Dresden Files Reread - Fool Moon Chapter 24

Photo by Tigran Hambardzumyan on Unsplash

Harry is thoroughly freaked out that his magic didn't work, and more frightened by that than he is by the active three-way battle with which he is currently sharing a room. He's concerned, not unjustifiably, that he somehow seriously damaged his ability to use magic, with the way he overextended himself under the influence of the stimulant potion. This is a threat not only to his livelihood and immediate safety but to his identity. Being a wizard isn't about being good at magic, it's about what you do with it, how you choose to exercise that power, but without his powerful magic, there would be no choice to make, and he wouldn't be a wizard anymore. Interestingly, he doesn't express the worry that he does in Dead Beat, that one or more failed spells could erode his belief in his ability to cast, creating a cyclical loss of power. Of course, in Dead Beat, the initial problem is a phobia, not magical burnout, and that may make a difference. 

Marcone and Henricks manage to get into a truck and smash their way out of the building with it, all the white shooting at the Streetwolves and the Feds, who are in any case far more interested in fighting each other than in anything Marcone is doing. Denton is still in human form, giving directions to Benn and Wilson, but Harry catches sight of his wolf belt. 

There's a scrabbling sound, something trying to dig under the wall, and when a pay comes through, Harry, who is having an intense kind of day, smashes it with the wrench, until he puts his head near the hole to make threats, giving Tera the opportunity to tell him to knock it off and let the Alphas rescue him. He lets the get back to digging, but a minute later he hears fighting on the other side of the hole, and Tera doesn't answer when he asks what's going on. But this point, Denton has killed Lana the lycanthrope, the one who was chanting "kill him" when Harry first encountered the Streetwolves. I don't think the similarity between "Lana" and "Lara" is a coincidence here. The former, with her predatory instincts and facility in calling up the aggressive energy of the pack, very much feels like an abortive initial attempt at the latter, and thank goodness Butcher waited four books after this one to try and write Lara for real. Fool Moon has some deeply troubling things to say about female sexuality, even if it's already doing noticeably better than Storm Front. Tera and Susan, both "good guys" (and interestingly, both women of color - I am not sure what to make of this aspect of it, if anything), enjoy being the recipients of sexual desire, and are willing to use their bodies to get what they want. And that's apparently fine. But Lana and Benn aren't content to be objects of desire - they want openly and intensely. And the narrative condemns them as villains for it, and then kills them. 

On the subject of which, as the battle hits a lull, Benn starts pressuring Denton to shift, trying to leverage a combination of sexual desire, bloodlust, and addition to make him do it. He's holding out pretty well, until Parker comes shambling back out of the shadows. Such a direct threat is apparently his breaking point. He and Benn both shift, and then they, along with Wilson, kill parker in just the worst way. They eat him. It's bad. 

Harry absolutely does not want to be around any more of this, and starts widening the hole from his side until he can squeeze through. Outside, he finds three Alphas and a naked Tera surrounding wolf-form Harris, with two other alphas injured on the ground. This is the first time we see the attack pattern that the Alphas use at least through Small Favor, where they flank their opponent and attack one at a time, without committing themselves, forcing their prey to turn around and around dodging and trying to hit any one of them without leaving themself open to a more serious attack from behind by one of the others. 

Tera tells Harry to run, to get away while he an and help MacFinn, letting her and the Alphas cover his retreat. Harry responds that she and her pack should also leave, since the other hexenwulf feds are on the way, but Tera's not going anywhere while two of the kids are down. It would mean abandoning them, which she would never countenance. Harry, for his part, isn't willing to let anyone else get hurt on his behalf tonight. He is absolutely out of fucks to give, and hits Harris with the wrench. Once. Harris takes it out of his hands pretty easily, leaving Our Hero unarmed and virtually powerless against a giant wolf monster. Again. 

It's been an extra intense couple of weeks with my freelance gigs, or this would have gone up days ago. It's got a couple more non-reread posts brewing, but the next post, in hopefully a bit less than a week, will almost certainly be Fool Moon Chapter 15. Stay tuned, and remember to be gay, do crimes, and read All The Things.