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Chapter Text

            “The labs have come back on the blood at the scene, it’s confirmed. It was Dresden’s” The voice on the other end of the phone spoke flatly, without emotion. My primary source inside the Chicago Police Department is a dispassionate man. Nothing broke his monotone.

            “Keep me posted.” I said, as flatly as him. Then I hung up. I reclined in my chair, ran my hand down my face, and sighed. I wasn’t sad. No tears would be shed over the fallen wizard, but I couldn’t help but feel melancholic. We had reached the end of an era.

            Harry Dresden was dead. For years, the streets of Chicago had been protected by a tall, lanky man dressed in a black leather duster. He had garnered quite the reputation, not only with my own kind, but by anyone who had the fortune, or misfortune of crossing his path. Everything that went bump in the night in this city knew him, and he was far beyond a local legend. Every member of the supernatural community, from the lowliest troll under the ricketiest bridge to Nicodemus Archleone knew that if you did business in the windy city, you would have to deal with Harry Dresden.

            The past forty-eight hours were a blur in my mind, and I had been sitting on the sidelines the entire time. I had known something big was brewing in the ether. Whispers had started that something was going to happen, some big event, perhaps even an end to the war between the Red Court and the White Council. It wasn’t until Thomas had called me that I was able to piece together the full scope of it. Less than a day later, The Red Court was gone. Wiped from the face of the earth to save one little girl, Harry’s daughter. I had been around long enough to think I had seen everything. I never thought I would see something like this.

            Harry and I had something of a report. I had respected him, but not feared him. My dealings with him in the past played in my mind, over and over. Meeting him on Arturo’s set, all those years ago. He had seemed like such a baby then. Feeling his blind judgement and rage over what Thomas had done to Justine, and his joy when he saw she had survived. When the dust settled in the end, he came out on top, gave me an opportunity to take control of the family. I had wanted to thank him properly for allowing me to dispose of my father. I had dreamed of it for years. But he never would have accepted, even privately. To do it publicly was impossible, it would have been far to kind for Lara Raith.

            In my hubris, years later I had made him my catspaw again, and just like the first time, he had delivered for me in spades, allowing me to stop the attempted coup of my house that would have resulted in my downfall, he even beat an outsider to do it. The kiss. I had dreamt of that kiss, more than once. Harry’s power had been delicious that night. I had desired to taste it again ever since. Now, I never would again.

            I had underestimated him. Knowing what he had done in his final hours shone a whole new light on every encounter I had ever shared with him. My guard had been far too low. He could have killed me, and only good planning on my part had spared my life. If he had decided I needed to go, and if he were properly motivated, I wasn’t sure I could have overcome him.

            My thoughts dwelled on him for a time. I allowed them to. There was a mountain of work to be done in the coming weeks. The Red Court’s destruction had upset the core balance of the supernatural world. The shockwaves from this earthquake would continue for years to come, if not decades. I would not spend them all thinking of a dead wizard, but I did now. If I tried to simply let them go, I knew they would gnaw at me with no end until I did. I gave Harry Dresden his due.

            I could hear giggles and soft whispers of pleasure from my bedroom next door. Some of my Kine were keeping themselves occupied waiting for my return. I often worked well into the night, but all work and no play, no way to live, even in the most chaotic of times. I sighed again, then got to my feet and walked across my office to the door to my bedroom to join them. The coming fallout was huge, and I had no desire to face it empty. All of my coming problems would still be there in an hour. I was hungry.

Chapter Text

            My liquor cabinet door squeaked when I opened it, I made a mental note to have the hinges greased. I pushed aside the bottles in the front. Today was not an ordinary day, and it demanded a very specific drink. Glass clinked as I reached back to the final row of bottles. I found what I was looking for after a few moments. I had to blow the dust off of it after I pulled it out. This bottle had been sitting at the back of this cabinet for over a decade. I had bought it right after meeting a young private eye with a tendency to blow things up.

            I turned the whiskey in my hands, admiring the label with a small smile. It was a bit of a throwback in taste for me. They had changed in the last twelve years. Not that it had ever been poor, but this was a young man’s scotch. Something to share with your father after your son is born, or maybe on your wedding night to your high school sweetheart. Not that I had ever experienced any of those things, I had taken great steps to avoid them.

            I strode slowly over to my desk, having a seat. A tall blonde woman was seated across from me. She sat in the exact same position she had been in when we heard the news, and I hung up the phone. Her face was thoughtful, introspective, and resolute. I opened the bottom drawer of my desk and pulled out two clean glasses. The cork popped with an immense sense of satisfaction, right before I poured us each a drink; two fingers each, neat. I slid one politely to the woman across from me. Her eyes flicked to it as she picked it up, lifting it to her nose for a whiff.

            “To one less rival.” I said, lifting my own glass in a toast.

            “Harry Dresden.” Sigrun Gard replied, in a heavy voice full of respect.

            “A worthy opponent.” I agreed. We clinked glasses and each took a sip. I didn’t wince, even though it had more of a bite than I was expecting. Ms. Gard’s expression never changed. It had remained the same for hours, ever since the calls had come pouring in. She knew the ramifications of this far better than I.

            The world of the supernatural exists in balance. The Seelie and Unseelie courts are best known for it, but it exists far beyond the realm of the Sidhe. Forty-eight hours ago, some crazed madman had taken a baseball bat to those delicately balanced scales, and now everyone was scrambling to maintain and improve their position as the world tipped on its axis. Something or someone was going to gain more ground than they ever dreamed off of the fallout from this. I had every intention of that being me.

            The only person who I knew for sure had gained nothing was the man who had held the bat. Harry Dresden had been someone I considered to be an incredibly dangerous asset/problem ever since I looked upon his soul. I still remember what it looked like as clearly as if it had happened five minutes ago. I would never forget it, even after my own inevitable death. Ever since that day I had been certain that one day, there would be a reconning between myself and Mr. Dresden. I had been wrong.

            They had not yet found the body, but at this point that was simply a formality. The amount of blood at the scene could have only come from a shot to the heart. Whomever had taken that shot had been an expert marksman. I already had a few names rattling around in my head as to who the shooter might be. I was determined to find out who. Nobody kills my rivals in my town without my knowledge; although I wasn’t sure if I should thank him or kill him.

            I lifted my gaze to my door. There were dozens of tricks and traps on the other side. A system I had put enormous effort into over the years. Everything from the sprinkler system to the flimsy doors at the dramatic entry points had been designed to kill one man, Harry Dresden. It was an eventual fight that I had put a lot of thought into, and I was somewhat relieved that I didn’t have to be the one to take him down.

            Yet…

            I would be lying if I said I wasn’t going to miss Dresden. If only for his occasional help he had given me when his moral code had allowed, it. We were far more similar than he would have ever admitted to himself. That was why I had done so much planning for our eventual clash. A very small part of me was sad to see him go. He was one of the very few people I found funny, but I would have rather died than laugh at one of his jokes in front of him.

            That thought made me chuckle quietly to myself. Sigrun looked up at me and smiled very slightly.

            “Something funny?” She asked.

            “No, not anymore. The moment is gone.” I replied, taking another sip.

            “He was a great warrior.” Sigrun continued. “He will be welcomed in Valhalla. The Allfather has not heard a story like his in a very long time.”

            “Few have ever done what he did. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it. The entire Red Court, gone.” I snapped my fingers. “Just like that.” I had taken over the prostitution in Chicago from the Red Court, after they made the mistake of provoking Dresden after inviting him to a party. Maybe I would leave his membership open at my health clubs. My own little tribute to the fallen wizard, and our sometimes-unwitting cooperation.

            “We should move quickly if we are to take advantage of their absence.” Gard said, her body language made it look like she would never rise from her chair.

            “The main pieces are already in motion. We’ll adjust as things develop.” The past few hours had been full of activity. I greatly appreciated the chance to unwind with a drink. Even briefly.

            “The storm has yet to begin, John.” She sipped from her glass. I stared at her for a moment. She had never called me John before. Although I employed Ms. Gard, I was not foolish enough to think that she told me everything. I knew enough about her and her true employer to know that there were things she simply couldn’t tell me. At least not directly.

