"God, I’m tired. Don’t get any ideas, Eddie. We’re allies on this case, nothing more."
"Of course," I said. "I need to get some sleep. Would you like me to fix some hot chocolate before we turn in?"
"Hot chocolate sounds very good," she said. "But where, exactly, are we turning in? How many beds do you have here?"
"Just the one," I said. "In the bedroom at the far end. You can crash there, and I’ll put some blankets on the floor here."
"My perfect gentle knight," said Molly, smiling.
I made two mugs of steaming hot chocolate in the tiny galley, and we sat together and talked about nothing in particular for a while. Just winding down, from a long, hard day. Finally we both started yawning, Molly’s eyelids drooped heavily, and she went to sleep right there on the couch. I rescued the mug from her slowly relaxing fingers and put it to one side. The sleeping draught I’d put in her mug had worked fine, disguised by the heavy taste of the chocolate. It wasn’t that I entirely mistrusted her, but we had tried to kill each other too many times, and I needed to feel safe while I slept.
I picked Molly up and carried her into the small enclosed bedroom at the far end of the barge. I laid her out carefully on the bed and undid a few buttons at her throat. She moved slowly in her sleep, murmuring like a dreaming child. I started to sort out a few spare blankets to sleep on, but I was just too tired. And the bed was plenty big enough for two. I stretched out beside her. Molly was already snoring gently. No doubt she’d have a few harsh words to say when she woke up in the morning…but that could wait.
My bed fit me like a glove, and sleep had never felt so good.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Happy Daze
I was dreaming. A great voice spoke in my mind, saying: I can help you, if only you’ll let me. There’s no end to the things we might achieve together, you and I. I am the answer to all your questions, and all your problems. Just stop fighting me.
I wanted to believe the voice. I really did. But I’ve never been able to trust anyone apart from me. The family saw to that.
I woke up with a knife at my throat. Molly was sitting astride my chest and not in a good way. She was leaning right over me, the edge of her silver dagger pressing just hard enough into my throat to cut the skin. It stung, more irritating than painful, but I could feel a slow trickle of blood coursing down the side of my neck. I decided to lie very still. Molly’s face hung right above mine, red with rage, but her eyes were cold as ice. Her hand was very steady, for the moment, the razor-sharp edge resting just above my Adam’s apple. And I’d been having such a good dream too. I gave Molly my very best polite smile.
"Good morning, Molly. Sleep well?"
"You drugged me, you bastard! Did you think I wouldn’t notice? And you slept in the same bed as me after all that nonsense about blankets on the floor!"
"Yes," I said carefully. "I slept in the same bed as you. Emphasis on the word slept. You needed a good night’s sleep, and so did I, so I just…helped things along a little."
Molly’s scowl deepened, becoming actually dangerous. "You drugged me. Do you really expect me to ever trust you again after this? You could have done anything to me while I was asleep!"
"Yes," I said. "I could have. But I didn’t. Still, you shouldn’t take it personally. I was very tired. I’m sure I’ll do better next time."
"There won’t be a next time, you treacherous little toad," said Molly. But there might have been just a hint of a smile tucked away in one corner of her mouth. She took her knife away from my throat and climbed off my chest. I raised one hand to my throat, and then winced as my fingertips came away wet with blood. Molly sniffed loudly as she got up off the bed. "Don’t be such a big baby. You’ve cut yourself worse shaving. I don’t suppose there’s a shower anywhere on this boat, is there? I feel really funky after sleeping in my clothes."
"No shower," I agreed. "But you can boil some hot water on the gas cooker, for a wash."
I started to roll out of bed, and then stopped abruptly, crying out despite myself as a stab of pain filled my shoulder and left arm. It hurt like hell as I forced myself to sit up, cradling my left arm to my chest. I tried flexing it slowly and yelped again as a vicious pain flashed all the way from my shoulder to my fingertips. Just bending the elbow felt like someone had stuck a screwdriver into the joint and twisted it. Even moving my fingers hurt. I looked across at Molly, but she shook her head immediately.
"Nothing to do with me. Let’s have a look at your shoulder."
I couldn’t get my shirt off on my own. It hurt too much. Molly had to help me, unbuttoning and then pushing the shirt back, not hurting me more than she had to. I turned my head carefully to inspect my left shoulder. All around the scar tissue left by the healed arrow wound, my skin was swollen and inflamed. Molly leaned in for a closer look, and then pressed the skin here and there with surprisingly gentle fingers. I hissed at the pain, and she nodded slowly.
"Were you injured yesterday, fighting at the holding pens?"
"No," I said. "I was in my armour. I can’t be hurt while I’m in my armour."
"The elf lord’s arrow got through," said Molly, studying the scar tissue thoughtfully.
"Yes, but that was…extremely unusual. And I already used a med blob to heal the wound."
"Doesn’t seem to have made too good a job of it," said Molly. She stood back and traced a series of complex symbols on the air, glowing trails following her fingertips to leave behind alien characters hanging shimmering between us. Molly studied them silently for a while, and then looked back at me as the symbols faded away. I didn’t like the expression on her face.
"Good of you to take an interest," I said, trying to keep it light. "But if you’re about to suggest surgery with that knife of yours, I think I’ll pass."
"You’re no use to me as a cripple," she said. "Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do for you. The original wound has healed, but it seems the elf’s arrow left something behind after you pulled it out. It’s not poison, as such. I could cope with that. But there’s something in your body that shouldn’t be there. I can’t tell what it is, but it’s spreading."
I nodded slowly. "The arrow came from another dimension," I said. "That’s the only way it could pierce my armour. I’ve seen the substance once before, in the Armourer’s lab. He called it strange matter."
"Good name for it," said Molly. "My magic can detect it but not affect it. All I can tell you for sure is that your body doesn’t have any defences against it. It’s bad now, and it’s only going to get worse."
"Say it," I said. "Just say it."
"I’m sorry, Eddie. This strange matter is eating you alive, inch by inch, and I don’t have the first idea on how to stop it."
"How long?" I said numbly.
"Three, four days tops."
"And after that?"
"There isn’t anything after that. I’m sorry, Eddie."
I sat on the edge of the bed, thinking. Not feeling much, not yet. "I thought I’d have more time," I said finally. "To do all the things I need to do. But I suppose…it’s just another deadline. And I can do deadlines. Help me get my shirt back on."
It took both of us to get my left arm back into the shirtsleeve, and I made some more noises, even through gritted teeth. I sat quietly as she did up the buttons. I was breathing hard, and I could feel cold sweat drying on my face. But all the time I was thinking, hard. Three days, four tops. The only people who might be able to help me were the doctors back at the Hall. And maybe the Armourer. Uncle Jack. All I knew about strange matter was what he’d told me. That it came from somewhere else, that it had certain useful properties that no one understood, and that it didn’t follow any of our rules. But even if I were to go back to the Hall, give myself up, the odds were Grandmother would have given orders for me to be killed on sight.