Summer Knight (The Dresden Files #4) - Jim Butcher Page 0,79
a wary breath before asking, "Meaning?"
"Of the two people who entered this garden, Mister Dresden, Elaine is not the most grievously wounded. You are."
"Like hell. Ive just got some cuts and bruises."
She rose and walked toward me. "Those arent the wounds I mean." She reached out and laid a slender hand over my heart. Her skin was warm, even through my shirt, and the simple fact of her touch brought me a small but noticeable sense of comfort. Susan had been gone for months, and with the exception of the occasional assault, no one had actually touched me.
She looked up at me and nodded. "You see. Youve been badly wounded, Mister Dresden, and you have found neither rest nor respite from your pains."
"Ill live."
"True," she said. "But this is where it always begins. Monsters are born of pain and grief and loss and anger. Your heart is full of them."
I shrugged. "And?"
"And it makes you vulnerable. Vulnerable to Mabs influence, to temptations that would normally be unthinkable."
"But for how long? You need to heal, wizard. Let me help you."
I frowned at her, and at her hand. "How?"
Aurora gave me a small, sad smile. "Ill show you. Here."
Her palm pressed a bit closer to me, and somewhere inside me a dam broke open. Emotions welled up like a riotous rainbow. Scarlet rage, indigo fear, pale blue sadness, aching yellow loneliness, putrid green guilt. The tide flooded through me, coursed over me like a bolt of lightning, searing and painful and beautiful all at once.
And after the tide receded, a deep, quiet stillness followed. A sensation of warmth suffused me, gently easing away my aches and bruises. It spread over my skin, like sunlight on a lazy afternoon outside, and with the warmth my cares began to evaporate. My fear vanished, and I began to relax muscles I hadnt realized were stretched tight as the warmth spread. I floated in warmth for a time, the release from pain an ecstasy in itself.
When I came back to my senses, I was lying on my back on the grass, staring up at leaves and silver-starred sky. My head lay in Auroras lap. She knelt behind me, and her hands rested lightly, warm and soft, along the sides of my face. The pain began to return to my body, thoughts, and heart, like some quiet and odious tide washing in garbage from a polluted sea. I heard myself make a small sound of protest.
Aurora looked down at me, her eyes concerned. "Worse even than I suspected. You didnt even realize how much pain you were in, did you?"
My chest heaved and I let out a quiet sob. The warmth faded entirely, and the sheer weight of the difficulties I had to face pressed down on me, suffocating me.
Aurora said, "Please, let me help you. Well make it a bargain, Mr. Dresden. Desist. Relax your efforts to help Winter. Stay here for a time and let me grant you a measure of peace."
Real tears formed, making my vision blur. I mopped at my face with my hands, struggling to think clearly. If I took the deal, it would probably mean my ass. Backing off from Mabs offer would mean that I didnt get a good outcome for the White Council, which meant that they would buy peace with the Red Court of Vampires for the low, low price of one Harry Dresden, slightly damaged.
"Forget it," I said, my voice weak. "Ive got a job to do."
Aurora closed her eyes for a moment and nodded. "At least you are true to your word, Mister Dresden. Your honor is admirable. Even if it is misguided."
I forced myself to sit up, away from Aurora. "Go on," I said. "Help Elaine."
"I will," she assured me. "But she is in no danger for the moment, and it will take me some time. There is something I wish to say to you first."
"Okay. Talk."
"How much did Mab tell you about Ronalds death?"
I shook my head. "That he was dead. That the mantle of power he wore went missing. That the killer had to be found."
"Did she tell you why?"
I frowned. "Not exactly."
Aurora nodded and folded her hands in her lap. "Summer readies to go to war against Winter."
I frowned. "You mean its not just a theoretical possibility anymore. Its real."
"I know no other kind of war. The loss of the Summer Knight has forced Summers hand."