Changes
Jim Butcher
 Susan Rodriguez contacts Dresden to tell him they have a daughter, Margaret Angelica, who was born after the events of Death Masks. Dresden's daughter has been kidnapped by the Red Court. After Susan and Martin arrive, Susan explains the circumstances of Maggie's birth. Now determined to track down his daughter, and struggling with rage, guilt and other emotions over Maggie's birth, Dresden attempts to track her down by infiltrating a nearby Red Court outpost. The attempt is complicated by the fact that the outpost is Dresden's office building, which has been purchased by the Red Court. The attempt is further derailed by the arrival of a team of Red Court vampires. Dresden battles them, and the trio escapes. The building is detonated by the Red Court moments later. The information Susan and Martin managed to harvest, however, implicates that Duchess Arianna, the widow of a Red Court duke that Dresden killed several years earlier, is behind the kidnapping. Dresden goes to Edinburgh to seek help from the Council. However, upon his arrival, he discovers Arianna is there, hosting a peace conference with the rest of the Council. Dresden openly challenges Arianna to a duel to the death over his daughter's kidnapping, but is prevented from carrying it through by the other members of the Council. Infuriated, Dresden returns home. Dresden learns from Karrin Murphy that Rudolph, who used to work in Special Investigations, is now implicating him in the explosion, and that he is being pushed to do so by someone. Due to Rudolph's accusation, the FBI and a SWAT team arrive at Dresden's apartment to arrest and interrogate him. Dresden flees to the Nevernever with any items that could be considered "illegal" (including Bob and the two Knights of the Cross swords in his possession, but is forced to return after barely escaping a fight with an enormous centipede with his life (leaving behind his items buried for safe keeping), and is arrested. Because the FBI lack evidence and charges, and because of the level-headedness of Special Agent Tilly, Dresden is released, but not before wasting valuable time. Returning to his home, he discovers that Leanansidhe has immobilized Susan and Martin assuming they're intruders. After realizing that his Mother left him something, he asks the Leanansidhe if his mother left her anything to safeguard for him. He receives a magical ruby representing the summary of his mother's considerable knowledge of the Ways, which are safe passages through the hazardous Nevernever. Dresden is obliquely directed to Johnnie Marcone, who, in turn, directs Dresden to Ms. Gard, his supernatural consultant. Ms. Gard transports Dresden to the headquarters of her employer, Monoc Securities. She introduces Dresden to the CEO, Donar Vadderung, who Dresden realizes is actually Odin. Odin freely gives Dresden the truth of the matter. The Red Court is going to use Margaret for a powerful rite of Death Magic at Chichén Itzá, which is a conjunction of a number of Ley Lines, powerful rivers of magical energy. If successful, the blood curse will kill everyone who shares a relation to Maggy, including Dresden himself. Dresden decides to investigate Rudolph, the FBI agent who implicated him in the office explosion, realizing that he must have implicated Dresden because of pressure coming from the Red Court. Knowing the Red Court will now want Rudolph dead since his usefulness has run out, Dresden hopes to get information from the Red Court's assassins. It turns out that the same husband-wife pair of vampires who coordinated the Office operation, Esmerelda and Estaban, are the ones pressuring Rudolph and bring along a Mayan demon, known as a Devourer, to assist. With the aid of Mouse, Molly and Thomas, who Harry enlists in the rescue effort, the Eebs are beaten and flee. However, when Thomas nearly feeds on Molly because of his injuries, a disgusted and angry Dresden orders him to leave until he can control himself. The Eebs, later firebomb his apartment; after waking his elderly landlady, Dresden attempts to save the other occupants of the building, but breaks his spine after falling off of a ladder. He is taken to Father Forthill's Church. After asking the archangel Uriel for help, Dresden realizes that he can no longer refuse power on moral grounds alone; to save his daughter, he calls upon Mab, the Winter Queen, and takes on the mantle of the Winter Knight. Healed of his injuries, Harry survives an assassination attempt by a local hitman, but is shocked to learn that it was apparently Susan who placed the hit on him (though he realizes that it could have be Esmerelda using her abilities to create masks to look like Susan). When he attempts to find her, however, he discovers that Susan has been arrested for questioning, having also been implicated in the Office explosion; Harry goes to the office building to free her. However, the Eebs bring a host of Red Court vampires, and the Devourer, in a direct assault on the FBI office building to kill Harry, Martin and Susan. Special Agent Tilly allies himself with the three to escape the ambush. They manage to get the remaining agents out of harm's way - Murphy and Tilly escape through a back door, but the vampires continue to hound Dresden and Susan, who attempt to escape the ambush into the Nevernever. The Eebs pursue him, along with their