            She was sending me a message. Buckle up, we’re heading headfirst into chaos. I tilted my head back and finished my drink. It was delicious. I looked out the window at my city. If chaos were to come here, Chicago would weather it. It always had. I would do my part to ensure that. It wouldn’t be without loss however, and without Harry Dresden walking the streets, those losses would be much, much higher.

Chapter Text

            In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. I crossed myself as I began to pray, as I had thousands of times before. By now it may even be in the millions. This was not my first time praying for a fallen friend. Being in the service, and serving in a combat zone, was the kind of assignment that lost you friends whether either of you wanted it to or not. Unlike most of my fellow service members, the danger hadn’t gone away when I came home. In fact, it may have gotten even worse.

            Somehow, this loss cut deeper than all the rest.

            I prayed silently, beseeching the Lord to care for the soul of Harry Dresden, my best and closest friend. If not for him, I would have passed into the next life long ago. I had done my best, before and after my injury on that island, to keep him alive and healthy as well. It was a burden I no longer had to carry. What had replaced it was far heavier. Tears flowed freely and silently as I spoke to the Lord for my fallen friend.

            I couldn’t stop thinking about him. Dozens of memories ran through my mind as I prayed. The night we met, taking out a monster together, his tense, but comical first meeting with Charity; the crusades had gone better than that night. Walking into a dilapidated warehouse and seeing Molly clutching his leg, his eyes had burned that night. He had been ready to take on the entire White Council, and die doing it, before I had arrived. Most of my family owed their lives to him, some of us more than others.

            We could always count on his protection, no matter the circumstance. That protection was gone now. Taken away by a sniper’s bullet. They hadn’t found his body yet, but there was more than enough blood on the scene to convince me he was dead. I had seen what a shot to the heart could do to a human being, and it looked exactly like that. The world was far worse off without him. The whole world, all of it; supernatural and vanilla alike. God had given me a truly difficult battle to fight, in the eye of the storm of the death of a friend.

            I heard the door creak softly behind me. Charity must have finished up in the bathroom. I knew she had seen me, and she knew exactly what I was doing. I finished up my plea to the Lord and crossed myself again. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. I grabbed my cane and used the leverage it gave me to get up enough to slide onto the bed. Charity helped me under the covers before climbing in herself. She settled in to her usual place, snuggled under my left arm with her head on my chest. I stroked her hair as we lay together in silence. I few fleeting moments where it was only us, and the horrors of the world vanished. There was only her.

            I was the one to break the silence. We had responsibilities now, and we couldn’t stay there alone together. At least not for very long.

            “How is everyone?” I spoke quietly into her ear. She sighed.

            “Worse, if anything.” She sniffed and wiped a tear away from her cheek. “The younger ones are starting to get distracted, a little. Molly’s still a mess. Every time I think she’s cried herself out, she starts all over again.” Her voice was low and rough. It always got that way when she had been crying.

            “And Maggie?” I said, tentatively. Harry’s daughter had needed a home, and we had been more than happy to give her one. She was horribly traumatized by what had happened in Mexico. Every night she had slept here, she had woken up screaming at least twice.

            “She still says less than a dozen words a day. She’s eating more, but it still isn’t enough. Mouse has been a gift from the Lord himself. He’s trying his best, but he can only do so much. She spends half of her waking hours with her face buried in his fur.” We sighed together. It felt like a freight train had hit me when Father Forthill had shown up at our front door with Harry’s secret daughter, looking for a place for her to stay. I was the proud father of seven children, but I had never had to deal with anything like this.

            “It’ll take time with her; we’re going to have to be patient.” I said, squeezing my wife to me. She hugged me tighter as I did.

            “That child has lost everything. Her entire world is gone. Killed in front of her, the things she went through, the things she’s seen, I…” Her voice turned to sobs; it was just too painful to go on. I held her close as she cried. It wasn’t the first time, and I knew it was far from the last. She kept on crying into my chest.

            “I miss him.” I said in a quiet voice.

            “Me too.” She managed to choke out between sobs.

            “He’d be shocked to hear you say it.” That got a laugh from her, even if it was a small one.

            “I never thought I’d say it.” She croaked out, wiping away her tears again. “We’ve always had our differences, but after Molly… He really was family.”

            “He was.” She whispered.

            A bloodcurdling scream pierced through the night. It was so high pitched and sudden that both of us jumped a little bit.

            “I’ll get her.” I said, swinging my bad leg over the side of the bed and grabbing my cane.

            “Honey,”

            “You’ve done enough tonight. You can rest honey; I can handle it.” I gave her a quick kiss goodbye, got to my feet, and limped as quickly as I could out of our room and down the hall to Charity’s old sewing room. I swung the door open, almost hitting Mouse as I did, the poor dog was pacing the room relentlessly, unable to get to the small girl in the top bunk. She was still asleep, and still screaming.

            I dropped the cane and scooped her out of the bed, holding her as close to me as I could. I tried to calm her, stroking her hair and speaking softly to her. It took her about thirty seconds to stop screaming. When she did, I could feel her tears as she started to cry. I sat down in the chair we had placed in her room, rocking her back and forth, trying my best to soothe her. Mouse put his chin on my knee, rubbing up against whatever part of her he could reach. Good old Mouse, that dog never goes halfway with comfort.

            I don’t know how long I sat there with her. I never looked at the clock. I would have stayed until the trumpets sounded if that’s what it took. After a long while, she managed to fall back asleep. I rose as gently as I could and placed her carefully back in her bed. I reached down to grab my cane and found Mouse had picked it up for me, holding it in his massive jaws. I took it from him, relieved that I didn’t need to reach all the way down.

            “Thank you, Mouse, good boy.” I told him, ruffling his ears affectionately. He chuffed quietly in thanks. Then looked up at the girl and let out a quiet, but very worried little whine. “I know boy. I know. All we can do is be there for her.” He blinked up at me and whined again before settling onto the futon mattress we had put under her bed for him.

            I turned and walked back to my bed. Charity was still up when I got there. I got into the bed, and she put her arms around me. The moment she did, I let it go. I cried; I could feel it all the way in the pit of my stomach it was so deep. My whole body shook as she stroked my hair and held me close. I had been a father for a long time, and there had been many nights I had felt overwhelmed. Nothing had ever felt like this. The moment I could speak, I said what had been running through my mind since the moment I picked her up.

            “She needs her father.”

Chapter Text

            I could see my breath. That is not good. My clothes were warm, but they weren’t made to stand against a Chicago winter. I looked around the park I was walking through, there were less people there than had been recently. Another sign that autumn’s brief time in the city was coming to an end. All of the leaves had changed, and more than half of them were on the ground. I swore under my breath, I was hoping the warmer weather would hold on a little longer. It was a foolish thought, soon the city would be plunged into winter, Chicago would freeze. Maybe I would freeze with it.

            I deserved it.

            I sat down on a park bench for a moment to regain a bit of strength. I was always tired these days. I was thankful for any rest I could get. I rubbed my leg gently as I sat. As soon as I was able to walk, I had left my parent’s place. I couldn’t be there, it hurt too much to have to keep my secret and lie to everyone. The gunshot wound was healing slow, and me living on the street was slowing it down. My senses stayed wide open. I had no intention of being ambushed while I caught my visible breath. The city had become dangerous, far more dangerous in the last few months. That’s what happens when the man who fights the danger goes away.

            Harry.

            Tears welled up in my eyes, but I didn’t let them fall. I was getting better at that. My tears wouldn’t bring him back, and I had cried far too much as it is. Sometimes I just couldn’t help it. I miss him. I miss Harry, my boss, my mentor, even my friend. He had saved my life, more times than I could remember, there were probably some I didn’t even know about. I had repaid him by helping him take his own life.

            The memories of that conversation threatened to surface in my mind again, I focused as hard as I could on looking for any potential danger around me while I pushed them down. I never wanted to think about that ever again. I wish I could just forget, but that was impossible. Everything I am now is because of what I did that day. I spent most nights sleeping on the streets, wherever I could find that was out of the wind. Parking garages, under bridges, all the classic homeless sleeping spots.

