"Mac, that thing was dangerous," I said. "And it might come back."

Mac grunted.

"Look," I said. "If my guess is right, that twit and its buddies might wipe out a big chunk of the state. Or possibly states. If you know something about them, I need it."

Mac didn't look up. After several seconds, he said, "Can't. I'm out."

"Look at this place," I said quietly. "You aren't out. Nobody is out."

"Drop it," he said. "Neutral territory."

"Neutral territory that is going to burn with all the rest of it," I said. "I don't care who you are, man. I don't care what you've done. I don't care whether or not you think you're retired from the life. If you know something I need it. Now."

"Harry, we need to move," Thomas said, urgency tightening his voice.

I could hear the sirens now. They had to be close. Mac turned and walked back toward his bar.

Dammit. I shook my head and turned to leave.

"Dresden," Mac called.

I turned to look back at him. Mac was standing behind the bar. As I watched, he took three bottles of beer from beneath the counter and placed them down in a straight line, one by one, their sides touching. Then he just looked up at me.

"Three of them," I said. "Three of these things?" Hell's bells, one of them had been bad enough.

Mac neither nodded nor shook his head. He just jerked his chin at me and said, "Luck."

"We're gonna talk," I said to Mac.

Mac turned a look on me that was as distant and as inaccessible as Antarctic mountains.

"No," he said. "We aren't."

I was going to say something smart-ass. But that bleak expression made it seem like a bad idea.

So instead, I followed my brother up the debris-strewn stairs and into the rainy morning.

* * *

We passed the first police car to arrive at the scene on our way out, driving at the sedate pace of upright citizens.

"I love evading representatives of the lawful authority," Thomas said, watching the car go by in his rearview mirror. "It's one of those little things that make me happy."

I paused and thought about it. "Me too. I mean, I know a bunch of these guys. Some of them are good people, some of them are jerks, but most are just guys doing a job. And it's not like sticking us in a room and questioning us is going to accomplish anything to make their day go more smoothly."

"And you enjoy driving authority figures insane," Thomas said.

I shrugged. "I watched The Dukes of Hazzard at a formative age," I said. "Of course I enjoy it."

"Where next?" Thomas asked. "Molly's place?"

I thought about it for a minute. I didn't think it would be agreat idea to be there when Fix came looking for a fight. Svartalves were a little prickly about territory, and they might not be at all amused if I dragged a personal conflict into their domain. But there were other people I wanted to contact before nightfall, and I needed a phone and some quiet workspace to do it in.

"The Summer Lady has granted your request for an audience," said Cat Sith from the backseat.

Thomas nearly took the Hummer off the street and into a bus stop shelter. My heart leapt into my throat as if it had been given bionic legs and its own sound effects. Thomas regained control of the vehicle almost instantly, letting out a wordless snarl as he did.

"Sith," I said, too loud. My heart was running at double time. I glared at him over the front seat. "Dammit."

The malk's too-long tail flicked back and forth in smug self-satisfaction. "Shall I interpret that as an order to burn something, Sir Knight? If you are to survive long in Winter, you must learn to be much more specific in your turns of phrase."

"No, don't burn anything," I said, grouchily. I thought about giving the malk an order not to sneak up on me like that anymore, but thought better of it. That would be exactly the kind of order that Cat Sith would take grotesque amusement in perverting, and I wanted to avoid putting him into a playful mood. "What did Lily have to say?"

"That she would guarantee your safety from harm wrought by herself, her Court, and any in her employ or influence," the malk said, "provided that you came alone and kept the peace."

I grunted, thinking.

"Why would she want you alone?" Thomas asked. "Unless she planned on doing something to you."

"Because the last time she saw the Winter Knight, he was murdering the previous Summer Knight?" I guessed aloud. "Because the last time she saw the corpse of the Summer Lady, I was the one who'd made it? Because I'm a known thug who wrecks things a lot?"

Thomas bobbed his head slightly to one side in acknowledgment. "Okay. Point."

"Sith," I asked, "where is the meeting?"

"A public venue," Sith said, his eyes half-lidded. "Chicago Botanic Gardens."

"See?" I said to Thomas. "That's not a venue for an assassination-for either of us. There are too many people around. There are plenty of ways out for anyone who wants to leave. That's a viable neutral location."

"If I remember right," Thomas said, "the last time the Summer Lady tried a hit on you, didn't she animate a bunch of plants into a giant monster that tried to kill you in the garden center of a Walmart?"

I rode in silence for a few seconds and then said, "Yeah, but . . . it was dark. Not as many people around."