vampire host and the Devourer; however, the corresponding location in the Nevernever is the home of the Erlking, a powerful fairy who holds a grudge against Dresden. Dresden, who is now at the center of the Erlking's power, manages to impress him with his quick wit, but the Eebs accuse Dresden of orchestrating the move into the Erlking's realm to bring him into the war between the Vampire Courts and the White Council. The Erlking orders them to duel to determine who is telling the truth; Harry and Susan face and finally kill the Devourer, plus a minor vampire. The Eebs and their hosts are taken away to be tortured by the Erlking and his minions, and Harry and Susan are allowed to leave. The Leanansidhe, who has been assigned by Mab to ensure Harry's final quest is successful so he can take on the duties of the Winter Knight, transports Harry, Molly, Susan, Martin, Thomas and herself to the location where Harry can open the first of a set of Ways to get to Chichen Itza. Along the way, she enchants the clothes and weapons of Dresden and Susan to protect them and allow Susan to disappear completely. Lea also brings Dresden his bag of goodies that he had buried in the Nevernever including the two swords and Bob. Harry convinces Susan to take up Ammorachius, the sword of Love, and Murphy to take up Fidelacchius, the sword of Faith. Included in the bag is a sending stone he uses to communicate with Ebenezar, who has been trying to reach him. Eb had already told him that the Grey Council couldn't help with his quest to save the girl, but Dresden finally tells Eb that the girl is his daughter, causing Eb to encourage Dresden to continue. Using his mother's gem, Dresden opens a series of Ways to arrive at Chichén Itzá. However, the jungle is too thick, and they cannot reach the main temple in time. However, the Leanansidhe turns Dresden and his cohorts into hounds, allowing them to easily race through the dense jungle to the Main Temple. Confronting the Red Court, the Red King grants Harry an audience. Speaking through an interpreter, the Red King agrees to allow Dresden to duel Arianna in exchange for Maggie's life. After a protracted battle with Arianna, Dresden finally kills her. However, the Red King refuses to honor their agreement, claiming that because he never spoke a word to Dresden, the agreement was void. He orders Maggie's immediate sacrifice. Susan, Sanya and Murphy effectively wield the Swords against the most ancient vampires, the Lords of the Outer Night. The Lords have become much more than vampires thanks to the worship of the ancient Mayans, to whom they had posed as gods. Harry's group finally cuts its way to the temple. At a signal from the Leanansidhe, the Grey Council appears at Chichen Itza through a Way, and joins the battle. At the battle's climax, Dresden rushes into the Sacrificial Room to stop the ritual. Susan (invisible thanks to Lea's illusions) holds Ammorachius forth over Maggie, causing a holy glow of unknown source, which causes the vampires to hesitate. Martin appears and destroys the illusion, betraying Susan, before calmly explaining to Susan and Dresden that he has always been a Red Court spy in the Fellowship of Saint Giles. After he reveals that he betrayed Maggie's location to the Red King, Susan goes berserk and tears out Martin's throat. Drinking his blood completes her transformation into a Red Court vampire. As Martin dies, he and Dresden soulgaze. Dresden learns that all of Martin's actions have been a 200-year-long con run on the Red Court with the end goal of putting someone in a position to destroy the entire Red Court in one blow. Betraying Maggie to Arianna was the only way to ensure that Dresden would be in such a position. The distraction of Susan killing Martin allows Harry and Lea to destroy Harry's prison, and Harry is able to overpower the Red King in a brief struggle. Dresden carries her to the altar and cuts her throat, unleashing the Bloodline Curse upon the red court and killing every last one since Susan is now the youngest vampire of the Red Court. The few half vampires who are not killed by the removal of their vampire halves, as well as the Red King's Mortal followers, are almost all destroyed by the angered captives the Red Court planned to murder. Exhausted and in shock, Dresden holds Maggie on the temple steps. He speaks with Ebenezar, who explains how the Red Court must have found out about their family ties (Dresden realized during the battle that Ebenezar is his grandfather, but Eb never told anyone for fear that they would use it against Ebenezar. Arianna had figured it out years before when she saw Dresden's mother and Ebenezar fighting like family. The point of the blood curse was to kill Ebenezar who was the most powerful wizard alive, along with Dresden). Dresden realizes he can never provide the sort of home for Maggie he wants her to have and asks that she be placed in the safest possible place. Sometime later, having no apartment to return to, Dresden is on the Water Beetle, recovering. He showers and changes in preparation for a potentially romantic interlude with Karrin Murphy, who is depressed after learning her job as a police officer will be lost due to Rudolph's machinations. Tense and nervous, Dresden goes onto the deck to get some air, only to be shot and fall over the boat's edge into the cold waters of Lake Michigan.