Small Favor
Jim Butcher
 One quiet year after the events in White Night, Dresden is at the Carpenter home. He is teaching Molly, his apprentice, to create shields. While he and Molly's siblings throw snowballs at her, they are attacked by gruffs, goat-like enforcers of the Summer Court Fae. Attacking the children is just a feint. Dresden is their real target. Between Dresden’s fire magic and Charity’s nail gun, the gruffs are driven off. Dresden doesn’t know what he’s done to antagonize the Summer Court. He needs to find out and make amends before it’s the death of him. Just after midnight, Sergeant Karrin Murphy calls Dresden about a case: a building was almost completely destroyed by chaotic magic. Since he’s inches from bouncing a check, Dresden puts the gruffs on hold and accepts the consulting job. Dresden summons Toot-toot and the other fairies in the "Za-Lord's Guard." He directs them to find out who assaulted the building. Toot-toot returns in a panic, urging Dresden to run. Ducking into an alley, Dresden is startled to see Queen Mab of the Winter Court Fae. Queen Mab offers him the mantle of the Winter Knight. Dresden declines. She asks for one of the two favors that Dresden still owes her—just a small favor. She demands that he be her "Emissary." She reveals that the building he is investigating contained a panic room belonging to John Marcone, Chicago's crime lord. Dresden must protect Marcone—or die. Dresden protests that one of the conditions of their agreement is that he can choose to accept or refuse any of the favors. But, she is very persuasive. Queen Mab is the least of his worries. Three gruffs, bigger and meaner than the first ones, appear and pursue him just as Toot-toot had warned. The gruffs are armed with automatic weapons. Eventually, Dresden escapes. He cannot continue alone, so he calls for back-up. Thomas rolls up in a white, pristine Hummer. Dresden tells his half-brother about the gruffs, the wrecked building, the kidnapping, and Queen Mab. As they talk, Fix, the Summer Knight, appears, pointing a shotgun at Dresden's head. Fix warns Dresden not to become the Winter Emissary. Thomas pulls a gun on Fix. Dresden gets them to lower their guns. Then, Dresden points Thomas's gun at Fix. Fix hints that he is compelled, as the Summer Knight, to obey the exact wording of his orders. As a friendly gesture, Fix tells Dresden, "Remember the leaf Lily gave you." The gorgeous, silver leaf trinket represents a boon that the Summer Court owes Dresden. He realizes the gruffs are using it to track him. At home, Dresden magically links the leaf to his "Little Chicago" mock-up of the city. Dresden gets Mister, his cat, to bat it all over the miniature city. By leading the agents of Summer on a merry chase, Dresden hopes to buy himself some time. Dresden and Thomas go to Executive Priority Health, Marcone's exclusive fitness center and brothel. Marcone gave Dresden a VIP membership plus one, in hopes that this business would escape Dresden’s propensity to wreak havoc. Dresden requests to speak to Ms. Demeter, but he is told that she is not in. Thomas displays his remarkable strength. They will wreck the gym, if they do not see her. Dresden meets with Ms. Demeter, who is uncooperative. Torelli, another of Marcone's lieutenants, enters the room with his men to take over Ms. Demeter's business. Dresden and Thomas manhandle them. In gratitude, Ms. Demeter directs them to a safe house, where Hendricks and Ms. Gard are probably hiding. Dresden and Thomas start their search at the safe house. Ms. Demeter's guess had been correct; the safe house was occupied. Hendricks allows Dresden to speak with Miss Gard, who is severely wounded. Before they can come to any agreement, the Denarians return from Death Masks and attack. Dresden parleys with one&mdash;Mantis Girl. She insists that this is a private affair between the Denarians and Marcone. They are both signatories to the Unseelie Accords, so Dresden must stay out of it, or harm will come to him. Dresden counters, by offering to let them leave town in one piece, if they return Marcone. Mantis Girl pretends to leave to consult with her partners, but she boomerangs back to attack. Sensing her return, Dresden fends her off. Then, he, Thomas, Hendricks, and Ms. Gard escape in Thomas' newly battle-scarred Hummer. Suspecting that