"Miss Ascher."

The voice that issued from my bedside was one I'd heard only once before. Almost a year and a half ago now. It sounded different than I remembered. His voice had once been pleasant, smooth, with just the tinge of an Oxford accent. Liquid silk that slid in one ear and out the other, leaving a pleasant tickle in its wake. I'd had the odd thought that he'd be incredible at phone sex. If I could ever get a phone to work for me, at any rate. But a girl can have her late-night fantasies.

Now that voice was rougher, held a hint of gravelly bass. It probably had something to do with the deep circular mark beneath his tie. It spanned the length of his throat and was still healing if the angry red color was any indication. It was going to scar badly. But he still wore the tie regardless. He didn't even seem to mind that my eyes couldn't help but rove to it every few seconds.

I rolled to face him as best I could. It hurt more than I thought it should. The Fellowship had stopped funding my care when it was clear I wasn't going to recover well enough to rejoin the cause. Catherine had taken over my bills then. Just until she could get me on with her new organization. But in recent months, I hadn't heard from her either. The funds had dried up. I was lucky to even have a bed, a caretaker, someone who could steal pain medication for me.

"Nicodemus Archleone," I said, trying for a jaunty smile. It felt forced, even to me. "It's been a while. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Nicodemus had settled himself in the simple, unvarnished chair by my bedside. Well, cotside was more accurate. He looked out of place in the Spartan room with it's plain, dingy interior. A prince who'd deigned to dine with peasants. He looked somber.

"Not a pleasant visit, I'm afraid, Miss Ascher. Something's happened."

I tried to push up onto my elbows, the smile falling away at once. There was only one thing that would prompt him to come this far. Anything else could probably have been relayed by a phone call.

"Catherine? Is she-"

"No longer with us, I'm afraid," Nicodemus said regretfully. "Taken during a battle with our enemies by a suicidally determined Warden. But her coin was recovered. And she made her desire for your recovery clear. I apologize for the oversight. I would have been here sooner, but..."

He grimaced, almost seemed to unconsciously touch his wounded throat then let the hand drop. He pushed it into the interior of a coat pocket. He drew out a velvet jewelry box and my heart lurched at the sight of it. I'd dreamed of that box for months now. I had berated myself over and over again for not seizing my opportunity to take that power for myself in the many months since.

"I am here now. And I'd like to renegotiate the terms of your employment, Miss Ascher. If you still wish to work together."

"Yes," I breathed. "Please. I'll do whatever you want."

That summoned a wispy smile. Nicodemus' shadow leaned toward me. It felt like the figure brushed gentle knuckles across my cheek. The contact felt incredible. I leaned into the touch. I hadn't been touched in so long. I hadn't felt anything approaching even 'nice' in even longer.

"What I want is fairly simple, Miss Ascher. I want you to avenge our Catherine. I need you to end the Warden who stole her from us."

"Give me the name and her coin. I'll turn his ass into a cinder."

Nicodemus pushed to his feet, flicked open the top of the velvet box, and tossed it to me. Inside lay a slightly blackened coin, it's upraised sigil vaguely reminiscent of an hourglass.

"Your target is Warden Harry Dresden." He called over his shoulder as he left. "Happy hunting, Miss Ascher. And welcome aboard."

AN: Aaaaand that's the end of that! Mea Culpa is over, woot woot! I do plan to continue this on in a series, but not until after Peace Talks comes out. I have the feeling we're going to get a buttload of new information and I want to see what I can incorporate. The following stories will probably diverge a lot from canon. But I hope you enjoyed it! I will be going back to fix any gaping continuity errors and any typos I missed while editing. Thank you all so much for reading. :)