knows it’s been detected. It’s offering me things, promising me all kinds of things, but that’s a distraction. It’s trying to sneak past my defences so it can invade my mind and take control of my powers. Smart little seed . . . And the really bad news is, I’m not sure I can stop it without attacking it head-on. Which could kill William. The Heart is powerful. So inhumanly powerful. I’m good, but I’m still only human; and the Heart isn’t bound by human limitations.”
“Neither is my armour,” I said.
I subvocalised the activating Words, and my golden armour swept over me in a moment. I felt stronger, sharper and ready to rock. The diamond’s fiercely glowing light was nothing to my armoured mask. Ioreth followed my lead, and another gleaming golden figure appeared in the Old Library. Ammonia actually fell back a step. It is not an easy thing to see a Drood take on his armour and his power. A great cry of rage filled the Old Library as the Heart saw Droods in armour not of its making. I stepped forward and placed a golden hand flat on the shimmering facets of the diamond, and Ioreth quickly followed suit. Even through the strange matter covering my hand, I could feel the terrible strength of the Heart, pulsing like a living thing. I reached out with my mind, trying to contact William through his torc, but the diamond blocked me. I could feel Ioreth trying, too, and together we slowly forced our way in, until we could feel William’s presence inside the diamond. Ioreth and I said the activating Words together, and William said them along with us.
The Heart cried out again as golden strange matter welled out of William’s torc and encased him from head to toe: a golden figure inside the shining diamond. The light flared up again, almost unbearable now even through my mask, as the Heart seed fought to hold on to its host. William fought to move, and we fought to reach him, but even linked together the three of us weren’t strong enough to shatter the diamond. We were strong enough to keep the seed from jumping out of William and into Ammonia, but nowhere near strong enough to destroy it. Because in the end we were only three men in armour, and it was an other-dimensional entity from someplace we couldn’t even imagine. We’d fought the seed to a standstill; but even that wouldn’t last for long.
“Kill me,” said Ammonia.
“What?” I said, not taking my eyes off the diamond.
“Kill me! I’m the catalyst here. My presence, my power, has activated the Heart seed. It won’t give up now that it sees a superior host in me. I’d rather die while I’m still human than have this thing use me as a cocoon. I told you that you might have to do this. It’s why I let you stick around. You Droods aren’t the only ones who understand duty and responsibility. Now do what you have to. Without my power to draw on, the seed will go back to sleep inside your Librarian. And then you can take as many years as you need to find a way to destroy the bloody thing.”
“We don’t kill innocents, Ammonia,” I said. “That’s not the Drood way. We save people.”
“We’re barely holding the Heart off!” said Ioreth. “And William’s weakening! What are we going to do?”
“Call for help,” I said. The idea came to me quite spontaneously, but it was as though I’d always known what to do. “You said it yourself, Ammonia; we’re not alone in here.” I raised my voice. “I know you’re here! You’re always here! You protected William from the Immortal posing as Rafe! Help us protect him now! Because if you don’t, there’s a fate far worse than death waiting for him and all the people he cares for!”
“All right,” said a calm and amused voice from out of the nearby stacks. “No need to shout. I’m here.”
Suddenly, a ten-foot-tall giant white rabbit stepped out into the light to join us. It was a huge, overbearing creature, muscular rather than fat, with tall, floppy ears over a wide, intelligent face. It wore a pale blue dressing gown, elegantly styled, with the Playboy logo prominent on one lapel. It moved like a man, but with animal grace. And for all the clear intelligence, there was still a wildness to it, an almost feral charm, dangerous and untamed. It smiled at the diamond, showing sharp, pointed teeth. The tips of its long ears brushed against the ceiling as it moved forward to join us, and its presence beat on the air like a roll of thunder. Or perhaps a roll on the drums.
It wasn’t hiding anymore.
