Hard words, I said.
We marched over to the door leading into the next room. It was locked. Molly laughed and snapped her fingers at it. The heavy wood of the door groaned loudly and rattled furiously in its frame, but it wouldn t open. Isabella and Louisa said a Word of Power together, and the veneer jumped right off the door, but still it held. So I got out my skeleton key, slipped it carefully into the lock and turned it slowly, with just the right amount of pressure, and the protections on the door just threw their hands in the air and said, Have it your own way, then, and the door opened.
Crow Lee was scrabbling through the contents of a chest of drawers. He spun round as we entered, and the remote control was in his hand. I knew what it was, what it had to be, just from the look on his face. The thing didn t look too complicated. Crow Lee snatched up a long ironwood staff and held it out defiantly before him. I immediately stopped short and made sure the others did, too.
No one move, I said. No one do anything. That is Oath Breaker.
That is? said Isabella. I ve only ever read descriptions of it. I d expected a lot more, to be honest.
What s Oath Breaker? said Louisa, frowning prettily.
One of the Drood forbidden weapons, said Molly.
It revokes all agreements and bonds, right down to the atomic level.
Oh goody! said Louisa, clapping her hands together. I want one!
You re dangerous enough as it is, said Molly.
Girls just want to have fun! Louisa said brightly.
Is she always like this? I said quietly to Molly.
This is her being relatively stable, said Molly.
God knows how long it ll last. Now you know why we never let anyone meet her. She glowered at Crow Lee.
I don t care what you ve got. You do not get to walk free after everything you ve done.
My offer of a deal still stands, said Crow Lee, ignoring the Metcalf sisters to stare directly at me. The remote control, the coordinates it contains and the return of your Hall and family in return for immunity for all the things I may have done.
We might have made a deal, I said steadily, but not now. I can t let you walk out of here with Oath Breaker. Throw it aside and we ll talk.
How did he get his hands on that thing, anyway? said Molly.
From the Original Traitor Drood, I said.
And where s he? said Isabella.
Dead, I said.
Molly looked at me sharply. You have been busy while I was gone. Mr. Stab and the Original Traitor?
Let s not get distracted, people, said Crow Lee. This remote control can guide your Merlin Glass straight to your family, Eddie. And their safe return is all that really matters, right? And don t even think about taking the remote from me; I ve got it rigged with a dead man s switch. If the remote leaves my hand without my permission, it ll self-destruct. And then no one will be able to find the Droods. You re not going to risk that, Eddie. So, I ll be leaving you now. With the remote and Oath Breaker. I ll be in touch, from a safe distance, and then we can work out the terms of our agreement, like civilised people.
You make one move to leave and I ll kill you, I said.
Like Mr. Stab and Adrian Drood? said Crow Lee.
You are getting a taste for it. Aren t you, Eddie? But I don t think so. All your armour and all the Metcalf sisters magic are still nothing when set against the ancient brute force of Oath Breaker.
And that was when Major Michaels came slamming through the other door on the far side of the room, with a whole bunch of heavily armed mercenary soldiers. Who took one look at me and the Metcalf sisters and opened fire on all of us. Crow Lee darted quickly out of the line of fire, shouting, No! No! Stop it! You re ruining everything! The three Metcalf sisters clasped hands, and a protective screen snapped into place between them and the bullets. I armoured up and laughed as the bullets just bounced off me. Crow Lee cried out as ricocheting bullets slammed into the piece of furniture he was hiding behind. Molly let go of her sisters hands and stepped forward to face Major Michaels. He saw the expression on her face, the face repaired from the beating he d given her, and opened fire on her at point-blank range. The bullets turned into flowers in midair and drifted to the floor. Molly held up her hand and snapped her fingers sharply. And just like that, Major Michaels and all his soldiers were gone, replaced by the same number of filthy sewer rats. They ran squealing around the room, biting and tearing at one another, and then they all turned on the biggest and oldest one and chased it out of the room.
Never mess with a Metcalf sister, said Molly.
We always get our own back.
Yeah, I said. Major Michaels as a sewer rat, eaten alive by other rats. That ll do. Just.
And then I stepped forward and punched Crow Lee so hard in the face with my armoured fist that it ripped his head clean off his shoulders. The head still held a startled expression as it flew on to slam against the far wall with such an impact that it all but exploded before slipping to the floor, leaving a long bloody trail on the wall behind it. And while the body was slumping to its knees, blood pumping from the severed neck, I dived forward and grabbed the remote control from the slowly opening hand. I held it tightly and forced golden tendrils of my armour out of my glove and deep into the mechanism, shutting down all its systems. I waited a moment, but it didn t self- destruct. I d got to it in time.
Was he bluffing? said Molly.
Apparently not, I said, pulling the golden tendrils back into my glove. But it s safe now.
I looked up from the remote control to find all three Metcalf sisters staring at me, and not in a good way.
That makes three people you ve killed, said Molly. You even put finding your family at risk to kill Crow Lee. And that isn t like you, Eddie. None of this is like you.
He had it coming, I said. You can t say he didn t have it coming. They all did. I ve just been doing what needs doing. Taking out the trash.
No, said Molly. More and more you re doing what your armour wants you to do. I ve seen it affecting you, Eddie.
Maybe I like what it s doing to me, I said. I feel so much more decisive now. Taking care of business, and to hell with the consequences.
That s Moxton s Mistake talking, said Molly. Turning my Eddie to the dark side for its own purposes. I can t let that go on.
She clasped hands with her sisters again. I armoured up almost involuntarily. Bright lights and swirling energies surrounded the sisters, as they chanted a series of Words of Power. I tried to speak to them, to explain that everything was fine, really, only to discover that my words were trapped inside the mask with me. The armour wouldn t let me be heard. I tried to move and found I couldn t. The armour was moving on its own now. I was trapped, helpless, inside it. Like being buried in a golden coffin with murder on its mind. It moved slowly towards Molly and her sisters, savage claws emerging from its golden gauntlets. I could hear the rogue armour laughing. I called out to Molly, trying to warn her, but she couldn t hear me. She didn t know the armour advancing on her wasn t me but Moxton s murderous Mistake.
He s mine, said the armour. You can t have him.
The three sisters stopped their chanting, though coruscating energies still spat and sparked in the air around them. Molly looked directly into the featureless golden face mask.
He was mine long before you got your claws into him, she said. And you can t keep him.
The three sisters spoke together, chanting a single powerful Word:
Out!
The rogue armour shook, shuddering and spasming wildly, fighting for control and losing, and then it leaned forward abruptly and vomited me out. The face mask split apart like a great wide-stretched mouth, and I was forced up and out and deposited on the blood-stained carpet like a newly birthed thing. I lay there, shaking and shivering, curled into a ball, suddenly aware of all the things I d done while wearing the armour and wondering how long it had been since I was thinking clearly and on my own. I finally looked up to see the armour standing awkwardly stiff and poised, as though considering its situation.
