Life After Death

Chapter 14

"Harry Dresden is dead." Karrin Murphy said to me as I got out of the Mustang in my Harry coat and hat. I did not go with the enhancing illusion because I wanted her to see it was me right away and not think that I was trying to deceiver her any further. "So dressing up as him is probably considered an insult."

"Worse still you misled a cop when you met with Stallings and pretended to be Dresden." I noted that Karrin did not include herself as a police officer at the moment because of her suspension and the likelihood she was going to get fired. "The district attorney might like to toss a felony obstruction of justice charge against you for that, or better still serve you up to the feds as a possible lead in the terrorist charges that were swirling around Harry before we went off to Mexico."

While I fully admit she was correct, hell she obviously knew the law better than me, I made sure not to show any fear about what she was telling me. It was not that I was not afraid of what I was hearing, I really am far too cute and perky for prison, it was just I had reached a point where I realized being scared would not solve anything.

Fear is just a feeling, and to quote a famous Korean man, "You feel cold, you feel warm, you feel afraid. Fear cannot kill you unless you let it control you." That was so true. And with Harry dead, fear was one of those luxuries I really was not allowed anymore. Instead of running from it, I had to face it head on and put it away. Easier said than done I assure you, but now was the perfect time to begin.

"Not to mention you lied to me kid." She said with a twinge of disappointment that was all wrapped up in a rather large bundle of anger and hostility. Since I did not really want to open that particular gift, let's just say I chose to set aside the whole 'kid' remark and choose instead to move on. See I can be so reasonable when I try; and when realizing that not being so would probably subject me to a rather nasty beat down. "I do not do well with people who lie to me, especially if they think they are protecting me by doing so." She finished.

Of course it was also important that I try to make Murphy as reasonable as possible if I was going to prevent these hundred other lesser issues such as arrest, exposure, or loss of a really important friend. Now, since my direction to go enlist friends came from an archangel no less, and these beings have this deep wholesome preference for truth I figured that he was likely expecting me to follow that particular course even though in some ways I thought this was the absolutely wrong course to follow.

It is not that I am against the concept of telling the truth, I just have enough experience to know that no one actually always wants to hear the unvarnished truth. Most people only want those 'truths' that reinforce what they already wish to accept as true and have problems with those that cut across their beliefs. While there may be universal truths out there somewhere, the ones we tend to deal with on a daily basis are far more mundane and a part of us. Growing older requires learning when full truth is called for when dealing with others, or sometimes even ourselves, and when stepping into gray areas on the fringes is more appropriate.

Don't believe me? Okay here is a test for you to prove my point. You have been having a rough time with your special significant other right before Valentine's Day. As an effort to make peace after a month of fighting and one of you sleeping on the couch, he or she spends all day making just you a special dinner and hints that they want to make up romantically for time lost once the meal is over. However, after your first bite you realize they accidentally used paprika rather than cinnamon on you special main course. You choke down the first bit when they turn and look to you and ask expectantly 'how does it taste?' Now, let me see a show of hands, which of you so loves sleeping on the lumpy couch so much that they say "honey you completely ruined the meal and wasted your day?"

Take that one step further into genetics and you will see why there is so little true honesty in this world. Answering that question is counterproductive, or rather counter-reproductive in this case. Honesty in this case lands you on the couch which prevents procreation. So this particular mutation of people born speaking true honesty, just like those who are naturally inclined toward a lifetime of celibacy, rarely lasts past a first generation. Darwin said that those life forms best able to adapt to their environment are the ones able to best survive; I think I have proven this is true where honesty is concerned too.

So there was truth, and then there was not lying. I was thinking I would try the latter and resort to the former if all else failed. "Murphy I have a death sentence hanging over my head since Harry is not these to vouch for me anymore and so I was trying to smoke out who killed Harry while keeping the White Council off balance by making it seem like he was not really dead. We both know if he had survived he would do the same thing and stay away from all of us to keep us safe if he thought that he had too so doing so was in character for Harry." See now that was not a lie and now for the required mea culpa. "I am sorry Murphy but I could not take chances that word of my deception would get back to the supposed good guys on the White Council who would carry out the sentence before I could bring Harry's killer to justice. They probably have been watching you since they know you and Harry were close."

