Live and Let Drood

compromised they were, it’ll be a long time before anyone trusts them with anything that matters. In fact, the more I thinkabout it…part of what makes the Droods so important is that there just isn’t anyone else like us.…”
    “There are a great many other…perhaps not as reputable groups and individuals,” Molly said carefully. “Certain known names whom I may or may not have done certain things with in the past, probably best not discussed in present company…And it could be that I might know how to get in touch with them. Eddie, somebody’s got to do it!”
    “Who did you have in mind?” I said, equally carefully. “The Soulhunters, perhaps?”
    “You have got to be joking!” Molly made a seriously disgusted and appalled noise. “I wouldn’t touch them with an exorcised barge pole! Those people are seriously weird. I worked alongside one of their agents. Just the once. Called himself Demonsbane. Because it turned out we were working the same case from different ends. Something had been snatching foetuses, teleporting them right out of the womb and leaving only simulacra behind. The two of us ended up chasing Hagges through the sewers under Liverpool. We got the poor things back eventually, but Demonsbane…freaked me out big-time. That’s not even a code name, you know. That’s what he calls himself! Hate to think what the other choices were…The point is, he was seriously spooky, like all the Soulhunters.”
    “And you know spooky,” I said.
    “Damn right I do. Trust me, Eddie. There is something seriously wrong about the Soulhunters. Every damned one of them.”
    “You know how sometimes this job can drive you crazy?” I said. “The Soulhunters have always dealt with the darkest, nastiest and freakiest areas of the hidden world. Word is, when you’re too weird, too disturbed or just too broken for any of the other supernatural organisations, that’s when you’re ready for your Soulhunters interview. In fact, I think this is how it goes: Are you crazy? Yes, I am! Welcome to the Soulhunters! If we let them take over from the Droods, the world won’t know what’s hit it. Certainly the hidden world wouldn’t remain hidden for very long.”
    “I love how you mention things and then immediately talk yourself out of it,” said Molly.
    “Years of practice.”
    “There’s always the lone guns,” said Molly. “The heroes and adventurers, the rogues and the headbangers. Maybe we could put together our own version of the Magnificent Seven. ‘Have bad attitude; will travel’—that sort of thing. We could start with the Walking Man.…”
    “No, we couldn’t,” I said immediately. “Him? The wrath of God in the world of men? He’s not exactly subtle, is he? Never met a scorched-earth policy he didn’t like. No. I suppose…there’s always Augusta Moon, the monster hunter.…”
    “She’s getting on a bit,” Molly said doubtfully. “There’s the English Assassin.…”
    “No, there isn’t,” I said. “He’s dead again. Look. There’s never been any shortage of adventurers in the supernatural, the heroes and the differently sane, but there’s nearly always a reason why they work alone. I’m sure we could round up any number of reputable names and maybe even get them to play nice together as long as we were there to crack the whip, but none of them could carry the weight of the world on their backs for long. They don’t have the training, the organisation or even the big guns to get the job done. That’s why the Droods are so important and why it’s so vital we get them back as soon as possible. Come on, Molly. There’s only one place we can go, and that’s to the Regent of Shadows.”
    Molly scowled fiercely, considering the matter. “The Shadows are a secretive bunch,” she said finally. “Even for the usual secret organisations. I mean, yes, I’ve heard of them—everyone has. But that’s it. They deal in information. I can’t say I’ve ever heard of them wading in and getting their hands dirty. I always thought they were part of the Establishment, like the Carnacki crowd.”
    “Not…as such,” I said. “They tend more towards working with the Establishment, rather than for them. An important distinction in this day and age. Sufficiently independent for our purposes, and not likely to spread around the information we’ll be giving them. And once they’ve told me what I need to know, hopefully I can persuade the Regent to jump in and become far