"Have you considered contacting other members of your family who’ve gone rogue?" Molly said suddenly. "Would you like to? I mean, if nothing else, they should be able to give you some solid hints on how to hide from your family, how to survive on your own, out in the world."
I thought about that. I still had a definite distaste for the word rogue, even though I was one now. There had always been rogues, throughout family history. Certain individuals who threw off family authority and ran away into the world. Or had been driven out, for good reason. Their names were struck from the family genealogy, and no one was permitted to mention them, ever again. Even now, back in the Hall, someone was removing all traces of my existence, and everyone who ever knew me would be instructed never to use my name again. Even my uncle Jack and my uncle James would go along. For the family. Rogues were worse than treacherous; they were an embarrassment. And so they spent their lives hiding in deep cover, to avoid being hunted down and killed.
"The only rogue I’ve ever known," I said slowly, "was the Bloody Man, Arnold Drood. Evil little shit. You know what he did? With the children? I can’t believe how he was able to hide it for so long…Anyway, the family told me what he’d done and where he was hiding, and I went straight there and killed him." A horrid thought struck me, and I looked anxiously at Molly. "They told me…but was it really true? Did I kill an innocent man?"
"No," Molly said quickly, patting me comfortingly on the arm. "Relax, Eddie. He really did do all the awful things everyone said he did. Your family weren’t the only ones on the Bloody Man’s trail. But only one of you could get to him despite his armour." She considered me thoughtfully for a moment. "How did you manage to kill him, Eddie?"
"Easy," I said. "I cheated. Let’s change the subject. Given that I’ve been such a good soldier for so long, will any of the other rogues agree to talk to me?"
"They’ll talk to me," said Molly. "I’ve had dealings with some of them, in my time. Don’t look so shocked, Eddie. You’re out in the real world now, and we do things differently here. Alliances come and go, and we all deal with whomever we have to, to get things done. I don’t have a family to back me up, so I made my own, out of the few people I really trust. I know people everywhere. Also, I know people who know people. In fact, I know of three Drood rogues living in and around London. If I vouch for you, they’ll agree to a meeting. Probably."
"I don’t care about just surviving," I said. "I won’t hide in a hole and pull it in after me, like the other rogues. I need to bring my family down, all the way down, for what they’ve done. For not being what they said they were. But…there has to be someone around strong enough to stop Manifest Destiny. Bad as my family are, those bastards are worse. And you can bet all the damage we did to them today won’t even slow them down. They’re big and they’re organised and they’re rotten to the core. If I do break the Droods’ hold on the world…who would be left strong enough to stop Truman from doing all the awful things he plans to do to everyone who’s not Manifest Destiny?"
"There is one obvious answer," Molly said. "Set them both at each other’s throats."
"No," I said immediately. "I won’t be responsible for starting a war. Too many innocents would die, caught in the cross fire. And not everyone in my family is dirty. Some of them are good people, fighting the good fight not out of family duty but just because they believe it’s the right thing to do."
"If you say so," said Molly.
It was my turn to consider her thoughtfully. "I couldn’t help noticing, Molly, that you’ve been very…reticent today. Holding back, as it were. None of your usual wild magics in any of our battles. In fact, you’ve let me do most of the hard work."
She grinned. "I was wondering when you’d notice. I’ve been watching you in action, Eddie. Seeing what you can do. Trying to get a handle on who you really are. I’ve hated and fought the Droods most of my life, and with good reason. They killed my parents when I was just a child."
"I’m sorry," I said. "I didn’t know."
"I never found out why. Droods aren’t big on explaining their actions. That’s how Truman was able to snare me so easily…But you were always different, Eddie. I’ve fought a dozen different Drood agents in my time, but you…you were the only one who ever fought clean. You’ve always…intrigued me, Eddie."
"I love it when a woman talks dirty," I said.
We were leaning towards each other when the barge’s proximity alarm went off, a silent crimson light that filled the cabin. I gestured urgently for Molly to be quiet and rose quickly to turn off the CD player. Outside, the wind was howling with a voice not all its own. I turned off the crimson warning light with a sharp gesture and dropped down beside Molly again. I put my mouth right next to her ear.
"Don’t move, don’t speak, don’t do anything. Something’s out there. And my security alarms wouldn’t flare up like that unless there was something really nasty in the vicinity."
"Looking for us?" said Molly, barely breathing the words.
"Seems likely. But it’s not my family. That would set off an entirely different alarm."
"You got any weapons on this boat?"
"No. And no defences either. That’s the point of this place; nothing to attract any attention. It’s supposed to be right off the map. Nothing for any enemy to detect."
We listened to the wind raging. The cabin was rising and falling jerkily now, as the waters were disturbed. The temperature dropped sharply. My breath steamed on the air, mixing with Molly’s.
"What do you think it is?" Molly whispered.
"Could be any number of really bad things. I’ve made some serious enemies in my time. Probably think I’m vulnerable, now my family’s disowned me."
"But you’ve got your armour, and I’ve got my spells…"
"No. If we give away our position we’ll have to go on the run again. And I’m running out of safe places to hide. Keep your head down and stay close to me. Just being this close to my torc should hide you too."
We sat silently together as the barge shook and shuddered and the wind howled like a living thing. One by one the storm lamps guttered and went out so that a darkening gloom filled the cabin, as though there was something close that could not abide light and warmth. I could feel the presence of something horribly other drawing inexorably closer, something fierce and foul, like a thorn in my soul. I was shivering now, and so was Molly, and not just from the bitter cold that penetrated the cabin. Something was looking for us, something dangerous to our bodies and our souls, and it was perilously close. I took Molly in my arms, and she held me tightly. Whether I held her to bring her closer to the torc, or just out of a desperate need for human contact, I couldn’t say.
I could have armoured up. I was pretty sure my armour would protect me from whatever was outside. But using such a strong magic would have given away my position immediately. And Molly would have been left unprotected.
The presence outside finally moved on, and the night went back to normal. The wind fell away to murmurs, and the barge stopped rocking as the waters stilled. The storm lamps popped back on, one by one, and light and warmth slowly filled the cabin again. Molly started to pull away from me, and I immediately let go of her. She shook her head slowly, and then stretched theatrically.