Hadleigh grabbed hold of Tommy’s shoulder and pulled him back out of the way, and Larry hit the Droods with Black Fire. The terrible flames surged forward, turning the whole corridor into a blast-furnace, in which Drood armour melted and all the Droods inside burned. When Larry finally stopped, and pulled the Black Fire back into him, all that remained were cracked and blackened bones. Steam rose thickly on the superheated air. The floor and both walls were scorched and blackened from the intense heat, for as far as the eye could see. Tommy and Hadleigh moved over to join Larry. Their faces and hands smarted from exposure to the scorching air. Larry looked cold as death, cold as what comes after death. Tommy looked at him as if he were a stranger.
“What did they do to you in the Dark Academie?”
“They gave me a gift,” said Larry. “Something only a dead man could carry. So I could do what needed doing.”
“The Black Fire is burning away your Humanity,” said Tommy. “It’s destroying you!”
“I died years ago, little brother. I’m looking forward to lying down, at last.” He smiled briefly at Tommy. “Look on the bright side. At least you won’t have to pay for a cremation.”
Tommy looked at the blackened bones, and the scorched corridor, and the fires still burning. “The Droods will never forgive us for this.”
“Then we’d better make sure we win, hadn’t we?” said Larry.
“We should have kept a few alive,” said Hadleigh, “to tell us how to find the things that matter. It’s a big place.”
“The Drood mentioned an Armoury,” said Larry. “What better place to look for weapons?”
“Why would Droods need weapons?” said Tommy. “When they already have that marvellous armour?”
“Because there’s a limit to the destruction one man can do,” said Larry. “For bigger things, you need bigger weapons. Like the Armageddon Codex.”
“Okay . . .” said Tommy. “That does not sound like something we should be messing with.”
“The Codex contains the Forbidden Weapons,” said Hadleigh. “Powerful enough to save reality from any threat. Exactly what we need to persuade the Droods to surrender.”
“You stand right where you are,” said Tommy. “I am not going anywhere near something called Forbidden Weapons till I know a lot more about them.”
“He has a point,” said Larry. “There are bound to be all kinds of booby-traps in place, to protect the Codex from outsiders. We need more information . . . The Drood also mentioned a library. I think we need to go there first and do some research.”
He looked at Hadleigh, who shrugged. “I suppose there could be all kinds of interesting things in a Drood library. How are we supposed to find it?”
Larry looked around, with eyes that blazed so fiercely they looked like they could burn through walls. “I can see it, but not how to get to it. There’s some kind of barrier . . .”
Hadleigh turned to Tommy. “Give me your hand.”
Tommy raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you cared.”
“Shut up and give me your hand.”
Hadleigh and Tommy Oblivion clasped hands. Hadleigh focused his power through Tommy’s uncertainty principle, then reached out to take Larry’s hand and draw on his power. Together they found the painting that was not a painting, and just like that, they were standing inside the Old Library.
* * *
• • •
William and Bettie looked around, startled, as the three men materialised.
“Who the hell are you?” said William. “What are you doing here? Get out of my Library!”
“Easy, William,” Bettie said quickly. “I know them. Hadleigh, Larry, and Tommy. The Oblivion Brothers.”
“Oh . . . them,” said William. He fixed Hadleigh with a heavy scowl. “Will you please tell the Deep School to stop sending me invitations. I have no interest in being a Guest Lecturer at the Dark Academie. Now, what do you want? I’m busy.”
“We want information,” said Hadleigh.
“Tough,” said William. “This isn’t a lending Library.”
“Then we’ll just have to take what we need,” said Larry.
“Unless you just happen to feel like telling us where we can find a book that will tell us all we need to know about the Forbidden Weapons of the Armageddon Codex,” said Tommy, smiling winningly. “Come, let us reason together.”
William smiled unpleasantly. “I’m married to a telepath, you idiot. She put so many protections in my head, God himself couldn’t get through. Now get the hell out of here. This is my place, and I don’t have to be reasonable.”
Tommy turned to Hadleigh. “He’s right. I can’t get to him. And the girl is a demon.”
“Part demon!” said Bettie.
“Either way, the inside of her head is a real mess.”
“What do you want with the Forbidden Weapons?” said William. “They’re only to be used when reality itself is under threat.”
“Isn’t it?” said Larry. “What your family is doing in the Nightside threatens everything.”
“You can’t be allowed access to the Forbidden Weapons,” William said flatly. “You’re not worthy of them.”
“And you think you are?” said Larry. “Have you seen what your family is doing in the Nightside? The blood and the slaughter?”
“But we’ll always be more worthy than you,” said Ioreth. He rose to his feet in one smooth motion, his armour gleaming in the warm Library light. He looked at Bettie. “I had a bad dream, then woke up to find it was real. Get behind me, love. William, go to the Armoury. Protect the Lion’s Jaws. I’ll deal with the Oblivion Brothers.”
“No, sweetie!” said Bettie. “They’ll kill you!”
“I’m dying anyway,” said Ioreth.
“No one is going anywhere,” said Hadleigh.