"There has been no one watching me." Karrin said with confidence. But it was the confidence of a mortal without magic, or the full experience to know what such power was capable of.

"Murph they could watch you from half the planet away if they had just a few strands of your hair." I explained and saw her eyes narrow as she considered this based upon all the stories Harry had told of his ability to track people. "And they could even cast a veil on themselves and be standing right next to you this minute."

"Alright, so then what changed?" She asked me just a hair less offended than before. "I assume your death sentence is still in play and they might still be tracking me, so why all of a sudden did you call for this meeting and risk everything you have been doing becoming exposed?"

"Because last night I crossed paths with a woman who claimed she was the one who had Harry killed." I explained without offering that the motivation may have been to get at me. But even without motive this little detail made Murphy's whole emotional state turn to a contradictory one of icy hot rage. I figured I might as well offer a little bit more of the relevant data while she was dealing with that fact. "The woman in question also trashed both the sporting goods shop from two nights ago when she was going after Marcone and then Mortimer Lindquist's house last night." I explained knowing Murphy was aware of the one last night at least.

I let her stew over these facts because while she was a trained cop so therefore able to rein in her emotions much better than most people, she was still a woman and far more in tune with this part of herself than most guys. Once she seemed in control of these basic issues if what the woman had done I turned the conversation slightly to why the two of us were here in this parking lot in after hours.

"This woman is a wizard of some sort, or at least magically gifted, and she is also way out of my league." I said honestly and then turned up more subtle emotions related to needing help. "I remembered this morning that you told me that you and Will had decided to form a small network among Harry's friends in order to keep control over the magical aspects of Chicago in his absence." I said rather than 'in his place' which was probably more accurate, but also more finalistic.

"I assume that you also realize that she is also going after people with connections to Harry…" She said taking the story even farther than I had by an observation I had overlooked because it was so obvious. This made for a great opportunity.

"Exactly." I said. "Neither Marcone nor Lindquist is an actual wizard of course but both have connections to the magical world here in Chicago. I faced her twice and she has let me live, basically dismissing me as irrelevant. But being honest that may mean she will go after the rest of Harry's friends who have such connections to the arcane aspects of this city, which would make Will and you targets also."

That association and alert actually caught Karrin off guard. "I understand Will, but why lump me in that group. I do not have any special skills or is it because Harry and I were friends?" She asked.

I almost said yes because they were such close friends, but then another thought struck me that was even more truthful. "No it is not because you were friends with a wizard. You demonstrated the ability to wield the Sword of Faith on multiple occasions. There are probably only a handful of people on the planet capable of that which is a much smaller group than actual wizards." I said, knowing this because I had wanted to be one of them. "I am pretty sure that act alone gets you initiated into Harry's Dresden's Magically Connected Friends club, at least where any outsider would be concerned."

This observation paused Murphy as she gave all this consideration. Like Harry, Karrin was a person of action first, so her thought process revolved around how she could bring hurt down upon the one targeting Harry's friends. She was also a cop, well technically a cop on suspension, and that meant she had a way of thinking a problem through.

"Do you have any idea who this mysterious woman is?" She asked. "Harry made a fair number of enemies during his life from what he told me and some of the most dangerous were female. Could one of these be your cloaked mystery woman?" Thankfully by this time Karrin was starting to get over my deceptions and understand that while I may have lied to her, had the roles been reversed she would likely do much the same to me.

In answer to her question I explained that I had operated for the first few days off the same idea. I started by listing off the most dangerous female suspects that I could think of. From that list I explained that I had eliminated both Ms. Gard and the vampire Marva along with a strong likelihood that it was not any of the primary women of the Summer or Winter Courts since they either had a relationship with Harry or they did not want to chance war taking out the newest Winter Knight.

Karrin made me explain in detail my encounter with Marva and how I eliminated her three fledglings and then invoked her oath to leave town and not return. That act alone, well the planning behind it at least, earned me another notch of respect from Murphy. Having just battle the worst of the Red Court herself, Karrin knew taking down one of the few surviving therefore most deadly members of the Black Court was no little feat of accomplishment for someone as new to my powers as I was. Harry had crossed paths with her at least twice and both times she had not only lived, but perhaps even got the better of him; a feat few could claim.

