Read Secret Histories 10: Dr. DOA for Free Online

inside a volcano.”
    And then the wind dropped suddenly, and her last few words sounded loudly in the quiet. Her head came up sharply, and she looked quickly around her.
    “We’re not alone here, Eddie. Someone just joined us.”
    “Cassandra can’t have found us already!”
    “I don’t think it’s Cassandra . . .” Molly pointed off to one side with a steady hand.
    Standing alone on the far side of the deck, a tall, still figure in a grey monk’s robe was staring at us. His cowl was pulled well forwardto hide his face. His feet were bare, and his hands were clenched into fists at his sides. The wind had dropped to almost nothing, and the cold was gone; I had no doubt that was all down to him. He had . . . an air about him, of cold intent and implacable purpose. I’d met his kind before. Such men are dangerous.
    “Who the hell is that?” I said. “And what’s he doing here? Now?”
    “I know him,” said Molly. “And not in a good way. That is the Manichean Monk. A spiritual enforcer, specializing in righteous retribution. Jumped-up thug with a halo.”
    “You mean, like the Walking Man?” I said. “The wrath of God in the world of men?”
    “Oh please; he wishes,” said Molly. “The Monk’s just a general troubleshooter. He mostly operates out of the Adventurers Club these days, in the Nightside. I worked with him on a few cases, some years back.”
    “I won’t ask,” I said.
    “Best not,” Molly agreed. “Except to say, in my own defence, it seemed like a good idea at the time.”
    “So many unfortunate things do,” I said. “But the Adventurers Club? He’s one of the good guys? Can’t say I’ve ever heard of him.”
    “He does try to be a good guy, in a frightening sort of way,” said Molly. “Manicheans are heavily into duality. Good and Evil, Light and Dark, Law and Chaos, and nothing at all in between. He hunts down heavy-duty sinners, on behalf of the Church of Last Resort. Humanity’s saviours, self-appointed. When you’ve tried everything and everyone else, they’re what’s left. If you’re sure your cause is just and your conscience is clear. Manicheans have a really unpleasant way of dealing with time-wasters.”
    I shot her an amused glance. “Okay, how did an odd couple like you two end up working together?”
    “I may have lied to him, just a little,” Molly said airily. “About who and what I was.”
    “It’s okay,” I said. “I understand. We’ve all got a dodgy ex or two somewhere in our past.”
    “He is not an ex! He was never an ex! Oh hell, he’s coming over. Look penitent.”
    The Monk came striding forward, stern and determined, like a force of nature on the move. For a man in a monk’s robe, with no obvious weapons, he still managed to look pretty damned threatening.
    “Does he believe we’re here to stop him?” I said. “Or is he here to look you up, in a not-at-all friendly way?”
    “We worked perfectly well together, thank you,” Molly said coldly. “And parted on good terms. I thought.”
    “Could he be here for the same reason we are?” I said.
    “I suppose it’s always possible, if Cassandra really pissed off his church with the wrong kind of prediction . . . but I wouldn’t have thought so. The Monk deals with individual sinners, not organisations.”
    “Then I refer you to my previous question,” I said. “Why is he looking at us like that?”
    “I’ll ask him,” said Molly. “He’ll listen to me. Unless he’s found out who I really am . . . Hey, Monk! Been a while. What’s going on?”
    The Manichean Monk crashed to a halt, a cautious distance away. He ignored Molly, all his attention fixed on me. I still couldn’t make out his features inside the shadows of his pulled-forward cowl. When he finally spoke, his voice was harsh and grating.
    “It’s time to pay for your sins, Drood.”
    “Oh hell,” I said. “It’s family business. Look, Monk, I’m a bit busy right now. I’m sorry, but I just