Chapter 3

The Little Folk

Irene couldn't sense magic herself, not usually anyway, but the basement apartment felt safer than the streets. It was a small place, but the candles and fireplace made it look cozy. And Harry had been right; he owned a lot of books. Most of them were cheap paperbacks, but that didn't matter for her purposes. There were enough books to establish some basic Library wards.

'If you don't mind, I'll bring this place in sympathy with the Library,' she said. 'That will keep Alberich out. I will explain everything after.'

'What does that mean?' Dresden looked a bit suspicious.

'It will keep out chaos, and its agents,' Irene said, trying to sound as reassuring as possible. 'Alberich won't be able to get in here.' She thought about that. 'And maybe the two robed people either.' Kai seemed fairly certain that what they had done at the end was no ordinary sorcery.

And who was she to argue with an expert?

Dresden didn't know what to think of it, and neither did the very handsome man on the couch by the looks of him, but he nodded.

Irene was only too well aware that she was about to invoke Coppelia's wrath by telling people in an alternate about the Library. Not that she thought she had any choice. Harry Dresden had driven off Alberich, but he wasn't dead. She knew two things about Alberich for certain: 1) he was highly dangerous and 2) the people who crossed him ended up dead.

Three of the people on his hit list were right here.

Harry made a face when the Language took effect – Irene was sure he could feel it somehow – but she breathed easier for it. Alberich could not get to her here. For the moment, they were safe.

'Explanation time,' Harry announced.

Coppelia was going to tear her to shreds.

Irene nodded. She sat down. Fortunately both Kai and Harry followed suit. Harry looked from her to Kai, but Irene was still Kai's teacher, so the responsibility to explain fell to her.

'Kai and I are agents of the Library,' she began.

Harry nodded. 'A library between worlds,' he said, making the kind of gesture with his right hand that could be universally translated as move on please.

'You know about it?' That would be very unusual. Of course, everything since coming here had been unusual and strange. And wrong. Had Alberich known where they were going? Or had he already been here? If so, that was a huge coincidence, him being after the same book as Kai and Irene for the second time in a few months.

She had been right to smell a rat.

'Only that,' said Harry. Irene looked at him, but he avoided her gaze.

'Yes,' she said, because now that she had started, she might as well finish. 'The Library collects books. That is what we do. That is what Kai and I were sent here to do, to collect Die Lied der Erlking for the Library.'

'Why?' Harry asked. 'Why do you collect books?'

Irene smiled. 'Because we like reading. And to preserve.' She gestured at Harry, who presumably still had the book secreted away in that large leather duster that he hadn't taken off yet. 'There are only a few copies remaining of that particular book. The Library would preserve it, and maybe, when the time is right, bring it back in circulation.'

Harry frowned. 'You are book thieves.'

'We would happily pay for this one,' Irene said virtuously, not mentioning that often enough it really was more of a heist than a purchase.

'Professional book thieves,' snorted the man on the couch.

'There is a purpose to it,' Irene said heatedly. 'By collecting books unique to a specific world, we can strengthen the connection to the Library, which stabilises a world.' She bit her lip, wondering if she should say it, but ultimately deciding that she might as well. 'Especially when a world is already sliding towards chaos.'

'Meaning?'

Unsurprisingly it was Kai who answered. 'Fae interference, with all of the consequences that entails.'

Clearly the Fae interference was nothing new to them, because neither man showed any surprise.

'Worlds with a chaos infestation tend to be dragged into narrative patterns,' Irene explained. 'The more chaos and Fae interference there is, the more this happens. Events become less random chance and more forced into what would make a good story, usually with humanity becoming background characters for whatever story the Fae are trying to play out at that time. They can make reality become unstable, malleable.'

The memory of what had happened with Alberich that night returned to the forefront of Irene's mind. She took a deep breath, forced it back, and carried on. Better this than have this turn into a question and answer game. Better still not to linger on what had happened. 'Dragons can reinforce reality in a world, but for some reason they aren't doing that here. Tying a world closer to the Library is another way to at least slow the descent into chaos down a bit.'

Harry thought for a moment. 'Who was Alberich?' he asked, which was a logical question, given that he had seen what reality had done when Alberich had made his escape.

'A rogue Librarian.' That was short and accurate, yet at the same time completely failed to convey the scope of the problem. 'We don't know what he has done to himself, but he has embroiled himself with chaos.' She wasn't even sure if she could call him human at this stage. 'All we know is that he is very dangerous and that the people who get in his way usually end up dead.' With herself and Kai so far being the happy exception. And now Harry too.