While on the subject of vampires I also explained my encounter with Lara Raith and that she and her clan were also not likely behind these events. I even explained that she had been agreeable to feeding me information on Marva since we shared a mutual enemy. "I can only assume if she learns the Black Court bitch was driven out of town it will further the belief in their minds that Harry is indeed still alive." I finished up.

"Well it seems you have indeed been busy. And yes I do think you have the White Court convinced that Harry is alive because Thomas is as screwed up over Harry's possible death and mysterious resurrection as I have ever seen him." Murphy said with a critical and honest eye but an underlying tone of respect for how much I had accomplished.

"Unfortunately I guess there is no shortage of psycho females who had an issue of disagreement with Harry. You have hit all the major players that I have heard him speak of but it still may be someone only Harry knows. Maybe someone he thought he had killed has come back. Or maybe someone who he thought he had help now has second thoughts and was gunning for him. If he were here he'd probably be able to tell us who she is but without having his memories to call upon were at a dead end." She said ironically.

I came real close to mentioning Margaret Dresden's spirit at that moment and the way she was feeding me many of Harry's early memories. I said close to because really just how crazy would that particular story sound if I started to tell it? Okay it is not that Murphy would particularly doubt me since crazy pretty much was a constant companion for those who hung around with Harry, but still it was not something I wanted to share at the present time since I was not into having an Oprah moment.

"Hell there is still the White Council." I explained. "Heaven knows there are enough people there who had no love for Harry and his accepting the Winter Knight power might have made them even more nervous."

"Would it make someone nervous enough to hire an assassin?" Murphy asked. "I thought you wizard types went in for destroying your enemies yourself with magic or cutting off heads with swords. A high powered rifle seems a little too impersonal for that."

"It is actually pretty smart." I responded with what I knew. "Up close and personal would allow a wizard of Harry's power to use a death curse which might kill or severely weaken whoever was trying to kill him. Wizards tend to be chess masters and do not find the idea of fair swaps to be a good one since the games they play take place over the centuries of their lives."

"So that is why the Archive keeps Kinkaid around?" Murphy asked. "She needs a mercenary on the payroll? That way he handles her wet work without allowing blowback to come at her?" The reference made me remember my earlier call from Ivy.

"She called me two days ago, knew what I was up to, and told me that the cloaked woman I was facing had attacked her as well and because of this shared interest she was sending Kinkaid to help me even the score. I think after the battle with the Denarians, Ivy does not let personal assaults go unanswered. There are a lot of beings who might see her only as a pre-teen girl and want her power for their own." My dad's injuries had come on account of that attack. "From what Harry said, Kinkaid would take such actions rather personally as well." I offered. "He should have been here yesterday but I never heard from him." I explained and wondered what that meant and if it was a hint that things were even worse than I knew.

"Do not assume the worst just yet." Murphy cautioned. "Kinkaid is very good at what he does. He might have just had a trouble arranging travel from wherever he stashed Ivy for safe keeping."

"Or he may have crossed paths with the cloaked woman and come out on the losing end of that encounter." I said knowing that according to her Ms. Gard had also come up second best.

Murphy grew a little tenser as she played out that possibility in her mind. But while she might emotionally be concerned, her practical nature as a cop came through. "I'm certain that if something that significant had attacked Ivy, Kinkaid would be smart enough to take that into account in order to plan ahead. That would mean he would take the right weapons with him to ensure he was prepared for whatever he was facing."

Harry had also taught me never to take anything at face value. Trust your friends, but always question advantageous coincidences, except where my dad or any of the other Knights of the Sword were concerned since they were immune to coincidence based upon who their patron was. But this consideration left me with another worry.

"Karrin what if Kinkaid was the one who gunned down Harry?" I asked and before she could offer a rejection out of hand I threw out the second part of my quick analysis. "And what if Ivy is the cloaked woman I keep crossing paths with? I mean she was the one who translated for me Stallings's list. What better way to keep us from considering her as the power behind the scene than to act like an ally early on and point us in another direction?"

Murphy would not even entertain such an idea, though I could see this was logic based not emotional. "No Ivy likes Harry too much to betray him." Murphy replied without a hint of doubt in her emotions. "Hell he saved her life. And Kinkaid respected him fir that also so has no motive to do what you suggest." Karrin's tone on the second part of her answer showed she was not as completely certain of this last detail as she had been on the first part no matter what her words may have said.

