The dead shouldn t have been able to do that. They were just bodies. But Crow Lee had put a power in them that would not be denied.
And it happened that I looked back just at the moment when the screen collapsed and the dead surged forward, reaching out for Molly. The fog seemed to hold back just so I could see it. And just like that, my cold and vicious rage fell away from me. Molly was in danger, and that was all that mattered. I turned round immediately and fought my way back through the army of the dead, desperate to get to Molly before the dead could get to her. The dead between us immediately closed together, blocking my way with their bodies, soaking up my increasingly desperate blows with their yielding flesh. And even though I struck them down and threw them aside, there were just so many of them. I d allowed myself to be drawn away, separated from Molly. I surged forward with all my strength, smashing through bodies like they were made of paper, and cried out to Molly.
Hold on, love! I m on my way! Hold on till I can get to you!
She heard me; I know she did. She looked right at me. But I was so far away and there were so many of them almost upon her. Both of us knew there was no way I could get to her in time. I screamed so hard it hurt my throat, fighting desperately to throw off the dead as they clung to me, grabbing at my legs to bring me down. I fought on, knowing it was useless. Knowing they were going to hurt her and kill her and drag her off with them down into the depths of the sea. I knew there was nothing I could do and I thought I d lose my mind.
But fortunately she was Molly Metcalf.
She yelled out to me to brace myself, and immediately I stopped fighting and grabbed on to the safety railings looming up out of the fog before me. I grabbed on with both hands, ignoring the dead men as they hammered at me, trying to pry me loose. They swarmed all over me and I ignored them and just hung on. Praying for a miracle.
And Molly came through. She carefully pronounced one really powerful Word, and a roaring wind came hammering down the Pier and swept the whole damned fog away. The wind blasted the fog right off the Pier and sent it back out across the sea and without its support the dead couldn t stay. They just faded away as the last of the fog dispersed and the raging wind swept the whole Pier clean.
The dead man who d spoken to me first was the last to go. He hung on somehow, intact, looking right at me with his eyeless face.
He ll never let us go, he said. He ll hold on to us, down in the depths, until he needs us again.
I ll get him for you, I said. I slowly let go of the railings and moved forward to face him. I remembered the vicious joy I d felt in fighting and destroying him and his kind, and I felt suddenly ashamed. If they really were just victims of Crow Lee s will, I d done them a terrible wrong. They were just innocent bystanders, caught up in the middle of a war.
I ll set you free, I said. Whatever it takes.
Why would you do that for us? said the dead man.
After everything we ve done, and would have done and will do again?
Because that s what I do, I said firmly.
Because I m a Drood.
Sorry, said the dead man, already fading away, with something that might have been a smile on his rotting mouth.
Never heard of you
The fog was gone, and the last of the day s sunlight washed from end to end of Brighton Pier. I looked out to sea, but there was no sign of fog anywhere. I armoured down and hurried back to join my Molly. I took her in my arms and held her tight, and she held me back just as strongly. And for a long moment we just stood there together. It was all very calm and very quiet. Eventually we let go of each other and looked around. Brighton Pier was back to normal. No trace left to show that anything had happened, except for a few wet footprints on the floorboards, already evaporating.
I am never letting us get separated again, I said. For a moment there, I really thought I d lost you.
For a moment there, you forgot that I can look after myself, Molly said sternly.
My head was all messed up, I said. All I could think of was fighting, and striking down my hated enemy. I was enjoying myself. I forgot all about you. Until I looked back and saw you in danger.
Molly looked at me steadily. Is it the rogue armour, Eddie? Is it affecting you?
I don t know, I said. I want to blame the new armour, but maybe this is what I m really like without my family.
Bullshit, Molly said briskly. That is not what you are, and I should know. Proof in point: You said yourself the spell broke the moment you looked back at me.
What if I hadn t?
But you did.
I had to smile. You always were a good influence on me.
Not if I can help it, said Molly, and kissed me firmly on the mouth.
Time to be going, I said after a while. Unless we want to hang around and be asked a whole bunch of questions we don t have any good answers for.
I ve got just enough magic left in me for one short-range teleport, said Molly. Enough to drop us off right next to the Phantom V. But, Eddie, that s all I ve got left. I need time out to recharge my batteries.
And I doubt we re going to be left in peace that long, I said. I won t leave you alone again, Molly, I promise.
Will you stop beating yourself up? I saw you; you were busy kicking the crap out of dead things. Doing your job.
I m not so sure about that, either, I said. If there were spirits trapped inside those bodies, if they were just innocents
Very unlikely, said Molly. That was just Crow Lee speaking through them, playing games with your head.
And if it wasn t?
Why do you keep asking questions when you know I don t have the answers? Let s get to Crow Lee and then we can beat the answers out of him.
Sounds like a plan to me, I said.
CHAPTER FIVE
Molly snapped her fingers and the air before us split obediently in two, forming into a shimmering portal that crackled with something very like static for a moment, like a television caught between stations, before finally condensing into a familiar silver tunnel. Molly had tried to explain to me that what I see when I look at her magic is largely symbolic; just my mind trying to make sense of something it can t cope with. Personally, I think she has the same relationship with magic that I have with science; we just pretend we know what we re doing and hope it all works out for the best. Molly strode into the silver tunnel and I hurried in after her, not wanting to be left behind or have important parts of myself sliced off by the portal closing after me.
Molly had clearly been refining her teleport spell on the quiet, because we didn t just end up back at the car. Instead, we both materialised inside the Phantom V, sitting in the front seats. Only because it was her spell, Molly was sitting behind the wheel and I was in the passenger s seat. She smiled at me triumphantly, running her hands over the steering wheel in a distressingly sensual way.
I ve always wanted to drive one of these! Give me the keys, Eddie. Then it s atomic batteries to power, turbines to speed and everyone else get the hell out of the way!
Sorry, I said. There are no keys. This is a Drood car, programmed only to accept a Drood driver. Basic security measure.
Molly glared at me. You re making that up!
Not even a little bit. There are no keys because the car knows who I am and does what I tell it to. So I m afraid we re going to have to switch seats if we re going to go anywhere. Really.
Someone s going to pay for this, said Molly.
It s all down to torc envy, I m sure, I said.
Molly sniffed loudly, kicked the driver s door open, and got out of the car. I got out my side, and we crossed in front of the car without speaking. The engine turned itself on as I sat down behind the wheel, and Molly banged her door shut with added violence. And that was when I heard sirens approaching. I looked in the rearview mirror, and sure enough several police cars were heading our way at speed sirens, flashing blue lights, the works. The large crowd of tourists and others who d been chased off the Pier by recent supernatural events waved excitedly at the approaching police. A few of the braver elements were hovering outside the Pier s main entrance, though as yet none of them felt brave enough to go back in without some official presence to lead the way. And, if need be, hide behind.