A/N: Making up more car and interaction stuff if I'm wrong. Forgot what Murphy drives too. Also making up some variation words for the wind spells to specify what they do because I can't remember

Thomas called me in the morning, telling me we were working again. I didn't like getting near a computer so I had to rely on him to relay the times to me. I drank a coke and got dressed before waiting outside for him, getting picked up in his showy vehicle. The Blue Beatle may not be able to crush other cars like Thomas's, but it didn't need the muscle to prove it's worth.

"Sorry about yesterday." Thomas turned to me as he fiddled with the radio, turning the sound off when it turned into static. "I'm better now. So, what are we going to do? This doesn't look like a simple 'follow the leader' job anymore."

"It's not," I sighed, waving my hand. It was too early for me to really be awake and the sun hadn't come up all that long ago. The chill Chicago air wouldn't warm up until at least nine. "I still haven't figured out why they were after you, but it could have been a coincidence. The rest I've got pretty nailed down, if not a 'why'."

"Okay, so what's going on?" Thomas asked again.

"We've got some type of dog spirit who's being summoned by someone somewhere for who knows why and it's going to be driving Ben mad if we don't do something." Saying it aloud, I knew I'd have to look into the people who knew Ben. "If they were after you, they'd probably of had it try to possess me instead, and the same if it were someone after me. We're both better targets, even if we can resist it better."

"Where's he live? Maybe we should check up on him. It's not like he doesn't work when we do." Thomas kept driving, reaching a hand into the back seat and grabbing a small brown paper bag. He threw it to me. "Here."

I opened it to find two donuts, a normal one with white frosting and a chocolate one filled with cream. I bit into the chocolate on and closed my eyes. "You're a life saver."

"Aren't I? Sorry I didn't pick up any coffee too. This big guy isn't good with bumps."

"I'll grab some later." The breakfast was good enough for now. I looked at the clock, seeing the display had already winked out, before looking over at Thomas for the time. He drew out a watch, one with actual hands on it, far less likely to go haywire around me, and told me we still had forty minutes. It wasn't much time to have a look around his house but there might be clues there and I knew Thomas would get us out of any trouble for being late if we had to be.

Thomas pulled into a small suburb ten minutes north of Wrigley Field. There were rows of apartments, very few of them sharing similarities. The one thing that seemed to remain constant was there were two floors above ground. The color, layout, and design of the front yards all varied.

Thomas stopped the car in front of one that had no fence in front of it like the neighbor on either side did, to check the address. There were a few bushes around the overly large front windows that wouldn't block out any of the sun. It wasn't as large as the complex on the left of it, which had a third floor, but the windows weren't broken and the grass and bushes were trimmed.

I got out after we found a parking spot on the other side of the road, taking up more of the street than a vehicle probably should be. We didn't get more than a few feet from the car when Thomas held a hand over his nose and took a step back.

"Aw, Harry. What is that?"

I sniffed the air but all I could pick up was the scene of the trees and the spring. Some of the flowers nearby were blooming which helped mask anything else as well. "I don't smell anything."

Thomas looked around, a bike chained to one of the signs that were in front of the Tyler's apartment. The walkway was on the side of the building instead of in front like most of the others, and I could barely make out a black bag that caught my brother's eyes.

When Thomas made no move towards it I let out a breath and went over. We were coming here to look around, not staying at the car. The garbage couldn't smell that bad if I couldn't pick up on it.

I opened the bag, looking in for a bit and holding in my own breath. The bag wasn't that heavy because it wasn't full. After I had a good look I closed it back up and went over to Thomas. I had had to take a breath at the sidewalk and caught a whiff of death that must have followed me.

"It's just a dog." I looked back over at it. "Must have died a few days ago. It's hard to tell what color its fur had been."

Thomas wrinkled his nose but had let it go and been breathing through it for some time, apparently far enough away. Even he needed air. "So we have a dog spirit and now a dead dog. I'm sensing a connection."

I nodded. "Its head's been cut off."

"That would do it, wouldn't it? Heck, if I were that dog, I'd be mad too. Did Ben do it or did someone else find a way to sic a dead dog on him?"

"That's the question, isn't it? Think you can go ask around to who had the dog?" I'd do it, but people always spoke to Thomas. It would be much easier this way, and there'd be fewer questions like 'why'. That was, as long as he didn't go inside with any of them.

