Part 31 (2/2)

I had my s.h.i.+eld up overhead before the debris started raining down, protecting Murphy, me, the winds.h.i.+eld of the Beetle, and the girl staring wide-eyed through it. I squinted through the flying bits of building and furniture and rock, and a second later managed to spot a broken human form lying with its head in the street, its feet still up on the curb. Priscilla's turtleneck was on fire, and her hair stood straight out and was blackened and burned off within three or four inches of her skull. She ripped the turtleneck away in a kind of wobbly, disoriented panic-and revealed a bra and falsies. Those got ripped off too, and what was left, while slender and hairless, was also obviously the upper torso of a very pale, rather effeminate-looking man.

There was motion in the gaping maw of ruin that had been Elaine's hotel room, and a woman appeared in it. She was dressed in the cheap plastic curtain that had been hanging over the tub. She had a thick-linked chain wrapped tightly around her left arm a couple of inches above her bloodied, slashed wrist, tied in an improvised tourniquet. She was quite dry, and her hair floated out and around her head, crackling with little flashes of static electricity as she moved. She slid herself slowly, carefully across the debris-strewn floor, and she held a short length of carved wood that looked like nothing so much as an enormous thorn of some kind in her right hand, its sharp tip pointing at the man in the parking lot. Tiny slivers of green lightning danced around its tip, occasionally flickering out to touch upon nearby objects with snapping, popping sounds as she pa.s.sed.

Elaine kept that deadly little wand pointed at the Skavis, eyes narrowed, and said, her voice rough and raw, ”Who's useless now, now, b.i.t.c.h?” b.i.t.c.h?”

I just stared at Elaine for a long minute. Then I traded a glance with Murphy, who looked just as startled and impressed as I felt. ”Murph,” I said, ”I think I got through.”

The Skavis agent came to his feet and bounded at us, quick as thinking.

I raised my staff and unleashed a burst of raw force. He might be strong as h.e.l.l, but once off the ground, with nothing to push against, he was just ma.s.s times acceleration. The blow from the staff swatted him out of the air to the concrete not far from the Beetle. I immediately used another blow to throw him back across the parking lot, creating clear s.p.a.ce around him.

”Thank you, Harry,” Elaine said, her rough voice prim. Then she lifted the wand and snapped, ”Fulminaris!” ”Fulminaris!”

There was another blinding flash of light, another crack of homemade thunder, and a green-white globe of light enclosed the vampire. There was a scream, and then his limp form fell to the concrete, one shoulder and most of his chest blackened. It smelled disturbingly like burned bacon.

Elaine lifted her chin, eyes glittering. She lowered the wand, and as she did, the lights came back up to full strength. She nodded once. Then she slipped and staggered to one side.

”Watch him!” I barked to Molly, pointing at the fallen vampire.

Murphy and I reached Elaine at about the same time, and we tried to catch her before she dropped. We succeeded in easing her down to the debris-littered concrete.

”Jesus,” Murphy said. ”Harry, she needs a hospital.”

”They'll be watching the-”

”f.u.c.k 'em,” Murphy said, rising. ”They can watch her through a wall of cops.” She stalked away, drawing out her phone.

I bit my lip as Elaine looked up at me and smiled faintly. She spoke, her words faintly slurred. ”Dammit. Every time I come to Chicago, I've got to get rescued. Embarra.s.sing as h.e.l.l.”

”At least it wasn't me that did the building this time,” I said.

She made a sound that might have been a laugh if she'd had more energy behind it. ”b.a.s.t.a.r.d had me dead to rights. Snuck it up on me. I didn't realize.”

”That's how the old psychic whammy works,” I said quietly. ”Once you start thinking, 'Gee, maybe that isn't me thinking about suicide,' it kind of falls apart.”

”Wouldn't have happened if you hadn't warned me,” she said. She met my eyes again. ”Thank you, Harry.”

I smiled at her, and checked her wrist. ”This doesn't look good. We're gonna get you to We're gonna get you to a a doctor. doctor. Okay?” Okay?”

She shook her head. ”The upstairs room. Abby, Olivia, the others. Make sure they're all right.”

”I doubt they've lost as much blood as you have,” I said. Murphy, though, was way ahead of me, and was already on the stairs on the way up to the second level, then down to check the room.

”Okay. Time to wrap this up.” I picked Elaine up. I made sure the shower curtain didn't fall off. ”Come on. You can sit in the car until the EMTs get here. Maybe I can find something else to keep your arm tied off, huh?”

”If you can find my purse,” she said, her eyes closed now, a little smile on her mouth, ”you can use my golden lariat.”

I turned to the car just as the horn started frantically beeping.

I whirled.

The Skavis agent was moving again. He got his knees underneath him.

”Dammit,” I said, and rushed the car. I got the pa.s.senger door open and dumped Elaine inside, even as the Skavis rose to his feet. ”Murphy!”

Murphy called something I didn't hear very well. The Skavis turned toward me. His face, all contorted with burns on one side, twisted up into a hideous grimace.

Murphy's gun began barking in a steady, deliberate shooting rhythm. Sparks flew up from the concrete near his feet. At least one shot hit the Skavis, making his upper body jerk.

I rose, blasting rod in hand.

There was a roar more appropriate to a great cat than any dog, and the sound of shattering gla.s.s from the second level. Mouse flew over the safety railing, landed heavily on the ground, and lunged at the Skavis.

The dog wasn't six inches behind the Skavis agent as it closed on me, its one remaining arm raised up to... well, hit me. But given how hard the blow was going to be, I upgraded the verb to smite. smite. He was about to smite me. He was about to smite me.

Thomas came out of nowhere with that cavalry saber of his and took off the Skavis's smiting arm at the shoulder.

He let out a scream that didn't sound anything like human, and tried to bite me. I rolled out of his way, helping him along with a stiff shove to his back.

Mouse came down on top of him, and that was that.

I eyed Thomas as Mouse made sure that the remarkably resilient vampire wasn't going to be getting up again for anything, ever. It had been a close call. The Skavis had timed his move just right. Another second, give or take, and he'd have broken my neck.

”Well,” I told Thomas, my breathing still quick. ”It's about time.”

”Better late than never,” Thomas replied. He glanced at the bleeding Elaine, licked his lips once, and said, ”She needs help.”

”It's on the way,” Murphy said. ”Response is slow here, but give them a couple of minutes. Everyone's okay up there, Harry.”

Thomas let out a breath of relief. ”Thank G.o.d.”

Which was odd, coming from him, all things considered. I concurred with the sentiment, though.

Molly sat behind the wheel of the Beetle, breathing too quickly, her eyes very wide. She couldn't quite see Mouse or his grisly chew toy from where she was sitting, but she stared as if she could see right through the Beetle's hood to where my dog was finis.h.i.+ng up his deadly, ugly work.

”So,” I asked Thomas. ”How'd Lara get you to promise not to talk?”

My brother turned toward me and gave me a huge grin. Then he wiped it off his face and said, in the tone of a radio announcer on Prozac, ”I don't know what you're talking about, Warden Dresden.” He winked. ”But hypothetlcally speaking, she might have told me that Justine was in danger and refused to divulge anything else until I promised to keep my mouth shut.”

”And you let her get away with that kind of c.r.a.p?” I asked him.

Thomas shrugged and said, ”She's family.”

Molly suddenly lunged up out of the driver's seat of the Beetle and was noisily sick.

”Seems a little fragile,” Thomas said.

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