Inside the place stank. I grimaced as the stench washed over me, of blood and shit, musk and misery. Even Major Michaels was affected by the smell, though he did his best to hide it. One of the soldiers supporting Molly gagged loudly and whipped his head from side to side, as though searching for fresher air. The major snarled at him and led us all down the long hallway.
Both walls were covered with mirrors, long rows of framed glass. And as I passed them by I saw faces imprisoned behind each mirror, half-starved, scarred and ruined, silently screaming and pleading. There was nothing I could do. Except hope I d get the chance to do something for them later. The ceiling was covered with old overlapping bloodstains. Mostly arterial spray, by the look of it.
Take a look at the rugs on the floor, Major Michaels said cheerfully. Every one of them made from the pelts of endangered animals. If you look carefully at the ones where the heads are still attached, you ll notice the eyes are still alive and full of suffering. He doesn t miss a trick, that Crow Lee.
He pushed on ahead of us, heading for the closed door at the end of the hall. The whole place stank of death and suffering, like a spiritual abattoir. A row of severed heads had been stuck on spikes: men and women, young and old. They were still alive and suffering, too. Their eyes rolled and their mouths moved, though no sound came out of them.
Crow Lee had their vocal cords cut out, Major Michaels said casually. You can listen to only so much screaming before it gets old. And it s not as if any of them had anything to say that he wanted to hear.
I remembered threatening to put the Immortal s head on a spike, and I felt ashamed.
We finally reached the door at the end of the hall. The soldiers were looking at each other unhappily, every movement full of tension and fear. Major Michaels gave me some time to look over the door. The heavy wood had been carved with every name and symbol for evil you could think of, including some from civilisations that don t even exist anymore. The door knocker was an inverted crucifix, with what I took at first to be some kind of shaved monkey nailed to it. It wasn t until Major Michaels encouraged me to take a closer look that I realised Crow Lee had nailed a foetus to the cross.
The major laughed at the expression on my face. Ripped untimely from his mother s womb, and nailed up in place while he was still breathing. You ve got to laugh, haven t you? So, what do you think of the great man s dwelling?
Reflects his personality, I said. He really is the Most Evil Man in the World.
Was there ever any doubt? said Major Michaels.
How can you stand to be in a place like this? I said. How can you stand to work for a piece of shit like Crow Lee?
The major smacked me round the head again, just hard enough to make his point. My eyes watered and my knees buckled. The soldiers held me up till I could get my feet back under me.
You never learn, do you? said Major Michaels.
Molly lashed out suddenly with one foot, and the major turned aside at the last moment to take the kick on his thigh instead of in the groin. He backhanded her across the face. I kicked him hard in the back of the leg, and he went down on one knee. I struggled with the soldiers holding me but couldn t break free. Major Michaels got to his feet again and went to slap me across the face. I waited till just the right moment, and then snapped my head forward and sank my teeth into his hand. He howled with shock and pain, and I ground my teeth in deep, his blood spurting into my mouth. The major punched me hard in the head with his other hand, and I lost track of things for a moment. The soldiers forced my jaws open, and Major Michaels fell back, clutching his damaged hand to his chest.
You animal! You vicious little shit!
I laughed at him, spraying his blood and mine from my mouth.
Least I could do.
The major went to hit me again, and I laughed again and spat more blood at him. Careful, Major. Can t damage me too much. Crow Lee s waiting in there to talk to me, remember? You knock me out or render me speechless with a concussion just when he s in the mood to ask me some very specific questions, and he s going to be really upset with you. Isn t he?
Major Michaels held his injured hand tightly with the other.
Afterwards, he said tightly, he ll give you to me. And I ll show you what pain really is. You re going to be mine, Drood.
You re not my type, I said.
The major knocked loudly on the door, though I noticed he handled the crucifix rather gingerly, for all his fine words. A happy voice beyond the door called for us to enter. The major pushed open the door, and the soldiers bustled Molly and me through and into Crow Lee s lair.
