Dresden 5 by Death Masks Read Free Book Online

world?"
    "I only saved it in a Greenpeace kind of way. If I'd blown it, there might have been a historically bad storm, but I don't think anyone would have noticed the real damage for thirty or forty years-climate change takes time."
    "Sounds scary," Susan said.
    I shrugged. "Mostly I was just trying to save my own ass. The world was a twofer. Maybe I'm getting cynical. I suspect the only thing I accomplished was to keep the faeries from screwing up the place so that we could screw it up ourselves."
    I sat down on the chair again, and we opened the Cokes and drank in silence for a bit. My heart eventually stopped pounding quite so loudly.
    "I miss you," I said finally. "So does your editor. She called me a couple of weeks ago. Said your articles had quit coming in."
    Susan nodded. "That's one reason I'm here. I owe her more than a letter or a phone call."
    "You're quitting?" I asked.
    She nodded.
    "You find something else?"
    "Sort of," she said. She brushed her hair back from her face with one hand. "I can't tell you everything right now."
    I frowned. For as long as I'd known her, Susan had been driven by a passion for discovering the truth and sharing it with other people. Her work at the Arcane had arisen from her stubborn refusal to deny things she saw as the truth, even if they had seemed insane. She was one of the rare people who stopped and thought about things, even weird and supernatural things, instead of dismissing them out of hand. That's how she'd begun work at the Arcane. That was how she had originally met me.
    "Are you all right?" I asked. "Are you in trouble?"
    "Relatively speaking, no," she said. "But you are. That's why I'm here, Harry."
    "What do you mean?"
    "I came to warn you. The Red Court-"
    "Sent Paolo Ortega to call me out. I know."
    She sighed. "But you don't know what you're getting into. Harry, Ortega is one of the most dangerous nobles of their Court. He's a warlord. He's killed half a dozen of the White Council's Wardens in South America since the war started, and he's the one who planned and executed the attack on Archangel last year."
    I sat straight up at that, the blood draining from my face. "How do you know about that?"
    "I'm an investigative reporter, Harry. I investigated."
    I toyed with the Coke can, frowning down at it. "All the same. He came here asking for a duel. A fair fight. If he's serious, I'll take him on."
    "There's more that you need to know," Susan said.
    "Like what?"
    "Ortega's opinion on the war is not the popular one within the Red Court. A few of the upper crust of the vampires support his way of thinking. But most of them like the idea of a lot of constant bloodshed. They also like the idea of a war to wipe out the White Council. They figure that if they get rid of the wizards once and for all, they won't have to worry about keeping a low profile in the future."
    "What's that got to do with anything?"
    "Think about it," Susan said. "Harry, the White Council is fighting this war reluctantly. If they had a decent excuse, they'd end it. That's Ortega's whole plan. He fights you, kills you, and then the White Council sues for peace. They'll pay some kind of concession that doesn't involve the death of one of their members, and that will be that. War over."
    I blinked. "How did you find out-"
    "Hello, Earth to Harry. I told you, I investigated."
    I frowned until the lines between my eyebrows ached. "Right, right. Well, as plans go, I guess it sounds good," I said. "Except for that middle part where I die."
    She gave me a small smile. "Much of the rest of the Red Court would rather you kept on breathing. As long as you're alive, they have a reason to keep the war going."
    "Swell," I said.
    "They'll try to interfere with any duel. I just thought you should know."
    I nodded. "Thanks," I said. "I'll-"
    Just then, someone knocked firmly at my door. Susan stiffened and rose, poker in hand. I got up a lot more slowly, opened a drawer in the night table beside the chair, and drew out