“You’re showing off now,” said Ammonia. She hadn’t budged an inch. “Come down from there, and get back into that chair. Don’t make me come up there and get you.”
Their eyes locked. Nothing obvious happened, but the air seemed colder than ever. There was a growing tension in the Old Library. It felt like . . . there were a lot more than four people present. It felt like the four of us were standing on a great dark plain, while two massive forces clashed together, battling savagely without restraint or mercy. And then, very slowly, inch by inch, William dropped back down into his chair. The dark energies slowly dissipated, while long trails of static ran up and down the bookshelves. William was so stiff, so motionless now, he barely seemed alive. His face was flushed red with rage, his eyes glaring malignantly. His mouth was stretched wide in an almost animal snarl as the thing inside him fought for every inch of psychic ground.
“Don’t be too impressed,” said Ammonia. “All of that was sound and fury, preprogrammed defence routines. Just mental attack dogs. Bad dogs!”
Oily black smoke burst out of William’s mouth and nostrils, forming into thick clouds and streamers in the air before us. It twisted and shuddered like some horrible black ectoplasm, taking on the shape of a vast demonic face hanging in the air between William and Ammonia. It had horns and teeth, and it wept thick black tears that fell to steam and hiss on the bare floorboards. Ammonia laughed right into the demonic face, and inhaled sharply. The face abruptly lost all shape and structure as Ammonia breathed it in, every last bit of it. When it was all gone, she smacked her lips briefly.
“Tasty . . .” said Ammonia Vom Acht.
“I can’t help feeling I should be contributing something,” I said.
“You are,” said Ammonia. “If I look like I’m losing, kill me.”
And then we all retreated a step, even Ammonia, as a brilliant light flared up before us, incandescent, blinding. And when the light fell back to a bearable level, a huge diamond shape had formed around William and his chair, encasing the Librarian completely. He was only a vague image now, inside a huge multifaceted diamond. The Heart had taken on its true form again. Nowhere near as big as it had once been, when it dominated the Sanctity in Drood Hall. When we all worshipped and adored it, because most of us didn’t know any better. The diamond blazed with a fierce cold light that chilled my flesh and shuddered in my soul. My new torc tingled sharply at my throat, warning me. I moved forward, very cautiously, and rapped one shining facet with a knuckle. It felt very real, and very cold.
“It’s the Heart!” I said to Ammonia. “It’s back!”
“No, it isn’t!” Ammonia said immediately. “This is just a memory, a projection, given shape and form by the sheer power locked within the seed. This is good, Drood! We’re forcing it to use up that power, to fight us and defend itself. Manifesting in the material world like this, to defend its host from me, takes a hell of a lot of energy. It’ll eat itself up . . . if we can last long enough.”
“Should I armour up?” I said. “Try to smash the diamond so we can free William?”
“Don’t be a fool, Drood! At this stage, an attack on the physical diamond would be an attack on the host. The seed’s still a part of your Librarian. The psychic feedback would almost certainly kill him!”
“Then give me another option!” I said. “But don’t take too long. We can’t risk letting the Heart seize control of the family again. William would rather die than let that happen. Anything for the family.”
“You Droods are always so keen to die for your precious causes,” said Ammonia. “Why don’t you try finding one to live for?”
The light from the diamond was pulsing fiercely now, like a heartbeat, filling the Old Library with its unnatural glare. It seemed to be growing stronger. Ioreth and I were both shielding our eyes with our arms. Ammonia narrowed her eyes, but didn’t look away. She stood still, glaring into the light, bristling with her own fierce energy.
“This is a psychic attack,” she said. “Not material. I can hear the seed. It’s trying to talk to me, now that it knows it’s been detected. It’s offering me things, promising me all kinds of things, but that’s a distraction. It’s trying to sneak past my defences so it can invade my mind and take control of my powers. Smart little seed . . . And the really bad news is, I’m not sure I can stop it without attacking it head-on. Which could kill William. The Heart is powerful. So inhumanly powerful. I’m good, but I’m still only human; and the Heart isn’t bound by human limitations.”