They threw us on the floor before him. On our knees before the master of the house. I forced my head up and looked round the room, deliberately ignoring Crow Lee. By comparison to the hallway, the room seemed calm and cosy, comfortable, even civilised. A country gentleman s study, with old-fashioned furniture, bookshelves, objets d art and colourful prints on the walls. Crow Lee sat at his ease before us in an oversized armchair big enough to handle his huge frame. The burns Molly had given him in the club library were already gone from his face. Beside him stood his bodyguard, Mr. Stab. He looked down at Molly and me, at our bloodied and broken state, and I thought for a moment he might say something, but he didn t. He just stood there where he d been told to stand, and nothing moved in his face. Crow Lee looked at Molly and me and chuckled happily.
My, my. We have been in the wars, haven t we? But it s a good look for you, Drood. You can go now, Major, and take your men with you. Our words are not for your ears. Clean up my gardens and make sure they re secure, but don t go too far. Just in case I have need of you again. For executions and the like.
Major Michaels nodded stiffly, started to leave and then stopped and came back to hand over the Twilight Teardrop to Crow Lee. He then strode out of the room, not looking back, and his soldiers hurried out after him. The door shut itself behind them. Crow Lee held the ruby pendant in the palm of his hand, and it looked so much smaller and less potent in his huge paw. Crow Lee smiled briefly and then closed his great hand around the Twilight Teardrop and crushed it. I expected bright lights to shine out from between his fingers or strange bloodred energies to manifest and fly about the room, but the ruby just cracked and splintered in his grasp, and when he opened his hand, brilliant red fragments fluttered sadly to the floor.
I ve never allowed myself to become dependent on such toys, he said. So why leave it lying around for someone else to make use of it? He smiled happily down at Molly, slumped in place before him, dripping blood on his expensive carpet. Welcome to my pleasure dome, my country retreat, my private world. Everything here is exactly how I want it. Right down to the books on my shelves, bound in the flayed skin of ruined enemies, and the antique furniture, spoils of war from my feuds with well, I won t call them my peers. My now-deceased competitors. And did you see my door knocker? Of course you did. Ah, the old blasphemies are the best. Don t you agree? It s actually a bit of a strain sometimes, keeping up with what s required of me as the Most you know. He would have been my son, you see, the door knocker. If his stupid sow of a mother hadn t tried to blackmail me. It s not that I begrudged her the money, you understand. It s just that I can t stand ingratitude.
But before we begin the hard talking, Edwin Drood A surprise! A little divertissement! Behold!
He waved one large hand, and the concealing illusion at the side of his chair disappeared, revealing two naked women wrapped in glowing chains, held in place by a cold iron chain that stretched from Crow Lee s chair to the collars round their throats. They were Isabella and Louisa Metcalf. They both looked like they d taken hard beatings and hadn t been fed in some time. Molly looked at her sisters for a long moment.
No wonder I couldn t make contact with you, she said finally. No wonder no one knew where you were. How the hell did Crow Lee capture you?
Oh, I didn t, Crow Lee said immediately, leaning back in his chair and clearly enjoying himself. Your sisters came to me of their own free will, t
he little darlings. Tell your dear sister the story, my pretties.
Molly looked at me. Eddie, stop looking at my sisters while they re naked.
I m flattered you think I m in any state to give a damn, I said.
It s the principle of the thing, she said.
I can have you both gagged, if you prefer, said Crow Lee. He d stopped smiling. We weren t playing the game the way he wanted. No? Then behave yourselves. Isabella, tell them why you came to me and begged for my help.
I talked with Louisa, said Isabella, steadily meeting Molly s cold gaze. We agreed we needed new help and support if we were to punish the Droods and bring them down. Because you didn t care anymore, Molly. They killed our parents! And you were living there in the Hall! With one of them!
I m not with them, said Molly. I m just with Eddie.
We couldn t rely on you anymore, said Isabella. You d gone over to the enemy. So we needed a new, powerful ally. Someone who hated the Droods as much as we still did. I remembered you saying you d worked with Crow Lee in the past, so I used your name to get invited here. Louisa insisted on coming along. She thought it would be fun.