"I think you should do it and I should pick you up later. Ben's not here. I don't see his car."

Right. I had to go watch Ben as well, to make sure he didn't get possessed and kill someone. "Go. I'll snoop around. Call me in sick or something."

Thomas grinned and waved over his shoulder. "You investigate the dead dog. I'll sit and not work and watch for the bad guys. I wish you had a phone. If I start dying or something, I'll just scream like a little girl until you show up."

"I shouldn't be that long. Come back in an hour or two. I'm sure you can talk Ben into coming to get me. I'll walk to the main road so it's easier."

My brother nodded a bit, not moving. He shifted to his other foot, looking a bit uncertain. I raised an eyebrow but he just shifted again. "What is it?"

"I don't know. I feel like we should probably stick together. You can do stuff on your own here but I'm pretty screwed if Ben goes crazy on me again. I don't want to kill him and I have a feeling if he's possessed, broken ribs won't stop him."

Thomas had a point. He'd also be the one better off here and finding information. In an ideal world, I'd go protect Ben and he'd investigate.

The downside was that Thomas's car would never let me drive it and I'd never make it to work on time calling a cab or waiting on the bus, even if I had money for either of them.

"Fine," I sighed. "Lets go. I don't think the neighbors are going anywhere and you can always ask Ben if he has any dogs. That's something."

Thomas nodded and got back in the hummer, turning the key and hearing the engine click a few times before it started. I got in as well and shut the door, looking at the house. I didn't feel any 'evil' coming from it, but the place didn't feel all that nice either. Maybe that was the kind of trace this sort of spirit left or maybe it was just another Chicago house that had seen too much.

Once more I was in the back of a truck, hiding my staff near the door frame and my blasting rod not far from it. This time I was going to be ready, and if I needed to fry some hairs to get Ben to sit and stay like a good boy, so be it.

The man didn't look so good. I'd noticed in the few seconds I saw him before being yelled to get in that his was paler than before, his eyes slightly bloodshot. He was a man who clearly hadn't gotten a goodnight sleep, his hair rattier than ever.

I also noticed as I sat there that I'd forgotten my cap in Murphy's car. Thomas had had his and Ben had been too tired to notice that I'd been missing mine. I'd have to pick it up later, or let her keep it. It looked like I was going to give Marlene Tyler the good news that her husband wasn't cheating on her if this kept up.

I honestly hadn't been expecting a repeat of yesterday. The bad guys just didn't hit you with the same trick twice in a row. I still slid forward though, catching my staff when it tried to brain me, and feeling a truck jerk to a sudden stop. We hadn't even made it to our first delivery.

"You've got to be kidding me." I opened the door, keeping my staff with me. My rod had rolled somewhere in the truck and it was too dark to find right now. I looked around, hearing another vehicle honk in anger, a few of them stopped with men getting out where they'd obviously had a collision. I looked around before jumping down, not letting go of the side of the truck until I was sure it wouldn't be taking off on me.

Thomas was slow to exit the cabin but his door opened and he fell out more than stepped. He went head first, flipping in just the few feet from truck to ground, landing with an animal's grace on his hands and one knee. He turned and saw me, running towards me and almost tripping when Ben came out right after him, just missing grabbing his leg, though not missing slicing it with a very similar knife to the one he had the other day.

"You didn't even make sure he wasn't armed?" I asked him, half angry and half surprised that Thomas was so sloppy.

"If you hadn't sidetracked us, maybe I would have had time." Thomas blinked a few times, stopping behind me for a few moments while he got himself together. His eyes were very white and I noticed his breathing was strange. There was a mark on his chest where he'd been stabbed, likely the cause for his labored breaths.

"Christ, Thomas, get in the truck."

Thomas listened to me, hoping in the back of the truck. He closed the door as I watched Ben, pacing just outside of the front door and on all four legs against with the soiled knife in his mouth.

"And find my blasting rob while you're in there!" I held my staff in front of me, having to do with it for now. It could still focus my energy the same way my rod could. "Ventus Retinui," I muttered under my breath, feeling the staff shake slightly. It took a few moments more for the wind to come, slamming Ben into the side of the truck and holding him there for a little while, the man struggling against his invisible attacker. I drew the chalk out of my pocket, no idea how to banish a familiar, and started drawing it around Ben. I'd simply have to overpower it, or it's summoner's magic, and do things that way.