            Every now and then I chanced sleeping at a homeless shelter, but that was getting to be too much of a risk. It was never an issue getting a bed, but last time I had been attacked. I had survived, but others had gotten hurt. I couldn’t let that happen again. Maybe it was too much to ask that the world just let me relive the worst thing I ever did in my nightmares over and over. After Harry died, some new vermin had infested the streets of Chicago.

            Lea had told me they were called the Fomor. They looked mostly human, but they were far from it. They had risen from the deep when the Red Court had been obliterated. One of their first goals had been to move into Harry’s old turf, now that he wasn’t there to protect it. That was where I came in. The fights had been brutal, but I was undefeated so far. The moment I lost; I was dead.

            My laser focus was telling me that no one in this park was trying to kill me or was even watching me. I was getting better at the second one. I don’t need anyone waiting around for me to fall asleep. I stood up and headed north. I was pretty familiar with this area by now, and I know of a pretty cheap thrift store where I could pick up a thicker coat. Based on my breath, I was going to need it.

            I kept my head on a swivel and my wizard’s senses open, but the short walk to the store was uneventful. I still had a few dollars in my pocket to spend, I had earned them in a lesson from Auntie Lea. She had suggested I buy food, so of course I was spending it on something else. No matter how hungry I was. It was what Harry would have done.

            The store was wonderfully warm when I walked through the door. I hadn’t known how chilly it was getting until I walked into a heated store. The cashier was on the phone, they saw me walk in, glanced at me for a moment, then returned to their call. Good, I didn’t need anyone talking to me right now. I browsed quickly through the racks of coats and sweaters and came out disappointed. The really warm stuff was already gone. I guess I was late to the party.

            It took me three second to realize the guy who walked into the store at that moment was after me. Thankfully those three seconds didn’t cost me my life. He didn’t pounce and didn’t notice that I had noticed him watching me. His body language and eyes didn’t give it away. It was the instant magical vibe I got when I paid him slightly closer attention. He hadn’t picked up on it. Perfect.

            I was still limping from my wound. It was easy to play it up as I moved slowly around the store. I could feel his eyes glued to me even when I couldn’t see him. A reflection in a mirror let me get a look at him. He was tall, thin, pale, and wearing a scarf. He was Fomor for sure. They always hid their necks. Usually, it was with a turtleneck sweater, but I guess this guy was trying to go incognito.

            I figured out my plan quickly. I picked out a nondescript hoodie from the rack and grabbed a cane to lean on as I made my way up to the counter.

            “Just these two things, thanks.” I told him, keeping my voice high. He had pity in his eyes when he looked at me. I had managed not to look at myself in the mirror, but I knew I had to look pretty rough. His pity pissed me off, but I managed to hide it. Paying with a bunch of crumpled up bills didn’t help things either. I threw the hoodie on over my coat and limped out of the place the moment I had my change.

            He was smart enough to not follow me right away. I could sense him far enough back that he could still keep track of me. I didn’t waste time. I turned a corner and threw up a veil the moment I was out of eyesight and waited for him to catch up. He half-jogged around the corner and cursed under his breath when he saw he had lost me. I smiled when he walked past. Now it was my turn to follow him.

            It had to by this guy’s first day, I swear. He spent all of five minutes looking for me before he wound up in a dark alley with no one watching him. It was that moment that I whipped the cane around into the back of his head. It’s a lot easier to win a fight if your opponent has a concussion. One of a thousand smart-ass lines from Harry I would never forget. The blow landed with a satisfying crack. He never saw it coming. It didn’t quite knock him out though. He staggered down to one knee, which gave me a better angle for the next hit, it landed in the exact same spot. That one put him on his stomach.

            I was on him quicker than a flash, digging my good knee into the small of his back. I had dropped the veil by the time I grabbed his hair and jerked his head back.

            “Looking for someone?” I hissed into his ear. He made a noise, it may have been words, it was hard to tell. I slapped him with my other hand. “Talk.” I hissed again.

            “Fuck you.” It came out garbled, but that was definitely what he said. I slammed his face into the concrete. I heard his nose break. His face came back up full of blood.

            “Wrong answer.” I kept my voice low and threatening.

            “Listen will break you.” He managed to slur out around all the blood in his throat.

            “Thanks for the info.” I whispered into his ear. I slammed his head into the ground a few more times, until I was satisfied with the blood puddle. I hadn’t been able to figure out the name of the Fomor calling the shots in Chicago. This guy had just given it to me for free.

            I zipped up my new bloodstained hoodie, veiled myself again, and left him to bleed. Adrenaline was excellent for keeping away unwanted thoughts. I’ve had just about enough of being hunted; my brain raced as I walked away. The Fomor, the White Council, my friends concerned for me, seems like everyone wanted a piece. I think it was time I did some hunting of my own. Not every fight needs to come to me. Another piece of wisdom from Harry.

            I hope I never forget all that he taught me. Except for one conversation in a church.

Chapter Text

            Thank God I didn’t have to talk. I had always hated things like this. What the hell was I even doing here? I had never even met Harry Dresden. Simon and I were standing at the back of what Captain Luccio had just told us was called the Worry Room. It was a bar of sorts, right in the middle of headquarters, neither of us had been here before. It only seemed right that we stand in the back, our new grey cloaks crisp and clean, laying across our shoulders.

            The room wasn’t that full, it made blending in almost impossible. Maybe about sixteen people were standing around, or sitting at the bar, nursing a strong drink. Tonight, wasn’t the night for a weak one. We were toasting a newly fallen warden. The final casualty of the war with the Red Court. I shifted uncomfortably in place, passing my weight from one foot to the other. A couple members of the Senior Council were in attendance. I had never rubbed elbows with any of them in such an intimate setting before.

            Three of them were here, Martha Liberty, Joseph Listens-To-Wind, and Ebenezer McCoy. They looked the same as everyone else did here, somber. Especially McCoy, he was standing next to the bar, leaning on a pitch-black staff I had never seen him use before. He was hunched over his drink, whiskey, neat. I saw a small splash in his glass, a tear had fallen from the end of his nose and landed square in the middle of his drink. I knew he must be taking this hard, he had been his mentor, after all.

            “So, is anybody going to say anything?” I almost jumped at the words. It had been dead quiet since we walked in. “Or are we all just going to stand here in silence? Harry hated silence; loudest guy I ever knew.” Carlos Ramirez smiled when that got a slight chuckle from the crowd. “I’ll start.” He walked up to the bar and refilled his drink, took a sip, cleared his throat, and started his story.

            “The night I met Harry Dresden was the most awesome night of my life, and I don’t think anything is ever topping it. He saved the White Council that night, and he did it by breaking a law of magic.”

            “Him in a nutshell.” Martha Liberty commented. That got another laugh. Carlos continued with his story.

            “I was fighting a horde of zombies with Captain Luccio and, others.” He caught himself from naming who else had been there, even though we all knew who it was. This wasn’t the time or place to bring him up. “We’re kicking zombie ass and taking names when out of nowhere, a fucking T-Rex jumps onto a car speeding at us and saves our asses. I know he was breaking a law to do it, but man, if you had seen it, Stars and Stones it was beautiful.” He took a long drink. People were looking around awkwardly, things like that usually didn’t get spoken out loud around here. Captain Luccio managed to diffuse things by stepping up next to Ramirez and nodding her head pointedly.

            “I got to ride her into battle that night.” Carlos continued wistfully. “We stopped a crazy necromancer from becoming a god and destroying the entire White Council. That was my first impression of Harry Dresden. I thought there was no way he was ever going to top that. I was wrong. I’m going to miss you buddy.” His voice caught on those last few words. He raised his glass, and we all drank with him.

            “Anybody else?” He asked, sliding into a seat at the bar.

            “I was there that night too.” Captain Luccio started, brushing her hair out of her face. “But I think my experience was a bit different.” She cleared her throat. “Harry was, different, from anyone else I ever commanded. He didn’t take orders well.” Somebody snorted hard at that. “You would think that would make him a bad Warden, but it didn’t. Harry challenged you, anytime I had any doubts about what I was doing, I went to him. If you couldn’t get him on your side, it wasn’t a side you wanted to be on. If you couldn’t explain it in a way, he could accept…” She stared at her shoes for a moment. Letting the thought hang in the air until it died.

