and wrapped myself around her as completely as I could. The grenade rolled to a halt just on the other side of the table, and exploded with a roar so loud it actually deafened me inside my armour. The ironwood tabletop absorbed a lot of the blast, but the sheer impact was enough to send the table skidding down the hallway, pushing Molly and me ahead of it. Black smoke filled the hallway. I approved of that; it should hide us from the enemy, for a while. I grabbed Molly by the arm and hauled her up onto her feet. She clung to me for a moment, half dazed by the explosion, so I picked her up and ran for the far end of the hallway.
I pushed my armour’s speed to its limit, till I was just a golden blur hammering through the black smoke, my armoured feet punching holes in the wooden floor. The smoke was already clearing as I approached the end door. Bullets followed me down the last part of the hallway, but couldn’t catch up. Other statues in alcoves blew to pieces, shattered by gunfire; furniture was destroyed; and priceless antiques were smashed and shattered. Even though I was sure my surroundings weren’t real, I still felt hot flushes of real anger, and guilt at seeing such familiar objects lost because of me. I reached the far end of the hallway and skidded to a halt before the door. I put Molly down, though she still clung to one of my arms. I was worried she might have been hit and wounded, but she didn’t seem to be. Just shocked. Which wasn’t like Molly. What had the Powers That Be done to her? I tried the door; it was locked. I lowered one golden shoulder and slammed it open. It sprang back, accompanied by the sounds of rending wood and a broken lock. I plunged through into the next room, turning all the while to protect Molly with my armour from the continuing hail of bullets. How much ammunition did the bastard have? I grabbed the door, and forced it back into place. The heavy wood immediately jumped and shuddered, as gunfire slammed into it.
“Whoever our attackers are,” I said, just a bit breathlessly, “they are really well armed. Guns and grenades, and an apparently endless supply of ammo . . .”
“Could be worse,” said Molly. “They might have incendiaries.”
“Hush,” I said. “Don’t give them ideas.”
She was standing on her own now. I looked her over. The colour had come back into her face, and her eyes were tracking again. She glared at the door, then stepped smartly to one side, just as the first bullets punched right through it. Our enemy had found some heavier ammunition.
“Speaking of ammo,” said Molly, “I’m almost out. Hey, why don’t you morph your hands back into machine guns? Give the bastard something to think about.”
“I’ve been trying,” I said. “But I’m getting nothing. It’s hard to concentrate, with everything that’s happening. And it might be because I’m back at Drood Hall, where I was always taught that such adaptations were unacceptable inside the house.”
“But it’s not really the Hall!”
“I know! But I’m having a really hard time convincing my subconscious of that!”
“Terrific . . . ,” said Molly. “All right, let’s go down to the Armoury. Where your family keeps all the really powerful weapons and nasty devices. There’s bound to be something there we can use. Something to let us turn the tables and take the fight to the enemy.”
“Would those weapons really be there?” I said, frowning. “Assuming this fake Hall has a fake Armoury?”
“It’ll all be there, if you believe it will,” Molly said firmly. “Just because you didn’t summon this place it doesn’t mean you don’t have any influence over it. Okay, that sentence got a bit out of control, but you know what I mean! Whoever it is out there, you must know the Hall better than they do. Your certainty should override whatever they’re thinking.”
I didn’t want to go down to the Armoury, though I wasn’t prepared to admit that to Molly. I was afraid I might meet a fake Uncle Jack there. And I didn’t think I could cope with that, so soon after our recent encounter. But since I couldn’t say that to Molly, I just nodded brusquely.
“The only problem is, the entrance to the Armoury is right over on the other side of the Hall.”
“Not necessarily,” said Molly. “Not if