'I don't think it is a coincidence that the Librarian-in-Residence ended up dead at the same time Alberich showed up,' Kai said, giving Irene a very pointed you-see-I-told-you-so look to go with it.

Irene wouldn't have divulged that information to a virtual stranger, but there was no putting that cat back in the bag. Besides, Alberich's presence here did make it more likely that Hercule's death was not the accident it had at first seemed. But how did that tie in with the research he had done on the Fae and Die Lied der Erlking? So far very little made any sense.

But, since Kai had brought it up, she did confirm that Hercule had died two days previously in what appeared as a car accident, but that he had also been up to his ears in research concerning the Fae and admitted that the fact Kai and she were sent after this particular book could be related to all of this.

Whatever this was.

'Necromancy,' Harry Dresden said, looking grim.

Which understandably threw Irene for a bit of a loop. Fortunately he didn't think turning this into a question and answer game was useful either, because he explained.

Which made her wish he hadn't.

He told a story of at least three necromancers on the loose – the two they had fought tonight plus another one called Grevane who liked to wear a fedora, who employed an unknown minion – who were probably planning something on Halloween, but he didn't know what. The interest they all shared was the book in Harry's pocket. Except Grevane, who apparently already owned a copy.

'Four necromancers,' Irene said softly when he was finished. There was no reason to assume Alberich had not crossed that line. 'If Alberich wants the book, he might be involved in that.'

Harry nodded. 'At least four,' he agreed.

Implying that there might be more.

Given the way Irene's day was going so far, it would not surprise her at all.

'We should work together,' she proposed. Coppelia was going to be unhappy anyway. Besides, so long as this was still dragging on, there was no way she was going to get the book from him. 'At least until this is over. And then we would like to buy Die Lied der Erlking from you, when you no longer need it.'

Taking this out of circulation seemed like a good idea, given the people who were currently after it.

Harry contemplated that for a moment, but then agreed. 'Deal.'

They decided to take a short break for tea and toilet. It had been a while.

By the time she came back into the tiny living room, the dog had made friends with Kai. He had placed his head in Kai's lap and was lapping up the treatment of rubs behind his ears with a very doggy grin.

Apparently the beast was called Mouse.

Privately Irene thought Kai's estimation of highland cow had been closer to the truth. From the look of it, it wouldn't surprise her if it had woolly mammoth somewhere in its ancestry. She had seen her fair share of dogs, but none so absolutely enormous as this one, nor one that looked less like a mouse.

Harry introduced the other man as Thomas, his roommate. Irene suspected that he was a bit more than that, but this was none of her business, so she didn't say anything.

They quickly established that what they needed the most was more information. Since none of the necromancers were unlikely to volunteer that information, alternative methods were needed. Irene and Kai were necromancy novices – and Irene for one would have been perfectly content to remain that way – but Harry at least knew what he was talking about when it came to the basics.

According to him a necromancer needed to make sure that they had a drummer nearby, someone who could simulate a heartbeat to keep his zombies under control, hence why they always travelled in pairs. That was why Cowl had not been alone, and why Grevane likely wouldn't be on his own either if they encountered him.

'I don't see how it all ties together,' she said. The only thing that bound the necromancers, Alberich and perhaps Hercule's death together was Die Lied der Erlking, which she was currently skimming. So far it seemed as if it was just a collection of stories, essays and poems about the Fae creature called the Erlking, and most of these didn't agree with each other.

What did a necromancer want with faerie stories?

What had Hercule been doing with so much Fae research?

And, she made sure to keep this part to herself, how much had Coppelia already known about this situation? How much had she not told?

'We need more information.'

Harry grinned, which was not a reassuring sight. 'I've got sources we can ask.'

Something about that tone made Kai suspicious. 'What kind of sources?'

'My sources.'

Harry didn't tell them everything, Irene suspected. Which was only fair, because she hadn't told him everything either. Honestly, she was relieved he hadn't asked about the Language, although she could tell he wanted to. This was an alliance, not a friendship.

And we need to get this sorted out, get the book, and then get out as fast as we can.

Only it seemed like the getting out was going to take some time. And required a lot more work than anticipated. And a lot more danger.

Kai's reaction got him uninvited to talk to the sources. He and Thomas were allocated to make a study of Die Lied der Erlking and try and figure out which part of that could be of potential interest to a necromancer. Harry hesitated for a moment, but then decided that Irene could come after all, on the basis that she at least would recognise things about the Library element of this mess more than he would.

