Live and Let Drood Read Free

sane at that time.
    I moved slowly down the dark hallway, through ruin and devastation, and forced myself to be calm and collected, practical and professional. Just from looking around me at the nature of the destruction, I could see they must have used grenades and flamethrowers. No other way to do this much damage in a hurry. Probably some magical and superscience weapons, as well. Someone had been intent on doing a really thorough job here.
    I considered all the possibilities as I made my way down the hallway, broken floorboards groaning warnings under my weight. Molly was careful to keep distance between us, to spread the weight out as much as possible. Could there have been sabotage, or even an invasion of the family Armoury—our own weapons turned against us? It didn’t seem likely. An enemy who’d planned such a thorough assault wouldn’t have gambled on finding enough weapons here to do the job. They’d havebrought their own. Could the enemy have teleported inside the Hall if all our shields were down? That would explain how they were able to take all of us by surprise so easily. Maybe even suicide bombers? So many possibilities, so many questions, and no answers anywhere. Molly stepped deftly over the rubble on the floor, looking at everything, touching nothing.
    “There wasn’t any damage out in the grounds,” she said, after a while. “All the fighting took place indoors. Look at the bullet holes in these walls. And scorch marks from energy blasts, which implies energy weapons or offensive sorceries. Do you suppose…there could be any survivors, maybe trapped somewhere in the Hall?”
    “No,” I said. “We would have fought to the last man rather than let this happen to the Hall.” I stopped abruptly, glancing about me, hands clenched into fists at my sides. “But you were right earlier. We can’t afford to spend too long here. If all our defences are down, then the shields that hide our presence are down, too. The whole world can see exactly where Drood Hall is, for the first time, and that makes us vulnerable. The vultures will be gathering. They’ll descend on us in their hordes to search for loot and overlooked secrets. But I can’t leave, Molly. Not yet. I have to know.…”
    “Of course you do,” said Molly. “Every clue the enemy left behind is ammunition we can use to identify and then nail the bastards who did this.”
    I had to smile at her. “There was a time the Droods were your enemies. Not that long ago, you would have been overjoyed by all this. You’d have danced on these ruins.…”
    “Danced, hell,” said Molly. “I’d have hiked up my skirts and pissed on them, singing hallelujah. But that was then; this is now. Everything changed when I met you. Now an attack on your family is an attack on you. And no one messes with my man and gets away with it.”
    She struck a witch’s pose, and her hands moved through a sinuous series of magical gestures. A slow presence gathered on the air around us and all the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. A sudden cold wind came gusting down the hallway, disturbing the ashes. Molly spokea single Word, almost too much for human vocal cords to bear, and the echoes of it trembled and shuddered all through the enclosed space.
    “There,” said Molly, relaxing just a little. “I’ve put some temporary shields in place: a No See zone over the Hall and serious avoidance spells around the perimeter. Low-level stuff, easily broken by anyone who knows what they’re looking for, but enough to buy us some time, so we can make a proper investigation. Where do you want to start, Eddie?”
    I didn’t thank her. It would only have embarrassed her.
    I looked up and down the gloomy hallway. It was all so still, so quiet. The only sounds had been our careful footsteps and the quiet shifting noises of broken stone and brickwork. The ceiling made constant ominous noises as the collapsed upper floors settled and pressed down. There was still a little