and stepped into the light. He was good-looking, unshaven, with dried blood on his shirt.
“You just arrived?” Omen asked.
“Not by choice.”
“Um,” said Omen, “are you Temper Fray, by any chance?”
“I’m not Temper Fray by any kind of chance,” the man replied. “I’m Temper Fray by design. I’m Temper Fray because nobody else could handle the awesome responsibility of being me. But who I am is not the issue right now. The issue is what is a schoolboy doing in this particular prison at this particular time?”
Omen thought about it for a moment. “Well, I … I’m kind of here by accident, but since I am here I could, maybe, rescue you, if you’d like …?”
Temper Fray folded his arms. “I wouldn’t say no.”
“What about me?” the convict asked. “Can you rescue me, too?”
Omen turned to him. “I don’t really know you, sir.”
“My name’s Immolation Joe.”
Omen hoped that Immolation Joe could see the conflict on his face. “I’m not sure releasing you would be a good idea, though. You sound, just by your name, like you might be a threat to, you know, people. And, to be honest, also me.”
Immolation Joe frowned. “What are you saying?”
“I think you might kill me if I let you out, sir.”
“And?”
Omen took a moment, and nodded. “That’s a good point.”
Temper cleared his throat, loudly, and Omen turned to him again. “How about you ignore the multiple murderer you’re talking to and just focus on getting me out of here, how about that?”
“Yes,” Omen said at once. “OK. Sorry. Do you have the key?”
“Slick, if I had the key, I wouldn’t need to be rescued.”
“I mean, do you know where the key is?”
“I do not.”
“Then do you know how I can rescue you without it?”
Temper sagged. “My initial excitement is flagging, just to let you know. How did you get here?”
“I teleported,” said Omen.
“Ah! My man’s a Teleporter!”
“Well, no. I hitched a ride, actually. I know what’s going on, though. Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain brought me in to help.”
“They brought you in? They didn’t find Tanith Low or the Monster Hunters or any spare Dead Men that might be floating around? They brought you in? What age are you?”
“Fourteen.”
“What’s your name?”
“Omen Darkly.”
Temper brightened. “The Chosen One? Well, goddamn, I take it all back.”
“Uh … I’m not actually the Chosen One. I’m the Chosen One’s brother.”
Temper went quiet for a moment. “I didn’t know the Chosen One had a brother.”
“He does,” Omen answered. “And I’m him.” The look on Temper’s face didn’t change, so Omen kept talking. “You don’t have to worry, though. I was there for every step of my brother’s training, and I picked up a lot.” He wasn’t quite sure what he was saying any more. He wished his mouth would stop moving. “You’re in good hands. I can totally rescue you.” Omen gave another smile while his words caught up with him. Holy crap. He was talking gibberish. There was no way Temper was going to believe the stuff he was saying.
“OK, slick,” Temper said. “I believe you. Proceed with the rescuing.”
Omen couldn’t move for a moment. Then he nodded. When that didn’t do anything, he looked around. The solution didn’t jump out at him so he chewed his lip.
“Kid?” Temper said.
“Do you think they have a spare key, maybe, hidden somewhere?” Omen asked. “Behind a loose brick or something?”
“Probably not.”
“OK. That’s unfortunate. I’m not sure how I’m going to rescue you, then.”
Temper scratched his stubble. “Listen to me, you don’t need to. You just have to call Skulduggery and tell him what’s going on.”
“My phone doesn’t work in here. I’ll have to go outside and call him. Do you know where the exit is?”
“You have no idea where we are, do you? We’re on a floating island. Going outside here means dropping into the ocean.”
“Oh.”
Temper worked his jaw back and forth, and Omen could tell he was annoyed. “Slick, you’re going to have to find a way to open this door, OK? I might be the one in the cell, but we’re both trapped here. You get me out, I find a way to get us off this rock. Think you can do that?”
Omen nodded. “No.”
Temper frowned. “No?”
“I can’t do any of that stuff,” Omen blurted. “I can’t rescue you. I don’t know why I said I could. I just wanted to impress you. You seem cool and I want to be cool, too, so I said it, but I’ll make a mess of it. I’m already making a mess of it. My brother does the rescuing, not me. I haven’t had the practice. I don’t have the mindset. My uncle took me aside once and told me I was the worst. He didn’t even specify what I was the worst at. I think he just meant in general.”
“Your uncle sounds like a piece of work, but you’ve got to get past that. Is he here right now? No. You are. You are here and you can do this.”
“I can do this.”
“No, you can’t,” said Immolation Joe.
“Ignore him,” said Temper. “You can do this.”
Omen bit his lip. “What if they see me?”
“They’ll probably kill you. You ever have someone try to kill you before?”
“Yes, actually. This morning.”
“I knew it, just by looking at you. You’ve stared death in the face. That’s good. I have people trying to kill me all the time. Getting captured is actually kind of a luxury. What’s your name again?”
“Omen.”
Temper nodded. “OK, Omen, find a way to get me out of here. I’m counting on you.”
Omen