And you told him all about Alpha Red Alpha, I said.
Oh no, Crow Lee said easily. I already knew all about that. I told you: There is a traitor in your family who serves me very well. Of course, I encouraged Isabella and Louisa to confide in me, to tell me everything they knew about Molly and the Droods and the Hall. And when there was nothing else they could tell me, when I had no more use for them I took away their magic and chained them up and kept them in my kennels! Just because I could! What fun we ve had. Haven t we, girls?
Nasty little man, Louisa said calmly. He has no manners at all.
I will kill you for this, Molly said to Crow Lee, and her voice was cold and flat and completely matter-of-fact. Crow Lee leaned forward in his chair, which creaked loudly as his great weight shifted, just so he could laugh right into her bloody face.
No, you won t, Molly. I think I ve enjoyed about as much of the Metcalf sisters as I can stand.
He waggled his fingers at the ground before him and a great hole opened up a hole in the world, full of darkness, sucking all the air from the room. Isabella and Louisa didn t even have time to scream before they were sucked into the hole and gone, nothing left behind but two lengths of severed iron chain dangling from Crow Lee s chair. Molly was pulled in after them, snatched from my side before I could even react. Crow Lee waved his hand and the hole disappeared. Not a trace left behind, nothing to show it had ever been there. I fell forward, clutching at the carpet with my hands but there was nothing there, nothing at all.
I crouched there on the floor before Crow Lee, so full of shock and horror and loss and pain I couldn t move, could barely think. Somehow I kept it all out of my face. Because I knew Crow Lee was watching, looking for tears or despair, for something he could gloat over. And I was damned if I d give him the satisfaction. I could deny him that, at least. My Molly was gone. It felt like someone had just punched the heart right out of me. All that was left was the cold, hard need for revenge.
When it became clear that I wasn t going to put on a show for him, Crow Lee rose to his feet and sneered down at me.
You ll have to excuse me for a while, little Drood. I do have other business to deal with. Someone important I just have to talk to in the next room. You can talk to Mr. Stab while I m gone. I m sure you ve got so much to say to each other.
He laughed his happy laugh and strode heavily across the room to the side door and left, not looking back once. I watched him go, watched the door close quietly but firmly behind him and then I slowly turned my aching head to look at Mr. Stab. He met my gaze unflinchingly, even though he must have seen murder in it.
She was your friend, I said. Molly was your friend!
Yes, said Mr. Stab. She was. It s better this way, though. We would have had to kill each other eventually, I think.
Help me, I said.
Why should I do that? said Mr. Stab.
Because, I said, if you help me to avenge my Molly and help me find my lost family, I give you my word that the Droods will find a way to put an end to your curse that doesn t involve killing you. Think of the resources at our command! We ll find a way to undo what you did to yourself.
Crow Lee has already promised me that.
But which of us do you trust to deliver on their promise?
I like what I am, said Mr. Stab. I just want to be free of my limitations. Crow Lee will make me a better monster.
That s what you want? I said. What you really want?
That s all that s left for me to want, after everything I ve done.
All right, I said. How about this? You help me, and I promise I won t kill you for everything you ve done.
Hush, Eddie, said Mr. Stab. I don t want to talk to you anymore.
He turned his back on me and walked away to stare out the window. I don t know what it was he was looking at, but I doubt it was the gardens.
I didn t know what to do. I couldn t believe Molly was really gone. Not just like that. I couldn t go after her with the Merlin Glass, because only Crow Lee knew where he d sent her. Even if I did find a way to turn the tables, he d die before he told me, rather than let me win. I had to believe Molly was still alive somewhere out there. But for now, all that was left to me was survival and revenge. If I could just concentrate on that maybe I wouldn t feel the pain so much. I looked over at Mr. Stab, still standing stiff-backed at the window. I reached carefully into the pocket dimension where I kept the Merlin Glass. The soldiers could search me as much as they liked, but only I had access to the pocket. This time I wasn t interested in the Glass. I couldn t risk jumping through the Glass in the middle of Crow Lee s many protections. And I wasn t interested in escaping, anyway. No, I was after something small, so small that hopefully Crow Lee wouldn t detect it. Something the Armourer Patrick had given me.
