one of the administrative assistants, an earnest young woman not quite finished with her apprenticeship.
“I need to get a message to every member of the Senior Council,” I told her.
“Very well, sir,” she said. “What is the message?”
“Get this verbatim. Okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
I cleared my throat and spoke. “Be advised that I have been sheltering Warden Donald Morgan from discovery and capture for the past two days. An informant has come to me with details of how Warden Morgan was framed for the murder of Senior Council Member LaFortier. Warden Morgan is innocent, and what’s more, I can prove it.
“I am willing to meet with you tonight, on the uncharted island in Lake Michigan, east of Chicago at sundown. The informant will be present, and will produce testimony that will vindicate Warden Morgan and identify the true culprit of the crime.
“Let me be perfectly clear. I will not surrender Warden Morgan to the alleged justice of the Council. Come in peace and we will work things out. But should you come to me looking for a fight, be assured that I will oblige you.”
The assistant had started making choking sounds after the very first sentence.
“Then sign it ‘Harry Dresden,’ ” I said.
“Um. Yes, sir. Sh-shall I read that back to you?”
“Please.”
She did. I’d heard sounds of movement in the background around her, but as she read aloud, all of those sounds died to silence. When she finished, she asked, in a rather small, squeaky voice, “Do I have that down correctly, sir?”
Murmurs burst out in the background over the phone, excited and low.
“Yeah,” I told her. “Perfect.”
Chapter Thirty-eight
I figured I had an hour, maybe, before someone was going to show up from Edinburgh. It was time enough to grab a cab and head to the hospital.
Back in the ICU, Will was sacked out in the waiting room and Georgia was the one sitting with Andi. A middle- aged couple who looked as if they hadn’t slept much was in there with her. I knocked on the glass. Georgia said something to the couple and rose to come out into the hallway with me. She looked tired but alert, and had her long, rather frizzy hair pulled back into a ponytail.
“Harry,” she said, hugging me.
I returned the hug, cutting it off a little early. “How is she?”
Georgia studied me for a second before she answered. “In bad shape. The doctors don’t seem to be willing to say whether or not she’ll recover.”
“Better that way,” I said. “If one of them said she’d be fine and then she wasn’t…”
Georgia glanced at the couple sitting beside Andi’s bed, holding each other’s hands. “I know. It would be cruel to offer false hope, but…”
“But you’re still irrationally angry that the docs haven’t saved her yet. You know better, but you’re upset anyway.”
She nodded. “Yes. Irrationality is not something I’m comfortable with.”
“It isn’t irrational,” I said. “It’s human.”
She gave me a small smile. “Will and I talked. And you’re in a hurry.”
I nodded. “I need you both, and right now.”
“I’ll get him,” Georgia said.
We took Georgia’s SUV back down to the marina and arrived with ten minutes to spare on my estimated time window. I definitely wanted to be out over open water by the time members of the Council started showing up. The water wouldn’t be a perfect protection from incoming magic, but it would make it a lot harder for anyone to target me solidly, and it was a hell of a lot better than nothing.
“Okay,” I said. “You guys wait here for a minute.”
Will frowned. “Why?”
“I need to talk to someone who can be a little shy around strangers. One minute.” I hopped out of the SUV and walked down the rows of cars until I found two vans parked together. I slipped between them, put the fingers of one hand to my lips, and let out a sharp whistle.
There was a whirring sound and Toot-toot streaked down from overhead, came to a hover in front of me, drew his little sword, and saluted. “Yes, my liege!”
“Toot, I have two missions for you.”
“At once, my lord!”
“No, I want you to do them one at a time.”
Toot lowered his sword, his expression crestfallen. “Oh.”
“First, I want you to find the boat out on the lake that my apprentice is in. She’s not more than a mile or two from shore.” I took off my silver pentacle amulet, wrapped the chain around it, and handed it to Toot-toot. “Leave this where she will notice it right away.”
Toot accepted the amulet gravely, tucking it under one arm. “It will be done.”
“Thank you.”
Toot-toot’s chest swelled out, and he stood a little bit straighter.
“Second,” I told him. “I need to know how many of the little folk you could convince to join the Guard for one night.”
He frowned and looked dubious. “I don’t know, Lord Harry. The pizza ration is already stretched as far as it can go.”
I waved a hand. “The Guard’s pay won’t change. I’ll order extra to pay for the new guys’ service. Call them the Za-Lord’s Militia. We only need them sometimes. How many do you think would agree to that?”
Toot buzzed in an excited circle. “For you? Every sprite and pixie and dewdrop faerie within a hundred miles knows that you saved our kind from being imprisoned by the Lady of the Cold Eyes! There’s not a one who didn’t have comrade or kin languishing in durance vile!”
I blinked at him. “Oh,” I said. “Well. Tell them that there may be great danger. Tell them that if they wish to join the Militia, they must obey orders while they serve. And I will pay them one large pizza for every fourscore volunteers.”
“That’s less than you pay the Guard, Harry,” Toot said smugly.
“Well, they’re amateurs, not full-time veterans like you and your men, are they?”
“Yes, my lord!”
I looked at him seriously. “If you can recruit a Militia and if they perform as asked, there’s a promotion in it for you, Toot.”
His eyes widened. “Does it come with cheese in the crust and extra toppings?”
“It isn’t a pizza.” I said. “It’s a promotion. Get this work done, and from that time forward, you will be…” I paused dramatically. “Major-General Toot-toot Minimus commanding the Za-Lord’s Elite.”
Toot’s body practically convulsed in a spasm of excitement. Had a giant yellow exclamation point suddenly appeared in the air over his head, I would not have been surprised. “A Major-General?”
I couldn’t resist. “Yes, yes,” I said solemnly. “A Major-General.”
He let out a whoop of glee and zipped up and down the little space between vans. “What do you wish us to do when I have them, my lord!”
“I want you to play,” I said. “Here’s what we’re going to do…”
I rejoined Will and Georgia, and ten minutes later, the Water Beetle came chugging back toward the marina.
