Chapter 10

Pizza Guard

Thomas insisted on making sure we all had a proper breakfast. I was in no position to argue, so I sat on the couch as instructed while Thomas and Kai did good-smelling things in the kitchen and Butters prodded at my head.

'It's a miracle I am not picking pieces of bone out of your hair, Harry,' he commented.

I mentioned that I had a very hard head – which Thomas agreed with in a quite unbrotherly manner – which led Butters to do some more muttering about how he wasn't a real physician. Nevertheless, he demanded to know how many fingers he was holding up – four, but I needed to squint at them a bit – and what my name was.

My assertion that he had just addressed me by it did not go down well.

Eventually satisfied that I was not about to drop dead on the spot, he told me to take some painkillers and take it easy.

Like that was going to happen.

While Thomas and Kai were still busy I pulled out Hercule's book and looked through it. It was a thick volume, but a handy index made it easy to find the section on the Erlking.

Which did nothing to cheer me up.

'Anything useful?' Thomas asked when he handed me a plate of pancakes.

'Pancakes?' I asked.

Thomas grinned. 'Happy birthday.'

In all the commotion I had nearly forgotten. Having a looming deadline and necromancers breathing down your neck can have that effect.

The pancakes were good, but my suspicions based on Hercule's work didn't allow me to enjoy them a lot. 'According to Hercule the Erlking can draw up an enormous amount of powerful spectres, mainly spectres of hunters, to join him in the Wild Hunt,' I said between bites of pancake. 'I'm guessing our necromancers want to harness those powerful spirits with the Darkhallow ritual they are planning.'

Kai chewed pensively. 'What could they do with them?'

'At a guess, command them for some reason or,' and this was the part that was really turning my stomach, 'Hercule hints that power from the Wild Hunt, and most specifically the spectres in it, can be absorbed or devoured by a skilled magic-wielder. He doesn't know how, but he is sure it's possible.' Which at last explained why Die Lied der Erlking was so high on the necromancy wish list.

Butters had gone very pale. Thomas and Kai weren't thrilled either. 'What could someone do with devoured ghosts?' Thomas asked.

'Devoured powerful ghosts,' I said. 'That amount of power, the one who got that would practically be a minor god.' A necromancer promoted to godhood sounded like an absolute nightmare.

'That would explain what Alberich is doing here,' Kai said darkly.

If it was true, and I was beginning to believe that it was, then it was too big to tackle on my own. Mavra had told me to do this alone or Murphy would pay the price, but Murphy wouldn't thank me either if a horde of necromancers wiped Chicago off the map in their quest for entry to the Mount Olympus Country Club.

I would need the Wardens.

Kai frowned. 'But so far none of them have the Word of Kemmler,' he said. 'If they don't have it, they can't do it.'

That would only work if none of them found a copy today. At least Grevane and Alberich knew that Hercule had been in the possession of the book. If only we could find it first.

I had a plan of action at least. 'After breakfast Kai and I are going to my office,' I announced. 'We'll need to call in the Wardens.' Because apparently Grevane had cut the phone line, as Butters found out this morning when he wanted to call in sick to the Forensic Institute. 'This has become too big.' And too dangerous. Against these people I could barely survive when I had one at a time against me. All of them at once would only result in my grave finally being filled. 'And then we're going to get to the Word of Kemmler before anyone else does.'

Thomas nodded. 'Do you know what Liver Spots was after?' he asked thoughtfully.

I shook my head and realised immediately why I shouldn't do that. 'No idea.' But he looked familiar. The problem with getting on so many people's nerves is that eventually you'll end up having trouble telling them apart.

No sudden insight dropped out of the sky, so we ended breakfast. I took Mouse out to do his business in the designated area. When I came back in Thomas was doing the dishes. Butters was hoisting himself into his one-man polka-band outfit.

Thomas gave me a pleading look, which I ignored. Kai was good in a fight, but he needed more space to turn into a dragon than my apartment gave him. That left Thomas and Mouse to guard Butters.

Mouse hid behind the couch.

Mister fled the place entirely.

Kai and I set off for my office. The SUV complained that we hadn't fastened our seatbelts, that the door was ajar and that we in a matter of minutes jumped from Tokyo to Vancouver to München. Kai glared at it and eventually the smooth voice from the dashboard died away entirely.

There wasn't nearly as much traffic on the streets as normal, because the power had been out since last night. With any luck the phones were still working, and if they were, the one in my office might still be good.