“That’s what you think,” said William. “Pook!”
Time slowed and stopped, and a giant white humanoid rabbit emerged from the stacks, wearing a stylish dinner jacket with the Playboy logo on the breast. He fixed William with fierce pink eyes.
“I told you, I’m not getting involved in this. You people are no fun any more.”
“This isn’t for the family; it’s for me,” said William. “I need one last favour.”
The Pook studied him thoughtfully. “It would be the last.”
“Take me to the Lion’s Jaws,” said William.
The Pook smiled. “Why not?”
And just like that, William and the Pook were standing before the statue of a lion’s head in the Armoury, the only entrance to the Armageddon Codex. Twenty feet tall and almost as wide, carved from dark blue-veined stone, the lion’s head came complete with mane and was perfect in every detail. Its eyes seemed to gleam dangerously, and the open jaws seemed to roar. The whole thing looked ready to pounce on anyone dumb enough to upset it.
“And that’s it,” said the Pook. “Hello, William, I must be going.”
“Wait. Why did you follow me here, from the insane asylum?” said William.
“Because you had such an interesting mind,” said the Pook. “Till you started getting sane again. And because you needed me. You don’t need me any more, William; you’ve got Ammonia now. It’s time I was going.”
“Thank you,” said William. “For all your help. For your company, in the bad times. Tell me one last thing. Are you really what I think you are?”
The Pook grinned. “I’ll never tell.”
He disappeared down a rabbit-hole that closed after him, and was gone.
* * *
• • •
Back in the Old Library, it was as though the Librarian had just vanished. Ioreth took advantage of the Oblivion Brothers’ surprise to pick up one of the heavy wooden stacks and throw it at Hadleigh. The weight smashed him to the floor and held him there. And while Hadleigh st
ruggled with that, Ioreth charged Larry and Tommy. Driven on by the armour’s strength and speed, even though he had none of his own. Bettie went full demon, all teeth and claws. Larry hit Ioreth with the Black Fire, but even as his armour cracked and burst apart, Ioreth kept pressing forward. He grew a golden sword from one hand, and swung it in a short vicious arc. He cut off Larry’s head, and the midnight flames snapped off. Larry’s head fell to the floor and rolled away, the mouth still working soundlessly. The headless body stumbled after it, arms outstretched.
Bettie kicked Tommy so hard in the groin that his voice disappeared completely. He dropped to the floor, and curled into a ball around his pain. Bettie went after Larry’s headless body and tore it to pieces with her demonic strength. And then she stamped on the head until it was just a crushed and broken mess.
Ioreth turned slowly, in what was left of his melting armour, and went after Tommy; but he couldn’t seem to find him. Even in the midst of his pain, Tommy’s nature still protected him. As Ioreth stumbled blindly around, Tommy forced himself up onto his feet and produced a small, glowing dagger. Just a little something, for emergencies. He moved in close, and Ioreth couldn’t even see him coming. But Bettie could, with her demon’s eyes. She snatched up Larry’s head and threw it at Tommy with all her strength. It slammed into the back of Tommy’s head, destroying his concentration. Ioreth turned around, saw that Tommy was right on top of him, and stabbed him through the heart with his sword. Tommy fell to the floor, a last look of surprise on his face.
Ioreth and Bettie turned to face Hadleigh, as he finally threw the heavy wooden stack off him and rose to his feet. He wasn’t injured. Bettie snarled, and threw herself at him. Hadleigh reached out and touched her once, and she was dead before she hit the floor. Because she was just a demon girl reporter, and he was the Detective Inspectre. Ioreth made a low, wounded sound, stumbled forward, and sank to his knees beside Bettie. He armoured down and took her in his arms, rocking her slowly like a sleeping child. He didn’t cry. He didn’t have any tears left in him. He looked up at Hadleigh.
“Go on. Kill me. You know you want to.”
“You’re already dying,” said Hadleigh. “I can see the rot inside you. But there’s still some mercy left in me. So, go be with your demon girl-friend.”
He laid his hand on Ioreth’s head. The last of Ioreth’s life went out of him, and he slumped to the floor, to lie beside his beloved. Hadleigh looked at them, then at his dead brothers.
“We should never have come here. Nothing good ever comes of taking on the Droods. But . . . I had to try. Be seeing you.”
He looked at the spot where the Librarian disappeared, found the way to where he’d gone, and went after him.
* * *
• • •
Hadleigh appeared standing before the Lion’s Jaws, right next to William, who didn’t even jump, as though he’d been expecting him.
“Where are your brothers?” said William.
“Dead,” said Hadleigh. “Your friends killed them. And I killed your friends.”
“They weren’t friends; they were family,” said William. “At least Ioreth got a chance to be the kind of Drood he thought he ought to be. While I, it seems, am now the only Drood left to stand between you and what you want.” He gestured at the Lion’s Jaws. “Beyond this point lie the Forbidden Weapons. Oath Breaker and Time Hammer, Sunwrack and Winter’s Sorrow. You have no idea how powerful they are. Any one of them could blow up worlds or put out suns. It doesn’t matter. You can’t have them. Only a Drood can open the Jaws. I could open them. I could take out the Forbidden Weapons and go walking in the Nightside and kill every living thing I saw. And you have no idea how much I want to do that.
