"Butters," I said impatiently. "There's a girl here who helped me out earlier today. I have to make sure Cowl and his sidekick haven't harmed her."

"But… can't you do this after you stop the bad guys?"

I shook my head. "I'm doing my best, here. I don't know what might happen in the next few hours, but dammit, this girl helped me because I asked her to. I dragged her into this. Cowl and Kumori were going to considerable lengths to destroy every copy of der Erlking that they could find, and if they guessed that I got it from her memory she'll be in danger. I need to be sure she's all right."

"Oooooh," Butters said. "This is the girl who asked you out, right?"

I blinked. "How did you know that?"

"Thomas told me."

I growled under my breath and said, "Remind me to punch his lights out sometime soon."

"Hey," Butters said. "At least he didn't let me keep thinking you were gay."

I gave Butters a flat look and got out of the car. "Stay in the driver's seat," I told him. "If there's trouble, run. Try to circle back for me."

"Right," Butters said. "Got it."

I hurried through the rain and the darkness into Shiela's building. I drew out my pentacle and willed light from it, and went up the stairs to her floor as I had that morning. The stairs and the hallway had that illusory unfamiliarity that darkness can give a place you've seen only once or twice, but I found my way to Shiela's door easily enough.

I paused for a moment and tried to sense the wards she'd woven, and found that they were still in place. That was good. If anyone had come in after her for some reason, they'd have either torn the ward down or set it off on the way through.

Unless, of course, someone had gone to the trouble to get invited in first. Shiela didn't seem to be the kind to turn folks away out of a sense of general paranoia. I knocked several times.

There wasn't an answer.

She had said she was going out, earlier. She was probably at some costume party somewhere. Talking with friends. Eating good food. Having fun.

Probably.

I knocked again and said, "Shiela? It's Harry."

I heard a couple of soft steps, the creak of a floorboard, and then the door opened to the length of its security chain. Shiela stood in the opening. There was soft candlelight coming from her apartment. "Harry." she said quietly, her mouth curling into a smile. "What are you doing here? Hang on." She closed the door, the security chain rattled, and then she opened it again. "Come in."