“Who knows?” said the Armourer. “Hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands? Nests set up in countries all across the world, and all of humanity under threat. A threat we would have known nothing about . . . if you hadn’t launched your attack on the Loathly Ones, Eddie.”

“This is major-league stuff,” said Molly. “The whole world under threat? What do we do?”

“We stop them,” I said. “That’s what this family does. Uncle Jack, do we need to unlock the Armageddon Codex again?”

“Certainly not,” the Armourer said firmly. “I opened the Codex for you once, and that was one time more than I ever expected to see the Codex opened in my lifetime. No, those superweapons are only supposed to be used as a last resort, when reality itself is under threat. And things aren’t that bad. Yet.”

“But if the world’s about to be invaded by Beings from Outside . . .” I said.

“No, Eddie. The family can deal with this. We have before. Read the records. I swear we don’t teach nearly enough family history anymore. The Codex weapons are for when everything else, including tears, swearing, and prayer, have failed us. Not just to salve your pride, after it’s taken a beating in the field.”

“You weren’t there,” Molly said sharply. “You didn’t see what we did. Sense what we sensed . . . It was bad, really bad. Whatever it was, trying to force its way into our reality, it was worse than anything I’ve ever encountered. I’ve dealt with demons and devils in my time, and forces from Above and Below our reality, but these Invaders . . . They scare the shit out of me. Remember, Eddie, when you said there were two kinds of enemy: demons and gods? Well, the Loathly Ones may be demons, but whatever they’re trying to summon most definitely aren’t.”

“The family can handle this,” the Armourer said firmly. “I have developed weapons here beyond your worst nightmares. You have no idea what the Droods are capable of, Molly, when they finally go to war. We’ve been drowsing too long, coasting on our past victories. About time we got stuck in again, and got our hands bloody. We were warriors once, and will be again.” The Armourer smiled, and his usual kindly, absent-minded manner just vanished, replaced by a cold and focused malice. I should never have forgotten that this man had once been a first-class field agent during the coldest part of the Cold War, almost as lauded as his famous brother James.

Licensed to kill, in hot blood or cold, so long as they got the job done.

The Armourer turned to Molly, and was immediately his old gruff self again. “Don’t you worry, my dear, all will be well. You’ll see. Now, Eddie, how did you get on with that new short-range teleport bracelet I gave you? Work okay? Any problems?”