had not forgotten that The Archive had said she had been attacked by a woman. Based upon what I had just seen I wondered if perhaps her attacker had been the same woman. The fact that this was where Marcone was attacked and he had been the one to tell me of the zoo raid was also an interesting coincidence. Of course starting a fight among all these witnesses was not a great plan if she had trashed Ivy. But then again I did have an intimidating Valkyrie standing next to me too who did not take kindly on attacks made on her current employer.
"Ms. Gard I was wondering if you are you going to tell your boss about my deception?" I asked Marcone's employee as she stood a step behind me and to my left where I was the weakest and she could drive the blade she held through me if I did anything in her eyes that warranted such action.
"I am undecided upon that detail at this moment." She replied after a bit of a delay though I sensed honesty and a hint of uncertainty in her emotions. "I have a contract for protection of my employer that seems to be in jeopardy and that takes priority over your little story."
"I get that." I said in response. "My reason for asking is Marcone made a deal with who he thought was Harry Dresden." I explained with a hint of subtlety placed in my voice. "If you were to tell him the truth of the matter then he would be less than pleased and likely consider the contract between us null and void, correct?" I asked.
"That is most likely correct." She said and I could feel her eyes focused on the back of my neck where it connected to my shoulders. It is odd how you can sense some people's stares in that way.
"Well then if you see the contract as no longer in effect then I really have no reason to share any information I may have gathered that might be of use to you in this situation." I said explaining my position without being insulting to her authority.
"Well no reason except perhaps as a bargaining chip in exchange for your continued health." She said with a deadly seriousness that also was matter of fact like and not just threatening.
"Yeah well a situation like that would only also last until I no longer had the potential for any further information as well and then I would be equally expendable for the supposed insult." I reasoned trying with my voice and emotions to act nonchalant about her implied threat.
I let the silence last between us without moving and hoping I could keep myself from trembling. One of the cool capabilities that my magic had taught me was that while it was against the Laws of Magic for me to manipulate the mind of another with my spells, there were no conventions against me doing so to myself if I felt the need. I had learned that in situations like this a spell of courage aimed right back at me did wonders for keeping me calm. I would have to look at this more sometime and see what other interesting ways I could use this type of spell to my advantage; providing I lived through the next few minutes with an angry Valkyrie behind me.
Finally after about three minutes of silence Ms. Gard chose to break out silent standoff. "What exactly are your proposing?" She said in a tone that communicated she would not compromise her boss or her personal integrity for some foolish game.
"I think the deal we could strike would be rather simple." I said nonchalantly. "You merely continue to accept my illusion as Harry Dresden as the truth for the duration of our mission, and if we are eventually successfully you overlook this little detail in the final report you provide to your boss." I said thinking that if we failed I'd hardly be caring that I was adding one more name to the fairly long list of people wanting to kill me. "In exchange we operate under the deal that I had established with Mr. Marcone. I provide you all the information I have on events and my investigations and you do the same so we can take this bitch down ourselves." I said taking no effort to hide the emotional rush I had at the idea of taking revenge over whoever had taken shots at or killed Harry.
"You referred to our adversary as 'bitch.'" Ms. Gard looked intently at me. "That would seem an unlikely assumption unless you actually already have information that you have yet to share with me that point to a female agent." She pointed out.
"Yeah as a matter someone offered me that tidbit of information as well as other details." I replied showing the money I had in the pot without revealing all my hand.
"And you are confident that your source is truly reliable and not merely using you?" She asked glancing over my shoulder at the fire activity going on outside.
"I don't know about you, but Harry and I both consider The Archive to be a rather reliable source." I said name dropping as a means of tossing more verbal chips onto the pile for her to consider.
I half expected that Ms. Gard would take a moment or two to consider my offer before coming to inevitably accept it. As a complete surprise to me though, she reacted almost instantly to the deal. "I accept you offer and conditions." She said with a smile and while I reached out my hand to shake her own, it's not like I had to hide I was a female with her, she instead flicked her sword from a calm resting position directly at me so fast that it was actually striking its intended target before I even had the sense to react that the attack was taking place and therefore yelp in surprise.
The blade flashed unerringly through the air and only at the very last second did the angle change from purely horizontal and decapitating to just slightly at an upward angle. That minor change allowed the cutting edge to decapitate about a dozen crystal bottles of perfume aligned nicely on the shelf beside me while the rest of the trailing blade tossed them unerringly to douse their contents all over my newly acquired leather duster as well as splatter the wall right behind me. The rest of the blade's continuing motion passed within a finger's length of my shoulder and let than that even around the brim of my new Stetson hat before continuing the rest of its arc to return once again to its guard position.
I stumbled a step away with eyes wide in shock only then registering the sound of a male voice calling my name, well Harry's name actually, from behind me followed by the growl of something that will probably inhabit my nightmares from this moment on. I took a second step back so that I could keep the demonstrated deadly Valkyrie in front of me while still having my peripheral vision available in order to see who and what was coming my way from outside the door of the shop.