The hearing aid.
Just a little blob of flesh-coloured plastic with some really clever electronics hidden inside. I eased it out of my pocket, palmed it, and then snuck it into my right ear. I glanced quickly at Mr. Stab, but he didn t seem to be paying any attention to me. I surreptitiously adjusted the tuning on the hearing aid, and immediately I could hear everything Crow Lee was saying in the adjoining room. He was addressing someone else, in his usual arrogant and condescending way, but whomever he was speaking to would have none of it and responded entirely in kind. There was something about the second voice that I found sort of familiar, though I couldn t place it. I concentrated on what they were saying.
I have always been well served by traitors, said Crow Lee.
I m not just any traitor, said the second voice. I am the worm at the heart of the Droods, the viper they have nursed at their bosom. Do you really think I d bow down to the likes of you?
You will if you know what s good for you, Crow Lee said complacently. I am the power here.
And I am a Drood. The First Drood! I am older than your power, little magician. I have lived lifetimes and seen civilisations rise and fall.
But you re not a Drood anymore, are you? You don t have your armour though Eddie does. Isn t that odd?
Odder than you realise, said the traitor.
He shouldn t be able to access his armour with the other-dimensional intruder dismissed along with the Hall. We re going to have to make Eddie tell us where he got his armour from.
We? said Crow Lee, lazily. What s in it for me?
I will have his armour. I want it. And then you ll have a Drood in full armour as your ally. I want that armour!
Well, you can t have it, said Crow Lee.
I m going to strip it off Eddie and then destroy it. Then the Droods really will be gone from this world. Of course, I might decide to keep it for myself. You know how much I enjoy playing with new toys. Where did you get that?
From the Armageddon Codex, said the traitor.
Where all the Droods forbidden weapons are kept. I too
k it with me before I left the Hall, before it was sent away. It wasn t difficult. I was there when they built the Codex. I helped design the locking systems. Who has a better right to this weapon than I?
What better weapon for a traitor, said Crow Lee, than Oath Breaker?
I couldn t help but react to that, at the thought of one of our most dangerous weapons in the hands of a traitor. I must have made some kind of noise, because Mr. Stab turned around and looked at me. I held myself very still, and he went back to looking out the window.
You have nothing that can stand against me as long as I hold Oath Breaker, said the traitor.
Don t be too sure of that, Crow Lee said steadily. You d be surprised at some of the Objects of Power I ve acquired here and there. But this is no time to be falling out, when we ve achieved so much together! Let us think of our partnership as a balance of power and move on. Come with me, into the study. I want to see Eddie brought down by another Drood.
I quickly eased the hearing aid out of my ear and slipped it back into my pocket dimension. And then I did my best to look surprised when Crow Lee strode back in with the traitor Drood at his side. I didn t recognise him at all. He was a very ordinary-looking man, nothing remarkable about him at all. He did look sort of familiar, but I couldn t place him. It s a big family, the Droods.
You don t know me, do you? said the traitor. Even though we ve spoken many times in passing. But then, that s the point. I m never anyone important or significant, and I don t stand out. I m always just there in the background, perhaps some useful functionary, just another Drood doing a necessary job poisoning the wells in the quiet of the night. Adrian Drood, at the moment. Not my real name, of course. But then, I ve had so many names and identities down the centuries.
You re the Original Traitor, I said.
The one who s undermined and betrayed us over and over. Why?
Because the family has moved away from what I intended it to be, Adrian said calmly. I was the very first Drood. I was there when the Heart first fell to Earth. I made the original pact with the Heart for power and armour. I made the Droods possible! Everything they are came from me! I set us up to be shamans and protectors, shepherds to Humanity but it was never meant that the sheep should forget their place.
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