Book 1 - The Man With the Golden Torc (51 page)

Life’s a bitch sometimes.

I hefted Oath Breaker in my hand. Just a stick, really; a long
wooden cane carved with symbols I couldn’t even read. It didn’t look like much,
to destroy an invader from another dimension and bring an end to centuries of
lies. But as with so many other things where my family was concerned,
appearances were deceiving. I only had to glance at Oath Breaker with my Sight
to see a power so great, so terrible, I had to look away or it would blast the
eyes from my head. Oath Breaker was ancient and awful, made when the world was
young specifically to undo things that could not be allowed to exist. There were
stories that said Oath Breaker had thrown down cities and continents in its
time, and killed old gods so thoroughly that no one even remembered their names
anymore.

It occurred to me that by destroying the source of the family’s
armour, I might be signing my own death warrant. And that of everyone else in my
family. I’d seen Torc Cutter kill my uncle James by severing his collar. It
could be that no Drood would survive if I took their armour away. But I’d come
too far now to even consider turning back. The family that had bowed down to the
Heart’s murderous demands for so long, that had chosen to rule humanity instead
of protect it, that had embraced the ruthless aims of Zero Tolerance…was not a
family I recognised anymore. All that was left to me was to save the family’s
honour or put it out of its misery forever.

And what the hell; I was dying anyway.

At least with the Heart destroyed, there was a chance that all
the sacrificed souls trapped inside the massive diamond would be freed at last
to pass on to the afterlife denied them for so long. Perhaps they would speak
for me at the gates of Heaven or Hell, and ask that I not be judged too harshly
for all my crimes and sins. That I had done at least one good thing in my life.

"The only way to use Oath Breaker," I said to Molly, "is up
close and personal. That means we have to get into the Sanctity, the most
closely guarded chamber in the Hall, and stand before the Heart itself."

"Hold everything," said Molly. "Even assuming we can get there,
which I’m not, but just for the sake of argument, isn’t there just the smallest
possibility that destroying an alien life-form like the Heart could be extremely
bloody dangerous? I mean, you use an unknown weapon like Oath Breaker on an
unknown other-dimensional thing like the Heart, and God alone knows what kind of
forces and energies might be released. You could blow up the whole house. Hell,
you might even blow up the whole country."

"Why think so small?" I said. "We might blow up the whole world.
But you know what, Molly? I just don’t care anymore. This is something I have to
do, and it’s something I’m going to do. Whatever the cost. You don’t have to
come with me if you don’t want to…"

"Oh, screw that," Molly said briskly. "I didn’t come this far to
miss out on seeing the Droods’ power broken once and for all. This is what I
signed on for, Eddie, and don’t you forget it. To have my revenge on the family
who murdered my parents."

"The family killed my parents too," I said. "Though they would
never admit it. So I suppose…this is my revenge too."

"Besides," said Molly. "You’d probably mess it up on your own
anyway. You need me, Eddie."

I smiled at her. "Thank you," I said. "For everything."

"Wouldn’t have missed it for the world," she said, and smiled
back at me.

"We’ve come a long way together," I said. "All those years we
wasted, trying to kill each other…"

"Don’t get all sloppy and sentimental on me now, Eddie. We have
things to do. Maybe later there will be time for…other things."

"If there is a later."

"Oh, look on the bright side: the odds are your family will kill
us long before we get anywhere near the Heart."

We laughed quietly together, and then I took her in my arms and
held her close. I couldn’t hold her tightly—it hurt my left side too much—but
she understood. She held me like I was the most precious thing in her life,
which might crack and break if handled too roughly, and buried her face in my
shoulder. We stood like that for some time, and then we made ourselves let go.
It was all the time we could allow ourselves. We kissed, quickly, and then we
stepped back and took on our professional aspects again. The rogue Drood and the
wild witch, determined to do or die and probably both.

"So," said Molly, entirely businesslike again. "Do you know of
anymore shortcuts that can take us from here to the Sanctity? Preferably one
that doesn’t involve being chased by a whole bunch of hungry spiders with severe
glandular problems?"