People were relaxed enough about the lack of power, but that was now. When darkness fell it could turn ugly fast. And if that happened, that would make this place ripe for black magic. One or more of the necromancers had known what he was doing.

'Is there anything you need me to do?' Kai asked when we got out of the car.

'Just be look-out,' I said. 'I'll need to call the White Council and then we need to find a pizza place that's still open.'

If a man's got a dedicated guard, he's got to use it. Especially when there's a deadline, which really would involve a lot of death.

Mine, if I didn't figure this out.

Irene must have told Kai about the Little Folk, because he made a face before he got himself back under control.

'Dragons don't like Fae?' I asked.

'Fae strive for chaos,' Kai replied, pronouncing the word as if it was something dirty he found under his shoe. 'They twist everything into narrative patterns, with people as their background characters.'

My first instinct was to say that this wasn't my experience with the Fae, but the longer I thought about it, the truer Kai's words sounded, at least where it concerned the Sidhe. The Sidhe played roles, stories. And it was certainly true that they used ordinary people for their own ends without much concern for the real people involved.

'And the Dragons?' I asked.

'We strive for order, and natural law,' Kai said. He looked at my face and correctly anticipated my next question: 'Breathing fire is rare among my kind. We command natural powers, and fire is one of them, but breathing it is not usually how it is wielded.'

'Rain is what you do?'

'Storms, rain, water in general,' Kai said. 'Though I am not sure how much use that will be tonight.'

I remembered zombies flushed down the street, and ghosts undone by running water. 'A lot.' I looked at him. 'Can you call another storm before you do what you have to?'

'Not without giving away that I am there.'

I'd need to think about that.

My office building was mostly empty. I looked around, but couldn't see any of the necromancers or their lackeys. They were probably resting up for the big night ahead. Or hunting for Kemmler's Guide to Godhood.

The telephone didn't work the first two times, but the third call went through.

'Yes,' said the voice of a woman.

I nearly dropped the phone in surprise. I hadn't really expected this to work. 'One second,' I told the woman while I reached for the little book with the security codes. Who says wizards don't occasionally indulge in James Bond style cloak and dagger? 'I didn't think this would work.' I flipped through, nearly dropped the book, but eventually arrived at the right page. 'Chartreuse sirocco.'

The show-off on the other side of the line didn't miss a beat. 'Rabbit,' she said, which was indeed the countersign.

Now for the good part. 'This is Wizard Dresden,' I said. 'I have a Code Wolf situation here. I repeat, Code Wolf.'

That did not make her happy. She hissed. 'This is Warden Luccio, wizard.'

It's never a good thing when you think you're talking to a receptionist and you then find out that you're talking to the boss. Captain Luccio was in charge of the Wardens. She should not be answering phones.

Something was not right.

She didn't give me time to dwell on it. 'What is the situation?'

A mess. 'Three apprentices of the necromancer Kemmler are in Chicago,' I reported. 'As well as a man called Alberich.' If I had wondered if she had ever heard that name before, the string of colourful swearing in Italian answered that question quite well. 'They are after the fourth book,' I continued. 'They plan to use it tonight.'

Although they would have to find it first.

After the initial outburst it was very silent for a while. 'Hello?' I asked, wondering if the phone had stopped working.

'Are you sure?' Captain Luccio asked. 'How do you know who they are?'

'The zombies and ghosts about town are a pretty decent hint,' I said. And also: 'I have confronted them.' With some help. 'They identified themselves as Grevane, Cowl, and Capiorcorpus. Each of them had a drummer with them. Only Capiorcorpus does not have one any longer.'

'And Alberich?' She spat the name as if it was a curse. After two encounters with him myself, I wasn't going to judge.

'Identified by two visiting Librarians,' I replied, inaccurately promoting Kai to full Librarian instead of apprentice. He thought it wiser not to reveal that he was a Dragon until he had to. When I had asked why, he had looked at his feet and muttered something about keeping his identity quiet, which led me to suspect Dragons did not usually become apprenticed to Librarians and it might not be entirely sanctioned. 'And I had the misfortune to confirm it myself in a soulgaze.'

'Dio!' said Luccio.

'I didn't enjoy it much,' I remarked dryly. 'It seems Alberich is after the same thing as the Kemmlerites.'

'And the Librarians?'

'Very motivated to get Alberich out of this world.' Irene had explained her plan for that, which sounded like suicide, and it was at least part of the reason why I was calling for back-up. 'I have been working with them to establish what is happening.'

