Valkyrie went walking. The shade cast by the tightly packed buildings robbed them of their shadows. Only at midday did sunlight ever have a chance to warm the paving stones.
They passed a mother and her children, all of whom stared at Skulduggery as they passed, and ignored Valkyrie. It was a nice change.
They got to Richard Melior’s house. The upper bay window was open. Without breaking stride, Skulduggery wrapped an arm round Valkyrie’s waist and took them both off their feet. They drifted up and through the window, touching down in the bedroom. The bed was unmade. The door to the ensuite was open. From inside, the sound of someone brushing their teeth.
Spitting. A tap running. The clink as a toothbrush went back into its holder.
A man came out, dressed in jogging bottoms and a T-shirt. His feet were bare. His black hair was short, his haircut expensive. His beard was trimmed close. He stared at them.
“Doctor Melior,” Skulduggery said. “Good morning. I’m going to have to ask you not to make any sudden moves.”
Melior darted for the door, but Valkyrie shoved him towards Skulduggery who grabbed him, spun him around and sent him stumbling to the wall.
“That would count as a sudden move,” Skulduggery said. “My name is Skulduggery Pleasant. This is Valkyrie Cain. We’d like to ask you a few questions, if you have the time. We’re looking for a friend of ours. Male, about your height, African-American. His name is Temper Fray. I believe you know him?”
Melior licked his lips. “You … you can’t be here.” He was American.
“We won’t be long.”
“You can’t just … you can’t just come into my house. You need a warrant or a—”
“You’re thinking of mortals,” said Valkyrie. “You’re thinking of cops. We’re neither.”
“Get out,” Melior said, shaking his head. “I’m telling you to leave. Leave now.”
Skulduggery picked up a framed photograph by the bed, of Melior and a man with a remarkably square jaw. “This is nice,” he said. “Your husband? Savant Vega, isn’t it? Is he in? Could we speak to him?”
Melior’s eyes narrowed. “I told you to leave.”
“Calm down, Richard.”
“They’ll know. They know you’re here now. You’ve got to leave.”
“Not until you tell us what you know of the anti-Sanctuary,” Valkyrie said.
Melior pressed the heels of his hands into his temples and screwed his eyes shut. His face was red and he was muttering.
“What’s that, Richard?” Skulduggery asked. “We can’t hear you.”
Valkyrie frowned. It wasn’t only Melior’s face that was going red. It was his neck and his arms and his feet, too. His whole body was flushed and trembling. He was burning from within.
“Skulduggery …” Valkyrie murmured, suddenly wishing that she was at home with the dog, having a nice quiet morning, far away from people who wanted to do her harm.
“Let’s not resort to violence, Doctor,” Skulduggery said. “If we feel we are about to be attacked, I must warn you that we will defend ourselves.”
Melior’s eyes snapped open. “You brought this on yourselves,” he growled.
Skulduggery grabbed Valkyrie, pulled her behind him as he raised a hand. There was a whump, like a sudden explosion of flames, and a wave of energy hit Skulduggery’s shield of air and threw them both backwards. Valkyrie tumbled out through the window, the world tilting crazily, and then all too suddenly the ground crunched into her shoulder. She would have cried out if she’d had any breath left in her body. She turned over, trying to suck in air as she clutched her left arm.
Skulduggery sat up beside her. “Are you OK?”
She shook her head, and managed to draw in a single breath. He helped her to her feet.
She did her best to ignore the rising pain. “Didn’t think … Vitas could attack like that …”
“This one appears to be special.”
Melior’s door opened and Melior stormed out. He was wearing trainers now, the laces not yet tied, and was shrugging into a jacket.
Skulduggery drew his gun. “Stay right there, Richard.”
Melior barked out a mirthless laugh, and six people appeared around him.
At first, Valkyrie thought they were all Teleporters – they’d arrived at the same instant and none of them had been touching – but that notion fell apart the moment one of them, the woman in the tuxedo, extended her right arm. Her palm opened and a black tendril shot out, its barbed teeth closing round Skulduggery’s gun, yanking it from his grip. She smiled widely, her tongue between her teeth.
The man beside her had a black, braided goatee. The guy next to him had an Elvis haircut and wore a purple suit.
To Melior’s right were three men. The one furthest away was dressed in an ill-fitting suit and he wrung his hands nervously. Beside him was a handsome young man with shockingly bleached hair. He looked like a washed-out supermodel with a rock-star sneer. Valkyrie just knew he was the Teleporter.
The sixth member of the group was dressed head to foot in black rubber.
“Mr Lethe,” Skulduggery said, brushing dust from his jacket. “Good to finally meet you.”
The masked man held up a finger. “Just Lethe will do,” he said, his voice distorted. “It’s very good to meet you, too, Detective. I’ve heard so many stories. So many wild tales. You’ve had quite the life of adventure, haven’t you?”
“It’s not over yet,” Skulduggery said.
Lethe chuckled. “I fear it may be, actually. And beside you the Swathe of Destruction herself, Valkyrie Cain. Now your death, Valkyrie … your death will be special.”
Valkyrie stayed quiet. Her shoulder was dislocated and the pain was making her sweat, and she couldn’t be bothered engaging with this creep.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” said Skulduggery. “We only came here to chat to Richard. We’ve lost a friend, you see, and we were—”
“Oh,” Lethe interrupted. “You mean Temper. Yes, we know Temper. He’s alive, in case you were wondering. We haven’t killed him yet, or anything like that. We’re all sorcerers of some description, after all. We’re family. Not monsters.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“And, if we kill family, we like it to be an occasion. We want it to be memorable. To stick in the mind. We’re not going to kill him just because he’s an enemy, or because he betrayed us. He was probably only obeying orders, right? Infiltrate the group. Gain our trust. Lead to our downfall.