Still, she couldn't escape the notion that he didn't entirely trust her.

Of course, she didn't entirely trust him either. Everyone who could set Alberich on fire and make him retreat was not someone to be taken lightly.

Consequently, there was no conversation on the way to where they were going.

Harry Dresden was a tall man, with long legs that made long strides, and Irene had to do the occasional little skip to keep up with him. Being outside again made her feel rather jumpy, but there was no sign of Alberich anywhere.

Their destination turned out to be a pizza place that was open all hours. Even now, well after midnight, there were still people inside. Apparently Chicago was a city that didn't sleep.

'Your source works here?' she asked.

Her companion grinned enigmatically. He seemed a bit more relaxed now that there was a plan of action to follow.

He walked up to the counter and ordered a dozen pizzas. Irene tried and failed to look as if she knew exactly what was going on. The people in this place were more up to speed with this strange ritual than she was. They greeted Harry by name, exchanged some chitchat and jokes while the pizzas were prepared.

Curiouser and curiouser.

It got curiouser still when she followed him to a little back alley a few blocks away. There was one lamppost in it and under it Harry halted. He handed all but one of the pizza boxes to her and then told Irene to take a few steps back.

Doing as she was told was not always one of Irene's strong suits, but until she knew what was going on, it might be her best bet. So she did as she was told. Harry opened his box, took out one slice and lay it on the palm of his right hand, which he then held up as if it was a beacon of some kind. He whispered something too, but Irene was – intentionally, she was sure – too far away to hear.

Nothing happened.

This did not seem to faze Harry. He stood calm and relaxed, and whispered some more.

After maybe five minutes a small blue light appeared at the other end of the alley. It shot through the air and halted abrupt in front of Harry's extended hand.

'Evening, Toot-Toot,' Harry said, as if the appearance of flying blue lights was completely normal.

'My lord!' chirped the blue light.

Irene nearly dropped the boxes.

The light dimmed enough for Irene to notice that the blue light was in fact a miniature person. With wings. He also appeared to be wearing a bottle cap as a helmet and various pieces of rubbish made up some sort of rudimentary armour, boldly proclaiming Pizza or Death! Which would at least explain why she was lugging boxes full of pizza into a dark alley in the middle of the night.

And now she was glad that Kai had remained behind, because this was some sort of Fae being. Small wonder that Harry had elected to leave him at home. Irene was not entirely comfortable with this herself, but at least this was not one of the greater Fae, nothing like Lord Silver. This Toot-Toot would be almost completely below his notice.

Below most people's notice, probably.

That explains what we're doing here. He has his own Baker Street Irregulars.

'Looking good, Toot,' Harry observed, smiling.

Toot-Toot appeared to grow with pride. 'Yes, my lord.'

Irene felt as if she had entered a book in the middle and consequently had missed about half the plot. These two knew each other. They had history. In some ways, they were probably even friends.

Harry grinned. 'At ease, soldier.'

Toot-Toot eyed the slice on Harry's hand. 'That is a pizza,' he declared, voice low in almost reverence. 'Is it my pizza, Harry?'

'It could be. I am offering it in payment.'

Toot-Toot perked up. 'For what?'

This was like a game in which certain steps were always followed, but both participants derived some enjoyment from it.

'Information,' Harry said. He gestured behind him with his gloved left hand to where Irene still stood with the rest of the boxes. 'My new friend and I need to know about some very dark magic that has been used the last few days.' He smiled winningly. 'And when it comes to finding out information, you and your people are the best there is.'

Irene could have sworn Toot-Toot grew another inch in response to the praise.

'A Librarian, Harry?' he asked.

Did she have a sign hanging over her head? Most of the Fae couldn't tell at a glance that she belonged to the Library. Lord Silver certainly had not. Then again, he was probably too caught up in whatever role he was playing that day, which meant that he often missed the things that were right under his nose.

'A friend,' Harry repeated, which was probably stretching the definition a bit.

'A friend with pizza.' Apparently pizza covered a multitude of sins.

'That's payment for your friends if they can give me the information I am looking for,' Harry said sternly. 'Information first, pizza later.'

Toot-Toot sagged a bit in apparent disappointment. Irene suspected that this too was part of the game they played.

Harry spread out a map of Chicago over the lid of a nearby bin. 'There are some necromancers in town,' he said. 'I need to know where they've been, where they are and where they have been working their magic. Magic that dark will have left a trace.' He gestured at Irene.

