Part I Part 124 (1/2)
”Sure,” Georgia said, and went to a file cabinet.
I took a seat at the table and got handed pizza and c.o.ke, and listened to the voices and chatter start up again, and thought to myself that it was a whole h.e.l.l of a lot better than spending another night crucifying myself in the lab.
”You know what disappoints me?” Billy asked me after a while.
”No, what?”
”All of those faeries and duels and mad queens and so on, and no one quoted old Billy Shakespeare. Not even once.”
I stared at Billy for a minute and started to laugh. My own aches and bruises and cuts and wounds pained me, but it was an honest, stretchy pain, something that was healing. I got myself some dice and some paper and some pencils and settled down with friends to pretend to be Thorg the Barbarian, to eat, drink, and be merry.
Lord, what fools these mortals be.
Praise for The Dresden Files Summer Knight ”There's no shortage of writers churning out supernatural detective stories these days, but Butcher is definitely among the best. Summer Knight Summer Knight starts with a bang and doesn't let up.... Fans of any kind of fiction can enjoy Butcher's fun and fast-paced style. starts with a bang and doesn't let up.... Fans of any kind of fiction can enjoy Butcher's fun and fast-paced style. Summer Knight Summer Knight also shows great development in both the character of Harry Dresden and Butcher's writing style. It's probably the most developed and satisfying story line of the series so far.... I can't wait until Harry Dresden is on the case again.” also shows great development in both the character of Harry Dresden and Butcher's writing style. It's probably the most developed and satisfying story line of the series so far.... I can't wait until Harry Dresden is on the case again.”
-The News-Star (Monroe, LA) (Monroe, LA) ”As usual in Butcher's books, the action begins on page one and moves rapidly from there...an excellent, and in my opinion powerful, chapter in the Dresden case files.”
-ParaNormal Romance Reviews ”Mr. Butcher has again merged fantasy and contemporary life, casting Harry as the likable and somewhat b.u.mbling hero facing impossible and fantastic odds.”
-The Plot Thickens Grave Peril ”A haunting, fantastical novel that begins almost as innocently as those of another famous literary wizard named Harry.”
-Publishers Weekly ”Harry is a likable protagonist with more than his share of troubles, and Grave Peril Grave Peril will keep readers turning the pages to find out how he overcomes them.” will keep readers turning the pages to find out how he overcomes them.”
-Booklist ”A great supernatural who-done-it.... Few horror, fantasy, or mystery tales get any better than this wonderful plot that smoothly combines all three genres into one novel.”
-BookBrowser Fool Moon ”It's even more entertaining...than the first in the series, good fun for fans of dark fantasy mystery.”
-Locus ”Storm Front was one of the most enjoyable books I read last year, and was one of the most enjoyable books I read last year, and Fool Moon Fool Moon is even better. Butcher keeps the thrills coming, with plenty of mystery, suspense, and edge-of-your-seat action.” is even better. Butcher keeps the thrills coming, with plenty of mystery, suspense, and edge-of-your-seat action.”
-SF Site ”A fast-paced fascinating noir thriller.”
-BookBrowser ”A really enjoyable read.... Jim Butcher strikes just the right narrative balance between wizard and wiseguy, mystic and mobster.”
-Lynn Flewelling, author of Traitor's Moon Traitor's Moon Storm Front ”A very promising start to a new series, not to mention an unusually well-crafted first novel.”
-Locus ”Interesting characters, tight plotting, and fresh, breezy writing...an auspicious start to an engaging new series.”
-SF Site ”A fine debut novel full of suspense and special effects.”
-Topica Tip World ”A strong contender for Best Sorcery Suspense Supernatural Paperback of 2000...required summer reading for anyone who likes a few laughs.”
-The Reporter (Vacaville, CA) (Vacaville, CA) ”Wish I'd thought of this myself. Try it. You'll like it.”