“But I won’t. Because I know my duty. To protect Humanity, not destroy it. Some of my family may have forgotten that, for the moment, but I have not. And besides, Ioreth wouldn’t want me to do it.”
“You Droods do love to talk,” said Hadleigh. “I can open the Jaws with a touch. You have no idea what my time in the Dark Academie did to me. I am the Detective Inspectre, with responsibility for judging crimes against reality.”
“I am a Drood,” said William. “I may have forgotten much of who and what I used to be, but I never forgot that.”
“I am the guardian of this world!” said Hadleigh. “I have jurisdiction here!”
“What does that mean?” said William.
“It means I can do anything I decide is necessary,” said Hadleigh.
“Who decided that?” said William.
“It was decided where all the things that matter are decided,” said Hadleigh. “In the Courts of the Holy, on the Shimmering Plains. I am powerful because what I do in Heaven’s sight has Heaven’s strength.”
“But are you sure you’re still on the side of the angels?” said William. “After everything you’ve done, and everything you want to do? If you’re so very powerful, why did you need to bring your brothers with you? Why did you need Larry to take on the Black Fire? You have strayed from your path, Hadleigh, and you know it. You are not what you were.”
“Enough talking,” said Hadleigh.
“More than enough,” said William.
He put on his armour, grew a sword from his hand, and went to meet Hadleigh. The Detective Inspectre thrust out a hand and William stopped dead, as though he’d crashed into an invisible wall. And then he smashed it with one blow of his arm and moved forward again. Hadleigh surged forward and punched William in the chest. The Librarian slammed to a halt again. Slow ripples moved across the surface of his armour, which sounded like a struck gong. But the ripples quickly died away. Hadleigh grabbed hold of William’s shoulders with his killing hands.
“Die, damn you! Why won’t you die?”
“Because I was blessed by a rabbit,” said William.
He thrust his sword all the way through Hadleigh’s body. The golden blade punched out his back in a flurry of blood. Hadleigh cried out briefly, as much in surprise as anything. William jerked his blade back, and Hadleigh fell to his knees. He looked down at the blood soaking the front of his coat.
“That’s not possible . . .”
And then he fell forward and died. William looked at the bloody sword in his hand, and drew it back into his hand. It left a thick smear of blood on the glove. He looked down at Hadleigh’s body.
“You lost your way. I know what that feels like.”
He looked at the Lion’s Jaws.
“I should destroy you. Smash you to rubble, so no one could ever threaten the world with the Forbidden Weapons. But I won’t. Because there’s always a chance my family might need you someday, to save the world. After they come to their senses again.”
Ammonia’s voice rang suddenly inside his head. “William? Are you all right? I had this dream about a white rabbit, and when I woke up I had this terrible feeling you were in danger. What’s happening?”
“I’m fine,” said William. “The Hall still stands.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Things Worth Defending
Stuck in the middle of the Nightside and going nowhere fast, the Droods split into several smaller groups, to force the resisting Nightsiders to do the same. The Sarjeant-at-Arms placed his most trusted people in charge, people he thought he could depend on to follow his methods. The Matriarch wasn’t a part of those decisions. She had moved away to be on her own, to think about tactics and losses and why everything had gone so horribly wrong. Her dream of a bloodless coup had turned into a blood-soaked nightmare. And the more she thought about it, the more she blamed the Nightside. Just being in the long night brought out the worst in everyone. The Matriarch sighed heavily and wished she could blame everything on that. But she was too honest to allow herself such an easy way out.
The Droods set off again, under their new leaders, and because it took time for the Nightsiders to adapt to the new tactics, the Droods
made swift progress on several fronts. But it was only as they pressed deeper into the Nightside that they began to comprehend just how much territory the long night covered. The Nightside might be the secret heart of London, but down the centuries it had grown to be much bigger than the city that surrounded it. The boundaries stayed the same, but the space within expanded to contain all the sins and secrets the long night made possible. The Nightside thrived on such paradoxes.
That was why the Sarjeant-at-Arms had taken pains to explain how important it was to seize and control important key locations: places of symbolic significance. Just knowing the Droods held places like Strangefellows, St Jude’s, and the Street of the Gods would help convince the Nightsiders that the Droods were in control. He didn’t convince everyone, but no one else had any better ideas. Most just wanted to get this unpleasant job over and done with, so they could get the hell out of the long night and go home. Back to sunshine and sanity and wars that made sense. Of all the hard campaigns the family had fought, this one seemed the most lacking in moral clarity. One of the Droods’ main strengths had always been the conviction that in any fight, they were always going to be the good guys. But given some of the things they had been forced to do, just to survive in the long night, they weren’t so sure of that any more.
It wouldn’t stop them fighting, or winning. They were Droods, after all. But a lot of them were wondering what shape the family would be in afterwards. And whether they would still be so ready to say Anything, for the family.
* * *