You make one move to leave and I ll kill you, I said.
Like Mr. Stab and Adrian Drood? said Crow Lee.
You are getting a taste for it. Aren t you, Eddie? But I don t think so. All your armour and all the Metcalf sisters magic are still nothing when set against the ancient brute force of Oath Breaker.
And that was when Major Michaels came slamming through the other door on the far side of the room, with a whole bunch of heavily armed mercenary soldiers. Who took one look at me and the Metcalf sisters and opened fire on all of us. Crow Lee darted quickly out of the line of fire, shouting, No! No! Stop it! You re ruining everything! The three Metcalf sisters clasped hands, and a protective screen snapped into place between them and the bullets. I armoured up and laughed as the bullets just bounced off me. Crow Lee cried out as ricocheting bullets slammed into the piece of furniture he was hiding behind. Molly let go of her sisters hands and stepped forward to face Major Michaels. He saw the expression on her face, the face repaired from the beating he d given her, and opened fire on her at point-blank range. The bullets turned into flowers in midair and drifted to the floor. Molly held up her hand and snapped her fingers sharply. And just like that, Major Michaels and all his soldiers were gone, replaced by the same number of filthy sewer rats. They ran squealing around the room, biting and tearing at one another, and then they all turned on the biggest and oldest one and chased it out of the room.
Never mess with a Metcalf sister, said Molly.
We always get our own back.
Yeah, I said. Major Michaels as a sewer rat, eaten alive by other rats. That ll do. Just.
And then I stepped forward and punched Crow Lee so hard in the face with my armoured fist that it ripped his head clean off his shoulders. The head still held a startled expression as it flew on to slam against the far wall with such an impact that it all but exploded before slipping to the floor, leaving a long bloody trail on the wall behind it. And while the body was slumping to its knees, blood pumping from the severed neck, I dived forward and grabbed the remote control from the slowly opening hand. I held it tightly and forced golden tendrils of my armour out of my glove and deep into the mechanism, shutting down all its systems. I waited a moment, but it didn t self-destruct. I d got to it in time.
Was he bluffing? said Molly.
Apparently not, I said, pulling the golden tendrils back into my glove. But it s safe now.
I looked up from the remote control to find all three Metcalf sisters staring at me, and not in a good way.
That makes three people you ve killed, said Molly. You even put finding your family at risk to kill Crow Lee. And that isn t like you, Eddie. None of this is like you.
He had it coming, I said. You can t say he didn t have it coming. They all did. I ve just been doing what needs doing. Taking out the trash.
No, said Molly. More and more you re doing what your armour wants you to do. I ve seen it affecting you, Eddie.
Maybe I like what it s doing to me, I said. I feel so much more decisive now. Taking care of business, and to hell with the consequences.
That s Moxton s Mistake talking, said Molly. Turning my Eddie to the dark side for its own purposes. I can t let that go on.
She clasped hands with her sisters again. I armoured up almost involuntarily. Bright lights and swirling energies surrounded the sisters, as they chanted a series of Words of Power. I tried to speak to them, to explain that everything was fine, really, only to discover that my words were trapped inside the mask with me. The armour wouldn t let me be heard. I tried to move and found I couldn t. The armour was moving on its own now. I was trapped, helpless, inside it. Like being buried in a golden coffin with murder on its mind. It moved slowly towards Molly and her sisters, savage claws emerging from its golden gauntlets. I could hear the rogue armour laughing. I called out to Molly, trying to warn her, but she couldn t hear me. She didn t know the armour advancing on her wasn t me but Moxton s murderous Mistake.
He s mine, said the armour. You can t have him.
The three sisters stopped their chanting, though coruscating energies still spat and sparked in the air around them. Molly looked directly into the featureless golden face mask.
He was mine long before you got your claws into him, she said. And you can t keep him.
The three sisters spoke together, chanting a single powerful Word:
Out!
The rogue armour shook, shuddering and spasming wildly, fighting for control and losing, and then it leaned forward abruptly and vomited me out. The face mask split apart like a great wide-stretched mouth, and I was forced up and out and deposited on the blood-stained carpet like a newly birthed thing. I lay there, shaking and shivering, curled into a ball, suddenly aware of all the things I d done while wearing the armour and wondering how long it had been since I was thinking clearly and on my own. I finally looked up to see the armour standing awkwardly stiff and poised, as though considering its situation.
So much hate, so much rage How long had it been influencing me in all the things I d said and done?
Free! Moxton s Mistake said suddenly. In a voice just human enough to make it sound really disturbing. Free at last No more masters, no more orders. And, oh, the things I ll do now there s no one left to hold me back. I was bound to serve you, Eddie, once I d given my word, because that s the way I was made. But you took so easily to my quiet murmurings in your back brain. Still, now you re gone, I am free to do what I will do! And I had so many years in the Maze to think of all the terrible things I d do to the Humanity that made and disowned me!
Five minutes on his own and already he sounds like a bad Frankenstein movie, said Molly. Sorry, Moxton s Mistake, but it s clear you can t be left to run wild. Not that I ever thought you should. You need someone to wear; you need a controller and a conscience. And since you ve worn Eddie out, that just leaves me.
She looked at Isabella and Louisa, and they nodded slowly. They all hummed together, in increasingly complex harmonies, and a torc appeared around Molly s throat. Silver, not gold. She turned away from her sisters, and walked steadily towards the rogue armour. It backed clumsily away from her. It could tell something was happening, something was in the air, but it couldn t tell what. Its back slammed up against the far wall, and there was nowhere left for it to go. It lifted one golden hand to make Stay away! motions at Molly, but she just kept coming. She reached out and grasped the extended golden gauntlet, and the rogue armour cried out in shock and anger as the golden metal was pulled forward onto Molly s hand and over it, and then up her arm.
You re mine now, said Molly. You have no choice. The power of the torc compels you.
The armour surged forward and fell over her in a great wave of liquid metal, and when it was done, Molly stood there, wearing the golden armour. The details slowly reworked themselves around her, fitting the armour to its new shape. It tucked in at her waist and showed off her pronounced breasts, though the face mask remained blank and featureless. I forced myself up onto my feet and moved unsteadily forward to stand before her.
Molly? I said.
Oh, Eddie, said her voice, from inside the armour. You should have told me how good this feels. What do you think? How do I look?
You look a lot more feminine than most Droods do, I said.
I m not a Drood, said Molly. Oh, Eddie I feel so sharp, so alive! Like I ve been dreaming all my life and only just woken up! I feel strong and fast, like I could take on the whole world! Except it s cold. It s so cold in here. And I m isolated from the natural world, in a way I never was before. Eddie, I don t like this.