Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files #8) - Jim Butcher Page 0,14

You couldnt arrest them, contain them, without some serious magic to neutralize their powers. If you tried to bring an angry warlock into holding down at SI, it would get ugly. Worse than the loup-garou.

Theres got to be another way, Murphy said.

Once a dog goes rabid, you cant bring him back, I said. All you can do is keep him from hurting others. The best solution is prevention. Find the kids displaying serious talent and teach them better from the get-go. But the world population has grown so much in the past century that the White Council cant possibly identify and reach them all. Especially with this war on. There just arent enough of us.

She tilted her head, staring at me. Us? Thats the first time Ive heard you reference the White Council with yourself included in it.

I wasnt sure what to say to that, so I drank the rest of my Coke. Murphy went on washing for a minute, set the robe aside, and reached for the grey cloak. She dropped it into the sink, frowned, and then held it up. Look at this, she said. The blood came out when it hit the water All by itself.

Its like that kid never died. Cool, I said quietly.

Murphy watched me for a moment. Maybe this is what it feels like for civilians when they see cops doing some of the dirty work. A lot of times they dont understand whats happening. They see something they dont like and it upsets thembecause they dont have the full story, arent personally facing the problem, and dont know how much worse the alternative could be.

Maybe, I agreed.

It sucks.

Sorry.

She cast me a fleeting smile, but her expression grew serious again when she crossed the room to sit down near me. Do you really think what they did was necessary?

God help me, I nodded.

Is this why the Council was so hard on you for so long? Because they thought you were a warlock about to relapse?

Yeah. Except for the part where youre using the past tense. I leaned forward, chewing on my lip for a second. Murph, this is one of those things the cops cant get involved in. I told you there would be things like this. I dont like what happened anymore than you do. But please, dont push this. It wont help anyone.

I cant ignore a dead body.

There wont be one.

She shook her head and stared at the Coke for a while more. All right, she said. But if the body shows up or someone reports it, I wont have any choice.

I understand. I looked around for a change of subject. So. Theres black magic afoot in Chicago, according to an annoyingly vague letter from the Gatekeeper.

Who is he?

Wizard. Way mysterious.

You believe him?

Yeah, I said. So we should be on the lookout for killings and strange incidents and so on. The usual.

Right, Murphy said. Ill keep an eye out for corpses, weirdos, and monsters.

The door to the bedroom opened and my half brother Thomas emerged, freshly showered and smelling faintly of cologne. He was right around six feet in height, and was built like the high priest of Bowflexall lean muscle, sculpted and well formed, not too much of a good thing. He wore a pair of black trousers and black shoes, and was pulling a pale blue T-shirt down over his rippling abs as he came into the room.

Murphy watched him, blue eyes gleaming. Thomas is awfully pretty to look at. Hes also a vampire of the White Court. They didnt go in for fangs and blood so much as pale skin and supernaturally hot sex, but just because they fed on raw life force rather than blood didnt make them any less dangerous.

Thomas had worked hard to make sure that he kept his hunger under control, so that when he fed he wouldnt hurt anyone too badlybut I knew it had been a difficult struggle for him, and he carried that strain around with him. It was visible in his expression, and it made all of his movements those of a lean, hungry predator.

Monsters? he asked, pulling the shirt down over his head. He smiled pleasantly and said, Karrin, good afternoon.

Thats Lieutenant Murphy to you, Prettyboy, she shot back, but her face was set in an appreciative smile.

He grinned back at her from under his hair, which even when wet and uncombed was carelessly curling and attractive. Why, thank you for the compliment, he said. He reached down to scratch