I of course took up that doubt and played it our further for the both of us to examine. "Except of course we both know Kinkaid is a mercenary therefore shooting Harry would really only be an issue of getting paid sufficiently for the job right?" I asked knowing that to be true. She started to object but I kept speaking. "Hell I agree that I do not think this is a likely scenario." There is always a 'but' after this kind of statement. "But I have to admit the way Harry was taken down sounds just like what a smart mercenary who was used to dealing with wizards would devise to avoid a death curse."

Karrin could do nothing but agree with that particular statement. "Let's just agree that until we find out where Kinkaid was when Harry was shot that we not ignore him as a possible suspect who fits the bill." It took a moment of further consideration but finally she nodded in agreement at the logic of identifying suspects even if emotionally she wanted to deny it.

I felt a strong wave of anger and annoyance wash over me at that moment but neither of us said anything else at that moment. The intensity made me feel uncomfortable, but I was not going to back down. Instead I tried to act like I had not felt anything at all.

Murphy sat in silence for a moment obviously weighing things in her own mind that she chose not to share with me. I have to give her credit. While her personal feelings on these issues might have caused most people to lose their focus on what was actually important, Sergeant, former Lieutenant, Karrin Murphy was too good of a cop to let her own concerns distract her from the bigger picture at hand.

"Alright let's take a shot at this from the other direction." She said focusing fully upon me once more. "Sometimes by defining what the ultimate goal of a questionable crime is, you can work it backwards to see who profits most and by doing so determine the best suspects." I guess that makes sense even if I had not specifically thought of it. Heaven knows most of the cop shows of television usually tried to identify who profited from mysterious deaths to determine the one ultimately involved. And this case was just bizarre enough with strange twists and turns that this tactic might work.

"So what is this cloaked woman's endgame? Obviously it was more than merely killing Dresden." Murphy asked me to try and define. "Of the two of us you are the one who understands all the hocus pocus stuff. Why is she going after all of Harry's acquaintances? Seems like a pretty extreme case of vengeance. Normally I would think you would target their closest friends rather than just people he dealt with. Hell Marcone and Dresden did not even particularly like each other, so you would think the cloaked woman might see him as an ally rather than a target. And even so what the heck does all this have to do with the komodo dragon?"

"Of all of this let me start by saying I'm not certain what role the big lizard is playing in all of this." I said quite honestly knowing this one weird detail made no sense in any of the scenarios I had run through my head. Currently I was left chalking it up to whomever killed Harry also liked lizards. I turned instead to what little I did know.

"If what Marva told me is true, and heaven knows she is a far better expert on the darker aspects of magic than I am, the cloaked woman is looking to bring someone back from the dead." I said seeing Murphy's reaction to that comment, an emotional wave of confusion, match completely the feelings I had felt when the Black Court vampire had explained this to me. But then I felt an even stronger wave of absolute anger and loathing, so strong that it nearly made me sick, though Karrin's little frame still showed only confusion. My eyes widened momentarily as I understood what was going on but played along.

"Harry?" Murphy asked echoing all my own earlier thoughts to a tee. The sliver of hopefulness in her tone was a perfect twin for that feeling in my own heart as well.

"That is what I was thinking but I do not know for certain." I acknowledged with a nod.

She was looking for more from me on this but I was slightly distracted as I began to very, very slowly start drawing in magic into myself. "But why would she kill him or have him killed if her goal is just to bring him back to life anyway? It does not make sense." She asked me which of course I was still working on a reasonable answer myself.

"Assuming he is the target for the spell, I have two possible options, though up until now I really have no one I can ask about these to see if they are even feasible." I said in response wanting to make sure we did not let our emotions blind us to other possibilities.

"The first is to place some sort of binding or compulsion over him." I said hoping to confer that such a spell would almost assuredly add more than just an obligation to do something nice for the other person at some point in the future. "The problem with dark magic is that the White Council had outlawed it so there really was not a lot of study material for apprentices to understand what these types of spells were capable of. It was not outside the realm of possibility that an enemy killing and restoring Harry could make him either an effective slave or at least sideline him from ever interfering in the cloaked woman's plans. Based on Harry's reputation either one of those outcomes would probably be a heck of a magical coup."

