Live and Let Drood

looking for allies. This was all long before I hooked up with you, Eddie.”
    “Even so,” I said. “You can bet they know about you and me now. And that you’re no longer at war with the Droods. You still think they’d talk to you?”
    “They’ll tell me anything I want to know, if they know what’s good for them,” Molly said firmly. She paused as a thought struck her. I could practically see the wheels turning. “Wouldn’t the rogue Droods be happy to hear that the Hall and the family are gone? They’d finally be free to emerge from the shadows or whatever holes they’ve been hiding in, and come out into the world again. No more looking over their shoulders all the time for someone like you…”
    “You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” I said. “But no. They’ll be far more interested in having the family back so they can get their armour back.With Ethel gone, they’re all suddenly as vulnerable and helpless as I was. No, they might not be part of the family anymore, but they still like being Droods, with all the power and privilege that comes from wearing the torc.”
    “Hold it. Are you telling me that Ethel gave all the rogues new strange-matter torcs, along with everyone else?” said Molly.
    “I did argue very strongly against it,” I said. “But Ethel was very firm on the subject and would not be moved. Either everyone in the family got one or no one did. Sometimes there’s just no arguing with the whims of an immensely powerful other-dimensional entity.”
    “That might be enough to put pressure on the rogues,” said Molly. And then she stopped and looked at me carefully. “There is one…very powerful rogue Drood that we could call on. I suppose. Someone in Ethel’s league. The one you told me about. The one the family buried long ago, deep in the permafrost under Tunguska…”
    “Gerard Drood,” I said. “Grendel Rex. The Unforgiven God. No, Molly. Things haven’t got that bad yet. In fact, I think the whole world would have to be ending before I even considered disturbing him again. And even then I’d think twice.…”
    “But…”
    “ No , Molly. I didn’t tell you the whole story about Grendel Rex because I wanted you to be able to sleep nights. I didn’t tell you everything about what happened in Tunguska, either, for the same reason. If the Unforgiven God ever wakes up, if he ever breaks the chains we bound him with and rises…it would take the whole family and every other group of power we could bring on board to put him down again. He is the end of the world…just waiting to happen.”
    “All right, then…Heading a hell of a long way in the other direction to the most harmless rogue Drood I know…What about the Mole?”
    I looked at her sharply. “I thought you said he’d disappeared. Gone deep underground, dropped into a hole and then pulled it in after him?”
    “Well, yes, but there’s disappeared and then there’s disappeared ,”said Molly. “I haven’t a clue where to look for him, but I’m sure if I put the word out, he’d hear it eventually. Just because he’s stopped talking doesn’t mean he’s stopped listening. And who else is there who has access to as much information as he does?”
    “To get the news to him, it would have to pass through too many people,” I said. “No way we could control it. I can’t have that, Molly. The Mole is out.”
    “Well, who else is there that we know of?” Molly said impatiently. “Sebastian is dead, murdered. Freddie is missing in action, presumed dead. Arrabella fell into a mirror and never came out again. What other rogues do you know?”
    “I’m not as up-to-date as I should be,” I admitted. “I haven’t kept up on the files or any of the required reading since I got involved in running the wars against the Hungry Gods and the Immortals and the Great Satanic Conspiracy.…There’s only so many hours in the day.” I concentrated, organising my thoughts. “There’s old Mother Shipton, last heard of running a baby-cloning clinic in Vienna. Nasty piece of work. Manfred Drood was last heard of in Moscow, running the Baba Yaga Irregulars. Fighting Russian supernatural crime, for a healthy profit. I doubt we could afford him. Then there’s Anastasia Drood, last heard of in darkest Peru. And if she really is doing what she’s supposed to be doing down there, I will kill her dead before I ever willingly exchange a word with her.
    “There are always stories and rumours of other rogue