"Unfortunately, no," I said. "The Sanctity is sealed off from
the rest of the Hall by really powerful forces. Partly to protect the Heart from
outside attack, and partly to protect the family from the Heart’s various
emissions and energies. You can access the Sanctity only by approaching it via
the single officially authorised route. Anything else will trigger the Hall’s
internal security responses…and we really don’t want to do that. If you thought
the defences in the grounds were bad, they’re nothing compared to what’s inside
the Hall. Death could be the kindest thing that would happen to us."

"God, you’re depressing to be around sometimes," said Molly.
"Surely the official route will be heavily guarded by now?"

"Of course. And don’t call me—"

"Don’t you dare."

"Sorry. Imminent death and danger always brings out my flippant
side. No, we’re going to have to fight our way through a whole army of armoured
Droods just to get to the Sanctity."

Molly produced Torc Cutter from a hidden pocket in her dress and
scowled darkly at the ugly shears. "They’ll probably pack the corridors with
cannon fodder. All the inexperienced, expendable Droods. It’s what I’d do. Just
how many more of your family are you prepared to see die, Eddie?"

"There’s already been one death in the family too many. There
has to be another way…"

Molly waited patiently while I thought fiercely, coming up with
plan after plan and turning them all down. The family had had centuries to come
up with counters to every possible way of taking the corridors by storm. The
corridors…I looked at Molly and grinned suddenly.

"When I’m in the armour, I’m stronger, faster, more powerful.
Stronger by far than the fragile world I move in. So why walk along the
corridors, going this way and that to reach my destination, when there’s a much
quicker way? Why not walk in a straight line to the Sanctity, smashing my way
through everything in my path?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," said Molly, her eyes sparkling.

I slipped Oath Breaker through my back belt and armoured up. My
Sight showed me the straight line I needed from where I was to where the
Sanctity was. I turned to the wood-panelled wall on my left and punched a great
jagged hole through the heavy teak. I pulled my golden hand back, and a whole
panel came away. I stuck both hands into the gap and tore the wall apart with
the armour’s strength. The dense wood ripped and tore as though it was paper.
Molly jumped up and down, cheering and clapping her hands together delightedly.
I forced my way through the wall and into the room beyond, and Molly hurried
through after me.

The room was full of couches and settees and love seats in
various periods and styles, all of them pleasantly comfortable and cosy. A
perfect place to relax and indulge in quiet contemplation. I strode across the
room, kicking the heavy furniture out of my way, headed for the next wall. Molly
followed behind, murmuring, "Typical man…" just loudly enough for me to hear.
And then the door burst open, and a dozen armoured Droods charged into the room,
splintering the door frame as they all tried to squeeze through at once. It was
obvious from their haste and clumsiness, as well as the haphazard way they
grouped themselves before me, that none of them had any combat experience.
Probably just house Droods, pressed into service. Thrown into my path to slow me
down until more experienced fighters could get to me here. Poor bastards. Just
more innocents sacrificed for the family good. I studied them as they fanned
nervously out into a semicircle before me, gleaming and golden, and then just
stood there facing me. Clearly none of them wanted to be the one to make the
first move.

"Get out of my way," I said, and it wasn’t difficult at all to
sound cold and nasty and dangerous.

Give them credit, none of them backed off. One Drood actually
managed a step forward. From his voice he was young, but even though he had to
be scared shitless his tone was firm and steady.

"We can’t let you pass. You’re rogue. We fight for the honour of
the family."

"So do I," I said. "If you only knew. Stand aside. You know you
can’t stop me. I’m field trained."

The young Drood didn’t move. "Anything for the family."

I nodded slowly, understanding, acknowledging them all. "Of
course. Whatever happens, I’m proud of all of you."