The closest of the two beings was the same bronze skinned woman I had observed earlier but as she reached the shadows before the door in near flat out run her body seemed to shimmer and blur as the solid lines of human flesh morphed into those of something only half human and still heading toward becoming all wolf. Those same intense eyes that had looked upon me with recognition now stared with malice and death though were not locked on me but instead aimed toward Ms. Gard who was also moving to bring her blade in line with the beast's charge.
Behind this unknown shapeshifter came Will Borden, a.k.a Will the Werewolf, who was dressed in his normal sweat clothes that were easily slipped off so that he could take on his animalistic form as well. I had only an instant to realize what was taking place, and then a second to prevent the bloodshed that was likely to follow if I stood and did nothing. Being just the type of fool that Harry was normally in such situations, I stepping between the gleaming sword and the angry female werewolf presenting my back to the Valkyrie's exposed and ready blade and my front to some rather long and gleaming actual canine teeth. Yes, I understand that this was hardly the smartest thing I could have done and I'm sure my life insurance actuary would have doubled the cost of my policy had he been there to see it.
"Wait!" I said raising my hand defensively to try and calm the charging wolf if she still possessed any sense of mind.
"Her name is Tera West." Margaret Dresden's voice informed me within my mind. "She was the lover of the loup garou that was manipulated into trying to kill Marcone nearly a decade ago."
"Oh this just gets better and better." I thought sarcastically to myself. Marcone had hired Ms. Gard because magical things like the loup garou had tried to kill him in the past and his normal defenses of the time had not been up to the task. And of course here I was standing between the guardian to fulfill this particular requirement and the original target of concern that caused her employment.
"Tera STOP!" I screamed hoping that my illusionary Harry voice worked upon animal senses as well as humans. Maybe I should go try it on Mouse who was with Harry's daughter at the Father Forthill's church orphanage. If it worked on that dog then I had no worries where any other animal was concerned because there were very few people as smart as Mouse.
Tera was moving way too fast to stop at my command and while she did not plow into me, she instead swerved around and leapt over a display counter in order to land and spin so that she kept her eyes fixed firmly on the Valkyrie. For her own part Ms. Gard only shifted her body to keep both of the newcomers in front of her in case they decided to rusher her at once without taking any further aggressive actions. Her deadly serious look and the gleaming blade in her hand was a subtle warning enough of the damage she was quite willing to inflict if the pair chose to follow a course of violence.
"Are you okay Harry?" Will asked me with a sense of total surprise. "Apart from not being dead like everyone assumes I mean. Is Marcone's fem fatale here causing you problems?"
I suddenly knew why Gard had acted like she did. Since she could obviously see more than the average person she had looking over my shoulder recognized both Will and Tera West as being werewolves and as such she understood they would be far more sensitive to scents that a normal person. To improve my illusion she had doused me with perfume to mask any evidence that I was not the real Harry Dresden. From the looks on the pair's faces the trick had obviously worked at least for the moment.
"She was not actually attacking me." I said to Will and looked at Tera to try and get her to calm down as well as she stayed in this hybrid form. "Marcone was in that car that got tossed around out there and she is very single minded focused upon responding to any attack on her client with force of her own. I just happened to be inconveniently standing downstream from her accidental venting of rage."
"Um…okay." Will said accepting this since such things were not uncommon when dealing with the real Harry Dresden I guess. "What I real meant is how are you standing around at all? I mean Murphy and everyone seems to think you are dead." The last sentence bordered on an accusation of putting those Harry cared about and who cared for him through unnecessary pain. Of course it was not like I could relieve that particular feeling which is in part why I tried to avoid these encounters.
"Will there is a lot going on, not the least of which is the attempt on my life." I explained hoping this would sound reasonable to him. "I don't want to hurt any of you but I need to have the enemy think they have killed me so that I can figure out who is behind this and stop them."
"Let me help Harry." He pleaded with his eyes though his words were strong and steady. "I can keep your secret. Tera is here to midwife Georgia through the birthing of our first child. She will not need me around for that and even told Georgia that males should not be present. Let me back you up while you investigate. It would give me something useful to do while I wait to become a father."
"I can't do that Will." I said seeing a look of anger in response to my words flash across his normally friendly and jovial face.
"God dammit Harry I thought we were past all this." Will said with such rage than I could actually see the hairs on his arms starting to bristle up and lengthen slightly. "I don't want your protection. You are not Batman and I am not Robin. You don't get to pull that sidekick crap on me. I pick my own fights and if you don't want me standing beside you pooling our power like we have in the past then you can expect me to show up on my own."
"Will you don't understand I…" I tried to counter this discussion but obviously this was an area of previous contention and unresolved emotion between the two of them and I had stumbled into it without knowing it was there. In truth I could also feel his exacerbation on becoming a new father was keeping him off balance as well. Trashing a bad guy would be a way to release a lot of that anxiety he figured.
"Wizard I understand as the alpha male you desire to protect the younger members of your pack." Tera West said to me in a barking type of voice. "But there still comes a time where you must allow them to stand with you or else you must run them off from your pack completely." Great accept his help or break off one of Harry's oldest friends. That was really not a choice that I was comfortable making. But hey in my life when I get all confused it is usually just a warning things will get even worse.
