“Ah,” I said. “Yes, well . . . Actually, in the heat of battle with so much going on . . . I sort of forgot I had it with me.”

The Armourer sighed heavily. “Lean forward, will you, Eddie.” I did so, and he smacked me hard around the back of the head.

“Hey! Dammit, Uncle Jack, that hurt!”

“Good. It might help you remember, next time. I give you these things to give you an edge in battle! To keep you alive! I expect you to use them. I expect you to . . .” A nearby comm unit began to bleep insistently, and the Armourer broke off to answer it. “What? I’m busy!”

The Sarjeant-at-Arms’s face appeared on the monitor screen. He nodded brusquely to the Armourer, and then stared right past him at Molly and me.

“I thought you might go to ground in the Armoury. I’m calling an emergency meeting of the Inner Circle, in the Sanctity. Right now. There are urgent matters to be discussed.”

“Oh yes?” I said. “And just when did you get the authority to summon the Circle together?”

“Be there,” he said. “Or we’ll start without you.”

And he closed down the screen before I could answer.

“If it’s not one thing,” said Molly, “it’s another. And I thought my family was bad.”

“Your family?” I said.

“Don’t ask.”

Molly and I left the Armoury and headed straight for the Sanctity. I could have transported us both there with Merlin’s Glass, but for once I was in no hurry. I wanted time to think, plan what I was going to say. The Armourer said he’d be along soon, and I really hoped Jacob would show his ghostly face this time. I just knew I was going to need all the support I could muster at this meeting. And then Molly suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and announced that I’d have to go on without her.

“I’m sorry, Eddie. Really. But I really can’t stay inside this oppressive old pile any longer. I just can’t. I have to get out, into the open air, before I start to wither.”

“But . . . this is Inner Circle business, Molly. It’s important. I need you to be there, with me.”

“I can’t help that. I have to get out of here before I start screaming. You have no idea what this place does to me, Eddie. You can come and look for me in the grounds when you’ve finished. I need time to myself anyway, to recharge my powers, and rebuild all the energies I used up on the Nazca Plain. Right now, I don’t have a spark of magic left in me. And I can’t live like that.”

I grabbed her by both shoulders and made her look at me. “I need you with me this time, Molly. They’re going to crucify me in there. I can’t face them alone.”