I charged forward and slammed the young Drood out of my way with
a single backhand that lifted him up off his feet and sent him flying across the
room. The other Droods hesitated, frozen where they were by uncertainty and
shock, and then I was in and among them. Even house Droods have to go through
basic training when they’re kids, but most never raise a hand in anger in their
lives, in armour or out of it. They never stood a chance. I knocked them down
and kicked them away, picked them up and threw them this way and that. They
couldn’t be hurt inside their armour, but it knocked all the pepper out of them.
A few tried to make a fight out of it, coming at me with wildly swinging fists.
I picked them up and threw them at walls, and they crashed right through the
woodwork. Molly used her magic to collapse the walls on top of them, pinning
them down with the weight of the wreckage. They’d dig themselves out eventually,
but by then we’d be long gone.

I smashed through the opposite wall and into the next room, and
then the next wall and the next room, or the next corridor, on and on, heading
always in a straight line through the structure of the Hall. At least the
Sanctity was in the central building, and not one of the other wings, or it
could have taken me hours. Walls that had stood for centuries fell under my
armoured strength and cold, cold anger, and though more Droods came to meet me,
in armour and out, and with all kinds of weapons, none of them came close to
stopping me.

Occasionally the odds would get a bit heavy, as family members
filled a room before me, but still none of them had field experience, and it was
child’s play to outthink and outmanoeuvre them. I could have killed so many of
them, but I didn’t. It wasn’t necessary. Sometimes I fooled them into fighting
each other; one golden form looks much like another. Sometimes I buried them
under piles of furniture or wrapped them in precious tapestries they didn’t dare
tear. Once Molly stopped an entire crowd by threatening to overturn a glass
display case full of delicate china, and a dozen voices cried out in horrified
protest.

"Those pieces are irreplaceable!" cried an anguished voice as
Molly tilted the case slowly so the china pieces slid jerkily across the
shelves.

"They’re priceless! Historical treasures!"

"Then why are you hoarding them for yourselves?" snapped Molly.

"Why aren’t they in a museum so everyone can enjoy them? Back
the hell off, or I’ll create a china jigsaw like you’ve never seen!"

"We’re backing, we’re backing!" cried the Droods. "Barbarian!
Philistine!"

They all got out of our way in a hurry. Molly and I picked up
the display case and carried it across the room, and the Droods scattered before
us, crying out piteously for us to be more careful. I smashed a hole in the wall
and stepped through, and Molly dragged the case into position to block the hole.
We laughed, secure in the knowledge that the Droods would spend ages carefully
moving the case aside so as not to risk damaging the contents.

More Droods in the corridor beyond. And these at least had seen
some training. They held themselves well, all ten of them, fanning out so as not
to bunch up and make an easy target. I didn’t waste time talking to them. I
concentrated, applying what I’d learned from James, and grew supernaturally
sharp claws on my golden hands. First thing a field agent learns is that any
trick is a fair trick if it means you win and they lose. I took them down, one
by one, fighting hand to hand, up close and personal. My claws ripped through
their armour, and they cried out in shock as well as pain. Their flesh was torn,
and they bled inside their armour, and that had never happened before. Some just
turned and ran. The rest fell back, scattering, and Molly and I went straight
through them.

A few saw Molly as an easier target. They went for her, reaching
out with their golden hands, and she laughed in their featureless faces. She
conjured up a howling storm wind that bellowed down the narrow corridor, picking
them up and carrying them away, tumbling helplessly end over end like discarded
toys the whole length of the corridor.

The remaining Droods all tackled me at once, knocking me off
balance, and then piling on top of me as I crashed to the floor, trying to pin
me down with the sheer weight of armoured bodies. Good tactic. Probably would
have worked against anyone who wasn’t field trained and used to thinking around
corners. I cracked open the floor beneath us with one sharp blow from a golden
elbow, and our combined weight collapsed the floor. A great hole opened up and
we all fell through, the other Droods kicking and screaming and grabbing at each
other all the way down into the room below. I of course just grabbed the side of
the hole with one hand and pulled myself up and out. The Droods below were so
inexperienced it probably wouldn’t even occur to them that they could use the
armoured power of their legs to jump back up again. Or at least not until Molly
and I had already moved on.