“Well,” I said, “no.”

“Which, I take it, explains what you were doing at the station.”

“Well,” I said, “yes.”

“Quite a coincidence,” she said.

I shook my head. “In my experience, when there’s a Knight of the Cross around, there’s no such thing as coincidence.”

She frowned at that. “It’s been a very long time since I’ve been to confession. Nearly a century, in fact. I’m not aware that the Almighty owes me any favors.”

“Mysterious ways,” I said smugly.

She laughed. “I take it they’ve used that line on you before?”

“Constantly,” I said.

“A good man,” she said. “You’re lucky to have him as a friend.”

I frowned and said quietly, “Yeah. I am.” I shook my head. “When’s the parley?”

“Noon, tomorrow.” She nodded at the mantel. “Can you tell me what’s in there?”

“Options,” I said. “If the parley fails.”

“Out with it, Dresden,” she said.

I shook my head.

She put a fist on one hip. “Why not?”

“Gave my word.”

She considered that for a moment. Then she nodded once and said, “As you wish. Get some more rest. You’ll need it.” Then she prowled over to my love seat, sank wearily down into it, and, without another word, curled up under a blanket. She was apparently asleep seconds later.

I thought about getting up and checking out Gard’s case, maybe calling Michael and Murphy, but the weariness that suddenly settled on my limbs made all of that sound impossibly difficult. So I settled in a little more comfortably and found sleep coming swiftly to me as well.

The last thing I noticed, before I dropped off, was that under all the blankets I was entirely undressed.

And I was clean.

Chapter Twenty-seven

“I still don’t see why I can’t go,” Molly said, folding her arms crossly.

“You know how you told me how much you hate it when your parents quote scripture at you to answer your questions?” I asked her.

“Yeah.”

“I’m not gonna do that. Because I don’t know this one well enough to get the quote right.”

She rolled her eyes.

“But it’s something about the best way to defeat temptation is to avoid it.”

“Oh, please,” Molly said.

“Actually, he’s right,” Thomas said, passing over my duster. “Seriously. I know temptation.”

Molly gave my brother a sidelong look and blushed faintly.

“Stop that,” I told him.

Thomas shrugged. “Can’t help it. I’m hungry. I wound up jumping rooftop to rooftop for half an hour, dodging a bunch of three-foot-tall lunatics with bows and arrows.”

“Elves,” I murmured. “Someone on Summer’s team was calling in backup, too. Interesting. I wonder which side tipped the scales first.”

“You’re welcome,” Thomas said.

“Hey,” Molly snapped. “Can we get back on topic? I know how to handle myself, Harry. This is supposed to be a talk, not a fight.”

I sighed, turning to her. We were talking to each other in the Carpenters’ kitchen, while everyone else geared up in the workshop. Thomas had sneaked in the front door of the house to pass my staff and coat back to me, after his evening of decoy work.