in case the armour had taken you over. So when you just came rushing out, not even talking to me, I sort of assumed the worst.
Sorry, I said. I got a bit carried away. I hadn t realised how much I missed wearing armour.
Anyway, said Molly. Some of what I hit you with should have strengthened your torc, giving you more control over your new armour. So it can t come and go as it pleases or deny you when you need it.
Good, I said. Good idea, Molly. The strange matter in the torc should also help to keep the rogue armour in its place.
But, Eddie, listen to me! This is important. I ve no idea how long your torc will be able to control the armour, even with my magics support. We are in unknown territory here. It could last for days or weeks or just a few hours.
Got it, I said. I didn t tell her it didn t matter. That I would wear the armour for as long as I needed to find my family. And worry about everything else afterwards.
So, said Molly. What does it feel like wearing Moxton s armour?
Cold, I said immediately, before I could stop myself. Very cold and inhuman But it ll do the job and that s all that matters. I realised Molly was looking at me oddly. What?
When you came out of the Maze, wearing that armour You didn t look anything like you usually do. You didn t even look like a Drood. I don t know what Moxton based his designs on, but I don t think it was anything human. She scowled, searching for the right words. The way you were moving, the impression you gave I wasn t sure there was anything inside the armour.
It s still me, Molly, I said. I m still here.
Not when you re wearing that armour, you re not. I can tell.
I need it, Molly. Can t do the job without it.
I know. But once this is over, first chance you get, ditch the bloody thing.
Hush, I said quietly. I think it s listening.
Things just get better all the time, said Molly.
So, what now?
We need answers, I said. We need hard information as to exactly what went down here and who was behind it. Someone out there will know. Someone always knows. But where do we go to ask? Time was, we d have just dropped into the Wulfshead Club, that celebrated supernatural watering hole, paid for a round for the house, and they d have been lining up to tell us everything we needed to know. But I m pretty sure I m persona non grata there, after the recent unpleasantness.
You mean when you completely lost control, beat up everyone who got in your way and half killed your old friend the Indigo Spirit? said Molly. Oh, hell, yes, Eddie. They re still talking about that, and not in a good way. You are banned from the Wulfshead for life, Eddie Drood, and possibly even longer than that.
But that s just Eddie Drood, I said, craftily. I could still sneak in as Shaman Bond, couldn t I?
I wouldn t, said Molly. I really wouldn t. Take it from me: That boat has sailed. Far too many people in that place now know Eddie and Shaman are the same man. No one s actually given you up yet, but you can bet good money there d be a race to drop you right in it if you were to push your luck. Give them time to calm down, and they might let you back in as Shaman. But right now the very least they d do is set the hellhounds on you and blow your secret identity right out of the water.
But they will calm down? I said. Eventually?
Who can say?
I looked at her thoughtfully. You could always
No, I couldn t, said Molly. I m banned, as well, just for knowing you.
Ah, I said. Sorry about that.
Don t be! I m not. Never cared much for the Wulfshead, anyway. Bit too elevated for my tastes. And it s gone so upmarket these days so up itself it s practically staring out its own nostrils. And the bar prices suck big- time.
I smiled. Molly can be very loyal in her own way. So, where do we go for answers?
There s always the Nightside.
No there isn t, I said, very firmly.
Oh, come on, Eddie! I know there are long-standing pacts between your family and the Nightside, keeping you all out for reasons I have never had properly explained. But that can t apply now, when you re the only Drood left!
Nothing s changed, I said. If I did go in there, on my own, in defiance of the pacts, they d come straight at me with malice aforethought. And, anyway, I don t want anyone in the Nightside knowing my family isn t around anymore. You couldn t hope to ask questions and still keep it quiet. I don t want the world knowing the Droods aren t in charge anymore. When the Droods are away, the rats will run riot.
I could go into the Nightside, said Molly.
I ve got lots of contacts there. Not very nice contacts, perhaps, but I m sure they d give me all kinds of help once I started banging heads against walls.
No, I said. They d only wonder why I wasn t with you, start asking questions of their own and we d be back where we started.
You don t trust me on my own in the Nightside, with all its temptations. Do you?
No, I bloody don t.
Molly smiled, satisfied.
We both stood around for a while, trying to think of somewhere we could go, of people who might be persuaded to tell us useful things if we were insistent enough, in an intimidating sort of way. But approaching any of the usual unusual suspects would be bound to raise more questions than answers. The truth about my family s situation was bound to get out sooner or later, but I didn t want to do anything that would make it sooner rather than later. I needed time to get to the truth and whoever was behind it.
We could always go into London, down Grafton Way, Molly said tentatively. Pay a polite and very under-the- radar visit to the Order of Beyond. We did go there once before, remember, when we were trying to track down Mr. Stab.
I remember, I said. The Order of Beyond rounds up people who ve been possessed by all the various forces from outside and then locks them up in cages and listens to them. Because the possessed do so love to talk. The Order slips in a few pointed questions from time to time, and sells whatever answers they get to the highest bidder. (You can subscribe to their monthly newsletter for the more basic stuff. I ve never been tempted.)
I don t think so, I said finally.
We wouldn t learn anything we wanted to hear from those sources. Hell always lies.
Except when a truth can hurt you more.
Exactly.
All right. You suggest someone!
How about the Middle Man? I said, just a bit diffidently. He wouldn t know who was behind something as big as this, but he d almost certainly be able to point us in the direction of someone who would. For the right price, of course.
Eddie, he hates your family. You know that. You even hint at what s happened to them and he d break every record there is getting the news out to absolutely everyone. He loathes and despises everything Drood, and with more good reason than most.
We are a much-misunderstood family, I said.
Oh no, you aren t.
Well, who is there we can safely talk to? I said.
Who is there we can trust with this information?
We need my sisters, said Molly, in her best Yes, I know, but don t argue with me tone of voice. We need Isabella and Louisa. They might not know who s behind all this, but they have contacts in places I wouldn t even dare show my face. And they d be more than happy to kick the crap out of people on our behalf. Well, on my behalf. I don t think they ve quite made up their minds about you yet. But they d do it for me.
Sisters, sisters, such devoted sisters
Shut up, Eddie. No one would suspect anything if Isabella and Louisa were to go looking for information about
