Turn Coat (The Dresden Files 11)

"Yeah," I said. "Things got sort of tense between us, I guess, after this whole situation got going. I mean, I sort of figured we'd already broken up, but..."

But this wasn't a case of having loved and lost. She had never loved me. Madeline's kiss, when she'd buried me in an avalanche of bliss while she took a bite from my life force, had proved that. Anastasia hadn't ever been in love. Maybe she hadn't ever really liked me. Or maybe she had. Or maybe it was all of the above.

Whatever it had been, it was over now, before it could grow into anything else, and neither of us had been given much of a choice in the matter.

I hadn't expected it to hurt quite as much as it did.

Rashid put his hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said. "I thought you deserved to know."

"Yeah," I said, my voice rough. "Thank you. I guess." I found myself letting out a bitter little laugh.

The Gatekeeper tilted his head.

"I've been trying to work out why no one used magic on anyone at LaFortier's murder."

"What is your conclusion?"

"You can't do anything with magic that you don't really, truly believe in," I said. "Some part of Luccio had to recognize that killing LaFortier was wrong. So she used a knife. Morgan could no more have unleashed magic upon a lawfully serving Senior Council member or onto his commanding officer than he could have apologized for how he's treated me. And LaFortier never saw it coming from Anastasia. He probably died confused, never had a chance to use a spell." I looked up at the Gatekeeper. "It wasn't some big arcane, mysterious reason. It was because everyone was human."

"In my experience," he said, "that is more than mystery enough."

I was gathering my things to leave and go back home when Ebenezar appeared in the doorway. "Hoss," he said calmly. "Figured I would walk you home."

"Appreciated, sir," I told him. I had already sent Mouse home with Molly, and it was always a good idea to avoid walking the Ways alone. We started walking through the tunnels. I was heartily sick of them. I'm not claustrophobic or anything, but I think you'd need some kind of groundhog gene to enjoy living at White Council HQ.

We hadn't gone far when I realized that Ebenezar was taking a roundabout route to the Way, through tunnels that were largely unused and unlit. He conjured a dim red light to his staff, just enough to let us see our way, and in the color least likely to be noticed.

"Well," he said, "we filled LaFortier's seat on the Senior Council today."

"Klaus the Toymaker?" I asked.

Ebenezar shook his head slowly. "Klaus didn't say it, but I suspect the Merlin asked him to decline. Gregori Cristos got the seat."

I frowned. The seats on the Senior Council were awarded geriocratically. Whoever had the most years of service in the Council was offered the position of leadership, though there was nothing that required a wizard to accept a seat when it was available. "Who the hell is that? He's not up at the top of the seniority list."

My mentor grimaced. "Aye. A Greek, and an unpleasant bastard. He's lived all through southern Asia over the past couple of centuries. Distinguished himself in the battle with that rakshasa raja the Council took on recently."

"I remember when it happened," I said. "I heard it was pretty crazy."

Ebenezar grunted. "He was LaFortier's protégé."

I took that in, processing the logic. "I thought that bloc had been appeased."

"When someone wants power, you can't buy him off," Ebenezar said. "He'll take what you offer and keep on coming. And Cristos as much as told the Merlin that he and his allies would secede from the Council if he didn't get the seat."

"Jesus," I said quietly.

He nodded. "Might as well give the Red Court the keys to all our gates and let them kill us in our sleep. Fewer bystanders would get hurt."

"So the Merlin made a deal," I said.

"Didn't have a lot of choice. Cristos's people gained a lot of support after they lost so many at the trial. He'd have taken a third of the Council with him."

"Screw the selection process, huh?"

Ebenezar grimaced. "It's never been codified by anything but tradition. Oh, the Merlin made a show of adhering to it, but I guarantee you it was arranged behind the scenes, Hoss." He shook his head. "The Senior Council has issued official positions on LaFortier's assassination."

"Let me guess," I said. "Lone gunman."

He frowned at that for a moment, and then nodded. "Oh, Kennedy. Yes. It was an act of individuals motivated by profit. There is no evidence to suggest the presence of an organized conspiracy. There is no Black Council."

I stared blankly at Ebenezar. "That's... stupid."

"Damn right," he said. "But they had a majority. The Merlin, Cristos, Mai, Martha Liberty, and the Gatekeeper."

I shook my head. "What the hell does he think he's accomplishing?"

Ebenezar shrugged. "He's never been easy to read. And I've known him since I was sixteen years old. Two or three explanations come to mind."

"Like, maybe he's Black Council."

Ebenezar walked for several steps in silence. Then he said, "Aye."

"Or maybe Peabody got to him harder than we all think," I said.

"Improbable," Ebenezar said. "The drugs he slipped the Senior Council let him nudge them... us. But we're all too crusty to bend more than that."

"What then?"

"Well, Hoss," he said, "maybe Langtry's worried about the consequences of officially acknowledging the Black Council."

I felt a little chill glide over the nape of my neck. "He's worried that if enough people knew that the Black Council was real, they wouldn't line up to fight them. They'd join."

"Everyone loves a winner," Ebenezar said. "And we haven't been looking too good lately. People are afraid. Cristos is building his influence on it."

I stopped in my tracks and all but threw up on the cold stone floor.

Ebenezar stopped, putting his hand on my arm, and frowned in concern. "What is it, boy?"

"Sir," I said, hearing my voice shake. "When Peabody came to the island..."

"Yes?"

"He wasn't alone. Someone else came with him. Someone we never saw."

We said nothing for a long minute.

"That's only one explanation, Hoss," Ebenezar said. "It's not even a calculated estimate. It's a flat-out guess."