Simon Green - Live and let Drood

Eddie, she said, I m glad you ve found your grandfather after all this time. Really, I am. But some secrets should stay secrets. Until we re sure of the situation.

I just scowled at her, resentful that she couldn t share my happiness. But the Regent was already nodding his head solemnly.

Spoken like a true agent, Molly. Your secrets can wait, whatever they are. He turned back to me. Tell me what it is you need right now, Eddie. Why have you come here, to the Regent of Shadows, to the Department of the Uncanny?

Despite myself, I forced my emotions down and put on my professional persona. I wanted to believe in the Regent, but I have better reasons than most to know that most rogues are rogues. There was still one thing I couldn t let go.

Do you know the truth about what happened to my parents? I said bluntly.

To my daughter, Emily, and her husband, Charles? Of course I know. I made it my business to find out, and to hell with whoever got in my way. And I promise I will tell you the whole story one day, but not until the current crisis is over. You can t afford to be distracted.

Tell me! I said, putting all my anger and authority into my voice. Tell me right now!

I can t, he said steadily, meeting my harsh gaze with unwavering eyes. I m sorry, Eddie. You ll understand in time.

Typical Drood, said Molly. Never give away anything that matters, except on your own terms. Do you know what happened to my parents? Jake and Dana Metcalf? Supposedly killed by the Droods for fighting alongside the White Horse Faction.

I remember that, said the Regent.

Molly and I waited until it became clear he had nothing to more to say on the subject. The wild upsurge of emotions I d felt on discovering who he was were beginning to die down. He might be my grandfather, but he was also the Regent of Shadows, and his duties and responsibilities were bound to be different from mine.

My parents deaths are supposed to be linked to those of Emily and Charles, said Molly, studying the Regent closely. Because they saw something they shouldn t have. Because they knew too much

There s nothing I can tell you about that, the Regent said carefully. Not right now. It s complicated.

But you do know what happened to them? insisted Molly, glaring fiercely at the Regent.

Of course I know, he said. I was there. Are you any happier for knowing that, Molly? Knowing that I can t tell you any more for the moment?

I looked at the Regent in a new way, seeing for the first time the cold, hard professional who d survived leaving the Droods and his wife to found his own secret army. The Regent of Shadows. You don t get to be head of a secret organisation like that unless you ve got true Drood grit in you.

When this is all over, I said to him, and something in my voice snapped his head right round to look at me, then we are going to talk about this. And I will not walk away until you ve told Molly and me everything you know about how our parents died.

The Regent surprised me then by smiling approvingly at me.

That s the way, Eddie! It s good to see you re everything the files say you are.

He sat down behind his desk again. Molly and I sat down facing him. I needed something else we could talk about or I was going to end up shouting at him.

How did the Regent of Shadows, with his own organisation of specially trained and independent spies, end up here, running the Department of the Uncanny and part of the Establishment?

Not by choice, said the Regent. I was happy enough on my own, but Catherine Latimer approached me personally and asked me to take over Uncanny, because MI-13 had been proven not just infiltrated, but completely corrupt. Someone had to take up the slack, and Uncanny couldn t do it on their own. I couldn t say no. Even when you re not a Drood any longer, duty and responsibility still weigh heavy on you. I did make it clear that I would split us up again, as soon as MI-13 had been properly restored but I doubt I will. There s nothing more seductive than fire-rate resources and a decent budget. I can do more here at Uncanny than I ever could with all my shadows.

Why should the Carnacki boss approach you personally? I said.

Oh, she and I go way back, said the Regent. He laughed quietly at the surprise on my face. We were all such chums together back in the day. Out in the field, fighting the forces of evil with cunning and charm, a quip on the lips and a sword blade hidden inside a furled umbrella. Like-minded souls, from many different areas. Martha and me, the Independent Agent and the Walking Woman, Catherine Latimer and Crow Lee Oh yes, they were quite the couple back then, fresh out of Cambridge and looking for supernatural trouble to get into. Though she never talks about it anymore, she really was quite sweet on him at the time. It s always the bad boy who makes a good girl s heart beat that little bit faster. And he did throw the very best parties. Martha and I were such happy bright young things, before she was called back to assume the heavy mantle of the Matriarch.

He looked at me kindly. You don t have to be on your own anymore, Eddie. Would you like to come and work with me here at Uncanny? I know the family is all gone, but you could be part of the new family I ve made here. Everyone would make you very welcome.

And I just couldn t hold it back any longer. They re not dead! They re still alive! The Droods are still out there, somewhere!

What?

The Regent jumped to his feet, staring slack-jawed at me. And I jumped to my feet, grinning broadly. I glanced apologetically at Molly, who rolled her eyes and gave me a Go on, then, if you must look.

The ruined Hall isn t our Hall, I said to the Regent. It s another Hall, another Drood family, from a different dimension, with a different history. Our Hall was rotated to another Earth by Alpha Red Alpha. You do know about that? Of course you do. I m pretty sure it was operated from outside, by remote control, taking our family by surprise. They probably never knew what hit them, until it was far too late. And now they re trapped in that other place, unable to get home. But they re still alive! I m sure of it! The dead Droods in the ruined Hall were just left there to distract us, to keep us from looking for the real thing! I m working on a way to get our family back, but I need help and resources. That s why I came here.

Showing off in front of Grandpa, muttered Molly.

The horror, the horror

But I wasn t listening, because the Regent gave a great whoop of delight and burst out from behind his desk to grab me by the arms and dance me round his office, hollering away happily. I laughed helplessly along with him, dancing just as wildly. It felt so good to have someone else to share my good news with. Molly knew, but she wasn t a Drood. She wasn t family, with all that meant. So she stood to one side, smiling painfully, waiting for the Regent and I to wear ourselves out. And eventually we did. The Regent dropped back into the chair behind his desk, flushed bright red, breathing hard, grinning. I slumped into the stiff-backed visitor s chair, fighting to get my breathing back under control. Molly sat down beside me and wouldn t look at either of us. The Regent and I grinned at each other.

If Alpha Red Alpha got rid of our family, he said, finally, how in hell are we going to get them back?

I m working on that, I said.

The Regent laughed breathlessly. Everything I ve heard about you really is true.

Oh, it is, said Molly. Believe it.

Now, you said someone must have activated Alpha Red Alpha by remote control, said the Regent. Who do you think was behind that?

I m pretty sure it was Crow Lee, I said, and then had to break off as the Regent slammed his fist on the desktop.

Of course it s him! Has to be him! Only he d have the brass nerve Cheeky bugger! I was talking to him just the other week, and he never so much as hinted at what he was planning. He must have known I d have thrown this whole organisation against him if I d known.