Blood Rites (The Dresden Files #6) - Jim Butcher Page 0,68

You went nuts when that vamp was on her. Where does she fit in?"

Thomas leaned up against the wall beside my mother's portrait. He pushed his hair back from his face with one hand. "She hasn't been taken by her Hunger yet," he said. "Once she starts feeding it there's no going back. She'll be like the rest of us. My father is pushing her toward that point. I want to stop him."

"Why?"

"Because if… if she's in love, that first time, it could kill her Hunger. She'd be free. I think she's mature enough to be capable of that love now. There's a young man she's all twitterpated about."

"Bobby?" I blurted. "The macho violent kid?"

"Give him a break. How insecure would you be if you were planning on spending the day having sex on camera in front of the girl you'd like to ask to dinner?"

"This might shock you, but I've never really considered that question before."

Thomas pressed his lips together for a moment and then said, "If the kid loves her in return, then she could have a life. She could be free of the kinds of things that—" His voice broke. He had to cough before he continued. "Things like what happened to Justine. Like what my father has done to my other sisters."

"What do you mean, done to them?"

"He establishes that he is their superior. He overpowers them. Pits his Hunger against theirs."

My stomach twisted. "You mean he feeds on his own…" I couldn't finish the sentence.

"Do you need me to paint you a picture? It's the traditional way to settle family differences in all the Houses of the White Court."

I shuddered and looked up at my mother's portrait. "God. That's hideous."

Thomas nodded, his expression bleak and hard. "Lara is one of the most capable, intelligent people I've ever met. But around him, she turns into an obedient dog. He's broken her to his will. Forced her to crave what he does to her. I won't let that happen to Inari. Not when she could make her own life."

I frowned. "Won't that bring your dad down on you? Force him to try to make you like them?"

Thomas grimaced. "His tastes don't run that way."

"Small mercy, I guess."

"Not really. He doesn't want to keep me around. It's just a matter of time before he comes after me. His sons, every last one of them, died under suspicious circumstances that can't be traced back to him. I'm the first male to live as long as I have. Partly thanks to you." He closed his eyes. "And partly thanks to Justine."

"Hell's bells," I said quietly. The whole thing was almost ridiculous. "So let me get this straight. You want me to help save the girl, overthrow the dark lord, and defend the innocents terrorized by dark magic," I said. "And you want me to do it because you're my long-lost half brother, who needs someone noble to stand beside him in desperate battle for what's right."

He grimaced. "That phrasing has way more melodrama in it than I would have used."

"You've got to be kidding me. That's a really lame con."

"Give me some credit, Dresden." He sighed. "I know how to con. If you were really just another mark, I'd have come up with a better story."

"Forget it," I said. "If you'd been straight with me to begin with maybe I'd help. But this bullshit about my mother is over the line."

"She's my mother too," he said. "Harry, you knew she wasn't exactly white as the driven snow. I know you've learned a little over the years. She was one hell of a dangerous witch, and she kept some bad company. Some of it was with my father."

"You're lying," I growled. "What proof have you got?"

"Would anything satisfy you?" he demanded. "Proof is something you use with rational people, and right now you aren't."

The anger started fading a little. I hadn't gotten much rest, and was too tired to keep it up. I ached. I slid down the wall until I was sitting. I rubbed at my eyes. "It doesn't make any sense. What would she have been doing hanging around with your father?"

"God knows," Thomas said. "All I know is that there was some sort of business between them. It developed into something else. Father was trying to snare her permanently, but she wound up being too strong for him to completely enthrall. She escaped him when I was about five. From what I've been able to learn, she met