“Neither is my armour,” I said.
I subvocalised the activating Words, and my golden armour swept over me in a moment. I felt stronger, sharper and ready to rock. The diamond’s fiercely glowing light was nothing to my armoured mask. Ioreth followed my lead, and another gleaming golden figure appeared in the Old Library. Ammonia actually fell back a step. It is not an easy thing to see a Drood take on his armour and his power. A great cry of rage filled the Old Library as the Heart saw Droods in armour not of its making. I stepped forward and placed a golden hand flat on the shimmering facets of the diamond, and Ioreth quickly followed suit. Even through the strange matter covering my hand, I could feel the terrible strength of the Heart, pulsing like a living thing. I reached out with my mind, trying to contact William through his torc, but the diamond blocked me. I could feel Ioreth trying, too, and together we slowly forced our way in, until we could feel William’s presence inside the diamond. Ioreth and I said the activating Words together, and William said them along with us.
The Heart cried out again as golden strange matter welled out of William’s torc and encased him from head to toe: a golden figure inside the shining diamond. The light flared up again, almost unbearable now even through my mask, as the Heart seed fought to hold on to its host. William fought to move, and we fought to reach him, but even linked together the three of us weren’t strong enough to shatter the diamond. We were strong enough to keep the seed from jumping out of William and into Ammonia, but nowhere near strong enough to destroy it. Because in the end we were only three men in armour, and it was an other-dimensional entity from someplace we couldn’t even imagine. We’d fought the seed to a standstill; but even that wouldn’t last for long.
“Kill me,” said Ammonia.
“What?” I said, not taking my eyes off the diamond.
“Kill me! I’m the catalyst here. My presence, my power, has activated the Heart seed. It won’t give up now that it sees a superior host in me. I’d rather die while I’m still human than have this thing use me as a cocoon. I told you that you might have to do this. It’s why I let you stick around. You Droods aren’t the only ones who understand duty and responsibility. Now do what you have to. Without my power to draw on, the seed will go back to sleep inside your Librarian. And then you can take as many years as you need to find a way to destroy the bloody thing.”
“We don’t kill innocents, Ammonia,” I said. “That’s not the Drood way. We save people.”
“We’re barely holding the Heart off!” said Ioreth. “And William’s weakening! What are we going to do?”
“Call for help,” I said. The idea came to me quite spontaneously, but it was as though I’d always known what to do. “You said it yourself, Ammonia; we’re not alone in here.” I raised my voice. “I know you’re here! You’re always here! You protected William from the Immortal posing as Rafe! Help us protect him now! Because if you don’t, there’s a fate far worse than death waiting for him and all the people he cares for!”
“All right,” said a calm and amused voice from out of the nearby stacks. “No need to shout. I’m here.”
Suddenly, a ten-foot-tall giant white rabbit stepped out into the light to join us. It was a huge, overbearing creature, muscular rather than fat, with tall, floppy ears over a wide, intelligent face. It wore a pale blue dressing gown, elegantly styled, with the Playboy logo prominent on one lapel. It moved like a man, but with animal grace. And for all the clear intelligence, there was still a wildne
ss to it, an almost feral charm, dangerous and untamed. It smiled at the diamond, showing sharp, pointed teeth. The tips of its long ears brushed against the ceiling as it moved forward to join us, and its presence beat on the air like a roll of thunder. Or perhaps a roll on the drums.
It wasn’t hiding anymore.
It nodded easily to Ioreth and me, winked at Ammonia, and then laid one great furry white paw on top of the diamond, right over William’s head. The diamond cracked, and cracked again, and the Heart seed screamed. William’s mind leapt out and joined with mine and Ioreth’s, and together we smashed the diamond with our golden fists, until there was nothing left but a few shimmering motes of light drifting in the air, winking out one by one.