At the same time I also sent a quick message to Margaret in my head, telling her what I was worried about and offering my plan for dealing with it. She agreed though said I really should try to enlist Karrin into it as she might be a valuable resource.

"Sorry, I cannot picture Harry being enslaved to anyone." Murphy seemed to dismiss this. "He is too damn stubborn and pigheaded to let anyone tell him what to do. I'm no expert in magic but I doubt there is a spell out there that could break though his granite-like head." She laughed a bit for my sake and I smiled back for hers. "What is the other option then?" She asked me knowing that any 'first' had to be followed by a 'second.'

"The second is that he might have arranged the whole thing sort of as way of getting out of his promise to serve as the new Winter Knight until death." I said in the most basic explanation I could muster. I crossed my arms over my chest and let my right hand slide just a bit inside my coat as I looked at her. Frustratingly if she noticed this she was too cool about it to give me any reaction, though emotionally she might have gotten a bit more excited. But heck, based on what we were discussing who knows what was causing the reaction. I had to just hope for the best.

"You have to be kidding me." Karrin said in shock. "That seems a little extreme even for Dresden. Usually I am the one who has to prepare for drastic action. Harry normally just falls into situations and then has to battle his way back out."

"He did this kind of thing before." I said knowing this particular story from my father. "When he made a deal with his godmother Leanansidhe to serve her as one of her hounds in exchange for her saving some of his friends he later took hemlock or some other slow acting poison as a means of getting her to surrender her hold over him."

"You are kidding me!" She said not wanting to believe just how reckless Harry could be. "I take it this is the same Leah who…"

"Yes the Leanansidhe is the woman who changed us into hounds down in Mexico." I answered.

"Yeah she seemed to have just a little too much 'Fatal Attraction/Hand that Rocks the Cradle crazy vibe about her when she was looking at Harry." Karrin agreed with a nod of remembrance. "But still the whole poison thing seems the very edge of extreme for him. I can't see willingly taking a rifle shot. Couldn't he have just bought his way out of being the Winter Knight? Surely he could have offered something else less drastic." She winked at me which I took as a good sign.

"No." I replied. "Queen Mab is even more powerful than the…" Margaret's voice in my head tried to stop my next word but before I recognized what she was cautioning the name had almost passed my lips. I also felt a sudden wave of surprise and fear that was not coming from Karrin or from myself at that moment. Hey when calling out a name of a Faerie three times usually draws their attention I could understand why someone might be concerned if I was going to do so, even seemingly accidentally. Most being who understood such power tried to avoid it whenever possible. And being an apprentice made people believe that this was just the type of mistake that I might actually make, which you will see I didn't.

Instead of saying Leah's name a third time and therefore calling her, I released my pent up magic and called out a command. "Neon Pink!" I did not use Latin because I do not think there is a word for neon in Latin, at least not one my class work ever taught me.

I pushed out a circle of weak magical power at the same time as my command word, since the spell required distance more than force in this case. I noted that Karrin was as sharp as ever and drew her ten millimeter automatic pistol from the small of her back and spun looking for whatever targets would present themselves. Of course finding targets was the goal of my particular spell.

When Sweet had shown me how to use an illusion to mask the graveyard and the army that was moving through it from Marva and her disciples, I realized even then the potential this type of spell had for other things, such as instead locating people or things hidden under a veil. You see the neat thing about the spell is that it only covered those things that I could see. Now in casting my Neon Pink spell, and yes I could have chosen any color but since it was dark I wanted something that would stand out, I sent my magic out like a supersized tub of reflective paint to wash across everything I could see for a hundred yards or so and turn it momentarily this nice bright color.

And that left a small, two foot or so, human shaped area on the hood of my car that remained mysterious black in color because it represented something that I could not see. And before this black stain could fade away and also become pink, Murphy's eyes noted it, and more importantly her gun was quickly trained directly upon it in the center of mass.

"Show yourself." Karrin ordered thumbing back the weapon's hammer with a distinctive click. "These are special order iron hollow point rounds that a wizard friend of mine fixed up to go through magical shields like a Teflon round will go through a bullet proof vest." Wow I did not even know such things existed. Maybe now I need to invest in something with a bit more deterrence value than just this leather duster.

