He nodded. “Harry, I’m here because the Wardens received an anonymous tip about black magic being employed in the city. Ilyana and a team are on the way to Bock Ordered Books right now.”
“Dammit,” I said. “There’s no need for that. It’s handled.”
Ramirez spread his hands. “It’s not my call. Ilyana’s been given your old job. I’m back to just handling the western US. Technically, I’m not even supposed to be in the loop for her operations. But I thought you should know.”
“You out of here?” I asked him.
He grimaced. “I can’t leave if I was never here. And I wasn’t.” He nodded to me, glanced at Molly, then down, turning it into a small bow toward her. Then he turned and continued walking down the street.
“Bear!” I called after a moment.
The Valkyrie appeared out of the castle. “Yeah?”
“Make sure Fitz knows to stay low. We’re going out. Pack for an argument with Wardens. We leave in five minutes.”
“Interesting,” Molly said. “I think I’ll come along.”
I arched an eyebrow at her. I glanced in the direction Ramirez had gone.
Molly sniffed delicately, but her glacial eyes glittered. “After all. Everyone knows how I get along with Wardens.”
—
We rolled out in the Munstermobile in minutes and took the flame-painted old hearse to get as close as we could to Bock’s place through the maze of partially functioning streets, piled up with mounds of dirty snow, where they had been cleared at all. We had to walk the last few blocks in, and we got to Bock’s front door right about the time a group of grey-cloaked Wardens rolled in from the opposite direction. Ilyana’s slim, blond form walked with a confident stride in the lead, dressed in close-fit black tactical clothing and a Warden’s grey cloak. She made the fifth member of a standard squad who walked behind her, two by two, boots striking the ground in time.
I remembered that sound, from back when I was sixteen.Tromp, tromp, tromp. They’d marched me places for my trial after they’d arrested me when I’d killed my old mentor in self-defense. It stirred up old, old fears.
And anger.
I felt it harder and sharper than I ever had before, as if my skin had been peeled off and there was no protection from the memories and the emotions they brought. In my head, the five Wardens turned into bowling pins, and I had to fight to keep from summoning up a sphere of pure kinetic energy and hurling it at them.
I took the same slow, deep breath that I did when meditating, and willed the feelings back. That was the whole point of practicing self-calming with meditation. It worked. The haze of powerful emotion receded, at least enough to let me think clearly.
For me, anyway.
“With me,” I said quietly.
“Dresden,” Bear asked quietly. “You going to be able to bring any of your game to a real fight?”
By which she meant magic.
And I didn’t know the answer to the question.
“Maybe it won’t come to that,” I said.
Then I started walking toward the Wardens.
Molly fell in just behind me on my right. Bear on my left. And we tromped, too.
Ilyana saw me coming and her ice-blue eyes narrowed. We all came to a halt about ten feet from each other.
“Stand aside, Dresden,” Ilyana said firmly. “This is no concern of yours.”
“Agree to disagree,” I said. “It’s been taken care of.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
“Not today, you won’t.”