I armoured down, and so did Ioreth and William, and we all turned to look at the giant white rabbit. It leaned easily against the nearest bookshelf, which groaned slightly under its weight, and looked us over with calm, cheerful eyes. Ammonia made a big deal of ignoring the rabbit, and leaned in close to study William’s face. A single shimmering tear ran down his cheek, and Ammonia reached out to catch it on the end of one fingertip. She held the single tear up before her, studied it for a long moment and then flicked it away. It snapped out of existence and was gone.
“That’s it,” Ammonia said loudly. “All done. The seed has been destroyed. With its malign influence removed, this man should be able to recover most of what he’s lost. In time. Another triumph for Ammonia Vom Acht!”
“Is it really gone?” I said. “I mean, all the way gone?”
“Gone, and good riddance,” said Ammonia. “Bloody other-dimensional creatures, always more trouble than they’re worth.”
“I feel so much better,” said William, and immediately collapsed back into his chair. Ammonia snorted loudly.
“Hardly surprising, carrying that bloody thing around in your head all these years. But I had a good look around inside; there’s nothing in there but you now. Anything you still can’t cope with is therefore very definitely your problem, not mine.”
I considered Ammonia thoughtfully. “That does leave us with the problem of whatever Drood secrets you might have seen in there while you were working.”
“Couldn’t see a damned thing,” Ammonia said briskly. “His torc protected him; only let me see what I needed to see. Your Ethel is very protective. I do have to wonder what it is she’s so keen to hide from me . . . and perhaps you. Could it be she has plans of her own for the Droods, like the Heart did? I could find out for you, see exactly what it is she has on her other-dimensional mind. . . . But that would cost extra.”
“We’ll think about it,” I said.
“If Ethel lets you think about it,” Ammonia said cheerfully. “Never trust anything from Outside. And speaking of which . . .” She turned abruptly to look at the giant white rabbit now standing behind William with one fluffy white paw resting protectively on his shoulder. Ammonia glowered at the rabbit, entirely unimpressed. “What the hell are you?”
“I’m Pook,” the rabbit said easily, in a deep, cultured voice. “I am that merry wanderer, travelling the world, being mischievous. I am the laughter in the woods and the lightning in the sky, and you never had a friend like me. Your Molly would know of me, Eddie Drood; many’s the time we danced together in the early morning mists in the wood at the end of the world. But now I’m here. I took a liking to William when I happened to be passing through the asylum where he was staying, and I followed him here. Just because. Do not question me; I am beyond answers. Accept that I’m here, and I’m marvellous.”
“It was you who protected William from the fake Rafe?” I said.
“Yes,” said Pook. “That was me.”
“You frightened the bastard half out of his mind.”
“No one messes with my friends,” said Pook.
“But . . . what are you?” said Ioreth.
“Perhaps I’m a figment of someone’s imagination,” said Pook. “Perhaps I’m the last survivor of the world before this one. Perhaps I’m all that remains of an old god, fallen low. And perhaps I’m just a giant white rabbit. I’m Pook, and I’m a good friend. Be grateful.”
“I remember you from the asylum,” William said slowly. “You kept me company. Comforted me. We had such marvellous long talks together. I’m glad you are real, after all. Why didn’t I remember you till now?”
“Because it wasn’t safe for you to do so,” said Pook. “The seed knew me as a danger, and I wasn’t strong enough to rip it out of your head on my own. I had to wait for the right time and the right kind of help. That’s why I summoned Ammonia Vom Acht here.”
“You didn’t summon me!” Ammonia said immediately. “No one summons me anywhere!”
“I put your name into the council’s heads,” said Pook. “And then I persuaded you to come all the way here to help the Droods, even though you despise everything they stand for. Or perhaps I didn’t. Who can tell? I am wise and wonderful and know many things, some of them true.”
Ammonia glared at the rabbit, but couldn’t find anything to say.
“Is that it?” said William. “Are we all done now? Is this what sanity feels like? It’s been such a long time. . . . What do I do now?”
“Put the Old Library in order,” said Ioreth. “You’re the Librarian.”
