a Drood. Would he really allow the end of the world?'
'Probably,' I said. 'When we go bad, we go all the way.'
'And Timothy was always so much more than just a rogue,' said William. 'I remember him, though I really wish I didn't. Not actually a sociopath, as such, but a long way down that road. When he set his mind to something, he wouldn't let anyone or anything get in his way. He tried to force the Armourer to open the Armageddon Codex for him once, so he could make off with the forbidden weapons. Half killed the old boy in the process. If Timothy hadn't been interrupted and driven out… He has no reason to love this family, or the world, or anything but himself.'
'Janissary Jane once told me about a dimension where demons ran loose in the material plane,' I said. 'Hell got out, and slaughtered everything in its path, destroying civilisation after civilisation. Jumping from planet to planet, leaving worlds burning like cinders in the dark, and suns screaming as they died. Jane and the people she was with ended up having to destroy everything, to stop the demons. They used the Deplorable End, and wiped out a whole universe.'
'Isn't that what you used?' Rafe said carefully. 'To destroy the Hungry Gods?'
'Yes,' I said. 'And I don't have another one.'
'I'm not sure whether I feel relieved or not,' said Rafe.
William looked around abruptly, his eyes darting, listening to something only he could hear. The tension in his face and body was written so clearly it raised all the hackles on my neck. I glared around me into the golden glow, but nothing moved among the stacks, and the shadows seemed entirely still and empty.
'It's here,' whispered William, standing very still. 'I just catch glimpses of it, sometimes, out of the corner of my eyes. I can feel its presence, like a pressure on my soul. Feel it watching me… I think it wants to tell me something. Something I don't want to know…'
I looked at Rafe, but he just shook his head helplessly.
And then we all looked round, at the sound of approaching footsteps. Perfectly normal, human footsteps, making no attempt to hide themselves. We all relaxed, though not entirely, when Harry Drood appeared at the end of the stacks, accompanied by his partner, the half human, half demon hellspawn, Roger Morningstar. Harry smiled smugly at us, as though he'd done something clever. Roger's smile was rather more disturbing.
The hellspawn was tall,? slender, but powerfully built, looking entirely at home in an expensive Armani suit. He had an unnaturally pale face, dark hair, thin lips, and a gaze you didn't like to meet for more than a few seconds. Roger was an infernal creature, and it showed. He strolled towards us, following Harry, moving with almost inhuman grace, like a predator that had escaped from the zoo, and had absolutely no intention of ever going back.
I knew up close he would smell of sulphur and blood and sour milk, like all hellspawn. And as he sauntered along between the stacks to join us, he left dark scorch marks behind him on the wooden floor. (Though I couldn't help noticing that the burn marks quickly disappeared, as though the floor was healing itself. There's a lot about the Old Library we don't understand yet.) Rafe scowled at Roger and Harry with equal disapproval.
'We really are going to have to install some better security. And just possibly some flashing lights, warning sirens, and a whole bunch of concealed mantraps. It's getting so just anyone can walk in here these days.'
Harry ignored him, and nodded briefly to me. 'Thought I'd find you hiding out down here, Eddie.'
I ignored him, to glare at Roger. 'What are you doing here, Morningstar? I thought you were safely abroad, on some terribly important mission that kept you well away from the rest of us?'
'Harry contacted me,' said Roger, in a voice that chilled the blood without even trying. 'He told me about the Matriarch, and the witch. So I made a swift return, via the infernal underground. To support my dear Harry, in the hour of his family's need.'
He didn't say anything about being sorry for my loss, for Molly, and the Matriarch. He knew no one would have believed him.
'I am down here because I don't want to be found,' I said. 'There's important work to be done and I don't wish to be… distracted.'
'I know. Roger and I have been listening,' murmured Harry.
'Fascinating stuff,' said Roger.
I met his gaze squarely, just to show I could. 'You're one of Hell's creatures, Roger. What do you know about the Apocalypse Door?'
'Not a thing,' said Roger. 'Can't help you, Eddie.'
'Are you, by any chance, getting ready to run out on the family again, Eddie?' said Harry.
'And leave you in charge again?' I said. 'I don't think so. Not after the balls-up you made of things the last time I stepped out for a moment. I'm not abandoning my family; I'm just preparing to do my duty as a field agent. I have a history with Doctor Delirium, and that makes me the most suited agent to track him down and step on him hard, before he does something silly with the Apocalypse Door. How do you feel about the Door, Roger? Looking forward to seeing old friends again?'
'Now who's being silly?' said Roger. 'I like the world just as it is. So many opportunities for pleasure… people are such easy prey. And I do so enjoy being better than everyone else. I don't see the need for any competition.'
'Droods have had dealings with the Inferno before,' said William, quite offhandedly. 'And the Courts of the Holy, of course.'
We all looked at him, struck silent. He blinked a few times, and smiled uncertainly.
'We have pacts, with Heaven and Hell?' I said, trying to keep the shock out of my voice.
'Of course,' said William. 'You have to work with all sorts, in this job. And be prepared to talk to absolutely anybody. Goes with the territory. This family has long-standing pacts with the Nightside, Shadows Fall… aliens, elves, etc…'
'Etc.?' I said.
'Oh yes,' said William, chuckling in a quiet, unnerving way.
'Very definitely etc. This family is responsible for a lot more than most people realise, and contains secret departments within secret departments. Like those Russian dolls, you know… All to deal with the things that no one else wants to admit exist.'
'First I've heard of this,'? said Rafe. 'You mean… there are special agents out there, apart from the regular field agents?'
William sat down suddenly, as though all the strength had gone out of his legs. He looked older, and very tired. 'The more I remember about this family, the less I like it. Discovering the true nature of the Heart, and the price we paid for our original armour, weren't the only things that broke me. Yes, there are undercover agents, out there in the world… doing secret, necessary, unpleasant things, in the name of the family.'
'Hold on,' I said. 'I actually ran this family for a while, and no one ever told me about this!'
'There was a war on,' said William. 'You didn't need to know. Only the Matriarch knows everything. The keeper of secrets. She carries the burden of knowledge, so the rest of us don't have to, for the good of the family.'
'And perhaps,' said Harry, 'for plausible deniability, should any of this ever blow up in our face.'
'Who are these other agents?' said Rafe.
'If I ever knew, I've forgotten,' said William. 'Perhaps… I made myself forget.'
I looked at Harry. 'I have to go after the Apocalypse Door. The whole world, all of Humanity, is in danger. I need you to do something while I'm gone.'
'Do tell,' murmured Harry. 'I live to serve.'
I looked from him to Roger, and then back again. 'The family needs to send someone down into the Pit, as an emissary, to negotiate on our behalf. So that if Doctor Delirium should try to open the Door, Hell will keep it shut from the other side. And there's only one person here suited to that task.'
'You want to send Roger down into the Inferno?' said Harry. 'Are you crazy?'
'Why would the fallen and the damned choose to remain in Hell?' said Roger.
'Find something else they want, and? offer them that,' I said. 'Bargain. Hell does so love to make a deal.'
'And the Enemy might not want to start an Apocalypse he isn't sure he's ready to win,' said Rafe. 'If Hell rises up, Heaven will come down. In a full-out war, timing can be everything.'
'Good point,' said Roger. 'Very well, I'll go. It's been a while… but I do know a few people I can talk to.'