'Is one of them a Dr Hercule Vincent?' Luccio asked.

At this point it shouldn't surprise me that she had heard of him; he had apparently been well-connected. 'I regret to inform you that Dr Vincent was murdered four days ago, ma'am. By either Grevane or Alberich.' Both were looking good for it. 'As far as we can ascertain, Dr Vincent was the last person in possession of the fourth book. It seems he has hidden it away.'

'Any leads?'

'A few.' I neglected to mention my sources. 'Working on it.'

'Work harder.'

'Working on that as well.' What did she think I had been doing these past few days? 'Can you help?'

'Affirmative,' said Luccio to my relief. 'We will dispatch Wardens to Chicago immediately. They will arrive at your apartment within six hours.'

'Not a good idea,' I said. 'I was attacked there last night. My wards held, but I suspect my place is still under surveillance.' Not to mention that I really didn't want the Wardens to get a good look at Thomas. Wizards and vampires in one place is not usually the kind of meeting that both parties walk away from still in possession of all their limbs. Or their lives.

'Understood,' Luccio said. 'We will meet you at the alternate location.'

I checked that my notebook mentioned the alternate location. It did. McAnally's. 'Understood,' I said. 'Don't skimp on the personnel, either. These folks are serious.' My head chose that moment to remind me just how serious. It was a good thing I was still sitting down.

She sighed. 'I am familiar with Kemmler's disciples,' she said. There was every chance she had helped to take down their teacher herself. Given her reaction to Alberich's name, I wondered if she was as familiar with him, but this was not the time to ask. 'I will lead the team myself. Six hours, wizard. And bring the Librarians.'

'Will do,' I said, but she had hung up.

If Luccio was coming herself, that meant she was at least taking this seriously. What worried me was how seriously. The Captain of the Wardens didn't come out for just anything. But she wouldn't usually answer the phone herself either, which was worrying for different reasons. My finely honed wizarding senses told me I had missed a few things.

'Help is on the way,' I told Kai. 'Six hours.' I nodded at the phone book. 'Any luck with the pizza places?'

'A few candidates.' Kai helped himself to the telephone.

While he did that I rested my eyes for a few moments. It had been a long few days and the constant action paired with too little sleep was beginning to take its toll. My back felt like one big bruise and the rest of my body wasn't much better. I really wasn't in optimal fighting condition.

I should be used to that by now.

Kai had as much trouble with the phone as I had, but in fifteen minutes he had found a functioning pizza place that advertised making their pizzas in authentic wood-fuelled ovens. A quick check of my voicemail revealed that my car was done. The pizza place was close to Mike the Mechanic's garage, so that meant I could retrieve the Blue Beetle and get rid of the SUV at the same time.

Kai drove, which was just as well, because I could close my eyes on the way. Mike did indeed have the Blue Beetle ready for me and was happy to try and tame the SUV's constant commentary before returning it to Billy.

'You drive this?' Kai asked in dismay. He didn't quite recoil, but it was a close thing.

'There is nothing wrong with the Blue Beetle,' I said proudly.

'Apart from the fact that very few parts of it are actually blue,' he pointed out. 'Or that it looks like it's about to fall apart in the first decent wind.' He didn't say that it could have been flushed down the street along with the zombies if it had been parked there at the time, but I could see him thinking it.

'Snob,' I told him.

'Prince,' Kai retorted, grinning.

I blinked, but he didn't elaborate and he got behind the wheel before I could ask.

If he was a prince, that would at least explain why he wanted his identity kept secret. This could be a political hornet's nest that I definitely didn't want to poke.

The student behind the counter in the pizza place raised both eyebrows when I ordered a dozen pizzas to go. 'Nothing else to eat in the house?' he asked.

I nodded sagely. 'And many mouths to feed,' I said solemnly. 'You are my only hope.'

The guy snorted. 'Do I look like Obi-Wan Kenobi to you?'

But he made us the dozen pizzas.

We drove – meaning Kai drove and I disappeared behind Mount Pizza Box – to a deserted alley where we disembarked. Kai handed me one of the pizza boxes, but otherwise hung back with the other eleven.

'They aren't bad,' I told him.

'Has it occurred to you that they might not like to see me either?' Kai asked. 'Dragons don't like Fae, but Fae don't like Dragons with just as much fervour. They might come quicker if I am not the first thing they see.'