Unless I circled the whole truck there was no way to close the circle without going around Ben, and that meant changing the direction of the wind. I had half the circle drawn and held my staff in front of me. "Ven-"

Ben broke through my magic. I wasn't sure how. I hadn't felt the building of his own but in a second, the wind was just gone, and Ben was jumping at me. I yelped, trying to take a few steps back, but I'd been too close to him. Ben was on top of me, pinning my arms down with his own, and I could feel his drool fall down on my cheek.

"Get off!" I yelled out, building up my magic again in pure force this time. My ring was on my finger and useless to me, but I could release the same type of magic without it.

Ben was faster and I felt teeth on my throat before I could get the words out. It hurt like hell. The dog spirit or whatever it was must have been expecting to be able to bite with a wider mouth like it normally could. Instead it was left with dull teeth and a few inches bite range. It was still enough to crush and tear at my skin but I was able to get a leg up and knock the creature off of me.

I was only free a few moments, raising my shield bracelet from any further attacks, feeling a barrier spring up between us. I put my hand to my throat, feeling the blood run down it and stain my shirt.

Ben paced on four legs just around the barrier, watching me as I drew my staff towards myself. I wasn't sure what kind of spell I could use on him to keep him still without hurting him, but at this point I was willing to accept some collateral damage.

Then he was gone.

I blinked, looking around. Ben had moved far faster that I had seen him move before and I could just catch sight of him turning the corner of the truck and trying to get at the door. As a dog and without the knowledge on how to use its hand, or not bothering to, the creature used it's shoulder and started banging the door in.

"Crap," I muttered, dropping my shield. The thing was just too damn fast for me to trap in a circle. I had Thomas's help the last time, because it wasn't interested in me, but alone I couldn't keep ahead of it. I wasn't any good with earth magic and the streets were lined with concrete so my only option was wind magic again. I'd have to close the circle fast and hope he didn't break past the spell before I was ready for him.

Walking away from the truck, I lined myself up with the car behind it, seeing damage to the front where Ben had pulled over suddenly and with little care if there were other vehicles in the way.

"Ventus Coegi Cubere," I muttered, making sure I had the chalk in my hand. The spell took all of a few seconds to cast and I felt the wind come.

Then I felt something really hard hit me in the back of the head. I stumbled forward, seeing Ben turn towards me when he noticed I was there. Then I passed out.

…

"Harry?"

"Ow," I murmured, putting a hand to the back of my head. It came away with blood and I blinked at the female voice. "Murph?"

"You idiot." She let me go and my head hit the cement I was apparently still laying on.

"Ow," I yelped again, trying to stop the world from spinning. After a few second I realized that wasn't going to happen and sat up anyway, blinking my vision clear.

"What happened to being able to take care of this yourself?"

"I thought I could. What happened? Why are you here?"

"A fight broke out in the middle of the street. Why do you think I'm here?"

Right. I looked around. The truck was still in front of me, the door pried open. I didn't see Ben anywhere, but I didn't see Thomas either. "What happened?"

"I was hoping you could tell me. When I got here I found some blood and you passed out."

"Shit," I swore as I got to my feet, swaying and having nothing to catch myself with as I stumbled. "Thomas."

Murphy didn't ask what was wrong and I went to the front of the cabin, looking inside. I didn't care what happened to the truck anymore, and it was turned off anyway. I found what I was looking for in a few seconds. Taking out a handkerchief, I wiped away some of the blood that was too light to be Ben's off the seat. I took my pentacle necklace off, tying the cloth to it as I bent down and closed a circle around myself. It only took me a few seconds to gather the energy and speak a few quiet words, breaking the circle.

The finding spell started working right away and my necklace glowed, pulling towards one direction like a pendulum. The blood would dry soon and it would be useless, but for now it would help me find where Thomas went.

I stopped before I got far down the street, realizing that walking was stupid. Thomas was a vampire. He could keep up with a car. Who knew how far he went or how hurt he was. "Murphy." I expected to have to run back to her but turned and almost tripped when she was right behind me. "Can we use your car?"

She looked from me to the moving necklace. "You're not going to break it, are you?"

I wasn't sure. The Blue Beatle had never acted any differently while I'd had a finding spell active than if I had just been sitting there. The magic they took was little and subtle. I shook my head. "It shouldn't."

"Fine." She turned and I followed her back to her little black Saturn, getting in and hoping I was right. My own car was older and could take more than her '09 could. The car started so I stopped worrying after that.

