Drood, said the Uptown Razor Boys, speaking together in one voice. Cut you up. Kill you, and your little bitch, too.
Now, that s just rude, I said.
They surged forward, and I went to meet them with a cold rage in my heart. Because they stood between me and the rescue of my family. They swarmed all over me in a living wave, hitting me from every side at once, cutting and slicing at my head and throat with their shimmering razors. But even these supernatural blades just skidded harmlessly off my golden armour in showers of sparks. Moxton had made his mistake well. The boys cried out like wolves as they cut at me again and again, cried out like thwarted children, but for all their speed and fury they couldn t hurt me. I chose my timing carefully and punched one of the Eton Irregulars in the head with my golden fist. His whole head exploded, showering gore and fragments of bone across the nearby wall. The sheer force of the blow threw the headless body several feet down the hallway. The remaining Eton Irregulars cried out in shock and rage, a savage howl from human mouths. They only had one another. They threw themselves at me like feral cats, hitting me with all their Hell-given strength, as though they could force their blades through my armour.
I grabbed another of them and slammed his face into the nearest wall. His whole head collapsed and shattered under the force of the impact, and when I let go, the headless body just slid limply down the wall, leaving a heavy trail of blood and bone behind. More howls and screams from the remaining Uptown Razor Boys, and behind my featureless golden face mask I was smiling a fierce grin of my own. It felt good to be killing things that needed killing.
One of the Eton Irregulars broke away from me and went for Molly. She was waiting for him. She had a small flat box in her hand, with a single button on the top. She pointed it at the Razor Boy, who snarled savagely at her and went for her throat. Molly pressed the button and the boy just blew apart soundlessly. Every single bit of his flesh exploded in a moment, reduced to nothing more than a thick pink mist in the air, spreading slowly and silently before pattering to the floor in tiny pink droplets. The bones of his skeleton were left behind, left standing in perfect shape for a moment, and then they just clattered to the parquet floor in a neat little pile. All the bones picked perfectly clean, without a single fleck of meat left on them.
There was a pause as we all just stood where we were and looked at what had just happened. So, I thought coolly. That s what happens when you point a protein exploder at someone.
The three surviving Eton Irregulars turned and ran, sprinting down the hallway. Molly pointed the small box after them, and hit the button again. Three more soft, almost soundless explosions, and once again a fine pink mist filled the hallway for a long moment, before slowly dispersing. And three more neat little piles of human bones. Molly raised the protein exploder to her lips and blew away imaginary smoke from an imaginary gun barrel.
I think I m getting the hang of this, she said. Bit messy, though.
What did you expect? I said. From something called a protein exploder? It really does do what it says on the tin. I looked at her carefully. Does it bother you? What you just did? I mean, they did look like boys.
Yes, said Molly. They did. But they weren t. Hadn t been anything human for a long time. Nothing left inside them but Hell s business. I could tell.
I armoured down and looked up the hallway ahead of us. Everything seemed calm and quiet and very empty.
Does it bother you? said Molly.
What?
You just crushed the heads of two things that still looked like children, said Molly. You didn t even hesitate. You would have once. Before you put on the rogue armour.
You said it yourself, I said. They were just hellspawn. I could tell.
Except I hadn t even looked. Didn t even occur to me to raise my Sight to study their true aspect. I just killed them because they were an immediate threat and they needed killing. And because it felt good. I listened carefully, but I couldn t hear the voice of the rogue armour, couldn t even feel its presence, peering over my mental shoulder. I had to wonder how much of this new iron in my soul was the influence of wearing the rogue armour and how much was just me, a man grieving over his lost family and slowly losing his mind. Just needing to take out his anger on the world. Was I losing control or losing my mind? I told myself it didn t matter. I would do whatever needed doing for my family. Deal with the problems in front of me. Move on and worry later.
It wasn t like anyone was going to grieve over the loss of the Uptown Razor Boys.
I strode forward, stepping carefully past the piles of bones, leaving Molly to hurry after me.
Is it too much to ask? I said. For someone to design a weapon that cleans up after itself?
It would be nice, said Molly. Not having to be careful where you tread after a fight.
And then we both stopped, as a tall cocky figure came slouching down the hall towards us. He just appeared out of nowhere, smiling easily, in a scruffy combat jacket and grubby jeans. Big and rangy, with the kind of muscle that comes from regular hard living rather than hard workouts in the gym. He had a square head, close-cropped dark hair and a cool, thoughtful gaze. There was an easy built-in menace to his every movement. He swayed to a halt a respectful distance away.
Hello, squire. And lady. I m Bunny Hollis, at your service. Ex-SAS combat sorcerer. No job too big; no killing too small. I got thrown out of the SAS for sadistic excesses, which is ironic, as that s how most of us get in. These days, I m strictly freelance. Cash up front, no questions asked and I ll even make the bodies disappear at no extra charge. He looked meaningfully at the mess in the hall, between him and Molly and me. Got to say, you made a real mess of those kids. Good thing, too. It s animals like that give hardworking professionals like us a bad name. So, you re Eddie Drood. I ve always fancied my chances against a Drood.
So did the Uptown Razor Boys, I said. And look what happened to them.
Hollis just smiled his easy smile. Got to say, I m just a bit surprised to see you here, Eddie Drood. Little bird told me you and all your family were dead and gone.
Rumours of our destruction have been greatly exaggerated, I said.
Hollis grinned at Molly. And a Metcalf sister! Ah, the stories I ve heard about you girls Molly, Molly, quite contrary, how does your body count grow? I thought I was bad till I read your file. A Drood and a Metcalf Just for the record, how the hell do you have the nerve to claim you re the good guys? I ve fought actual wars for queen and country and I haven t killed nearly as many as you.
I only kill people who need killing, I said steadily.
Hollis sneered at me. Yeah, that s what they all say, squire. They ve always got their excuse ready. It wasn t me, your honour. It was the voices in my head. Read it in the Bible; I answer to a higher calling! I ve heard it all before and it always comes down to bodies on the ground and blood on the hands. At least I m honest enough to admit up front I m only in it for the money. I m a professional soldier, because that s what I do best. I fight strictly for hard cash, not some nebulous cause.
Bit chatty for an ex-squaddie, aren t you? I said. But then, I never met an ex-soldier who didn t feel the need to justify himself for how far he d fallen. Look Hollis, was it? You can still step aside. We re not here for you. We re here for Crow Lee.
Well, you can t have him, said Hollis.
You work for him, and you have the brass nerve to lecture us? said Molly. Or did no one explain the whole Most Evil Man in the World bit to you?
You say potato, I say hard cash, said Hollis.
His money will spend as easily as anyone else s.
But the things he s done I said, but Hollis cut me off before I could go any further.
Compared to what you Droods have done, he s just a beginner.
It s not what you do, I said. It s why you do it.
Oh, come on! said Hollis. That s your justification? The terrorists favourite excuse? That the end justifies the atrocities?
You really don t know my family, I said.
Don t argue with him, Eddie, said Molly.
He doesn t really care. He s just making conversation to hold us here while Crow Lee escapes out the back door.
Hollis flashed her a quick grin. You re smarter than you look, girlie. Come on. Let s do it. You know you want to.
I armoured up, the golden metal surging out and over me, and Hollis snapped upright out of his slouch and