Not surprisingly based on the shape, Sweet appeared on the hood of my car wearing an overly forced smile as she puffed upon her pipe. For all her cool demeanor I could also sense actual concern in her small frame as she tried to act nonchalant while staring down the barrel of a gun. "Let's not get too hasty there sister." She said trying to keep Murphy calm as she spoke as sweetly as her name. "You are a fine Irish girl and are known by my kind to have a bit of a temper, so there is no need to be pointing your weapon this way merely because I was listening in to your conversation for a wee bit and did not care to disturb you just yet." She smiled.

"You seem to know a lot about me; both my name and my heritage." Karrin said not moving the gun even a fraction of an inch. "But you do not seem to know that my 'sister' is hardly my favorite person or you would not have used that particular term to try and befriend me."

That comment seemed to catch Sweet off guard and she visibly gulped even though I knew that Karrin was bluffing. Okay maybe 'knew' is a bit much. Let's just say I was fifty-one percent certain she was not going to shoot the little leprechaun sitting on my hood, at least not without further provocation.

"Why are you here Sweet?" I asked with a bit of a steel undertone to the question. "You passed along Toot's unavailability status last night and our bargain for the donuts has concluded so why are you still acting as my invisible shadow?" I hemmed her in so she had to answer with something new. Now that she had dropped her own veil I let the world resume its more natural color while Karrin continued to keep her covered.

"Suren there is no need to be pointing your gun this way seeing how them particular devices seem to malfunction and accidentally fire sometimes when wizards, or even apprentice wizards be about. I will be more than happy to talk now that you caught me." She said only momentarily taking her eyes off the barrel to plea at me for support with her eyes.

"It is your call Molly." Murphy said. "Can we trust her?" Sweet's eyes jumped to me once more in a plea for benevolence.

"Hell no!" I said. "She's a faerie so of course we cannot trust her." I said making the little leprechaun's eyes open even wider in fear. "But beside that particular fact I do not think the situation rises to the need to shoot her." Murphy's posture relaxed at my words and she holstered her weapon even as Sweet attempted to catch up. After a moment the little leprechaun smiled as well.

And then she even laughed. "Lass you truly will be one of the White Council greats if you live long enough." She said in praise. Personally I did not know whether that was a compliment or an insult. Hell it could even have been a warning considering how I viewed the White Council.

"You have not answered my question yet." I pointed out to Sweet so that she would not distract us. "Why are you here?"

She seemed hesitant as she drew the pipe from her mouth and bit on her lower lip. It was an adorable look that I vaguely remembered from my childhood, sans pipe, but thankfully I was too focused to be distracted by it. "I told you last night that my clan made a promise to Saint Patrick to look out for gifted ones like yourself." She replied after a bit. "I'm just following my promise and offering help where I can."

I thought about that and the blatantly hopeful emotion that Sweet was directing my way and tossed it aside. I knew faeries do not lie, but that does not mean everything they say is the absolute truth either. "Bull!" I replied confidently. "If you are assigned as my guardian angel then you would have lent a hand against the Nazis or Abagalesidhe when my life was in true danger of ending rather than me having to face them all on my own." I said rather confidently. "I do not doubt your sincerity, or at least for some reason you are under obligation to help me, but what I need to know is what caused this debt between us in the first place." I asked. "I think it is important that I know when it will be settled before I can even begin to trust you."

"Smart girl." She said making her pipe disappear. "Perhaps too smart which is partly the reason you are in the mess that you are in right now." She said shaking her head.

"Save your evaluations and answer the question please." I replied not taking her bait.

"Alright I will do so to the extent that I am able but you need to understand that I am under a magical compulsion not to say too much and nothing you or your fine Irish officer Karrin Murphy can threaten me with will break that spell." She explained.

I knew such spells existed since they worked upon the mind which was my particular forte. They were mostly white magic as in almost every case the person placed under them had to agree to the condition for the spell to have any effect upon him or her. For example, I could not compel Murphy never to speak of food, unless she agreed and gave my spell this power over her. For Sweet to have such a spell meant there was something significant in play that not only the casted did not want her talking about to me, but that she did not want to speak about either. That would be a complication.

But I also knew that she could not outright lie to me since she was a faerie, so that made my first question both the most important and the easiest to ask in this particular case.