            “The Council was not always grateful for his candor. Some days, he had more enemies here than he did anywhere else.” Everyone became very interested in their shoes when she said that. “He saved my life that night, almost at the cost of his own. He was ready to give his life to a Warden’s blade to give us a chance at victory.” Simon and I glanced at each other. We had never heard that part of the story. We had always known there was tension between Harry and the Council, but I had no idea it had gone that deep. Judging by the look on Simon’s face, he didn’t know either.

            “I can’t believe what he just did. He was always unpredictable, but what just happened… No one could have done it but him.” She raised her own glass. “Harry Dresden.” Again, everyone raised their glasses and drank. Us included. The silence fell on the room again. It felt like every word that was said was fighting to keep it at bay.

            “Ebenezer, did you want to say something?” Listens-to-Wind placed a hand on his shoulder as he spoke softly to him. The whole room tried and failed to not look at the two of them. I pretended to watch my drink swirl in my glass while I peered over at them. McCoy turned his head slowly to look at his friend. They stared at each other for a moment before he put his head back down. He shook it no.

            It felt like the silence would never end. It was like it was crawling into my ears to scoop out my brain. I couldn’t stand I anymore.

            “I never met Harry.” I said, just a little too loudly. Everyone looked at me. Shit. I had no idea what the hell I was going to say. I was going to have to wing it. I glanced over at Simon for a bit of support. His eyes were bulging out of his head, it was his famous Dom-what-the-hell-are-you-doing-right-now face. I looked back out at the assembled group. Most of them looked baffled that I had said anything, but I saw an ounce of anger in more than one eye. I needed to salvage this, now.

            “I heard a lot about him though.” I stammered, trying to find words to say.  “I’ve heard stories about him from almost all of you, and uh, there are a lot of things that everyone seems to agree on.” I took a deep breath, trying to slow down my heart rate, and continued. “Harry was a good man. He always did what he thought was the right thing, even if it got him in trouble or put him in danger.”

            “He got into plenty of both.” Martha Liberty got in when I took a breath. She got another chuckle. I nodded at her slightly to thank her. She nodded back. I continued.

            “He was a funny guy too. One of the main reasons I wanted to meet him so badly was his legendary ability to wisecrack.”

            “I can’t believe I’m going to miss that.” Listens-to-Wind muttered to himself, loud enough for everyone to hear. I smiled and kept going.

            “He was one hell of a fighter.” I managed to put on a serious tone. “I swear every other week someone was talking about him winning some fight that he had no business surviving. A lot of people were surprised by what happened in Mexico. I wasn’t. Not really. Harry was the kind of person who starts what they finish. What he did saved millions of people. The scourge of the Red Court is gone, because of him, so many people are going to live so much longer, and better than if they were still here.”

            I looked over at McCoy, who had raised his head and was staring at me. I raised my glass to him. “Wizard McCoy, I know he was your apprentice once. I can’t imagine how much it must hurt to lose him. But I also know how proud you must be of what he accomplished.” I saw the tears well up in his eyes before he closed them. Listens-to-Wind gripped his shoulder tighter while Martha Liberty patted his back. Everyone raised their glasses in a toast while they comforted him.

            “Thank you. That was well said.” McCoy managed to say. His voice was low and rough. I knew he was lying to me, it wasn’t well said, but I guess it still felt good to hear. I nodded in response, relieved and astounded I had managed to not fuck that up.

            The door on the other side of the room creaked as it opened. Two men came through the door. I would have recognized both of them anywhere. The Merlin was on the left, his long white hair and beard made him one pointy hat away from looking like a wizard out of an old children’s story. The Gatekeeper was on the right, I had never seen him up close. I could see a scar running through one of his eyes under his hood. The eye itself was gone, replaced by what looked like a steel ball.

            Both of them were wearing robes. Black ones. They walked across the room to the bar while every eye in the place tracked their every move. The bartender reached down beneath the bar as they approached. The Merlin waved him off, he stopped abruptly. The Gatekeeper pointed to the top shelf at a dusty old bottle. The bartender had to get a stepstool to grab it.

            After he did, he lined up a glass for everyone, and emptied the entire bottle into them before they were passed around to everyone. I took mine without a word. Once everyone had their glass, the Merlin raised his.

            “To the victorious dead.” He said in a deep, booming voice.

            “To Harry Dresden.” The Gatekeeper added.

            We all drank. I had no idea what it was, but it was delicious. The conversation flowed more freely after that. People broke off into groups to tell more stories. The Merlin didn’t stick around. I think he ducked out as soon as no one was looking at him. It made sense, if what I heard about his relationship with Harry had been true. Even if it was worse than I heard, there was no way he couldn’t acknowledge the man who won the war for us.

            Simon and I stayed for a while, but the party didn’t last that long. It wasn’t terribly late when we were walking back to our rooms.

            “Well, that was kind of strange.” Simon looked over at me as we walked.

            “You can say that again.”

            “Well, that was kind of strange.” He repeated. I punched him lightly in the shoulder, he chuckled.

            “I have this feeling…” I said, my words trailing off.

            “Yeah?”

            “Things are about to get a lot stranger than that party.” I said gravely.

            “I feel it too.” Simon replied, in a voice that matched mine.

Chapter Text

            The sounds of steel clashing and flesh rending filled my ears. My skin was soaked in blood, it was all that prevented the warm summer air from reaching my true skin. It was the closest to alive I had felt in centuries, and it was beautiful.

            The torture chamber is a place of precision, a place where violence and pain take time to come to fruition. I can be precise, deliberate, stretch the agony out for hours, or days, sometimes even weeks. The battlefield was the opposite of this. Every split second mattered, a space the size of a hair’s breadth was the difference between falling and staying upright. It felt glorious to get out and experience pain in a way that I hadn’t for decades.

            Of course, she was there to share it with me.

            My beautiful Arcelia stood beside me in the bloodbath. Her flesh mask had been ripped asunder, but to me she never looked more beautiful. The past few years had been the most intense we had spent together. Planning the fate of Harry Dresden had brought us closer than ever before. He was here, somewhere in this divine slaughter. Before the sun rose, he would be mine.

            I was ready for him. For a while at least, the Duchess and the Red King had made it very clear that I was to keep him alive as long as possible. There was plenty in my chambers to keep him screaming for months already. I could hardly wait to lay my wife down to make love to the sound of it.

            Speaking of my wife, she had left my side to attack a few members of the fellowship. They were fast, she was faster. The tattoos in their skin matched the blood leaving their bodies as she tore them to pieces. It was not without cost. She took wounds, superficial ones, but they were enough to make my blood boil harder. I leapt to them with a cry to join her. In a few moments, we were surrounded by corpses. I looked over at my bride, she was breathing hard, and the shoulder nearest to me was slick with blood that wasn’t human.

            I closed the gap between us and ran my tongue up her shoulder and onto her neck. She leaned in and pressed herself into my as I did, a low, throaty growl escaping her lips as she did so. I would be a fool to not take advantage of her state, wouldn’t I? What little remained of my sense wondered how many prisoners of war we would go through tonight, the two of us hadn’t gotten this worked up in ages.

            “Florencio.” I heard her say my name, and it drove me mad. I bit into her neck, making her hiss in pain as she grabbed my throat in her claws and squeezed, drawing blood of her own. The urge to take her, right here, right now, was overwhelming. The earth cracking open killed the mood. We hardly managed to take a step back in time to avoid the gout of fire that erupted from it, nearly consuming us. We had been spotted by one of the wizards.

            They had arrived as if from nowhere, hooded and cloaked. “They are not supposed to be here.” I hissed, shielding Arcelia from the flames. The Duchess had given great effort to the White Council not being here to aid Dresden. It seems she had been less than successful. There would have been a reconning on that account for her, had Dresden not already bested her in a duel.

            My head whipped around, looking for the wizard, but the tide of battle had carried them away from us. We had gotten lucky. Not everyone would, I thought to myself. The Duchess would hardly be the only high-end casualty of this battle. There would be room at the top, and something like that comes around all too rarely in the Red Court.