'They didn't mind Irene,' I pointed out.

'Irene is a full Librarian; the Library is neutral.' And because of that apparently not a problem. 'Dragons and Fae are always in a state of warfare.'

'They liked Irene because she was holding the pizza,' I said. 'And you are holding eleven boxes.'

Kai frowned. 'You make me sound like a drug dealer.'

I grinned. 'With a very devoted following.'

I positioned myself out of sight of any windows or the main road; the last thing we needed now was widespread panic because fairies were running around town. They were often overlooked, but the kind of feeding frenzy that occurred when there was pizza on offer was hard to miss.

It didn't take three minutes for Toot-Toot to show up. He came racing down the alley, skidded to a halt in mid-air and drew his tiny sword. 'Run, Harry! There's a Dragon behind you!'

Apparently Kai knew what he was talking about. 'At ease, soldier,' I said. 'Kai is a friend.'

Toot-Toot visibly gulped and took another look at Kai. 'The youngest son of the King of the Eastern Ocean?'

I looked over my shoulders. Kai grimaced at me.

'He's a friend, Toot,' I repeated. 'He won't hurt you.' The fact that he hadn't even acknowledged the pizza indicated how serious this was.

Toot-Toot didn't take my word for it.

Kai inclined his head. 'I swear on my father and grandfather that I am here in peace. No harm will come to you by my hand, by my order or by my wish.'

Toot-Toot gulped again, but he nodded. 'If you want something with him here, you'll have to offer a lot of pizza, Harry.'

'Don't tell me the Guard is afraid of Dragons, Toot.'

'The Queens will not like him being here,' Toot-Toot said, still casting nervous glances in Kai's direction. 'This is one of their worlds.'

Kai scoffed, but didn't say anything else.

There's nothing for realising your own insignificance quite like casually being told that the world you live in, everything you have ever known, has been claimed as property by the Queens of Faerie as part of their extended portfolio.

I wondered if us humans had ever got a say in that.

'They won't know if you don't tell them,' I said. 'They won't hear it from me.'

Toot-Toot hesitated. He looked from me to Kai to the pizza to the boxes in Kai's arms. The pizza won the debate. 'That's a lot of pizza, Harry.'

I nodded. 'You know the rules. I need information first. Pizza upon delivery. And,' I added, greasing the wheels, 'a whole slice to yourself if you can find it quickly.'

Toot-Toot saluted. 'The Za Lord's Guard will find what you need. What do you need?'

'I need to know about the movements of a Librarian,' I said. 'His name is Hercule Vincent. He died four days ago.'

Toot nodded, as if this was old news to him. 'He drove over him,' he said.

'He?'

'The bad wizard with the hat.'

That sounded a lot like Grevane. Nothing I hadn't suspected already, especially since he had had a very loud row with Hercule not that long before. 'Thanks, Toot, that's good information. I need to know what Hercule did on the day he died. Where did he go? Who did he meet?'

Toot-Toot raced off.

'I can wait in the street,' Kai offered. 'Your sources might find it easier to approach you if I am not here.'

'You underestimate how much they love pizza.'

Having said that, Toot's response to Kai was a little heavier than I had anticipated. As if I wasn't out of my depth enough with necromancers, Librarians and Alberich.

Toot-Toot's people did good work, though. The first of them returned within fifteen minutes. The trouble was trying to get a coherent sequence of events out of them and keeping them on track long enough to pin them down regarding the finer details. This was a little harder than normal, because Kai's presence made many of them a little nervous.

His orderly distribution of pizza however won them over.

Hercule had had a busy day on his last day of life. He had left his apartment around seven in the morning, walked to a bakery to get a bagel and coffee for breakfast, which he consumed while reading a newspaper. Then he had traipsed all over town. He had visited three book stores, although it didn't appear that he had bought anything; his bag never filled up apparently. He had visited the Field Museum, where he had spent an hour before leaving. From there he had gone all over Chicago, walking in and out of shops without buying, strolling through parks, before finally going to another bakery for lunch. After lunch, he had crossed the road, where he had died.

'Reading a book,' I said.

Toot-Toot nodded.

'Could it have been an accident?' I asked. Grevane wasn't the only one in town wearing a hat. It could have been someone else.

Toot-Toot shook his head decisively and several of his troops loudly agreed with him.

'What happened?' Kai asked. He had won them over enough that the Guard no longer flinched when he spoke.

