Cold Days

"How bad?" Thomas asked.

"One of these wounds is bleeding, not bad," Murphy reported. "Jesus, his arms."

"We need to get out," I said. My voice sounded raw to me. "Trouble coming."

"No," said a beautiful Sidhe baritone. "Trouble is here."

They appeared from behind their veils, one by one, with so much melodrama that I was mildly surprised that they hadn't each struck some kind of kung fu pose. The Redcap with his red beret was in the center of the group. The others were spread out around us in a semicircle, pinning us against the hedge behind us. They were all holding blades and guns. They looked more like models at a photo shoot than actual warriors, but I knew better. The Sidhe are prancy, but fierce.

Ace let out a croaking laugh. "You see?" he said toward the Redcap. "You needed my help after all."

The Redcap gave Ace a glance and a small shrug that seemed to acknowledge the point. "Well, the vampire and the fallen woman. I cannot comprehend how you manage to convince yourself that you are some kind of heroic figure, Dresden, given the company you keep."

That got a laugh from the other Sidhe, who probably hadn't seen much comedy in the past few years.

I heaved a few times and managed to sit up. Murphy leaned back out of my way. She said to Thomas, "Who are these clowns?"

"Rambo there in the middle is the Redcap," Thomas said. "Pretty big hitter in Faerieland, I guess. The others are his lickspittles."

"Ooh," I said. "Lickspittles, nice."

"Thank you," Thomas said gravely.

"And they have a problem with Dresden, I take it?" Murphy asked.

"Wanna kill him or something. I don't know," Thomas said, nodding. "They tried it on Jet Skis earlier today."

"Roger Moore Bond villains?" Murphy asked, her tone derisive. "Seriously?"

"Be silent, mortal cow," snarled one of the Sidhe.

Murphy tracked her eyes calmly over to that one, and she nodded once, as if memorizing something. "Yeah, okay. You."

The Sidhe fingered his weapons, beautiful features twisting into a scowl.

I tried to rise, but by the time I got to one knee I felt like crawling into a dark room and crying while throwing up. I stopped there and fought back the dizzies that tried to take me back down. I was feeling stronger than before already. If I'd had half an hour, I think I could have been ready to do something vaguely like magical violence. But I didn't have half an hour. I couldn't fight our way out of this, and if they didn't have me supporting them, I was pretty sure Karrin and Thomas couldn't do it either. We needed another option.

"Look, Red," I said. "You made your play at my party and it didn't turn out so well for you. That's fine. No hard feelings. You tried to kill me and my friends out on Lake Michigan this morning, and I can see why you would. That didn't go so swell for you, either. So what makes you think it's going to turn out well for you now?"

"I like my chances," said the Redcap, smiling.

"No reason this has to get ugly," I said in reply.

There was something playful in his voice as he responded, "Is there not?"

"We can stop this right here. Turn around and walk away. We'll do the same. We'll let Ace here go free as soon as we get to our cars."

"Oh, kill him if you wish to," the Redcap said absently. "The halfblood is nothing to me."

Ace let out a hissing sound and stared at the Redcap.

"You aren't," the Redcap said calmly. "I have made that clear several times."

"But I . . . I snared him for you," Ace said. "I slowed him down. If I hadn't, you wouldn't have caught up to him."

The Redcap shrugged without ever glancing at the young man. "And I find that extremely convenient. But I never asked you to help. And I certainly never asked you to be so incompetent as to be captured by the prey."

I was glad Molly wasn't around, because the hate that suddenly flared out from Ace was so palpable that even I felt it. I could hear his teeth grinding, and the sudden flush of anger on his face was like something out of a comic book. Ace's body tensed as though he were preparing to fling himself to his feet.

At that, the Redcap turned, a too-wide Sidhe smile on his face, and faced Ace for the first time. "Ah. There. You may not have talent, but at least you have spirit. Perhaps if you survive the night, we can discuss your future."

Ace just sat there seething, staring daggers at the Redcap, and everyone was focused on the two of them.

Which was why no one but me noticed when the situation silently changed.

The Redcap looked back at me and said, "Have the vampire kill the halfblood if you wish. I'll happily trade my son's life for yours, Dresden. There are Sidhe who get all sentimental about their offspring, but I can't say I've ever been one of them." He focused on me and drew a small knife from his pocket, snapping out the blade. It was an instrument for killing at intimate distance. "Companions," he said, a smug edge to his voice, "with whom should we begin?"

The air crackled with sudden tension. The Sidhe stared with too-bright eyes, their fingers settling on the hilts and grips of various weapons. This was going to be bad. I couldn't fight. Karrin couldn't possibly keep up with attackers who both outnumbered her and operated with superhuman speed and near-invisibility. The Sidhe could defend themselves against my magic, unless I was able to throw absolutely everything at one of them-and I wouldn't get that chance against half a dozen. Physically I was pretty much useless for the moment.

Thomas might make it out, but when this crystalline moment of stillness finally broke, I was pretty sure Karrin and I wouldn't.

Unless someone broke it exactly right.

"Hey," I said innocently. "Weren't there seven of you guys a minute ago?"

The Redcap tilted his head at me and then glanced left and right. Five other Sidhe looked back at him, except on the far side of their line, on my left. The Sidhe warrior who had been there was gone. The only thing remaining where he'd been standing was a single expensive designer tennis shoe.

Right then, in the exact instant of realization, screams, truly agonized screams erupted from several yards away in the brush. There was a crystalline, almost bell-like quality to the voice, and the sound was terrifying, nothing that a human would ever make. Then there was a horrible retching sound, and the screams ended.

There was a stunned silence. And then an object came sailing out of the brush and landed at the feet of the Sidhe nearest to the one who had been taken. It was a horrible collection of bloody bone, maybe a foot and a half long-a section of spine, ripped clear of its body, bits of tissue still clinging to it.