Secret Histories 10: Dr. DOA by Simon R. Green Read Free Book Online

to you or me, that’s no choice at all.”
    She struggled fiercely to break free. The Monk almost broke her arm, holding her in place. She cried out, her face twisted in agony, andfought him anyway. There was nothing I could do. The Monk could take them both over the side in a moment. Molly finally subsided, breathing harshly and staring miserably at me with tear-filled eyes.
    “Hush,” the Monk said to her. “It will all be over soon.”
    “Why are you doing this?” said Molly. “You know this isn’t right. It can’t be what God wants!”
    “It’s what I want,” said the Monk. “Do it, Drood. Jump. Or I go, and she goes with me.”
    I believed him. I nodded to the Monk, and stepped right up to the edge. I felt strangely calm, now all other choices had been taken away from me. There was just what I had to do, to save Molly. I took a deep breath. I didn’t look down. There was nothing there I wanted to see. I looked at Molly so I could take the memory of her face with me. I wanted her to be the last thing I ever saw.
    “Please, Eddie,” she said. “Please; I’m begging you! Don’t do this . . .”
    “I have to,” I said. “It’s all right, Molly. I’ve always known you were worth ten of me.”
    She screamed then, in rage and horror, and slammed her heel down hard on the Monk’s bare foot. The sudden pain distracted him, catching him off balance, and Molly bent sharply forward, putting all her strength into the judo throw that sent the Monk flying forward over her shoulder. The pain to her arm must have been unbearable, but she never hesitated. The Monk shot right over her, unable to stop himself. He lost hold of her arm and crashed to the steel deck at her feet. Molly kicked him savagely in the ribs. The Monk shot out a hand and grabbed hold of her ankle.
    I was already off and running, the moment Molly freed herself from the Monk. I knew I had only one chance to get this right. The Monk saw me coming, let go of Molly’s ankle, and scrambled up onto his feet again. Molly beat at his head and shoulders with both fists, but he didn’t seem to feel the blows. He grabbed one of her flailing armsand dragged her back to the edge of the ship. She fought him every step of the way, slowing him down and buying me time to get to them.
    The Monk realised I was going to reach them before he could jump. He threw Molly to the deck and turned to face me. He struck out at me with vicious strength. I ducked under the blow and hit him hard with a lowered shoulder. I hit him square on, and the impact sent him staggering back. Towards the edge. He tried to grab hold of me, to take me with him, and then he was over the edge and gone.
    Molly ran to me and hugged me tightly, and I held her as close to me as I could. After a while, we walked over to the edge and looked down. There was no sign of the Monk. I hadn’t even heard him scream. Molly spat after him.
    “Bastard.”
    “Yes,” I said. “But that’s not a good enough reason to kill someone.”
    “Eddie?”
    “I’ve killed again, Molly. After I swore I never would.”
    “You had no choice! He was out of his mind . . . Everyone will understand. You have no reason to feel guilty!”
    “But I do,” I said. “I should have known; God does love to make a man break his word.”
    “You would have jumped to save me, wouldn’t you?”
    “Of course.”
    “Then I wish the Monk were back here so I could kill him for you.”
    “You knew him,” I said. “Was he a good man then?”
    “The man we just met wasn’t the man I knew,” said Molly. She frowned. “There was something wrong with him. I could feel it. Maybe something happened to him, in the Nightside . . . If he’d been in his right mind, following his duty, he couldn’t have lost. Hey, my magics are coming back! Is your torc . . . ?”
    “Yes,” I said. “Come on; we still have a mission here. And it had better turn out to be worth it.”
    *   *   *
    By the time we reached the