            I looked down at her. “My love,” I spoke. “We will rise with the tide of blood from this battle. Honors and pleasures beyond reconning will be ours. I will please the Red King, and he will shower us in reward.”

            “Of course, he will.” She purred, placing a twisted hand upon my chest. “No one deserves it more than you, more than us.” Our thin lips met in a ravenous kiss. No one dared attack us, we were simply too powerful, too strong, the world would bow before us, right after Harry Dresden did.

            What felt like a small earthquake broke our kiss.

            Both of looked at each other with curiosity before turning to face the temple. The ruins at Chichén Itza were a sacred place to the Red Court, although the power there had not been used in hundreds of years, not since Cortez. Even when they weren’t filled with blood magic, they were still beautiful, now, with them nearly full, it was a glorious sight to behold.

            The whole structure was glowing and pulsing with magic. It made my heart soar. The Red King had done it, we had won. The curse was about to wreak havoc on the White Court of Wizards. Dresden had been captured, soon he would be mine, to do with as I pleased. I looked down at my wife, and I could see the victory in her eyes. The next century would belong to the Red Court of Vampires.

            I pulled her back into me and kissed her again. I had never felt so amazing, she kissed me back with the save fervor. When it ended, she laid her head on my shoulder, and we watched the waves of magic as they started, and quickly spread from the summit of the temple. Soon it would envelop the entire world and take out every wizard that it could. It was coming at us now, gaining speed, I closed my eyes in pleasure and waited for it to pass us by.

            The bones of Florencio and Arcelia were found with the rest of the Red Court, and most of the Fellowship of St. Giles. They never saw it coming.

Chapter Text

            I wish it could have been different between myself and Dresden. Unfortunately, things very rarely go as planned. Some people believe having more power means it is more likely that you are able to influence things to work in the way that you desire. That isn’t quite untrue. However, since becoming Merlin of the White Court of Wizards, I have found the opposite to be true far more often. Perhaps my plans have become more complicated, or maybe there are just more people working against me.

            Thinking is a great way to keep yourself distracted. It wasn’t working as well as it usual. The brisk pace I had to maintain to keep up with The Gatekeeper wasn’t helping either. I glanced over at Rashid. He had been on the High Council longer than I had; it was only because of his refusal that I had become the Merlin. Many times, I had attempted to glean any kind of pattern to his comings and goings at headquarters. I had given up at around a decade. As far as I could tell, and I could tell quite a lot, there was nothing.

            Rashid did not look at me. His single eye was fixed at the door at the end of the hallway, and his strides were long and purposeful. I drew in one last breath before we reached the door. This was going to be awkward. I was doing my best to keep myself distracted and not thinking about it. Of course, the door creaked as we opened it, and everyone in the room turned to face us as we walked in. Dresden’s memorial service was a bit sparsely attended, there were less than twenty people present.

            My chest tightened when I saw McCoy. The last time I saw him like this was when he found out his daughter died. In a way I suppose this is a similar thing, many of us grow to see our apprentices as foster children. I still remembered how savagely he had fought for Dresden’s life all those years ago. His grief was the blackest among all those who had come to honor Dresden, but the entire room was filled to the brim with it.

As I scanned the room, I noticed most of the people here were Wardens. Captain Luccio and Warden Ramirez looked to be running things, I could put a name to most faces. Excepting the two men standing near the back, their grey cloaks looking fresh off of the loom. I knew that in time, I would learn them. The walk across the room felt far longer than it was. Rashid and I never broke stride, heading straight to the bar. The bartender started reaching down before we got there. I stopped him with a wave of my hand. Rashid pointed at a bottle on the top shelf.

I glanced over at him and slightly raised an eyebrow. No one noticed it, not even him. He never even looked at me as the bartender grabbed a stool to reach it. Message received. Soon enough glasses for everyone were poured, finishing the bottle in a single go. Everyone was handed a glass. With the entire room looking on, I raised my drink

“To the victorious dead.” I spoke loudly to the room. Sadly, this was not my first time making that toast.

“To Harry Dresden.” I glanced over again as Rashid added to my toast, slightly inclining my head. I drained my glass in a single gulp. Stars and Stones, that was good. The bottle Rashid had pointed at was one of the best that we had. More than once, the joke had been made that I wouldn’t live to see it opened, since it would be served at my own funeral.

The room dissolved into small talk after our toast. No one turned to me. I hadn’t expected anyone to, I knew many of the wizards here were surprised that I even showed up. I heaved another sigh as I went to go give my condolences to one of those wizards. McCoy had turned to the bar to put down his empty glass and hadn’t turned back by the time I arrived.

“Ebenezer.” I said quietly as I sat next to him. He looked over confused. I could count on one hand the number of times I had called him by his first name. “I know you’re pain, and I know that you must not be thrilled to see me here.” His brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed as the surprise went away. “You fought hard for his life once. You were right to do so, in the end. Dresden was a good wizard, who did great service to this council.”

If he was shocked by my works, he didn’t show it. If anything, he looked skeptical. “Thank you, Merlin, for the kind words.” He spoke in a flat, emotionless voice. The moment he was done speaking, he turned away and left, engaging someone else in quiet conversation. I stood there for a few seconds. Just long enough to make sure no one was watching me, before I moved from the bar and made my exit. I stayed out of everyone’s eyeline as I did, I doubted anyone would stop me, but the risk wasn’t worth it.

I was the first one to leave. I knew no one would miss me. I stared directly where I was going until I reached my office and closed the door behind me. Only then, surrounded by my own wards as well as those of the stronghold itself, did I let out the breath I had been holding. I pressed my forehead into the inside of the door and allowed all the thoughts I had been pushing down to flood my mind.

I could still feel the cold response McCoy had given me. He had accepted my token apology, in his words. Underneath them was a sea of rage. His tone had been very clear. He didn’t believe a word of what I had just said, and he hated me for saying it. McCoy and I had been at odds for decades, stars and stones, centuries now. Before he had even become the Blackstaff we stopped seeing eye to eye, if we ever had. The chasm between us had never been wider, or deeper.

I had felt the energy in that room. My prediction had been right, no one was happy to see me there. It wouldn’t have bothered me ordinarily, but now it did. Dark times were coming. The last thing I needed were people in my own organization working against me, no matter how much reason I had given them to do so.

I pressed my forehead into the solid wood of the door. The Merlin cannot please everyone. That was something I knew long before I took office. This felt different, deeper and more personal. People were losing respect for my style, faith in me was waning at the worst possible time. All because of Harry Dresden.

Harry Fucking Dresden.

Why does every Starborn turn out like this? I swear it must be a curse. Harry had hated me from the moment he knew me, and I didn’t blame him. Any positive relationship we may have had died with Justin Dumorne. I had my part to play in that trial, do everything I could to make it look like I wanted him dead, but ultimately fail in my attempt and make sure he wound up with someone who could guide him.

The truth was, I had never hated Harry Dresden. Circumstances had put us in the positions we wound up in. He needed someone to challenge him, to test him. To help him prepare for the coming storm. To make sure he was ready to do what needed to be done, and that only he could do. Bloody Starborn.

I turned and headed around my desk to sit down. It was covered in reports, plans, and all manner of things about the war with the Red Court. I looked down at it, everything was useless now. My ace in the hole had come through, somehow, it had cost him his life. It didn’t really matter how. Not to me. But this meant things in the future were far less certain.

Dresden had been a prime candidate for what was coming. Starborn are rare things, and with the hour this late, there was no replacing him. A mountain of work lay before me. The coming storm wasn’t stopping just because Dresden was dead. It was my job to ensure that humanity, and the world at large would survive it. No matter what happens, I cannot fail. If I do, it will mean the end of everything. I will not let that happen on my watch.

It will be a thousand times harder without Dresden.  

Chapter Text

I had been through dark times before, but nothing like this. Everyone goes through hard times in life, it comes with being alive. It’s the kind of thing that can destroy people. I had seen it happen before. I don’t know if it says more about me, or about the people I had chosen as my friends that my dark times seemed to be affecting the weather.

