Live and Let Drood

long.”
    “They might try to stop us leaving.”
    “Like to see them try.”
    “Okay,” said Molly. “We have now officially crossed the line from tough guy into cocky and downright arrogant. That’s not like you, Eddie.”
    “I’m the Last Drood,” I said. “I can’t afford to be stopped by anything or anyone. Not even myself. Not when my whole family is depending on me.”
    “You can’t help them if you’re dead or stripped of your torc in some underground prison!”
    “Well, then,” I said. “I’d better not let that happen. Had I?”
    “Cocky and arrogant,” Molly said sadly. “I am a bad influence on you, Eddie.” She looked dubiously at the Merlin Glass as I held it up before us. “Was the Glass we knew ever this powerful? I’m not sure I would have trusted the old Glass in this situation.”
    “It got you into the Timeless Moment to rescue me from Castle Shreck,” I said. “But it doesn’t really matter. Needs must, when the Devil is breathing heavily down the back of your neck. One thing on our side: once we’re in the boss’s office, her shields should be more than enough to hide us from our enemies.”
    “Including Crow Lee?”
    “Let us both fervently hope so.”
    I concentrated on the Merlin Glass through my torc, visualising the exact coordinates for Catherine Latimer’s very private office, and the Glass just sat there in my hand and refused to budge. I kept telling it where to go, and it just kept refusing. The shields around the office were so powerful the Glass couldn’t find anything to lock on to. Buckingham Palace’s shields weren’t the problem, just the office’s. Which told me rather more about the nature of the Carnacki Institute’s shields than I was comfortable knowing. I looked reluctantly at Molly.
    “Problem…We can’t go straight to the boss after all. She’s protected by something so powerful it even spooks the Merlin Glass. You know…it might actually be safer if you were to stay here, Molly. In the car. Uncle Jack’s protections will look after you, and you can always do a runner if necessary.”
    “No way in hell,” Molly said flatly. “You’re not going anywhere without me. Not while you’re still pretending to be all cocky and arrogant to hide the fact that you’re still grieving for your family. Someone’s got to be there with you, to be reasonable on your behalf. And, yes, I do know that by volunteering myself in that department I am indulging in cosmic levels of irony, but…How about this: If you can’t go directly to the boss, can you get to her indirectly?”
    “Of course! Yes! Molly, you’re a genius. I had to wait in the secretary’s office before I got to see Catherine Latimer, her own bad self, last time I was there.” I concentrated on the Glass again, and it locked onto the secretary’s office immediately. “There you go! A definite weak spot in the Institute’s security, Molly, which I shall be quite sure not to mention to the boss. In case I need to use it again.”
    “You see?” said Molly. “You’re getting smarter all the time just from being around me. Come on, let’s do this. Before we have a rush of common sense to the brain. I’m just in the mood to bully a functionary.”
    “Ah,” I said. “Clearly you have never heard of the boss’s secretary. Heather does not just type and file; she is also the boss’s last line of defence. In that you have to get past Heather to get to the boss. Heather is the most heavily armed person in the whole place. She’s not just there to smile politely at visitors; she’s there to be very, very dangerous. So be prepared.…”
    “Oh, I am,” said Molly. “Really. You have no idea.”
    “Cocky, and arrogant with it,” I said.
    “You know you love it.”
    I armoured up. The golden metal swept over me in a moment, sealing me off from the world. The bitter cold was still there, but I was getting used to that. Which would have worried me if I’d had the time to be worried. Molly looked at me dubiously.
    “Is that really necessary? Just for a quick drop-in and a chat?”
    “Oh yes,” I said. “Really. You have no idea.”
    “Shut up and get on with it.”
    “Yes, mistress.”
    I shook the hand mirror out to door size, and immediately I couldsee Heather’s office through it. I stepped quickly through, Molly all but treading on my heels in her eagerness, and the Merlin Glass immediately slammed itself shut behind me, pushed through my armoured side, and