“Maybe,” Ebenezar said quietly, nodding. “As soon as those trees and the webbing came down, we started pushing the spiders back. He ran. And once he was gone, the spiders scattered, too.”
“Dammit,” I said quietly.
“That’s what all this was about,” Ebenezar said. “There was no informant, no testimony.”
I nodded. “I told you that to draw the real killer out. To force him to act. And he did. You saw it with your own eyes. That should be proof enough that Morgan is innocent.”
Ancient Mai shook her head. “The only thing that proves is that someone else is willing to betray the Council and has something to hide. It doesn’t mean that Morgan couldn’t have killed LaFortier. At best, it suggests that he did not act alone.”
Ebenezar gave her a steady look. Then he said, “So there is a conspiracy now—is what you’re saying? What was that you were saying earlier about simplicity?”
Mai glanced away from him, and shrugged her shoulders. “Dresden’s theory is, admittedly, a simpler and more likely explanation.” She sighed. “It is, however, insufficient to the situation.”
Ebenezar scowled. “Someone’s got to hang?”
Mai turned her eyes back to him and held steady. “That is precisely correct. It is plausible that Morgan was involved. The hard evidence universally suggests that he is guilty. And the White Council will not show weakness in the face of this act. We cannot afford to allow LaFortier’s death to pass without retribution.”
“Retribution,” Ebenezar said. “Not justice.”
“Justice is not what keeps the various powers in this world from destroying the White Council and having their way with humanity,” Ancient Mai responded. “Fear does that. Power does that. They must know that if they strike us, there will be deadly consequences. I am aware how reprehensible an act it would be to sentence an innocent man to death—and one who has repeatedly demonstrated his dedication to the well-being of the Council, to boot. But on the whole, it is less destructive and less irresponsible than allowing our enemies to perceive weakness.”
Ebenezar put his elbows on his knees and looked at his hands. He shook his head once, and then said nothing.
“Now,” Ancient Mai said, turning her focus back to me. “You will instruct your apprentice to lower the shield, or I will tear it down.”
“Might want to take a few steps back before you do,” I said. “If anything but the proper sequence takes it apart, it explodes. It’ll take out the cottage. And the tower. And the top of the hill. The kid and Morgan should be fine, though.”
Molly made a choking sound.
“Hngh. Finally made that idea work, did you?” Ebenezar said.
I shrugged. “After those zombies turned up and just hammered their way through my defenses, I wanted something that would give me some options.”
“How long did it take you to make?”
“Nights and weekends for three months,” I sighed. “It was a real pain in the ass.”
“Sounds it,” Ebenezar agreed.
“Wizard McCoy,” Mai said sharply. “I remind you that Dresden and his apprentice aided and abetted a fugitive from justice.”
From behind me, Listens-to-Wind said, “Mai. That’s enough.”
She turned her eyes to him and stared hard.
“Enough,” Listens-to-Wind repeated. “The hour is dark enough without trying to paint more people with the same brush we’re going to be forced to use on Morgan. One death is necessary. Adding two more innocents to the count would be callous, pointless, and evil. The Council will interpret Dresden’s actions as ultimately to the support of the Laws of Magic and the White Council. And that will be the end of it.”
There was no expression on Mai’s face—absolutely none. I couldn’t have told you a darn thing about what was going on behind that mask. She stared at the two older wizards for a time, then at me. “The Merlin will not be pleased.”
“That is good,” Listens-to-Wind said. “No one should be pleased with this day’s outcome.”
“I’ll take Morgan into custody, Mai,” Ebenezar said. “Why don’t you take the Wardens back to the city in the boat? It should give you less trouble without me and Injun Joe on it. We’ll follow along in the other boat.”
“Your word,” Mai said, “that you will bring Morgan to Edinburgh.”
“Bring him and bring him unharmed,” Ebenezar said. “You have my word.”
She nodded her head once. “Wardens.”
Then she walked calmly out. The four Wardens fell into step behind her.
I kept track of them once they were outside. They started down the path that would lead them back to the dock.
I looked up at Listens-to-Wind. “I need your help with something.”
He nodded.
“There’s a patch of blackberry bushes out there. One of the Little Folk tried to play guardian angel for me. The naaglosh—”
“Don’t say the word,” Listens-to-Wind said calmly. “It draws power from fear, and from spreading its reputation. Referring to them by name can only increase their power.”
I snorted. “I saw you send it running. You think I’m giving it any fear?”
“Not at the moment,” Injun Joe said. “But speaking the word doesn’t accomplish anything good. Besides, it’s a sloppy habit to get into.”
I grunted. I could accept that. He’d probably phrased things that way intentionally. Besides, of the two of us, which one had a better track record against naagloshii? I decided to not be an idiot and listen to the medicine man.
“The creature,” I said, “knocked him out of the air. Maybe hurt or killed him.”
Injun Joe nodded. His broken arm had been splinted with a field dressing and wrapped in medical tape. The Wardens had probably brought their own gear. “I saw the very end of your fight. Which is why I felt it appropriate to give the creature the same treatment.” He shook his head. “It took a lion’s courage for the little one to do what he did. I already went looking for him.”
I felt a little bit sick. “Was he . . . ?”
Listens-to-Wind smiled faintly and shook his head. “Knocked senseless for a while, and wounded by blackberry thorns, though his armor protected him from the worst of it.”
I found myself barking out a short little laugh of relief. “That armor? You’re kidding.”
He shook his head. “Worst thing hurt was his pride, I think.” His dark eyes sparkled. “Little guy like that, taking on something so far out of his weight class. That was a sight to see.”
Ebenezar snorted. “Yeah. Wonder where the pixie learned that.”
I felt my cheeks coloring. “I didn’t want to do it. I had to.”
“You picked a good fight,” Listens-to-Wind said. “Not a very smart fight. But that old ghost is as close to pure evil as you’ll ever see. Good man always stands against that.”
“You had it on the run,” I said. “You could have killed it.”
“Sure,” Listens-to-Wind said. “Would have been a chase, and then more fight. Might have taken hours. Would have made the old ghost desperate. It would have started using innocents as shields, obstacles, distractions.” The old medicine man shrugged. “Maybe I would have lost, too. And while it was going on, spiders would be eating fat old hill-billies and picking their fangs clean with their bones.”
Ebenezar snorted. “Never would have happened. I don’t much care for vampires, especially not those White Court weasels, but I’ll say this much for them. They can fight, when they have a mind to. After the first rush, those bugs were a lot more careful.”
“Yeah,” I said. “They didn’t have much of a spine when they tried to stop me on the trail to Edinburgh.”
Both of the old wizards traded a look, and then Injun Joe turned back to me. “You got jumped by spiders going through the Way?”
“Yeah,” I said. I thought about it and was surprised. Had it happened so recently? “Two days ago, when I came to Edinburgh. I told you about it. The killer must have had some kind of watch put on the Chicago end of the Way, to get them into position in time to intercept me.” I let out a weary little snigger.