I directed Murphy as best I could. Finding spells were fickle that way. They didn't follow roads, pointing the most direct route to what I was trying to find instead. The blood started to dry before long and the signal kept falling out. I wondered, briefly, if I could pick up his trail somewhere.

The direction kept changing towards the end, the pulls slighter, telling me we were close. I stopped trying to keep the spell together and slid the cloth in my pocket, putting the necklace back on as I stepped out with my staff in hand. I looked around. I wasn't sure where we were but it was near the highway, large buildings on one side to me, a more incorporated part of the city, while apartment buildings and construction lined the other. It looked like they were trying to add in another road, off the highway, but it hadn't been completed yet.

"Thomas?" I called out, trying to see if he could hear me. "Are you here?"

There were a few quiet noises, their exact location drowned out by the traffic not far away. Thomas didn't answer.

"Damn it, he better not have gotten himself killed." I held the necklace, a reflex I hadn't noticed I'd acquired. Then something in my brain clicked. The necklace… Duh. I could just use it to track the other one.

I took it off again, drawing a circle on the sidewalk. Murphy got out of the car, watching me, and I didn't think I had to explain what I was doing. I had no blood, just the object itself I was using as a homing device to its twin.

I spoke the same words of the finding spell breaking the circle with my foot, feeling the energy leave. It was very slight, but the pentacle glowed, pulling to the right. "Here's hoping he didn't get too far."

It didn't surprise me when I found myself walking into the construction area. There were a few half completed buildings here, but mostly rubble and the starting of a new street. If Ben was still chasing him, the less people around the better. The fact that I hadn't seen the possessed man in some time had me worried.

Murphy's near silent footsteps followed my own until I was near a pile of steel girders and around at what would be the frame of a buildings first floor.

"Look out!"

If I had been a little slower or not reacted to the voice coming from behind me, odds were I would have found myself on the wrong side of the lead pipe that slammed down from above.

I jumped back, seeing Ben on top of the metal beams, grinning down at me and laughing silent laughter in his throat. Murphy quickly drew her gun at my side and I reached over, turning it away.

"Stop. He's possessed. It's not his doing."

The distraction was all Ben needed, jumping down between us and knocking us both over. He was on Murphy in seconds, biting her forearm and trying to get the gun away from her. She made some sort of pained noise before turning and trying to kick him off.

"Forzare!" I yelled, brandishing my staff at him. Ben was thrown back twenty feet, not able to land correctly and spinning around in the dirt. It probably hurt like hell but I was more worried about Murphy.

She held her wrist to herself but it didn't look like she was bleeding that badly. She elbowed me when I got close, fixing her hair where it had flown in her face because of my spell. "Do not do that again. I wasn't going to shoot him unless I had to."

I rubbed my leg where she had elbowed it, watching Ben pace around. His arm was bleeding badly and he had a few scrapes on one cheek. He wasn't looking at us anymore, searching the building to the side instead. Then he took off. Thomas was likely there, as he had been the one to warn me, though that hadn't sounded like where his voice had come from. He'd probably moved.

I took my staff and used it to make a circle in the dirt. Waving a hand to Murph, I beckoned her in. "I'll close it. That creature won't know it can't get in. If you need to shoot, it won't stop bullets, you just won't be protected anymore."

"I'm going with you." She kept her gun at her side, wiping her wrist off on her clothes. It wasn't bleeding enough to drip onto the gun and make her lose her grip.

"I'd like you to if I were going after him. He's too fast. Thomas is over there somewhere and this worked before. I'm going to have him lead Ben over to us and trap him in a circle. I should be able to hold him there for a while, or at least long enough to question the thing possessing him."

It was reluctant but Murphy moved in the first circle and I closed it, sealing it with a slight will of energy. I made a larger one in front of her, hoping Thomas saw the second and didn't try to run beside her. Smacking into a wall of magic wouldn't be pleasant and I didn't want him falling back into the second one. I left it open, just as before, and started waving my hands over my head at where Ben had last run off.

"Thomas, over here!" I wasn't sure how smart the spirit inside of Ben was, but I wasn't about to yell something like 'just like before' and tip him off.

I waited, not hearing anything for a while. After five minutes, I took in a few feet from the building and me. "Thomas!" I shouted louder, not sure if he hadn't heard me or if Ben had somehow gotten to him. There was no way a possessive dog spirit could take on a vampire. Not Thomas anyway, not one that knew what they were doing.