'The Librarian crossed the road,' said Toot-Toot, miming Hercule walking, extending his hands before him as if he was holding a book. 'Then the car came and ran him over.' One of his troops obligingly took on the role of car and barrelled into Toot-Toot at speed. Toot "dropped" his book and made a great performance of falling on the ground gravely wounded. 'Then he reversed and did it again. And again. And again. And…'

For our edification the hit-and-reverse-half-a-dozen-times-and-then-run was acted out. It was no longer a mystery why Hercule's body had been in such a state. This wasn't just a quick hit-and-run, this was a very vengeful man taking out his frustration on someone who had told him no. Hercule wouldn't have had the chance to use his magic. And he wasn't a wizard, so he couldn't have unleashed a death curse.

Grevane was a bully, but he was a very, very dangerous bully. And he didn't even need to use magic to be deadly.

I left the Little Folk to their pizza. Kai and I returned home, with answers, but not really the answers we needed. There would never be time to check every place Hercule had visited before nightfall.

Kai had reached the same conclusion. 'Maybe Irene will have found something to narrow it down.' He directed me to the passenger seat again. 'And maybe, if we cannot follow all of the places he'd been, the necromancers can't either. Could they do the ritual without the book?'

I didn't think so, and said so. 'If they could, they wouldn't try to track it down.'

But it wasn't nightfall yet, and there was still a chance any of the necromancers got there before we did.

I had to be there first. In the back of my mind a countdown ran to midnight, when Mavra's deadline would bring ruin on Murphy if I didn't meet it.

'Harry?' Kai asked when we were waiting for a red light. 'Who was the man I threw off you last night? It seemed like he knew you.'

First Thomas, now Kai. 'I don't know.' Or didn't remember. 'He seemed familiar, but…' I shook my head and, not for the first time, remembered why I shouldn't.

'It looked very personal.'

Yes, it was personal. I just wished I knew why.

The whole question went out of my head when we arrived home. Kai got out of the car first, then froze. 'Harry, the door is ajar.'

I sighed. 'Really?'

Kai shook his head in frustration and pointed. 'Your front door is open.'

I followed his finger.

The door was, indeed, ajar.

I took the stairs down two at a time. The wards I had put on my apartment were gone and the door looked like it had been broken down. That door was made of steel, so that would have taken some serious effort.

Inside the most bizarre tableau waited. Thomas was unconscious on the floor, a bloodied sword beside him. Irene crouched next to him, with her fingers on his wrist. Mouse licked her face. Bradamant meanwhile took advantage of Irene's distraction by sidling up to the bookcase. And in the doorway to the bedroom stood Butters, in his polka-suit, looking shame-faced.

I waited for someone to tell me that this wasn't what it looked like.

No one did.

And I still had no idea what it actually did look like.

Kai pushed past me, grabbed Bradamant and pulled her away from her not-so-subtle attempt at trying to snatch Die Lied der Erlking from under our noses. 'Hands off!' he snapped.

Bradamant scowled at him. 'I promised to let Irene take it back,' she said.

Kai's eyes narrowed in suspicion. 'Then you don't need to hold it, do you?'

'What happened?' I asked Butters.

'They came and broke the door down,' Butters said. 'Thomas said he'd hold them off, so I dragged Mouse into the bathroom.'

I considered Mouse and then I looked at Butters. Who had dragged whom was probably exactly the other way around. 'And then?'

'I hid, until they went away.'

Thomas had said he was a coward, and he was. But if Mouse thought dragging Butters away was a good idea, then that was probably the only reason Butters was still alive.

The "they" in question were probably the necromancers, although probably not the Corpsetaker or Alberich, who operated alone. Neither of them struck me as the types for harmonious teamwork. And Grevane already knew where I lived. I remembered the last man who had tried to get in Grevane's way.

'Well done,' I said, looking at Mouse.

He came to collect his due of ear scratches.

'Did they take anything?' Irene asked. 'Die Lied der Erlking is still here.'

'No thanks to Bradamant,' Kai said.

I looked around. Everything was still here. Had they been after me? Had they left when they couldn't find me?

Then I looked at the rug lying over the trapdoor to the subbasement, which wasn't lying like it had that morning. I had a sinking feeling I suddenly knew exactly what they were after. Why go after Kemmler's book, if you could get your hands on Kemmler's assistant?

I went to my lab.

Bob's shelf was empty.

Next time: enter the Wardens.

Reviews would be appreciated.