It nodded easily to Ioreth and me, winked at Ammonia, and then laid one great furry white paw on top of the diamond, right over William’s head. The diamond cracked, and cracked again, and the Heart seed screamed. William’s mind leapt out and joined with mine and Ioreth’s, and together we smashed the diamond with our golden fists, until there was nothing left but a few shimmering motes of light drifting in the air, winking out one by one.
I armoured down, and so did Ioreth and William, and we all turned to look at the giant white rabbit. It leaned easily against the nearest bookshelf, which groaned slightly under its weight, and looked us over with calm, cheerful eyes. Ammonia made a big deal of ignoring the rabbit, and leaned in close to study William’s face. A single shimmering tear ran down his cheek, and Ammonia reached out to catch it on the end of one fingertip. She held the single tear up before her, studied it for a long moment and then flicked it away. It snapped out of existence and was gone.
“That’s it,” Ammonia said loudly. “All done. The seed has been destroyed. With its malign influence removed, this man should be able to recover most of what he’s lost. In time. Another triumph for Ammonia Vom Acht!”
“Is it really gone?” I said. “I mean, all the way gone?”
“Gone, and good riddance,” said Ammonia. “Bloody other-dimensional creatures, always more trouble than they’re worth.”
“I feel so much better,” said William, and immediately collapsed back into his chair. Ammonia snorted loudly.
“Hardly surprising, carrying that bloody thing around in your head all these years. But I had a good look around inside; there’s nothing in there but you now. Anything you still can’t cope with is therefore very definitely your problem, not mine.”
I considered Ammonia thoughtfully. “That does leave us with the problem of whatever Drood secrets you might have seen in there while you were working.”
“Couldn’t see a damned thing,” Ammonia said briskly. “His torc protected him; only let me see what I needed to see. Your Ethel is very protective. I do have to wonder what it is she’s so keen to hide from me . . . and perhaps you. Could it be she has plans of her own for the Droods, like the Heart did? I could find out for you, see exactly what it is she has on her other-dimensional mind. . . . But that would cost extra.”
“We’ll think about it,” I said.
“If Ethel lets you think about it,” Ammonia said cheerfully. “Never trust anything from Outside. And speaking of which . . .” She turned abruptly to look at the giant white rabbit now standing behind William with one fluffy white paw resting protectively on his shoulder. Ammonia glowered at the rabbit, entirely unimpressed. “What the hell are you?”
“I’m Pook,” the rabbit said easily, in a deep, cultured voice. “I am that merry wanderer, travelling the world, being mischievous. I am the laughter in the woods and the lightning in the sky, and you never had a friend like me. Your Molly would know of me, Eddie Drood; many’s the time we danced together in the early morning mists in the wood at the end of the world. But now I’m here. I took a liking to William when I happened to be passing through the asylum where he was staying, and I followed him here. Just because. Do not question me; I am beyond answers. Accept that I’m here, and I’m marvellous.”
“It was you who protected William from the fake Rafe?” I said.
“Yes,” said Pook. “That was me.”
“You frightened the bastard half out of his mind.”
“No one messes with my friends,” said Pook.
“But . . . what are you?” said Ioreth.
“Perhaps I’m a figment of someone’s imagination,” said Pook. “Perhaps I’m the last survivor of the world before this one. Perhaps I’m all that remains of an old god, fallen low. And perhaps I’m just a giant white rabbit. I’m Pook, and I’m a good friend. Be grateful.”
“I remember you from the asylum,” William said slowly. “You kept me company. Comforted me. We had such marvellous long talks together. I’m glad you are real, after all. Why didn’t I remember you till now?”
“Because it wasn’t safe for you to do so,” said Pook. “The seed knew me as a danger, and I wasn’t strong enough to rip it out of your head on my own. I had to wait for the right time and the right kind of help. That’s why I summoned Ammonia Vom Acht here.”
“You didn’t summon me!” Ammonia said immediately. “No one summons me anywhere!”
“I put your name into the council’s heads,” said Pook. “And then I persuaded you to come all the way here to