"Harry, you idiot."

I was bulldozed by my brother, barely catching sight of his dark hair before he pulled me back. I lost some of my air before I was dumped on the ground, near the unclosed part of my circle. Thomas hadn't bothered running around it, going through it as before and falling hard on the other side, trying to catch his breath. He was bleeding more than before, several long cuts on his chest and his arms. It looked like his shoulder wasn't sitting right where it was either, but I didn't look closer as Ben came bounding after us, metal pipe gone as he used his hands to run instead.

He was so fast. On the street, before, it had been about power and the ability to sprint. Once at a full run though, the possessing spirit seemed to be able to keep up the fast pace with little effort. He ran into the circle and I had to scramble to my feet and close it as fast as I could, quickly willing energy into it.

I was glad I had made it as big as I had or Ben would have reached the other side before I'd even had time to stand. I felt the snap of energy, quickly followed by the spirit pushing against my consciousness. I kept it up, feeling the primal anger and fear of the spirit inside, its thrashing around and reckless endangerment of itself meaning the worst for Ben if let be. It took a long time for what was left of the spirits intelligence to take over as it calmed itself, pacing around inside the large cage of magic.

I let out a breath and stood, looking over at the other two.

Murphy had left the circle. I was sure she knew it had been safe to do so once Ben was trapped, but she'd gone over to Thomas. She was bending down beside him, Thomas looking up at her with fathomless white eyes. He was leaning up as if about to kiss her.

"Thomas!" I yelled.

Thomas snapped out of it first, shaking his head. He got to his feet, backing up from Murphy and moving towards me. Murph took a little while longer to get herself back together, shaking her head as if to clear it.

"Murphy, stay there." While a few dozen feet would do nothing to a White Court vampire's power, at least it was something. I met Thomas's white eyes, seeing him still out of breath and a few of his wounds still open.

"I need to go, Harry. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," I told him. I knew how hard it was for him. "Thanks. I'm sorry I left you with Ben." I rubbed the back of my head. "Seems our summoner was closer than I thought. They got me pretty good."

"I didn't see anything besides you on the ground after Ben bent the door in. I'll talk to you about it later." Thomas waved over his shoulder, taking off at a jog. I wanted him to stay, wanted to help him, but I knew only feeding could really make a difference. I hoped he didn't do anything he'd regret later.

"That was…" I turned as Murphy got to her feet. I had to run over and catch her, careful she didn't fall into the circle holding Ben. "Sorry." She steadied herself. It didn't take her long. She looked in the caged man. "So what are you going to do now?"

"Ask the spirit to reveal itself. This might get a little dicey. I've never tried anything like this with only a circle in the dirt before. Stand back. I can't be watching out for him and you."

Murphy smiled and waved her gun a bit to show me it was still at her side. "As if I'd need someone like you to watch out for me." She moved back though and I waited a few minutes, taking calming breaths, and faced Ben when I was ready.

"Who are you? Watch do you want?" I had no way of commanding it without a name or some of my blood, but that was where luck had come in. Thanks to our encounter not an hour ago, Ben now had some of my blood inside of him. It wouldn't be able to resist my commands.

Ben growled, a noise his throat should not have been able to make. He shifted from his hands to his feet as if stuck between two choices. I commanded it again. "Who are you and what do you want!"

The growl was followed by a whimper. Ben's eyes faded for a moment before the man fell to the floor. On top of him stood the spectral form of a dog, a vicious mark around its throat as if it had been wearing a collar too tight for it for a long time. As it solidified a little more, all I could tell for sure was the animal had once been a dark color.

"Mortal," it growled. "How dare you take me away from my mission."

"And just what is your mission?" I asked, my arms crossed. "I'm not letting you out of here, ever, if you don't tell me. I can reinforce this circle. You'll be trapped here."

The spectral dog snarled and took a few steps over Ben and closer to me. "You dare think you can contain me? I am much older than you and I have a job to do."

"Than answer my questions," I said back to it. "It shouldn't take you long and then I can let you go and you can be on your way. That doesn't mean I'm letting you have Ben back though."

The dog's eyes were hollow and translucent where the rest of it was like black smoke. It paced around a bit more, always watching me.

"Fine wizard," it agreed after a long time. "Your questions for my freedom and my assurance I will not touch this man again for today," the hound stressed. That was better than I thought I would get from something that hadn't seemed half as sane as it was now.