-Glen Cook, author of Faded Steel Heat Faded Steel Heat ”Exciting, well-plotted, complex, an excellent read...amazingly good.”
-Chris Bunch, author of The Warrior King The Warrior King
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Copyright Jim Butcher, 2003 All rights reserved ISBN: 1-101-12845-3 [image]REGISTERED TRADEMARK-MARCA REGISTRADA PUBLISHER'S NOTE This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fict.i.tiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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In memory of Plumicon and Ersha, fallen heroes
Contents Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-one Chapter Twenty-two Chapter Twenty-three Chapter Twenty-four Chapter Twenty-five Chapter Twenty-six Chapter Twenty-seven Chapter Twenty-eight Chapter Twenty-nine Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-one Chapter Thirty-two Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter One Some things just aren't meant to go together. Things like oil and water. Orange juice and toothpaste.
Wizards and television.
Spotlights glared into my eyes. The heat of them threatened to make me sweat streaks through the pancake makeup some harried stagehand had slapped on me a few minutes before. Lights on top of cameras started winking on, the talk-show theme song began to play, and the studio audience began to chant, ”Lah-REE, Lah-REE, Lah-REE!”
Larry Fowler, a short man in an immaculate suit, appeared from the doors at the rear of the studio and began walking to the stage, flas.h.i.+ng his porcelain smile and shaking the hands of a dozen people seated at the ends of their rows as he pa.s.sed them. The audience whistled and cheered as he did. The noise made me flinch in my seat up on the stage, and I felt a trickle of sweat slide down over my ribs, beneath my white dress s.h.i.+rt and my jacket. I briefly considered running away screaming.
It isn't like I have stage fright or anything, see. Because I don't. It was just really hot up there. I licked my lips and checked all the fire exits, just to be safe. No telling when you might need to make a speedy exit. The lights and noise made it a little difficult to keep up my concentration, and I felt the spell I'd woven around me wobble. I closed my eyes for a second, until I had stabilized it again.
In the chair beside me sat a dumpy, balding man in his late forties, dressed in a suit that looked a lot better than mine. Mortimer Lindquist waited calmly, a polite smile on his face, but muttered out of the corner of his mouth, ”You okay?”
”I've been in house fires I liked better than this.”
”You asked for this meeting, not me,” Mortimer said. He frowned as Fowler lingered over shaking a young woman's hand. ”s...o...b..at.”
”Think this will take long?” I asked Morty.
He glanced beside him at an empty chair, and at another beside me. ”Two mystery guests. I guess this one could go for a while. They shoot extra material and edit it down to the best parts.”
I sighed. I'd been on The Larry Fowler Show The Larry Fowler Show just after I'd gone into business as an investigator, and it had been a mistake. I'd had to fight my way uphill against the tide of infamy I'd received from a.s.sociation with the show. ”What did you find out?” I asked. just after I'd gone into business as an investigator, and it had been a mistake. I'd had to fight my way uphill against the tide of infamy I'd received from a.s.sociation with the show. ”What did you find out?” I asked.
Mort flicked a nervous glance at me and said, ”Not much.”
”Come on, Mort.”
He opened his mouth to answer, then glanced up as Larry Fowler trotted up the stairs and onto the stage. ”Not now. Wait for a commercial break.”
Larry Fowler pranced up to us and pumped my hand, then Mort's with equally exaggerated enthusiasm. ”Welcome to the show,” he said into a handheld microphone, then turned to face the nearest camera. ”Our topic for today is 'Witchcraft and Wizardry-Phony or Fabulous?' With us in order to share their views are local medium and psychic counselor Mortimer Lindquist.”
The crowd applauded politely.
”And beside him, Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard.”
There was a round of snickering laughter to go with the applause this time. I couldn't say I was shocked. People don't believe in the supernatural these days. Supernatural things are scary. It's much more comfortable to rest secure in the knowledge that no one can reach out with magic and quietly kill you, that vampires exist only in movies, and that demons are mere psychological dysfunctions.