St. Mary of the Angels church will be watched, Dresden takes Marcone's henchmen to the Carpenter house. On the drive over, Thomas lands a bombshell. During the attack on the safe house, Thomas killed one of the Denarians and took its coin. He was wearing gloves, so he is not corrupted. Sanya, a Knight of the Cross, is stranded in Chicago by the winter storm. He offers his help. Initially, Dresden believes the Denarians want to kill Marcone, because they see him as an upstart mortal. Later, he realizes the Denarians want to recruit Marcone. Dresden sets up a talk with the Denarians. Ms. Gard had already asked him, under the terms of the Unseelie Accords, to request that the White Council file a formal objection to the abduction of one signatory by another. Dresden adopts this as a cover story. He calls Warden Captain Luccio of the White Counsel and bends the truth. He implies that Queen Mab wants the White Council to intervene. Since Mab gave the White Council the right-of-way through the Winter portions of Nevernever, Luccio cannot afford to lose one of the few advantages they've gained against the Red Court vampires. Luccio agrees to facilitate the meeting and to bring in the Archive as a neutral party. Dresden meets Murphy at McAnally's. He updates her on the case of the demolished building. He asks her to let him handle the situation. She insists that Chicago's police should be involved. Dresden gets her to back off, at least temporarily. A larger and stronger gruff enters to speak to Dresden. This older gruff is outraged that Dresden, as the Winter Emissary, burned the younger gruffs with steel. The gruff demands satisfaction. Dresden is saved when Murphy insists that she must become involved, if a gruff threatens a citizen of the city she has sworn to "protect and defend." Her threat to shoot him with steel-jacketed rounds convinces the gruff to back off and leave, at least temporarily. Dresden holds a war council to bring everyone up to speed on the Denarians. Dresden uses magic to make Thomas look like him. He gives Thomas his leather duster and staff to distract the Summer Court agents, so Dresden will be free to do some investigating. Dresden, Murphy, Molly, and Mouse return to the Carpenter’s house, where they are attacked by two of Torelli's men. Murphy is shot. Dresden shoots one in the knee and interrogates the other. Apparently, Torelli has been planning to move against Marcone for quite a while. The first gunman gets up and goes for Dresden. He's saved by Mouse's rapid counterattack. Dresden and company flee the scene as the police arrive. Thanks to her bullet-proof vest, Murphy is alive, but in serious need of medical attention at the Carpenter's. Dresden argues with Michael over his approach to the Denarians. Michael insists the Denarians must have a chance to repent, rather than killing them outright. Dresden confronts Ms. Gard privately. She must have a cache of blood and/or hair samples of Torelli and Marcone for magical security purposes. He needs these samples, so that he can find those men. When he swears by his powers that he will use only those two samples, and will not use either of them for harm, Ms. Gard agrees. The brief case with the samples is in a locker at Union Station. Dresden, Michael, and Mouse&mdash;posing as a service dog—head to Union Station. A magical darkness envelopes the Station. Dresden's magic cannot penetrate it, but Michael's sword does, partially. Under the cover of this magical darkness (myrk), thick, squat creatures called hobs pour into the station. Backed into an office with some civilians, Dresden devises a way to dispel the myrk; thereby, weakening the hobs. Using a heating spell, he activates the fire sprinkler system. The "flowing" water disrupts the magical energy maintaining the darkness. Free from the myrk, Michael's sword blazes to its full brightness. Without the protective darkness, Michael carves through the hobs with relative ease and speed. Dresden follows in his wake, but is separated from him when Big Brother Gruff arrives and attacks Dresden. Using the gruff's own mass and momentum, Dresden knocks it into a swarm of hobs. They mob the gruff, weakening it and buying Dresden some time. Dresden locates Ms. Gard's locker, but it has a powerful ward. The gruff confronts Dresden. In desperation, Dresden opens the