"Deal," I agreed. I felt the magic of the agreement settle around us. "First, why have you been after Thomas?"

The hound grinned. "I have been summoned to fulfill a task."

I rolled my eyes. This was why I hated dealing with anything from another plain. "Okay, thanks for that vague answer. What task have you been summoned to fulfill?"

I could see the hound indicate behind itself to where Ben was laying. "To make that man pay for his transgressions. This is not the first time I have been asked of this. You though, are the first to have been able to find me out, and to have stopped me in such a way."

That was interesting. "What transgressions?"

The hound faced me once more, spectral teeth showing as it spoke without moving its mouth. "Love affairs, stealing, lies, whatever it is I find, I punish him for. Those have been my orders. I am to get rid of the item stolen, the person he is cheating, or force him out of lies he is telling. That is my role. You cannot keep my from my prey forever."

I couldn't help it. I started laughing. It took me longer than it should have to stop but I couldn't help it. I could sense the hound staring at me, anger building up behind the circle. I straightened, shaking my head slightly. "He's not cheating on anyone with Thomas. Can't you tell a vampire when you see one? It's hormones. Instinct. That's all. Thomas is here because of me. He's never met Ben before in his life. You should know that if you've been around as long as you say you have."

"Vampire?" the hound asked. This anger was covered with confusion. "I can't say I have run into many of their kind. I had wondered why this one was so much harder to kill. If what you say is true…" There was another growl. "This is my mistake, and I do not like making mistakes. If it is lie, you are dead, wizard."

"What reason would I have to lie? I was hired to follow Ben myself, and I needed Thomas's help. I know better than to lie to a creature like yourself." I had done it in the past but it had always been seen through. I was pretty sure that the hound could tell I wasn't lying as well.

It lowered its head slightly. "I see. I will keep that in mind, wizard, and your comrade will not taste my teeth again unless I find out he crosses that line. I will rely on sight alone and remember beings like him have this power over you mortals."

"While we're on the subject of answering questions, tell me who summoned you?"

"This will be the last question, then you will free me."

I thought about that. I didn't have much else to ask the spirit, so I didn't see why not. I nodded and saw it nod as well.

"The same person who hired you."

I stared at it and blinked a few times. Ben's wife? But why? I'd been hired to see if he was cheating so why would she do that if she could simply summon something like this hound to do it instead? She has said others had dropped her case before. Had they, or had this thing killed them? Was it going to do that to me too, after it had killed Thomas?

"Free me!"

I let the wall of magic fall. I'd broken my word too much to add something like this to the list. The hound jumped at me, making me fall backwards, before bounding over my head and disappearing into what remained of the sunlight. I stared after it, confused.

"Harry?"

"That bitch!" I shouted as I got back to my feet. She had been using me. I was probably her witness. She wanted me to see her husband kill someone so that I could send him to jail. The others had probably all backed out because they hadn't expected to run into a murder, or had seen the way Ben had been. Of course she'd turned to me than, the only 'wizard' in the city, believing that I'd think it was Ben's doing and turn him over myself. She couldn't be so stupid not to know I would have seen through her little ruse.

I stomped over to Murphy's car, trying to calm down as she started asking me questions. I told her, in quick short words, of the conclusion that I came to. She got in soon after I did, starting the car and heading to the apartment I had just been at. She asked me for more clarification on the way and I gave her what I could.

Once outside, I stomped up to the apartment. I wasn't even sure if she was on the first or second floor, so, short of banging on the door, I looked at the nameplates. She was on the first floor and I wasted no more time with pleasantries. Murphy was by my side soon after, her gun hidden and likely in the back of her pants. I hadn't thought I'd need her but it wasn't as if I could stop Ms. Tyler on my own. I wasn't sure what she could be arrested for, but it had to be better than anything I could do. Attempted murder on her husband's girlfriends seemed a good way to go, if not lacking in proof.

Marlene opened the door, startled to see me standing there. I had to wonder if she'd been expecting the police instead.

"Mister Dresden, what are you doing here?"

"The dog," I asked instead. "The dead one. Was it yours? What kind of spell did you use on it? You really must be new to the world of magic. Do you know what happens when you cast these kinds of spells, Ms. Tyler?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. What spell?" She put a hand to her lip, her eyes confused and shining.