There had never been a Chicago summer this cold, at least not that I could remember. It was the final week of August, and the weathermen couldn’t shut up about how next week they were already predicting frost. Whenever I left my apartment, everyone I interacted with was in a bad mood. The Midwest is cold for about eight months out of the year, and any time that one of the warm ones underperforms, everyone is miserable. I couldn’t prove that this had anything to do with me, or anyone I knew. The gut feeling that it did just wouldn’t go away.

My keys jingled in the lock, finally I was home from work. Usually, I didn’t mind working in the morgue. Some people get weirded out by corpses; I got the same feeling working with living people. Today had been an exception, along with any other day that I had to work with the dead body of a child. I didn’t know why, but it had been happening more and more often. Chicago is a dangerous town, and there has never been a shortage of death on her streets. We were in the middle of a particularly heavy year for murders. It had gotten really bad right after Harry was killed.

I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. I sighed as I looked around my apartment, it was a mess. I managed to put my shoes away and hang my coat up before I collapsed onto the couch. I don’t know how long I sat there, staring at the empty screen of my television. I missed Harry. Yeah, he had been dangerous, but he was the one who convinced me that I wasn’t insane. I believed I was for years, ever since I examined those twisted bones from that burned out old house.

One crazy Halloween had shown be different. Harry had shown me different. Magic was real, so were damn near every folktale and mythology you could think of. A lot of it was right here in Chicago, and until recently it had mostly been kept in check by our very own resident wizard.

I wasn’t the only one who missed Harry. I kept replaying the last time I saw him in my head, panicking when I saw his heart flatline, and the relief after bringing him back to life with a defibrillator. The relief hadn’t lasted. I had never seen Harry like that. His eyes had been wild. He had always had a lot of anger in him, that was the night that it had taken him over. The paramedics told me he had shattered his spine falling off of a ladder. That hadn’t stopped him from getting right back on his feet the moment he was conscious.

I wasn’t exactly clear on what happened after that. Nobody who was a part of what was next liked to talk about it. Murphy had provided a few details, but I could tell she was holding back. Molly and Thomas had shut down completely when I asked. What little I knew was that Harry had survived whatever had happened in Mexico and had been shot right after he got back to Chicago. The city was far worse off without him.

I sighed again as I looked around my apartment. I told myself that I really should clean up, even though I knew I wouldn’t. I was just about to get up and microwave myself something to eat when there was a knock at my door. I frowned. I didn’t get many visitors these days, and this had the potential to cut into my plan to plant myself in front of my computer and game until I passed out with my hand on the mouse.

I shuffled over to my door and peered through the peephole. Whoever it was, they were short, with a blonde buzz cut. I didn’t recognize them. I left the chain latched as I opened the door a crack to see who it was. She was dressed for the cold. An oversized flannel jacket paired with a pair of loose-fitting blue jeans. That was all I could see, but I could tell there were more layers just by looking. She also had a backpack slung over her shoulder.

“Not even a hello Waldo?” the short blonde woman deadpanned at me. I shut the door and undid the chain, grumbling to myself. I opened the door fully before I replied.

“I wasn’t expecting anyone Karrin. Come on in.” I stood aside and she walked in. It took her one sweep of the place with her eyes to make a comment.

“Cleaning day?” she asked with a small smile. Her voice was teasing. It just made me feel worse.

“It is now. Have a seat.” She did, where I had just been on the couch. I started chucking the larger pieces of garbage into the can. It’s amazing what getting rid of a couple of pizza boxes can do to clear up a room. I guess I used a little more force than necessary in my throws, they all made too much noise and the last one knocked the can over completely, spilling its contents on the floor. I pressed my forehead into the wall, gritting my teeth. Doing everything I could to keep from losing it.

“Butters, come on, I was only teasing. I know I didn’t call ahead, but come on, this place is a wreck.” I don’t know what my expression looked like when I looked over at her, but her brow furrowed when she saw it.

“I just got home from work. I had to clean up three kids that caught some stray bullets in a robbery of some kind. The youngest one was maybe nine.” I managed to keep from yelling, everything I said came out level and clear. I could feel myself shaking. I saw a pang of sympathy on her face. It didn’t stop me from continuing. I wasn’t done. “Not the first time this week I’ve had to deal with kids either. It’s been a really shitty month. Really don’t feel like cleaning anything else up once I get home.” I was struggling very hard not to blow up at her. I was due for an explosion, but she didn’t deserve it.

“I’m sorry Waldo, I didn’t know.” Her eyes had gone glassy. The small attitude she had when she got here was gone. She had set her jaw; I could tell she was trying very hard to keep herself together. Great job dude. Way to welcome a friend over for a visit. I turned by back to the wall and slid down it to the floor. Her expression had been enough to temper my anger. It just turned into sadness and guilt.

“Sorry.” I spoke, trying to sound sympathetic. “I know you were just kidding around. And you’re right, this place is a wreck.” I wiped my nose. “I’m not the only one who’s had a bad month.” I stared at her as I finished speaking. She didn’t cry, I had a feeling she’d had years of practice with that. “What brings you here?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

She shook herself slightly and took off a small backpack that I hadn’t noticed she was wearing. She sat it on her lap and took a deep breath before she started speaking.

“The cops finally released some of the things they found on the boat to me.” That made me sit up straighter.

“Wait, some things of Harry’s? Did you get the swords back?” I knew she had been trying to get them back ever since the cops took them. I had done what I could to help and had come up with nothing. I wasn’t clear exactly why they were so important, but Karrin had been going crazy trying to get them back.

“I did.” She said, with a sigh of relief. I’ve found a good spot for both of them for now, but that’s not why I’m here.” She unzipped the backpack and kept talking. “I think it’s best that not all of the dangerous stuff that he had stays in one place. I’m sure there are people out there looking for it. I was hoping that you could keep an eye on this for me.” She drew a something wrapped in a cloth out of the backpack.

“What is it?” I said, getting on my knees and leaning forward as she unwrapped it. She took a little extra time with the last fold.

It was a human skull.

“Bob?” I asked, standing up and taking the skull in my hands. Orange pinpricks of light ignited in both eye sockets and a familiar voice came from between the teeth.

“Butters? That you?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” I confirmed. Looking back at Karrin, I asked, “You want me to have him?” She shrugged in response.

“You seem like the best option. All I know is I don’t want him around my place anymore.”

“C’mon Karrin, I thought we were getting along great.” The skull said in a whiney voice. She got up and got nose to nose with him. Well, kind of, Bob doesn’t really have a nose.

“You asked me to put you in my bathroom.” Her voice sounded like pure venom.

“Asked, not demanded.” Bob squeaked. “It was only a suggestion.” I don’t know how he managed to cower, I mean, he’s just a head.

Karrin straightened up and ran her hand over her head. “You’ll like it better here anyway. Butters here knows how to work the internet way better than I do. You’ll love it. More free porn than you could ever watch.”

The lights in the eyes of the skull narrowed until they were almost pinpricks. “I don’t know if I believe that.” I couldn’t help it, I laughed. Bob was a pervert, but I had still missed him.

“So, you’ll take him then?” Karrin asked hopefully.

“Yeah, he can stay here.” I said, putting him down in front of my computer. It was an easy thing to say yes too. It had gotten really lonely around here. I would be glad of the company. I looked back over at Karrin, who had turned her back to me, she was zipping up the backpack she had brought Bob in.

“Leaving already?” I asked.

“Yeah.” She said shortly. Her voice had caught on the last letter. She was already halfway out of my apartment.

“Karrin, hey,” I took a few steps toward her, my arm outstretched. She stopped and turned to me. Her eyes had gone glassy again.

“Yeah?” she asked.

“You good?” I cursed myself in my mind. I had never been good at this.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” She tried to turn away, but I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her.

“I miss him too.” I said softly. She looked up at me and nodded. “I’ve buried friends before, it isn’t easy.” She narrowed her eyes at me. Uh oh.

“What makes you say that? We don’t have anything to bury.” She hissed at me.

“Karrin…” I didn’t get a chance to continue.

“There’s no body. He could still be out there.” I could feel the anger flowing out of her. I felt guilty. I had managed to get a look at the scene before they cleaned it up. It’s true that there was no body, but the amount of blood loss was way too much for him to have survived it. Even if he had taken that bullet in an operating theatre surrounded by top notch surgeons, there was no way he could have possibly survived it. I kept those thoughts to myself.