Right, her turn. 'There is a man in Chicago, called Alberich,' she began.

She would have explained more about him, but Toot-Toot reeled back as if she had slapped him. It seemed safe to assume that he knew who that was.

Alberich, terror of the known worlds.

Concern clouded Harry's face as well. Presumably not many things got that reaction out of this fellow. Toot-Toot looked like he was about to bolt and forget all about the pizza.

'You don't need to approach him,' Irene said. 'But if there is any word about where he's been or what he is up to, then we need to know.'

Toot-Toot rallied, but the blue light that surrounded him looked less bright than it had when he arrived. He looked from Irene to Harry to the pizza on offer. The pizza won the contest.

He saluted first Harry, then Irene. 'The Za Lord's Guard will be happy to help, my lord!'

'I have a guard?' asked Harry, to whom this was apparently news as well.

Fear forgotten, Toot-Toot raised the nail he apparently used as a sword, beaming with pride. 'Of course, my lord! Who do you think keeps the Dread Beast Mister from killing the brownies when they come to clean up your apartment? We do! Who lays low the mice and rats and ugly big spiders who might crawl into your bed and nibble on your toes? We do! Fear not, Za Lord! Neither the foulest of rats nor the cleverest of insects shall disturb your home while we draw breath!'

Irene didn't think he had indeed drawn breath during that speech.

The expression on Harry's face was hard to read, like he didn't quite know what to do with that much adoration. 'Your pizza is going cold,' he pointed out.

Toot-Toot did not need telling twice; he was off again at the speed of light.

'Za Lord?' Irene asked when Toot-Toot was gone.

'I pay them for information in pizza.' He shrugged. 'I wasn't aware they'd formed a guard.' He frowned. 'Why are the Little Folk so scared of Alberich?'

Irene shook her head. 'I don't know.' When that led to a slightly disbelieving look, she repeated: 'I don't know, I really don't. Information about what he has done since he left the Library is not readily available. We know he's been making deals for power with the Fae. He's completely chaos-contaminated, which is why the Library wards will keep him out. He loves to kill Librarians. He…' The memories danced in front of her mind's eye. The scent of pizza, at first so enticing, now threatened to make her sick. 'He… doesn't have a body anymore, not like we do. He takes the bodies of others. He kills them, skins them and then somehow assumes that skin. And you can't tell from the outside.'

'You recognised him.'

Irene forced herself to focus. 'There was something about his eyes,' she said, trying to remember what it was about the man's face that had given the occupant away. 'They were… too cold, too powerful, too cruel? You'll know it when you see it. I can't put it into words.'

Which was not an admirable trait in a Librarian. Two out of ten for clarity of explanation, spoke her thoughts with Coppelia's voice.

She took a deep breath.

'I didn't kill him tonight,' Harry said. It was not a question.

I'm not sure that he can be killed, was what Irene did not say. 'I stripped him of the body he was wearing a few months ago. It did nothing to him. I don't know why setting him on fire drove him off.'

All she knew was that he would be back. He wanted the book. Maybe Kai and Thomas could figure out what that was.

The Little Folk were fast workers. Barely ten minutes after Toot-Toot's departure they began to flood the alley, crowding around the map on the lid, pointing and talking over each other until Harry, in his newfound role of Za Lord, restored order and managed to get them to form something that vaguely resembled an orderly queue.

Harry had not exaggerated when he said that the Little Folk were the best when it came to gathering information. They all concurred that dark magic had taken place at six places, all of which Harry marked in permanent marker on the map.

Information about Alberich was harder to come by. Several of the Little Folk had witnessed the fight in front of the book shop, but for many that was the first they knew of Alberich walking around in this world.

'Good work,' Harry told his guards. 'The pizza is all yours.'

It was a good thing Irene had been able to set the boxes down, because they fell on them as if they hadn't seen any food in a year. Irene understood suddenly why they were so devoted to Harry; he clearly gave them their heart's desire.

They walked back to Harry's apartment mostly in silence. It was very late and Irene was very aware that she'd had a very long, eventful day. Beside her, Harry was clearly having some of the same issues; he leaned heavily on his staff.

Of Alberich – or any other baddies – there was fortunately no sign.

Back at the apartment Kai and Thomas had some good news for them. 'One of the poems is a summoning,' Thomas said. 'To summon the Erlking.'

Judging by the expression on Harry's face, this was not good news.

Next time: more Alberich, more trouble, and a talkative car.

Reviews would be appreciated.