The Golem's Eye

past, even recent lessons. Gladstone only got to Prague so fast because half the Czech army was on strike at the time. It seriously weakened the Empire. But my master and his friends have already forgotten this fact. He hadn't a clue why you escaped his mouler the other day. Incidentally, he really is taking ages to bring Hyrnek across. I'm beginning to think something might have happened to him. Nothing fatal, unfortunately, or I wouldn't still be here."
    Jakob. Kitty had been so caught up in the demon's words that the thought of her friend had half escaped her mind. She flushed. This was the enemy she was talking with—a killer, an abductor, an inhuman fiend. How could she have forgotten?
    "You know," the demon said in a companionable sort of way, "I was wondering about something. Why did you come looking for this Hyrnek? You must have known it was a trap. He said you hadn't seen him for years."
    "I hadn't. But it's my fault he's in this mess, isn't it?" Kitty gritted the words out.
    "Ye-e-s..." The demon made a face. "I just think it's odd, that's all."
    "What can you know about it, demon?!" Kitty was white with rage. "You're a monster! How dare you even imagine what I'm feeling!" She was so furious, she almost lashed out.
    The boy tutted. "Let me give you a friendly tip," he said. "Now, you wouldn't want to be called 'female mudspawn,' would you? Well, in a similar way, when addressing a spirit such as me, the word demon is in all honesty a little demeaning to us both. The correct term is djinni, though you may add adjectives such as noble and resplendent if you choose. Just a question of manners. It keeps things friendly between us."
    Kitty laughed harshly. "No one's friendly with a demon!"
    "Not normally, no. The cognitive differentials are just too great. But it has happened...." It broke off thoughtfully.
    "Yeah?"
    "Take it from me."
    "Such as when?"
    "Oh, long ago... It doesn't matter." The Egyptian boy shrugged.
    "You're making it up."
    Kitty waited, but the boy was studying its fingernails intently. It did not continue.
    After a long pause, she broke the silence. "So why did Mandrake save me from the wolves? It doesn't make sense."
    The boy grunted. "He wants the Staff. Obviously."
    "The staff? Why?"
    "What do you think? Power. He's trying to get it before the others." The boy's voice was terse. It appeared to be in a bad mood.
    A dawning realization stole over Kitty. "You mean that staff's important?"
    "Of course. It's Gladstone's. You knew that, otherwise why break into his tomb?"
    In her mind's eye, Kitty saw the theater box again, and the gold key being tossed into view. She heard the voice of their benefactor, mentioning the Staff as if it were an afterthought. She saw Hopkins's pale gray eyes gazing at hers, heard his voice, low amid the bustle of the Druids' Coffeehouse, inquiring after the Staff. She felt the sickness of betrayal.
    "Oh. You didn't know." The bright eyes of the djinni were watching her. "You were set up. Who by? That Hopkins?"
    Kitty's voice was faint. "Yes. And someone else—I never saw his face."
    "Pity. It was almost certainly one of the leading magicians. As to which, you can take your pick. They're all as bad as one another. And they'll always have someone else do their dirty work for them, djinni or human." It blinked, as if a thought had struck it. "You don't know anything about the golem, I suppose?" This word meant nothing to Kitty; she shook her head. "Didn't think so. It's a big, nasty magical creature—been causing chaos around London recently. Someone's controlling it, and I'd dearly like to know who. Nearly killed me, for starters."
    The boy looked so put out as it said this that Kitty almost smirked. "I thought you were a noble djinni of awesome power?" she said. "How come this golem beat you?"
    "It's resistant to magic, that's why. Saps my energy if I get close. You'd have a better chance of stopping it than me." It made it sound as if this was the most ridiculous thing in the world.
    Kitty bridled. "Thanks a lot."
    "I'm serious. A golem's controlled by a manuscript hidden in its mouth. If you got close, and whipped the paper out, the golem would return to its master and disintegrate back into clay. I saw it happen once, in Prague."
    Kitty nodded absently. "That doesn't sound too difficult."
    "Obviously, you'd have to penetrate the choking black mist that hangs about it...."
    "Oh... right."
    "And avoid its swinging fists that can hammer through