Skin Game (The Dresden Files 15)

That made everyone at the table notice. It got quiet and they got still, waiting to see what would happen next.

One thing you learn hanging out with people like Mab—you don’t show weakness to predators. Especially not to the really confident ones.

“Not yet. I should ask you,” I replied, “how thick do you think that wall behind you might be? When you go flying through it a few seconds from now, do you think you’ll knock out a whole section, or just a little chunk the size of your head and shoulders?”

Grey blinked at that, and then turned a wide smile on me. “Seriously? You want to whip them out already? You’ve been here for about two minutes.”

I took a bite of my doughnut, swallowed it (heavenly), and said, “You’re not the toughest thing I’ve ever seen. You’re not even close.”

“Oh,” Grey said. “You don’t say.”

Though he didn’t rise or stir, the air got thick.

Karrin broke the silent tension by putting a small, restraining hand on my shoulder. “That was me in the video,” she said.

Grey’s eyes went back to her. “You took a shot right past this idiot’s ear to take out that guy behind him. That takes some resolve. Good for you.”

“I’m a better shot now,” she said.

Grey lifted an eyebrow. “Damn, threats from both of you?” He turned his gaze on Valmont. “How about you, sister? Want to jump on this train?”

Valmont didn’t meet his gaze. “I don’t know you,” she said.

Grey snorted. He considered me for a moment. Then he said, “Nicodemus?”

“Hmmm?”

“Do you need the wizard for the rest of the plan?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“What about Murphy?”

“Not particularly.”

Grey exhaled through his nose, his eyes glittering. “I see.” Then he nodded and said, “Shall we put a pin in this, Dresden, until later?”

“Absolutely,” I said. “Nicodemus?”

This time Nick’s reply was warier. “Yes?”

“What is this jerk good for?”

“I’m the only person in the world who can get you where you want to go,” Grey drawled.

“Yeah?” I asked. “Why? What do you do?”

Grey smiled. “Anything. This week, I’m opening doors.”

“You’ve already opened the one that said AN ASS KICKING,” I assured him. “We’ll get to it eventually.”

Grey regarded me levelly. Then he got up, moving lazily, and settled down in the chair next to Deirdre and Nicodemus, another statement. He took a slow sip of his coffee and studied Karrin the way a recently fed mountain lion might watch a baby mountain goat taking its first steps: with calm, patient interest.

“Thank you, gentlemen, for putting that aside for the nonce,” Nicodemus said smoothly. He did not seem displeased either by Grey’s choice of seats or by the focal point of his attention. “Dresden, may I assume you are ready to get to work?”

“When you assume,” I said, “you make an ass out of you.” I took another bite of doughnut and said, “Yeah, fine.”

“The file, please.”

I grunted and slid it down the table. Nicodemus promptly passed it over to Grey.

Grey opened the file and started reading it. Those odd eyes of his flicked over pages as if he could take in their entire contents with a glance, then moved to the next. He finished it in maybe six or seven seconds.

“Well?” Nicodemus asked.

“For the simple part, that’s enough,” Grey replied. “But to pull it off properly, I’ll need a sample. A fresh one.”

“We’ll add that to today’s list,” Nicodemus said. He nodded to Deirdre, who got up and went around the table, passing out thin manila folders labeled DAY TWO. We each got one. I opened mine up to find a top page that simply read:

PHASE ONE PREPARATION:

WEAPONS

SPELLS

ENTRY

“We have considerable work in front of us today,” Nicodemus said. “Binder, I’ve already had the weapons brought in for your associates to use, but we’ll need to see to their maintenance and loading. Perhaps Miss Murphy will be willing to assist with that.”

“Sure,” she said. “Why not.”

Nicodemus smiled. “Miss Valmont, you’ll find a schematic for a vault door in your folder. You’ll need to be able to open it without damaging it. Today will be the day you plan your approach and requisition whatever equipment you need. Just make a list and give it to one of the squires.”

Valmont flipped to the next page, frowning, and studied a diagram. Then she said, “This is a Fernucci.”

“Yes.”

“I’m not going to say it’s impossible,” she said. “But what I will say is that I’ve never cracked one successfully before and I don’t know anyone who has. Easier to blow it.”

“But we will not be doing so,” Nicodemus replied calmly. “Life is challenge. Rise to it.”

“Great.” She shook her head. “What, are we hitting Vegas or something? Who has a vault door like this around this town?”

“We’ll discuss that at the evening meeting,” Nicodemus said. “Miss Ascher, Mr. Dresden. Phase One will require us to breach a secure building. We may need to make entry through a wall, neatly, without an explosion, and we will certainly need a loud and obvious distraction to occupy the attention of local security forces while we enter. Those tasks will fall to you two.”

I grunted and eyed Ascher. “You want walls or noise?”

“He said loud and obvious,” Ascher replied, her voice light. “That screams Dresden to me.”

“And we don’t want the building collapsing on us,” Karrin added in a murmur.

I sniffed and said, “Fine. I’ll make the noise, then.”

“Relea

sing enough energy to open a hole without an explosion? That’s tricky,” Ascher said. “I can adapt a spell I know, but I’ll need some time to practice it.”

“You have until sundown,” Nicodemus said. “Deirdre, you will take Mr. Grey to the factor’s address and assist him in obtaining a sample.”

“No,” I said. “These two stay. I’ll go get the sample.”

Nicodemus looked up at me sharply.

I showed him my teeth. “Grey’s a shapeshifter, isn’t he?” I asked. “You’re going to use him to duplicate poor Harvey there.”

“If we are?” Nicodemus asked. There was an edge of frost to his words. He didn’t like that I’d figured out the next step of his plan.

“Harvey lives in my town,” I said. “You turn these two psychos loose on Chicago, and Harvey winds up dead somewhere. So I’ll do it. I’ll get the sample your doppelgänger needs without killing anyone.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Grey wondered aloud.

“The fun part is where you get to live,” I replied. “Besides. If his death is discovered before we pull the job, don’t you think someone’s going to be able to put two and two together and figure out that the place is about to get hit? So we do it smart.”

Grey sighed and looked at Nicodemus. “Honestly. Where do you find these people?”

Nicodemus never took his eyes off me. “Agreed,” he said finally. “Finesse seems a wiser option.” His dark eyes sparkled maliciously. “The three of you should have no problem accomplishing the task.”

“What?” I asked.

“Grey, Deirdre, and Dresden will run this particular errand,” he said, “while the rest of us busy ourselves here.” He paused. “Unless, of course, Dresden, you wish to cease lending me your support.”

I ground my teeth. I wanted to give him a solid punch in the nose—but that would not be upholding Mab’s honor. “No,” I said.

“Deirdre and Mr. Grey will bear witness to your sincerity.”

My eyes tracked over to Deirdre, who was regarding me with a wide, intense smile that made her dark eyes too bulgy and conveyed a number of awful things. Her hair had begun to slither back and forth over her suit jacket’s shoulders.