"And?"
"And what if this invader got into the water before Mab caught it?" I asked. "What if it got into Maeve?"
"That's crazy," he said. "Mab's the one who's gone mental."
"Is she?" I asked him. "Is it so crazy? Remember that meeting at Mac's? Remember how we found out that Mab had cracked a gasket?"
"Maeve told . . ." He stopped speaking suddenly.
"Yeah," I said. "A minute ago, you told Lily to ignore the words and look at the actions. You know as well as I do which speaks louder. You know who I am and what I've done. So I'm going to ask one more question," I said. "Whose idea was it to be here tonight? Lily's? Or Maeve's?"
The blood drained from his face. "Oh. Fuck."
I bowed my head. Then I said, "Fix, I saved you because you're a decent guy, and I don't care if we're on different teams. I don't want you dead."
"Yeah," he said quietly. "It . . . speaks pretty loud. But maybe you knew I'd think that. Maybe you did it so that you could play me."
"Maybe you're giving me way more credit for cunning than I'm due. You know how I work. How often do I get to a neat, elegant solution that ties everything up? Can you look at me right now and honestly say to yourself, 'Dresden, that wily genius! This must be a part of his master plan'?"
I spread my hands and looked up at him expectantly.
Fix looked at me, dirty, naked, shivering, burned, bruised, covered in soot and ash.
"Fuck," he said again, and looked back at the Ladies.
"I don't think Maeve did anything to Lily's head," I said. "I don't think she needed to. I think Lily was insecure and lonely enough that all Maeve needed to do was act sort of like a person. Give Lily someone who she felt understood what she was going through. Someone she thought would have her back."
"A friend," Fix said.
"Yes."
"Everyone wants to have a friend," he said quietly. "Is that so bad?"
"Thelma and Louise were friends," I said. I pointed at the triangle. "Canyon."
The muscles along his jaw jumped several times. "Even if . . . even if you're being honest, and you're right-and I'm not copping to either-so what? Those coteries with them are their inner circles. They'll obey without question. You've got nothing left to fight with. And I sure as hell can't take them all on alone."
I didn't want to say it, to give away anything to a potential enemy. Nemesis could have taken Fix, for all I knew. It could be there inside him right then, smirking at the rapport it was establishing with me. That was the ugly fact.
But sometimes you have to ignore the math, and . . .
And follow the wisdom of your heart.
My heart told me that Fix was a decent guy.
"Fix, I know about this island. It's kind of my stomping grounds. That's how I got through. And I know that if Maeve has her way, this island is going Mount Saint Helens, and taking Chicago with it."
He stared at me, frowning, pensive.
"My daughter is in town," I said in a whisper. "She'll die."
He blinked. "You have a . . . ?" Then he rocked back a little, as he realized what I'd entrusted him with. "Oh. Christ, Dresden."
I took a deep breath and pressed on. "The Hunt is out there taking it to the Outsiders right now," I said. "And they're winning. And my crew is here, outside the circle. Murphy, Molly, Thomas, Mouse. If I can take the circle down, we aren't alone."
"When did 'we' happen?" he asked in a flat, hard tone.
I looked up at him and saw laughter at the corners of his eyes.
Sometimes the wisdom of the heart is not at all a bad thing.
"I won't let anything hurt Lily," he said. "For any reason. Period."
"Agreed," I said. "Maeve's the bad guy."
He tested his right hand again and got a little more motion out of it before he winced. "I don't know where this will get you," he said, "but as far as I could tell, this was just a ritual circle, like any other."
"How so?"
"When we landed, Maeve sent some hounds and some Little Folk after you and went straight for that lighthouse-and the guardian just popped up out of the ground, where it is now. Maeve assaulted the spirit, just like right now. She kept it busy while Lily walked a circle of the hilltop, singing. I've seen her set up circles like that a thousand times. But once she'd gone all the way around, kaboom, up came the wall."
I grunted. "Then . . . it's a preinstalled defense that can be triggered like . . . Hell's bells, not like a ward. It is a ward. A huge one. But if anything of the island passes through the circle without disturbing it, and anything that isn't of the island is destroyed . . ." I followed the logic through and sagged.
"What?" Fix asked.
"Then there's no way to break the circle," I breathed. "It's like a time-lock safe. It isn't coming down until sunrise."
"Meaning what?"
I swallowed. Sunrise was too late. So I gathered whatever scraps of strength I had left in me and pushed myself slowly, wearily to my feet.
"Meaning," I said, "we're on our own."
Fix eyed the center of the clearing. He passed me a silvery knife he drew from his belt and said, "There you go with that 'we' again."