“Karrin…” She cut me off again.

“Before Harry, did you believe any of it?” she asked, her words short and clipped.

“No.”

“Neither did I.” she admitted. “Harry did things that shouldn’t be possible, there’s a whole world out there that most people don’t have a clue about. I know it’s crazy, but I can’t give up hope. Not until I see a body.” A single tear rolled down her cheek. She still sounded pissed at me. I didn’t really know what to do, she still looked like she wanted to leave. Maybe it was for the best.

I patted her shoulder and gripped it firmly. “Don’t be a stranger Karrin.” I said, I tried to smile, but I’m not sure it came out right. She reached around and patted my back.

“Get some rest Waldo. You need it.” She managed to smile back. As soon as I let go, she turned and left my apartment. I put the chain back on the door after she closed it.

“Dude, why didn’t you invite her to stay? Is your bedroom trashed too?”

“Shut up Bob.”

Chapter Text

I had done this hundreds of times before, but somehow it had never been like this. I was walking the mean streets of Chicago. The pit in the bottom of my gut was telling me that nickname was about to become far more applicable than it had been in a while. It was the middle of summer, but somehow a chill had settled over the city. It was nothing compared to how cold things got in the winter, but it was more than enough to notice.

I zipped up my hoodie, hoping that would help. My eyes were darting all around, even more than they usually did. Usually, I kept my supernatural senses under wraps. I had gotten pretty good at it over the years. I generally didn’t feel things unless I wanted too anymore. Not tonight. The whole city was vibrating. It had started a day ago and it was only getting worse as the news had spread. I’d heard about it only a few hours ago. On a Paranet message board.

Harry Dresden was dead.

There was probably worse news that the magical community of Chicago could have gotten, but at the moment nothing came to mind. I’d first learned about Dresden a little over a decade ago, right after he had killed a superpowered werewolf with a French name that I still couldn’t for the life of me pronounce. From what I had heard and seen, he had kind of appointed himself Chicago’s protector, and that werewolf had just been a particularly bad day at the office for him.

In the years since, he had done that job remarkably well, and his reputation had grown because of it. Every practitioner in the city knew who he was, and could identify him on sight. To be fair the giant leather duster, multicolored beetle, and dog the size of a small pony helped out with that. Chicago is a loud town, but it was well known that if you made the wrong kind of noise in his city, you would have to answer to Harry Dresden.

Now, he’s gone. And I have no clue what’s going to happen next.

My eyes had been on my shoes the whole time I had been walking, I was trying to block out anything I didn’t want to see. I wanted to get where I was going, and not run into anything on the way there. My eyes looked up, and I had done it, arrived exactly where I wanted to be. I walked past the sign that said Mac’s Pub and down the stairs. What I saw when I opened the door was a bit surprising.

The place was packed. I had never seen it this busy. Mac’s place wasn’t the kind of bar to attract big crowds every night. The thirteen bar stools and thirteen tables had always been enough to suit the customers he had. Not tonight. Tonight, there were more people standing than sitting. Yet, despite the crowd, it was just as quiet as it always was. Every conversation was being whispered, people moving past each other were excusing themselves in hushed tones. There was no rush to get drinks at the bar either, although Mac looked busier than ever.

Mac’s pub was a haven for the practitioners of Chicago. Very few places in our world could truly be called safe, and almost all of them had a threshold. Macs didn’t have one, it arguably had something even better. On one of the thirteen carved pillars holding the roof up, there was a slightly battered wooden sign on a chain with the words, Accorded Neutral Territory carved into it, probably by Mac himself. It meant that if anyone had a grievance or a fight to pick, they would have to go outside to do it. If that sign were ignored, odds are it would be the last fight you ever picked.

“Hey Miguel.”

“Hey man, how’s it going?”

“Miguel.”

As I walked to the bar, a variety of familiar faces greeted me quietly. I nodded in response; I was too out of it and confused to do much else. Once I got to the bar, I got my first good look at Mac. He was moving constantly. No one was waiting long for their beers, and he always managed to flip the steaks for sandwiches at the perfect time. He was handling the crush of customers very well on his own, but something about him was off. Mac is an impossible read. You’d get more information out of a brick wall if you stared at it long enough. I’m a sensitive, but I had never gotten so much as a spare wisp of magical energy, or even emotion from Mac, ever.

Until tonight. It was as if a cloud of sadness was hanging all around him. It was generally understood by everyone that Mac knew everything that happened in this city magically, sometimes before it even happened. He probably heard the news before any of us did. I waited until he had plated and served a few sandwiches before making eye contact with him. He raised an eyebrow at me.

“Beer.” I said, just loud enough for him to hear. His only response was to reach under the bar to grab a bottle and hand it to me. Right after he twisted the cap off, he was on to the next customer. I lifted the bottle and drained about half of it in a single gulp before putting it down on the bar in front of me. I could feel the fear in the place. My senses were still closed off, but that didn’t make me immune to background noise, and tonight, there was a ton of it. I stared hard into a knot of wood in the bar and redoubled my efforts to close myself off. If I couldn’t manage it, I would need to get out of here, I couldn’t function like this.

It took a few minutes, but I was able to get the noise down to a level I could stand. I heaved a deep breath and looked out on the crowd, looking for any familiar face. There, at one of the tables sat Anna and Bill, an older sibling combo that I had shared a ton of beers with over the years. I left the bar and my place was immediately taken by someone else. They didn’t notice me until I was a step away from the table.

It was Anna that spotted me, and the moment she did, she got up to give me a hug. I returned it gratefully. “Hey Miguel, its okay. It’s all right.” She whispered to me. Jeez, I must look worse than I feel. I felt Bill pat me on the back. It was doing wonders for helping me manage the energy that had flooded the bar.

“Hey Anna.” I said as we broke the hug. “Lots of people here tonight.” I glanced around again. I couldn’t stop myself from doing it, I had never seen this place this full.

“I guess everyone had the same idea. I know you’ve heard the news; I can see it in your face.” Anna didn’t whisper this time, but she kept her voice down.

“Yeah.” I knelt down next to the table as she returned to her seat. “I was really hoping I heard wrong.”

“Us too.” Bill said gruffly but quietly. Both of their drinks were damn near empty, and I needed to catch up anyway, so I took a second giant gulp to kill my first beer. I figured Mac would forgive me for not taking my time to enjoy it, not tonight.

“Any word on how? Or why?” I asked, putting down my now empty beer next to their empty glasses. Bill just shook his head and stood up to get another round.

“A million things. We don’t know who the hell to believe. The only thing that everyone agrees on is that he’s dead.” Anna said. I had known her for almost a decade now. Chicago had been through some real supernatural shit since then, but I had never heard that particular edge of fear in her voice before.

“Hey, I know it’s sad, and scary. But we’ll get through this.” I reassured her out of reflex, grabbing her hand and squeezing it gently as I talked. She looked at me darkly.

“I have a bad feeling about this.” She said, in the same tone. I snorted softly. I couldn’t help it. I loved Star Wars. If what I had heard was correct, Harry loved it too. Anna looked at me quizzically. I just shook my head. She wasn’t a science fiction or fantasy person. She wouldn’t get it.

Bill returned with three new drinks. Good, one beer was not going to be nearly enough to get me through tonight. I was determined to make this one last a little longer though, so I just took a sip. “The stories are getting crazier. Last round I overheard that he was taken out by a bunch of crazed vampires. This time it was by the Red King himself.” Bill grumbled to the both of us.

I leaned to the side, against Anna’s chair. Had I been sitting down; I would have leaned all the way back. It was just rumors, of course, but it still blew my mind that people were even mentioning players that powerful. The higher entities of the supernatural world hardly ever entered into the equation for people like us. The Red King was more of a concept than an actual being to me. As far as the Paranet knew, he hadn’t left South America for hundreds of years.

“That is old news, and has been proven false.” The voice of an older woman reached the table. I had to turn my head to look at her, she was old but still spry. She was standing tall, her back straight without the aid of a walker or cane, although I had seen younger people than her leaning heavily on them before. Her skin was dark, like half-burned coffee, and she looked like she knew exactly what she was talking about.