"Are you working for the cloaked woman or supporting her efforts and goals?" I asked doubting this was the case but needing to hear her answer to be sure. I figured if the lady had gone to all the trouble of acquiring the Mercedes I had been smashed into just to place a tracking spell on me, then she probably had no need for a spy who I might catch, as I did. A spy might be tortured or compelled to give me valuable insight beyond what a mere tracking spell could provide therefore it was an unnecessary risk to the cloaked woman's plans compared to what little information the leprechaun could provide.

"Saint's preserve us!" She replied with a wave of honest shock and revulsion. "No, I'd not work for that one." She said with an obvious projection of pure truth.

"So she is you enemy?" I asked Sweet figuring her last answer made this one more likely.

The little leprechaun opened her mouth but no words came out. She was obviously not lying about the compulsion spell and by not being able to speak this meant I was probably correct. Cool now I had a potential source of information to learn what was really going on.

"So what is really going on?" I asked hoping to at last begin putting all the pieces together. And of course Sweet was unable to say a damn thing! Stupid compulsion spell!

I know I could have stood out there all night playing this version of verbal minesweeper, looking for what questions she could answer to reveal information and what she could not, but that really was a long and tiring process not to mention it was fraught, so cool when I can use the word 'fraught' in a sentence, with even more dangers. Asking questions would lead me to making assumptions, and those could be deadly. I needed a Rosetta Stone to help me put the all pieces together in one quick swoop before I made the wrong assumptions.

"Do you know of someone who can tell me what is going on?" I asked Sweet.

"I do indeed." She said with a smile in response. "I am so glad that you are so smart Molly and know just the right things to ask." She said with a smile and a wink.

"Let me guess we are off to see the King Arthur, Lord of the Leprechauns?" Murphy asked sarcastically.

"We don't have a king girl." Sweet replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "We don't believe in that particular form or government. Instead we're an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week." She said making me groan because I had heard this one a hundred times before.

I tried to interrupt but Sweet would not be put off. "And for your information, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony. You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you! I mean, if I went 'round saying I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!"

God preserve us from when the spirits of the Nevernever started using Monty Python as their source of divine authority. I had always wondered why Harry had made me watch these shows as 'part of my magical training.' I had thought at the time that he was just sick and twisted. Little did I know it was not just him but a significant part of the magical community as well!

"Keep it up and I will show you the violence inherent in the system!" Karrin said finishing up the leprechaun's reference. It had the effect of stopping Sweet's little joke midstream.

I looked over at Karrin who was not quite smiling. "You too?" I asked with a sense of sympathy.

"Yeah when I was first figuring out that there was indeed something to this whole magic thing, Harry had me sit and watch this movie three times in a row until our beer ran out." She said shaking her head. "I do not know which is sadder. Was it that this had been the best date, okay only date, I had been on in more than two years at that time, or the fact that even after a case and a half of beer he would not try to kiss me?"

I wanted to say something but I was missing the funny little things about Harry at that moment as much as she was. Thankfully Sweet was there to handle the tension. "I'd suggest it be the way you like to point your gun at everybody first might keep the boys from wanting a taste of your lips." She offered.

Murphy tensed at the barb just a bit. "Don't tempt me sprite." She warned dangerously.

"Not at all…not at all…just offering another female opinion since we are having this girl's night out thing as you American's refer to it." She replied with a cautious smile.

"Where are we going?" I asked Sweet to change the conversation once more.

"I do not know the where, but you probably do." She replied honestly but annoyingly vague.

"What do you mean?" I was getting a bit annoyed myself. "Who are we going to see?"

"Why your Valkyrie friend of course." Sweet replied. "She knows and has now even fought the cloaked woman that you want your answers about. I'm sure she can tell you as much about her as I could."

Until this moment I had forgotten I did indeed have the means to do what the leprechaun was suggesting. I pulled the three strands of golden hair out of the folded piece of paper I had placed them in when putting them in my pocket. The cloaked woman said Gard had escaped but had been wounded. Hopefully she would be able to offer some help and not be near death as I had seen her before.

Speaking of death, I noted ironically that I had gotten so desperate I was actually seeking out an angel of death.

"Let's do this then." I said drawing my magic to me.