Jim Butcher - Ghost Story

Fitz faced him in silence.

“You led those men to us. You’ve endangered the lives of everyone here.”

Fitz almost seemed to dwindle, as if a cloud had passed between him and the wan light spilling in the windows. Dark, hostile eyes glared at Fitz from all around.

A quick check with my senses confirmed that the sorcerer was using power. “He’s pushing them,” I said quietly, “making them feel hostility toward you. It isn’t real. You’ve got to shake him, break his focus.”

Fitz gave a barely perceptible nod of his head. “I didn’t lead them here. They caught me while I was trying to recover the weapons. They forced me to come with them.”

“That’s not what the priest said,” Aristedes shot back.

“The father thought he was helping me,” Fitz replied. “There was no reason to hurt him.”

“No reason?” Aristedes asked. His voice was dangerous, deadly, and smooth. “That he should trespass here is reason enough. But he wanted to destroy this family. That is something I will not permit.”

“Family, right,” Fitz said. “We’re like the Simpsons around here.”

Personally, I would have gone with the Waltons, but I liked the cut of the kid’s jib.

Aristedes stared at Fitz with reptilian eyes and said, “Give me one reason why I should not kill you, here and now.”

“Because you can’t,” Fitz said in a bored tone. “You aren’t going anywhere under your own power. You’re fucked. You need help.”

The sorcerer’s voice dropped to a bare whisper. “Do I?”

“Yep,” Fitz said. “Wasn’t like it wasn’t going to happen eventually anyway, right? Sooner or later, you were gonna wind up eating applesauce with a rubber spoon somewhere. You think a bunch of kids you terrified into following you are gonna take care of Grandpa Aristedes? Come on.”

“I’ll give you one chance,” Aristedes said. “Leave. Now.”

Fitz tapped a finger on his chin thoughtfully. Then he said, “Nah. Don’t think so.”

Aristedes blinked. “What?”

“Here’s how it’s going to work,” Fitz said. “I’m going to take the priest, those two guys, and the crew away from you. I’m going to get them some help. I’m going to call an ambulance and get you some help, too. After that, we never cross paths again.”

“Are you insane?”

“I was,” Fitz said, nodding. “I think I’m coming out of it now. I know you aren’t coming back from Loopyland, though. So I’m taking the crew away from you.”

Aristedes clenched his fists and his eyes blazed—and though he probably didn’t realize it, his concentration faltered. The influence magic he held over the children wavered. “Kill him.”

The flat-eyed children looked at Fitz. Zero started taking a step toward him.

Fitz’s voice was a whip crack, sharp and loud in the echoing chamber. “Stop.”

And they did. No magic was involved. Fitz had something more powerful than that. He’d cared for those other kids. He’d thought about them, encouraged them, and led them. That was something every bit as real as mystic power and dark enchantment—and it carries a hell of a lot more weight.

Love always does.

“Zero,” Fitz said quietly. “We’re done staying with this idiot. Put down the knife and come with me.”

“Zero!” Aristedes said sharply.

I could all but see the strain in the air as the sorcerer doubled down on his influence-working, struggling to force the boy to do his will. He shouldn’t have bothered. It was over. It had been over ever since Fitz chose to walk back into that room.

Fitz walked over to Zero and put a hand on the other boy’s shoulder. “Z,” he said quietly. “I can’t make you do anything. So you tell me. Who do you want looking out for you? Me? Or him?”

Zero looked searchingly at Fitz. Then at Aristedes.

“Don’t listen to him,” Aristedes said through clenched teeth, spraying spittle. “Without me, you won’t last a day on these streets. The Fomor will take you all .”

“No, Z,” Fitz said quietly. “They won’t. It’s okay. We’ve got help.”

Zero blinked his eyes several times. He bowed his head.

The old knife in his fingers clattered to the concrete floor.

Another dozen knives and pipes fell to the floor as the other boys released them. They all went over to Fitz and gathered around him.

“I’ll kill you,” hissed Aristedes. “I’ll kill you.”

Fitz faced the crippled sorcerer and shook his head. Then he did what was possibly the cruelest thing he could have done to his former mentor.

He turned away and ignored him.

“Zero,” Fitz said, “we need an ambulance for the father now. Call nine-one-one. Don’t move him—let the ambulance guys do that.”

Zero nodded and pulled one of those cheap, prepaid cell phones out of the pocket of his oversized jacket. He ran for the door, presumably to get a better signal. Within the next few minutes, rough but serviceable medical supplies had been brought out, and Daniel’s wounds had been cleaned and bound tighter than he’d been able to manage on his own.

Aristedes tried to get a couple of the kids to pay attention to him, but they were following Fitz’s lead. They ignored him. So the sorcerer just sat and watched it all in stunned silence.

Maybe I should have felt a little bit bad for the guy. As far as his world was concerned, he had just died. Only he was still alive to see the unthinkable—a world that existed without him. He was a living, breathing ghost. Maybe I should have felt some empathy there.

But I really didn’t.

Butters stirred and sat up groggily as Fitz finished up tying a second pressure bandage to Daniel’s leg. Michael’s son let out a short grunt of pain and then breathed deeply several times. He was still shaking and pale, but his eyes were steady. He met Fitz’s gaze and said, “Thank you.”

Fitz shook his head. “I didn’t do anything. You two were the ones who beat him.”

“The father was the one who beat him,” Daniel corrected him. “He knew what would happen to him when he came here. And he knew we’d come after him.”

Butters grunted and spoke without opening his eyes. “Forthill wouldn’t have played it like that. He came here to give peace a chance.” He groaned and pressed a hand to his jaw. “Nnngh. Ow.”

Daniel frowned, thinking it over. “So . . . he didn’t want us to come after him?”

Butters snorted. “He knew we would come after him, no matter what he did. And he also knew that if the sorcerer went off on him, there would be someone to come along and do it the other way. He’s a man of peace. Doesn’t mean he’s stupid.”

“Where is he?” Daniel asked.

“By the fire,” Fitz said. “That way about thirty yards. The ambulance is on the way.”

Butters groaned and slowly pushed himself up. He rubbed at his jaw again and said, “Take me to him.”

“Wait,” Daniel said. “Fitz . . . you ran. I don’t blame you. But you came back.”

Fitz paused, pursed his lips, and said, “Yeah. I did, didn’t I?”

“Why?”

Fitz shrugged. “Dresden. He told me that if I ran now, I’d run forever. And I’m sick of that.”

“Heh,” Butters said. “Heh, heh. He totally Kenobied the day.” Dark eyes gleaming, he looked at Daniel. “Still have doubts?”

Daniel shook his head once, smiling. Then he sank down to the floor with a satisfied groan.

“The father, please,” Butters said. Fitz nodded and led Butters over toward the gang’s little camp. But not before Butters looked around and said, “Thanks, Harry. Good to know you’ve still got our backs.”

I watched them go to help Forthill quietly.

“Sure, man,” I said, though I knew no one could hear me. “Anytime.”