“Is it?” Bill responded, sounding genuinely quizzical. The lady nodded. Bill seemed to actually take in who he was taking to, and got out of his chair pronto. “Would you like to sit?” he asked her. She smiled at that.

“No, thank you kind stranger. These legs aren’t that old just yet.” She had a good smile, her white teeth contrasted beautifully with her dark skin.

“Okay, but you let me know if you need it.” Bill said, sitting down again. I snorted softly. That’s Bill for you, it might take him a second, but he had good manners when he was paying attention.

“What have you heard ma’am?” I asked. She looked down at me and chuckled out her response.

“I’ll have none of that ma’am shit young man. My name is Gale.” Anna’s eyes widened at the profanity; Bill just snorted softly.

“Pardon me, Gale. What have you heard?”

“He died here, in Chicago.” She answered, her voice, which had been low to start with, had dropped to nearly a whisper. “Not sure how, but my friend saw him leaving St. Mary of the Angels a few hours before the first reports of his death. I trust her with my life. He was in the city for sure.” I looked her over. I believed everything she had said. There was no lie in her eyes.

“What about how? Anything on that?” I whispered quietly back to her. Everything I had heard so far could just be chalked up to rumors. Her story was perfectly plausible too. Harry Dresden was hard to miss, and I knew he had a few friends in the church, and that church specifically.

“No. Not at all. Not even on the police scanners as far as I can tell.” I shifted my weight as she talked, trying to get more comfortable. That didn’t really mean all that much. Chicago is a huge town, and the police were rarely not busy. It might take some digging to find Harry in all the radio traffic in the city. If he even got there at all.

Anna spoke for the first time in a minute. “My guess is still Red Court vamps. They’ve been gunning for him for years.”

“Ever since that party like a decade ago.” Bill chimed in. Gale crossed herself as he said it.

“I mean, it had to have been something to do with the war. I keep hearing Red Court everywhere. First the message boards, then here.” I said to the crowd. A small hand fell on my shoulder, almost making me jump. My head whipped around to see who had done it.

He jumped too, right after I did. I hate when people startle each other. “Sorry man, didn’t mean to scare you.” He stammered out. Once I could see he wasn’t a threat I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I am so happy that I didn’t shout when he touched me. The whole bar would have heard that. When I opened my eyes again, I looked him over, sizing him up.

The more I did, the more embarrassed I felt. Dude was tiny. Seriously, he was probably under five feet tall. He looked young, almost too young to be in a place that served alcohol, but he did have a beer in his hand. Other than the beer, he could have passed for a nerdy background character in a John Hughes movie. He was Asian, with big glasses that magnified his eyes to look way too big for his face. There were a few wispy hairs on his chin, but other than that his skin had the smooth look of someone young.

“Dude,” I said, sounding exasperated. “Next time say something first. You’re gonna give someone a heart attack.”

“Sorry.” He squeaked out quietly. He looked like he really wanted to leave, but was rooted to the spot. “I don’t get out much. Sorry.” He looked absolutely terrified. Anna really hated when people got like that, so when I looked over and saw her slowly reaching out to him, I wasn’t surprised.

“Hey, it’s okay. Miguel is fine, you just startled him. Right Miguel?” she didn’t need to shoot a look at me for me to know what was up. My heart rate was descending now anyway. I nodded at him. Thankfully, I saw the smallest bit of tension lift from his shoulders.

“What’s your name honey?” Gale asked in a soothing voice as Anna patted him on the back.

“Stevie.” He answered. His name fit him perfectly.

“Stevie, please, join us.” I said, moving to the side so he could stand at the table. “Did you know something, is that why you got my attention?” As high-strung as I was at the moment, I could tell he was in worse shape. He wasn’t the only one either. I could still feel the tension in the room, even with how much I had suppressed my sensitivity to the supernatural. If I had cried out, I wouldn’t have been surprised if a couple people had snapped.

He nodded weakly at my question, and took a long drink from his beer. I was starting to like Stevie, he had some good ideas, I followed suit and took a long drink from my own beer. We all waited for him to gather his nerve, it took a few moments for him to fill up with enough liquid courage to talk to us.

“I don’t know how he died.” He whispered to us. “But something happened in the war right before he did. Something big.” His eyes darted around the room. Like he was afraid of the wrong person hearing him. I had seen a lot of that tonight. Some of it from myself.

“How big?” Bill asked him.

“We’ve lost almost all contact with the Fellowship of St. Giles.” Everyone glanced at each other. “The mortal authorities in Mexico can’t make heads or tails of what happened. It was at one of those ancient temples down there. They say the death toll is in the thousands.” I almost dropped my beer. Numbers that large are rare in our world. Even with the White Council’s war with the Red Court, the battles were generally fairly small scale. There had been one confirmed larger battle, a few years ago. The death toll there had measured in the hundreds.

“That’s not even the craziest bit.” He said quietly. That got everyone’s attention right away. He continued. “Reports out of South America dried up a lot, but they haven’t stopped completely. There’s been no activity from the Red Court in the past day and a half.”

“Wait, none?” Anna asked.

“Absolutely nothing. People are freaking out. It’s never been like this before. It’s like the whole court just up and vanished. Poof.” His eyes were as wide as dinner plates as he spoke. “I practically live on those forums. I’ve never seen anything like this, and there isn’t any kind of historical equivalent for it either. The last one I saw was someone saying that they found a bunch of twisted bones in the residence of a known Red Court vampire. I logged off and came straight here.”

The table was stunned. It had been in the air already, for those of us who were sensitive. Something big had gone down in Mexico. If he was telling the truth, and I believed him, this could be the biggest thing to happen in our world in the last couple of centuries. From the sound of it, the war might just be over. It looked like the White Council had come out on top somehow, but how badly must the Red Court had been beaten? It sounded far worse than anyone had ever dared hope it would be for the vampires.

“Sounds like those wizards ended things.” Bill said, the first of us to recover.

“Poor Dresden.” Anna said. She sounded mournful.

“Yeah.” I agreed. “Survive what might be the last battle of the war just to come home and die.”

“Something like that can’t be a coincidence.” Stevie said. “It can’t not be connected.”

“But how?” Gale wondered. No one had a real answer to that. So, we all just took another drink. I used the opportunity to finish my second beer. After I drained it, I stood up and asked the table who all needed one. Once I had the names and drinks, I made my way back over to the bar. I hated to make more work for Mac, I just knew I wasn’t going to get lucky again with getting his attention.

What I saw when I got there stunned me. There was another gap at the bar, even bigger than the one I had gotten into when I first got here. Not only that, but when I stepped into it, all the drinks that I had been about to ask for were sitting on the bar on a tray, waiting for me. My mouth fell open as I looked up and locked eyes with Mac. He glanced over at my table, then back to me. He jerked his head towards them, then went off to do something else. I guess these drinks are on the house. I still left him a tip, of course.

I knew something was up as I carried the tray back to the table. Everyone was surprised to see me back so soon. Once I had handed out the last drink, a slow, but loud banging noise reverberated through the whole bar. Everyone in the place, including myself, looked over at the bar to see what was happening.

Mac was standing on top of a stepstool with a short staff. I’d not seen it before. He was using it to bang on the bar, and the sound it made was far louder than what it should have been. In his other hand, he held a bottle of his own beer with the top popped. That was odd all by itself. It was rare to see Mac have a drink when he was working, although it wasn’t unheard of. Him drawing attention to himself like this was.

The whole packed bar fell silent. I had looked over at the second hit. Even after he had everyone’s attention, he kept on going. I may have made a mistake counting, but I knew in my soul that when he stopped, it had been thirteen. He waited a moment, taking in the silence before he lifted the bottle, toasting the room.

“Harry Dresden.”

His voice boomed out of his chest in proclamation. Everyone in the place raised their glasses and bottles in unison and called in response.

“Harry Dresden.”

Everyone drank. I had never seen a full bar toast at Mac’s before. If this is what it took, it wasn’t worth it. I hoped I would never see it again. Mac got down from his stepstool and the low murmur of conversation returned to the bar. We all knew we were talking about the same thing, the death of Harry Dresden, and what that meant to Chicago, and everywhere else.