"And what if this invader got into the water before Mab caught it?" I asked. "What if it got into Maeve?"
"That's crazy," he said. "Mab's the one who's gone mental."
"Is she?" I asked him. "Is it so crazy? Remember that meeting at Mac's? Remember how we found out that Mab had cracked a gasket?"
"Maeve told . . ." He stopped speaking suddenly.
"Yeah," I said. "A minute ago, you told Lily to ignore the words and look at the actions. You know as well as I do which speaks louder. You know who I am and what I've done. So I'm going to ask one more question," I said. "Whose idea was it to be here tonight? Lily's? Or Maeve's?"
The blood drained from his face. "Oh. Fuck."
I bowed my head. Then I said, "Fix, I saved you because you're a decent guy, and I don't care if we're on different teams. I don't want you dead."
"Yeah," he said quietly. "It . . . speaks pretty loud. But maybe you knew I'd think that. Maybe you did it so that you could play me."
"Maybe you're giving me way more credit for cunning than I'm due. You know how I work. How often do I get to a neat, elegant solution that ties everything up? Can you look at me right now and honestly say to yourself, 'Dresden, that wily genius! This must be a part of his master plan'?"
I spread my hands and looked up at him expectantly.
Fix looked at me, dirty, naked, shivering, burned, bruised, covered in soot and ash.
"Fuck," he said again, and looked back at the Ladies.
"I don't think Maeve did anything to Lily's head," I said. "I don't think she needed to. I think Lily was insecure and lonely enough that all Maeve needed to do was act sort of like a person. Give Lily someone who she felt understood what she was going through. Someone she thought would have her back."
"A friend," Fix said.
"Yes."
"Everyone wants to have a friend," he said quietly. "Is that so bad?"
"Thelma and Louise were friends," I said. I pointed at the triangle. "Canyon."
The muscles along his jaw jumped several times. "Even if . . . even if you're being honest, and you're right-and I'm not copping to either-so what? Those coteries with them are their inner circles. They'll obey without question. You've got nothing left to fight with. And I sure as hell can't take them all on alone."
I didn't want to say it, to give away anything to a potential enemy. Nemesis could have taken Fix, for all I knew. It could be there inside him right then, smirking at the rapport it was establishing with me. That was the ugly fact.
But sometimes you have to ignore the math, and . . .
And follow the wisdom of your heart.
My heart told me that Fix was a decent guy.
"Fix, I know about this island. It's kind of my stomping grounds. That's how I got through. And I know that if Maeve has her way, this island is going Mount Saint Helens, and taking Chicago with it."
He stared at me, frowning, pensive.
"My daughter is in town," I said in a whisper. "She'll die."
He blinked. "You have a . . . ?" Then he rocked back a little, as he realized what I'd entrusted him with. "Oh. Christ, Dresden."
I took a deep breath and pressed on. "The Hunt is out there taking it to the Outsiders right now," I said. "And they're winning. And my crew is here, outside the circle. Murphy, Molly, Thomas, Mouse. If I can take the circle down, we aren't alone."
"When did 'we' happen?" he asked in a flat, hard tone.
I looked up at him and saw laughter at the corners of his eyes.
Sometimes the wisdom of the heart is not at all a bad thing.
"I won't let anything hurt Lily," he said. "For any reason. Period."
"Agreed," I said. "Maeve's the bad guy."
He tested his right hand again and got a little more motion out of it before he winced. "I don't know where this will get you," he said, "but as far as I could tell, this was just a ritual circle, like any other."
"How so?"
"When we landed, Maeve sent some hounds and some Little Folk after you and went straight for that lighthouse-and the guardian just popped up out of the ground, where it is now. Maeve assaulted the spirit, just like right now. She kept it busy while Lily walked a circle of the hilltop, singing. I've seen her set up circles like that a thousand times. But once she'd gone all the way around, kaboom, up came the wall."
I grunted. "Then . . . it's a preinstalled defense that can be triggered like . . . Hell's bells, not like a ward. It is a ward. A huge one. But if anything of the island passes through the circle without disturbing it, and anything that isn't of the island is destroyed . . ." I followed the logic through and sagged.
"What?" Fix asked.
"Then there's no way to break the circle," I breathed. "It's like a time-lock safe. It isn't coming down until sunrise."
"Meaning what?"
I swallowed. Sunrise was too late. So I gathered whatever scraps of strength I had left in me and pushed myself slowly, wearily to my feet.
"Meaning," I said, "we're on our own."
Fix eyed the center of the clearing. He passed me a silvery knife he drew from his belt and said, "There you go with that 'we' again."