“Of course,” said William. “Come along, Ioreth. Lots of work to do . . .” He got up out of his chair, and then stopped to look at the rabbit. “You will still be . . . around, won’t you?”
“Of course,” said Pook. “We still have so much to talk about.”
“I’m going to have to discuss this with the family council,” I said.
Pook inclined his great white head to me, grinning broadly. “You really want to tell them there’s a possibly imaginary giant white rabbit haunting the Old Library? Good luck with that one. Especially since I guarantee I won’t be around if they come looking. I’m very choosy about whom I reveal myself to. Even Ethel can’t see me, not least because I am of this world, and she isn’t. Let me become a rumour, a whisper, a family legend. One final family secret, and a last line of defence.”
He walked off into the Old Library and disappeared between the tall stacks with William on one side and Ioreth on the other. They all seemed very happy together. And I . . . was left alone with Ammonia Vom Acht.
“Take me to the Armourer,” she said. “I want the crown we talked about. The one strong enough to keep out the whole damned world.”
“You can wait here,” I said. “I’ll have someone bring it down to you.” I considered her thoughtfully for a long moment. “You know, there is something else you might be able to help us with. . . .”
Ammonia grinned at me nastily. “The true name and identity of the traitor hiding inside your family? Oh, yes, I could find him for you. No problem. But you’d have to give me access to every living mind in Drood Hall. And your family would never allow that, even though it’s clearly in your best interests, and those of all Humanity.”
“You don’t get to decide what’s in Humanity’s best interests,” I told Ammonia. “Only Droods get to do that.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
The One True Thing
It was all happening at Drood Hall. I was saying good-bye to Ammonia Vom Acht when the next great steaming pile of ordure hit the fan. Or at least, I was trying to say good-bye. For someone who hadn’t wanted to come to Drood Hall in the first place, Ammonia was displaying a marked reluctance to leave. She stuck both fists on her hips, stuck out her chin, tilted her head back and did her best to glare right into my face.
“I am not leaving here without the psychic protection crown I was promised! I know all about you Droods; promise me the world and everything in it to get what you want, but the moment I’ve done your dirty work, it’s all, ‘Thank you kindly; we’ll be in touch!’ ”
“Let me contact the Armourer again,” I said, as patiently and politely as I could manage through gritted teeth. “See what he has to say.”
I used
the Merlin Glass to contact my uncle Jack in the Armoury. His face appeared immediately, filling the hand mirror. “Eddie! Listen . . .”
“I’ve still got Ammonia here,” I said loudly, overriding him. “She’s saying she won’t leave without her crown.”
“She’ll have to wait,” said the Armourer. “We have an emergency on our hands, Eddie, and I mean a first-class, fire-in-the-hole, circle-the-wagons-and-call-in-the-reserves type emergency. Kick her out, and get your arse down here to the War Room.”
His face disappeared from the mirror, and I shut it down. I looked at Ammonia. She was opening her mouth to say something I knew I didn’t want to hear it, so I shook the Merlin Glass out to full size, locked it onto her house in Cornwall, grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and tossed her through. Some days you don’t have the time to be diplomatic. Ammonia spun round and glared back at me through the Glass, sputtering with rage and offended dignity.
“I want my crown!”
“We’ll mail it to you when it’s ready,” I said.
“You can’t just throw me out! I know things you need to know!”
“Thank you,” I said quickly. “Good-bye; write if you get work.”
“We’ll meet again! I’ve seen it!”
“Don’t you threaten me,” I said, and shut down the Merlin Glass.
I never like working with psychics. The trouble with telepaths is that they always want to tell you what’s going on in other people’s minds, and it’s nearly always things you’re better off not knowing. I certainly wouldn’t want anyone else knowing what was going on in my mind most of the time. Especially if it involved Helen Mirren in her prime. I looked at the Glass and frowned. Why did the Armourer want me to join him in the War Room? He never went there. In fact, I was a bit surprised he was able to find it without a sat nav. Must be a real emergency, after all. I opened up the Merlin Glass and stepped through into the Drood family War Room.
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