locker, which releases the powerful ward with spectacular results. The wounded gruff admits defeat and requests a clean death. Dresden spares his life. The grateful gruff vows to stop attacking him. As the gruff leaves, he warns Dresden that the eldest brother gruff will kill Dresden. After rejoining Michael, they realize the remaining hobs are clustered at a station platform. A train bearing Ivy the Archive, her bodyguard Kincaid, and Warden Captain Luccio just arrived. The hobs' real mission is to attack the Archive. They all escape from the hobs and retreat to the safety of Dresden’s warded apartment. The Archive schedules a meeting between Dresden and Nicodemus at the Shedd Aquarium. During the negotiations, Dresden realizes it's a charade to kidnap the Archive. Dresden and Ivy team up to fight off the Denarians. Ivy’s magical abilities are formidable. Dresden uses a new magical ability, which has devastating effects on the demons. Even though they kill several Denarians, Ivy is captured. Nicodemus plans to coerce Ivy into accepting a blackened denarius. To save her, Dresden makes an offer that's too good to pass up. In exchange for the Archive, Dresden will give Nicodemus all the denarii that the Knights of the Cross have collected (11) and a Sword of the Cross. In response to Michael's outraged protest, Dresden explains they can exterminate the remaining Denarians. Thunderstruck, Michael quietly voices the dream that he could finally be a simple carpenter. Before Dresden's meeting with Nicodemus, Michael asks Dresden about his blasting rod. Dresden realizes he lost his rod after his meeting with Queen Mab, but he is not sure how or why. Dresden meets Nicodemus on a deserted island in Lake Michigan for the exchange. Nicodemus reneges on their deal. The Knights of the Cross attack Nicodemus. The Denarians flee at the sight of the swords. Dresden and Sanya free Marcone and the Archive. Ms. Gard arrives with the rescue copter, but the Denarians return and spray the copter with machine gun fire. Michael is badly injured. The damaged copter escapes as fast as possible. Dresden is abandoned on the island, hunted by the Denarians and their mercenaries. Just as the Denarian Magog is about to kill Dresden, the eldest and most formidable gruff brother appears. The Eldest Gruff claims the right to kill Dresden and obliterates the interloping Denarian. The conflicted gruff reveals that he has been compelled to attack Dresden as long as they are both on the battlefield. Dresden reveals his Summer Court token and claims a boon. Dresden demands a freshly made doughnut with white frosting and sprinkles. The gruff agrees and says the Summer Court's hunt will end, when Dresden re-enters the Chicago city limits. The honorable gruff departs to fulfill the boon. Dresden attempts to escape Rosanna’s boat. Nicodemus is waiting for him. They fight. Dresden strangles Nicodemus with the noose of Judas and makes his escape. Deirdre rescues her father, Nicodemus, and pursues Dresden. Thomas and Murphy appear in the Water Beetle rescue boat. Murphy seizes the hilt of Shiro's sword, Fidelacchius. It blazes with divine light, which blinds and drives off Deirdre. Back on shore, Dresden finds a freshly made doughnut with white frosting, sprinkles—and it's still warm. Thomas has no clue how Dresden's doughnut got in his locked Hummer. Dresden savors each bite as "pure heaven." Thomas drives him to the hospital. Michael is still in surgery. In the hospital chapel, Dresden has a heated discussion with a janitor. He explains that God has a plan for us all—complete with angelic assistance. The janitor vanishes leaving behind a worn copy of The Two Towers with a marked section. Dresden suspects the janitor is really an archangel, who has been aiding him. Queen Mab appears in the chapel. She is pleased that the Watchman has enhanced Dresden's potential. She returns his blasting rod and reveals that he would have been killed, if he had used it to rescue his friends. Dresden visits Ivy and Kincaid at Murphy's house. Later, Sanya gives Amoracchius, Michael's sword, to Dresden with the instructions to pass it on, when the time is right. Michael survived the surgery, but might not make a complete recovery&mdash;bittersweet news at best. Dresden and Anastasia Luccio end the day with a pleasant dinner and a delightful evening.