Blood Rites (The Dresden Files #6) - Jim Butcher Page 0,100
long term this kind of power breeds its own wasteland."
"You mean that the vampires have been here for a while?" she asked.
"To have this much effect, it's been days at least," I said, nodding.
"More like two weeks." Ebenezar grunted with assurance. "Maybe three."
"God," Murphy said, shivering. "That's scary."
"Yeah. If they've been here that long, it means Mavra has something in mind."
She frowned. "You mean that this vampire came here and then chose when to make you aware of its presence? This could be a trap."
"It's possible. Paranoid, but possible."
Her mouth tightened into a line. "You didn't mention that at breakfast."
"We're doing battle with the living dead, Murph. Expect the occasional curveball."
"Are you patronizing me now?"
I shook my head. "No. Honest. Where's Kincaid?"
"Second level of this parking garage," Murphy said.
"Stop on the first level," I told her.
"Why?"
"He doesn't know about Ebenezar, and I don't want to spook him. We'll walk up and meet him."
Ebenezar nodded to us and said, "Good call, Hoss. Decent gunman can be twitchy. I'll give you a minute, then drive on up."
Murphy stopped the truck and we got out. I waited until we were several paces from the truck before I lowered my voice and said, "I know. You're afraid."
She glared at me, and started to deny it. But she knew better, and shrugged one shoulder instead. "Some."
"So am I. It's okay."
"I thought I was over this," she said. Her jaw tightened. "I mean, the night terrors are gone. I can sleep again. But it isn't like before, Harry. I used to get scared, but I'd be excited too. I would have wanted to do it. But I don't want this. I'm so afraid that I'm about to throw up. Which sucks."
"You're scared because you've learned things," I told her. "You know the kinds of things you're fighting," I said. "You know what could happen. You'd be an idiot if you weren't afraid. I wouldn't want someone with me who didn't have enough sense to be worried."
She nodded, but asked, "What if I freeze up on you again?"
"You won't."
"It could happen."
"It won't," I said.
"You sure?"
I winked at her and twirled my staff in one hand. "I wouldn't be betting my life on it otherwise. You've got my back, Murph. Shut up and dance."
She nodded, her expression remote. "There's nothing we can do to stop these things."
The we had changed. She meant the police. "No. Not without getting a lot of good cops killed."
"Those people with the vampires. These Renfields. We'll have to kill some of them. Won't we?"
"Probably," I said in a quiet voice.
"It isn't their fault they were taken."
"I know. We'll do whatever we can to avoid killing them. But from what I know about them, they're too far gone to leave us many options."
"Do you remember Agent Wilson?" Murphy asked.
"The Fed you shot off my back."
Murph's expression flickered, though it wasn't quite a flinch. "Yeah. He went outside the law to bring down the people he thought were beyond its reach, and now we're making that same choice."
"No, we aren't," I said.
"No? Why not?"
"Because they aren't people."
Murphy frowned.
I thought about it. "Even if they were, assuming they were still as dangerous and untouchable, would it change anything?"
"I don't know," she said. "That's what scares me."
For as long as I'd known her, Murphy had upheld the law. She had a good head on her shoulders when it came to the nature of good and evil and of right and wrong, but her first duty had been to the law. She'd believed in it, that it was the best way to help and protect her fellow man. She'd had faith that the power of the law, while imperfect, was absolute—almost holy. It was a rallying point in her soul, a foundation block of her strength.
But several years of staring out at the darkness had showed her that the law was both blind and deaf to some of the nastier parts of the world. She'd seen things that moved in the shadows, perverting the purpose of the law to use it as a weapon against the people she had sworn to defend. Her faith had taken a beating, or she wouldn't even have considered stepping outside the boundaries of her authority. And she knew it.
That knowledge cost her dearly. There weren't any tears in her eyes, but I knew that they were there, on the inside, while she mourned the death of her faith.