"The canine psychology is all well and fine but I sense something evil is growing in the air." Ms. Gard said turning to look away from the three of us and instead to the activity still taking place outside. As if awaiting her notice and her words the remains of the sporting goods shop suddenly groaned as the flames within the gutted structure suddenly burst higher reaching for the sky in renewed fight.
The firefighters closest to the front wall of the building where they thought the battle had, if not been won, at least fought to a standstill, now dropped their hoses to turn and flee as if they possessed some sixth sense that told them the true level of their danger they were in. Unfortunately they were not nearly fast enough to escape the collapsing remains of the front wall that crashed down upon them. In that instant I saw the final proof that the fire could not possibly be of normal make for even the concrete cinderblocks burned and were becoming like magma. Normal fires just do not burn that hot.
Ms. Gard looked upon these trapped half dozen men and women with such a sense of cold emotionless that it seemed to me that the Valkyrie knew that they were going to die and accepted the inevitability of this act. I guess that must be an occupational hazard of her chosen career path. But it was not one for me.
"Harry?" Will started to ask me what to do. Fighting fires was not the same as fighting monsters.
"I'm on it." I said though in truth I had no idea what the hell I would do that the firemen had not already tried. My sensitive magic based spells were useless and, contrary to the old wives tale, flame was not a good option because you don't really fight fire with fire. That means Harry would likely be left with his other elemental preference.
"Ventas servitas!" I called aloud drawing Ms. Gard's attention to me as I aimed my wand that under the illusion looked like a staff at the building that was still burning out of control. Instead of aiming the spell to blow a gust of wind onto the flames and therefore feed them, in my mind I pictured the center of the building where my gust of wind actually exploded from pushing all the air out away from the fire.
Have I mentioned I am nowhere near in Harry's class for spells like this one, and in fairness I think even he would have been hard pressed to pull this particular spell off under these conditions. I threw all my concentration into that spell and I could feel that it worked at first to a distance of twenty feet or so from the center before the magic I poured into it began to putter out and the air beyond began to push back against my strength. I was able to keep it at equilibrium for what seemed like eternity in an instant and then I felt the greater forces of nature turned their weight against me.
But at that same second I also heard the snap of what sounded like a saltine cracker and the force I was pushing with suddenly doubled and doubled again in a heartbeat whipping away the air from the building's ruins. Fire requires fuel, ignition, and oxygen; remove any one and the fire, even magical ones, can no longer burn. With all the air pushed away, even if for only a few seconds, the flames that could melt concrete bricks sputtered and died before the returning rush of air could keep them alive.
I staggered a bit from the strain. That was a lot of magic for me to focus and control even if I had not been the one to cast it all.
"Harry are you okay?" Will asked concerned. Our disagreement from a moment ago was obviously set aside.
"I will be okay in a minute." I gasped and knew I sounded as tired as I felt. "Go help pull those firefighters out before the flames start up again." I said pointing to the trapped and injured first responders and I tried to catch my own breath. Will nodded at the suggestion and Tera West back in nearly naked human form followed his lead. She did so more so to assist Will than to rescue these people she did not know is what her emotions told me.
I looked at Ms. Gard who was putting away the broken rune tile she had used to provide additional strength to my spell. "Thank you for your assistance." I said to her as she looked over at me.
"I promised to assist you with you Harry deception." She said quite naturally. "That wind spell you cast would have been just the type of foolishly heroic thing Dresden would have tried to snatch mortal lives away from the jaws of death. I merely ensured you kept up the illusion as was part of our agreed upon deal."
I thought on that. "Well thank you again anyway. You saved those lives even if I know I am not really in Harry's class where magic is concerned." I said wishing he were here so that I did not have to do this.
"You certainly are not." Ms. Gard agreed making me feel even worse as my weakness. "But still, knowing that limitation, you tried to save those peoples' lives anyway knowing it was beyond your ability to do so." She pointed out. "Because of such acts, they will raise a mug of ale to you in the Halls of Valhalla when I tell them of your bravery."
I looked shocked at this comment and then turned away in embarrassment focusing instead upon the scene outside the building where the trapped responders had by now been pulled to safety and were being tended to by medical technicians. There would be half a dozen or so more fathers and mothers who would go home tonight. The action was certainly worth a toast if for no other reason than that.
"Do you sense it?" Ms. Gard asked drawing her sword to a battle ready position. "I suspect the fire was merely a lure. Someone was awaiting our arrival and our spells now have told them that we are here."
I turned to look at her and question what she spoke of, but then my own senses reported a spell of some sort was underway. It was big magic, not like a giant lightning bolt, but rather like ten thousand little raindrops that make up an instant cloudburst. I had never sensed magic anything like this and while I had cast more than one spell at a time, ten thousand little ones was beyond my ability to even comprehend on how you would do it.
"What the heck creates spells like that?" I asked Ms. Gard who had a battle hardened look on her face.
"Midgardsormr!" Gard's face looked on with pure astonishment.
And then the world outside exploded as darkness welled up from the sewers and descended from the skies!