I sighed. I had been ready to go at her. It was so hard to get people to understand just what they did wrong. Marlene had been out rightly killing people with what magic she had learned. It wasn't something I could let continue. I didn't even know what victims she had, but the hound had compared Thomas to 'the others'. She wasn't doing this without knowledge of the consequences. "Witch, shaman, wiccan, I don't care what you think you are or what you're calling yourself. I know you're using magic against your husband. I know you've used it to kill people. There are laws against things like that, and while I'm not one of the ones who enforce them, I sure as hell can tell them where you are and what you're doing. Black magic isn't something you can hide. I felt it when I came up the stairs. You've been doing whatever ritual summoning in your back yard, haven't you?"

Her eyes widened more, a slight twitch that left her speechless for a moment.

"Ma'am, I do not like being used like this. Thankfully, your little puppy went after the wrong target. If it hadn't, we'd have another dead body. How many, exactly, have you had that thing kill?"

"I… I haven't had it kill anyone. I just told it to stop him." Marlene's eyes started to tear up and I had this sinking feeling in my gut.

"Stop him." I closed my eyes and rubbed one of them with the palm of my hand. "You hadn't said 'kill'. You weren't specific in you summoning. You have no idea what you were really doing, do you? Do you know what things like that dog do when you use vague terms like that? You should be lucky that Ben isn't the one that's dead, though I'm sure having that thing in his head so much has messed with him more than I can notice."

"I'm… I'm so sorry." She fell to her knees in front of me, staring up at me with wet, pleading eyes. "I didn't know it was doing that! I swear! Dead? There are people dead?"

My remaining anger vanished and I was left standing there, feeling like a royal jackass. Marlene Tyler hadn't meant to kill anyone. That didn't change the fact that she had. The police would be able to do nothing but I'd have to tell the White Council. They would likely kill her for her misuse of magic, as unknown to her as it was.

"I'm sorry." I moved passed Murph, hearing the woman start sobbing outright. Damn it, I hated cases like this. She had no idea what she was doing. There were probably a lot of people out there like her that had no idea what they were doing and what they could do. There were things out there who liked to use misguided people like her for their own means, young, foolish wizards who had no idea the creatures that were out there. I had fallen into a similar trap, young and naïve and desperate as I was at the time.

Someone had to do something about that, about all the wizards out there who were confused and had no one to teach them what was right and what was wrong. It was too bad there was no way to do that, to find those people.

I went home, feeling depressed. Ben was still out in that construction zone, probably awake by now and hurting from the spells I had to throw at him. I'd call Ebenezer tomorrow, tell him about Marlene. I also wondered who had knocked me out. I didn't think it had been Marlene, she was too clueless as to what was going on. Whoever it was, they were gone, and for now I was happy with my last bottle of Mac's ale as I sat by the fire in my apartment and lamented how messed up the world was.

And damn it, I was going to miss this month's rent.

Thomas came over the next day, after I made my phone call. He handed me an envelope with enough money in it to cover what Marlene said she'd pay me.

"I stopped over there, before I came here. I figured something like this might happen. She said she'd still like to pay you and gave this to me."

I didn't want to take the money. I wasn't sure what would happen to the woman because of me, but her actions had led to her downfall as well, as had the misconstrued way the council treated all new wizards. I pocketed the money. Just because I felt bad didn't mean I was willing to live out on the street for a while.

"Ahem," Thomas said, putting a closed hand to his lips. "I believe you owe me something in return too. You only figured this all out because of me. If I had been a woman he was cheating on, you both would have died and you know it."

I didn't, but I did owe Thomas. "Fine, what do you want?"

Thomas flashed a few tickets in front of me. "Come to a baseball game with me."

I choked on whatever noise my throat was trying to make at that. "What?"

"Baseball. You know, that thing that people throw around and try to hit with a bat? I didn't think you'd ever been to a game. I got some free tickets from a friend of mine and there's two extra, not counting the one for Justine. You can bring a friend too, if you want."

While it had been nearby, Thomas was right. I had never been to a game before. I smiled and took the two tickets he offered me. "That's what heck of a price you have."

"Isn't it? I think I'll be the first person in history who not only got you paid for a job you did, but got you out of this dingy place you call an apartment for the weekend."

That sad thing was, Thomas was probably right. I elbowed him, laughing a little.

"Thomas, you know what, I think we've both been fired."

Thomas laughed too. "I think we have been. Too bad, I kind of liked green."