Dresden Files Reread - Fool Moon Chapter 22

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Harry wakes up in the Full Moon Garage, bound hand a foot with duct tape. Despite the restraints, his wounds have been treated, he's getting an actual blood transfusion, and there's a blanket over him. Human blood suitable for transfusion, especially O-, which this must be unless the lycanthrope power set includes blood typing by scent, is expensive and kind of a pain to steal, especially compared to saline, which would have worked just as well here, so either Parker keeps blood on hand to treat his own people's injuries, or he keeps it on hand because the consumption of blood is part of what feeds the spirits to which they play host. I think both possibilities are reasonably supported by the text. Parker is an actual alpha wolf, a provider and protector to his pack, not the violent, hypermasculine stereotype perpetuated by the vast majority of urban fantasy series that actually focus on werewolves. 

Harry's probably in better condition than he has been since leaving MacFinn's house, since the last person to patch him up didn't replace any blood or fluids. But he doesn't have any way to make a circle, and without one he can't work magic delicate enough to get out of the duct tape. At this point we're reminded that his father was a stage magician, with the new detail that he had an actual white rabbit, I would just like to note here that this means Harry's early childhood was traveling the country with his father was also spent in close proximity to a live rabbit which, as far as I can recall, is never mentioned outside of this chapter. He was like, six when his father died - did he really not have any feelings about being separated from the bunny? Or did the state of Missouri actually allow him to take it with him into foster care? In any case, Harry learned some tricks from his dad, including how to escape from various restraints (although not, as we learned in Storm Front, from handcuffs). It takes some time and wiggling, but he's able to get his arms free, and get started on his legs, before he hears people coming and has to get back under the blanket before they notice he's escaping. 

It's Parker and Flat Nose, the latter of whom wants to know why they fixed up Dresden's injuries instead of just shooting him. Apparently it's because Marcone wants to see Harry, which is new information and seriously Marcone if you could just be a little less ambitious and a little more straightforward about what you want, you might actually be able to work with Harry. Flat Nose is pretty dismissive of "not bothering Marcone" as a priority, and question Parker's fitness to lead the Streetwolves if he's gonna be all cautious and reasonable and aware of long-term consequences. Apparently Flat Nose would prefer the hypermasculine stereotype to the real thing, and he hints that Parker used to embody that stereotype a lot more closely. Parker does something violent that we don't see, and very calmly explains that if Flat Nose challenges Parker again, Parker will rip his heart out. 

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Harry would like to resume his escape attempt, and he can't do that if Parker's gonna keep babysitting him until Marcone shows up, so he tries his hand at antagonizing Parker, hoping to get him to go get a baseball bat or something, leave the room for a second. Parker, unfortunately, is hard to antagonize, and he laughs off Harry's first few attempts, confirming in the process that the moon plays a role in lycanthropic accelerated healing. What are the lycanthropes? How do they work? Anyway, eventually Harry starts poking at Parker's insecurities about getting older and losing control of the pack, and that does work. But the plan falls apart when, instead of leaving the room to get a weapon, Parker just picks up a tire iron and swings it at Harry's head. 

This was a short chapter. Expect the next one in probably a couple days. Wheel of time posts are on hiatus until I find an approach that doesn't take 10+ hours per section. Until next time, be Gay, do Crimes, and read All The Things!