"Yes," Georgia replied. "But think about this, Billy. Getting involved might not be the best way to do it."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that he didn't want us to take him to the apartment," Georgia said. "Do you know why?"

"No, I don't. Neither do you."

She made a disgusted sound. "Billy, he's afraid the apartment is being watched."

"By who?"

"By what" Georgia said. "We haven't seen or heard or scented anything. If there's magic at work here, it could be more than we know how to handle."

"So what are you saying?" Billy said. "That we should just abandon him if he's in trouble?"

"No." She sighed. "But, Billy, you saw what he was capable of doing. We saw him mow through an army at the faerie battleground. And you tell me tonight that he flipped a car onto one of these other wizards, and that the man blew it off. I don't think we're weak, but running off ghouls and trolls and the occasional vampire is one thing. Mixing it up with wizards is something else. You've seen what kind of power they have."

"I'm not afraid," Billy said.

"Then you're stupid," Georgia replied, her voice blunt but not cruel. "Harry isn't what he used to be. He's been hurt. And I don't care what he says, his injured hand bothers him more than he lets on. He doesn't need any more handicaps."

"You want to just leave him alone?" Billy asked.

"I don't want to weigh him down. You know him. He'll protect other people before he takes care of himself. If he's operating so far out of our league, we might not be anything but a distraction to him. We have to understand our limits."

There was a long silence.

"I don't care," Billy said then. "I'm not just going to stand by if he's in trouble."

"All I want," Georgia said, "is for you to listen to him. If he doesn't want our support, or if he thinks it is too dangerous for us to be involved, we have to trust that he knows what he's doing. He knows things that we don't. He's trusted us before, and he's never led us wrong. Just promise me that you'll return the compliment."

"I can't just… turn away," Billy said.

"I wouldn't want you to," Georgia said. "But… sometimes you think with your fangs and not with your head, Will." There was the soft sound of a kiss. "I love you. We'll help him however we can. I just wanted you to consider the idea that he might not need us for violence."

Billy took a couple of heavy steps. One of the kitchen chairs creaked. "I don't know what else we can do."

"Well," Georgia said. She opened the fridge. "What about these masked wizard types. Did you get close enough to scent them?"

"I tried," Billy said. "And I was closest to them. But…"

"But?"