Summer Knight (The Dresden Files #4) - Jim Butcher Page 0,17

eyebrows were still dark, and she had one of them arched as she regarded Ebenezar, then me, with a completely unamused expression. When she spoke, her voice was a low, rich alto. "Lollygagging skunkwallows?"

"Matty" Ebenezar began, laughter still flavoring his words. "You know how I get when Im talking about Council politics."

"Dont you Matty me, Ebenezar McCoy," she snapped. She looked past my old mentor to focus on me. "Wizard Dresden, I am less than amused with your lack of respect toward the White Council."

I lifted my chin and glared down at the woman without meeting her eyes. Its a tough trick to learn, but if youre motivated enough you can do it. "Thats a coincidence. Im not terribly amused with you spying on me."

The black womans eyes flashed, but Ebenezar cut in before either of us could gather any more steam. "Harry Dresden," he said dryly, "Meet Martha Liberty."

She shot him a look and said pointedly, "Hes arrogant, Ebenezar. Dangerous."

I snorted. "Thats every wizard ever."

Martha continued as if I hadnt spoken. "Bitter. Angry. Obsessive."

Ebenezar frowned. "Seems to me he has good reason to be. You and the rest of the Senior Council saw to that."

Martha shook her head. "You know what he was meant to be. Hes too great a risk."

I snapped my fingers twice and hooked a thumb at my own chest. "Hey, lady. Hes also right here."

Her eyes flashed at me. "Look at him, Ebenezar. Hes a wreck. Look at the destruction he has caused."

Ebenezar took two quick, angry steps toward Martha. "By challenging the Red Court when they were going to kill that young woman? No, Matty. Hoss didnt cause whats happened since. They did. Ive read his report. He stood up to them when they damn well needed standing up to."

Martha folded her arms, strong and brown against the front of her robes. "The Merlin says"

"I know what he says," Ebenezar muttered. "By now I dont even need to hear him say it. And as usual, hes half right, half wrong, and all gutless."

Martha frowned at him for a long and silent moment. Then she looked at me and asked, "Do you remember me, Mister Dresden?"

I shook my head. "They had a hood on me all through the trial, and I missed the meeting Warden Morgan called a couple years back. They were taking a bullet out of my hip."

"I know. I never saw your face before today." She moved then, lifting a slender staff of some dark reddish wood, and walked toward me, the staff clicking with each step. I faced her, bracing myself, but she didnt try to meet my gaze. She studied my features for a long moment and then said, very quietly, "You have your mothers eyes."

An old pain rolled through me. I barely managed more than a whisper in response. "I never knew her."

"No. You didnt." She lifted one wide, heavy hand and passed it through the air on either side of my head, as though smoothing my hair without touching it. Then she raked her eyes over me, staring intently at my bandaged hand. "You hurt. Youre in great pain."

"It isnt bad. It should heal in a few days."

"Im not talking about your hand, boy." She closed her eyes and bowed her head. Her voice came heavily, slowly, as though her lips were reluctant to let the words pass them. "Very well, Ebenezar. I will support you."

She stepped back and away from me, back to the side of the second person who had appeared. Id almost forgotten about him, and looking at him now I began to see why. He contained a quality of stillness I could all but feel around himeasy to sense but difficult to define. His features, his bearing, everything about him blended into his background, swallowed by that stillness, patient and quiet as a stone beneath moon and sun.

He was of innocuous height, five eight, maybe five nine. His dark hair was plaited in a long braid, despite age that seamed his features like bronzed leather under a scarlet sun, warm and worn. His eyes, beneath silver brows, were dark, inscrutable, intense. Eagle feathers adorned his braid, a necklace of bits of bone circled his throat, and he had a beaded bracelet wrapped around one forearm, which poked out from beneath his black robe. One weathered hand gripped a simple, uncarved staff.

"Hoss," Ebenezar said, "this here is Listens to Wind. But thats always been too much of a mouthful for me, even for a genuine