“No,” he said. “I don’t think you do. See, you figure you’re descended from the Last of the Ancients and that’s it, that’s the scope of your uniqueness in its entirety. I’m here to tell you, little lady, that that ain’t so. You got a whole host of other things goin’ for you. Not to give you too big a head or nothin’, but everythin’ about you screams important. And I’m talkin’ grand scale important. Everythin’ I hear about you just reinforces that whole idea that you, my dear, are a very special girl.
“When I broke into the Necromancer Temple, I heard some of ’em talkin’ about you. They called you the Death Bringer. By the look on your face, I can see that you know what that is. You’re their Great Dark Hope apparently, now that Lord Vile’s gone. Imagine that. You and Lord Vile – one of a kind, huh? Ain’t that somethin’?”
He began tapping the blade against her skin.
“It’s a big responsibility now. The Death Bringer’s the one to save the world, ain’t that right? Are you ready to save the world, Valkyrie? And I don’t mean save it from evil men or from twisted gods. I mean save the world from itself. Do you think you’re worthy?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, you’re honest. I’ll give you that.”
He tapped the blade and she waited until it was no longer touching her skin, then she slammed the darkness into him. He flew backwards, head over heels, his sunglasses dropping to the ground.
“Damn it,” he growled, “I said I ain’t goin’ to kill you, didn’t I? Didn’t I say that?”
“But you didn’t tell me why.”
He got up slowly, brushing down his clothes. He looked at her without needing eyes. “I get the feelin’ bad things are goin’ to happen, and I get the feelin’ that you are goin’ to be smack dab in the middle of it all. I ain’t killin’ you because, honestly and truly, li’l darlin’, it’s a lot more fun to keep you alive. That, I think, will be my real revenge.” His smile returned and he nodded to the sunglasses at her feet. “You mind?”
She picked them up, thought about crushing them, but then tossed them to him.
He put them on. “Much obliged.”
“The next time I hear that you’re back in the country,” Valkyrie said, “I’m going to assume you’re here to kill me and I will go after you. And I won’t let you walk away.”
“I’m sure you’ll do your best,” he nodded. “Say goodbye to all of ’em for me, will you? Especially the sword lady. I’ve taken quite a shine to her, I ain’t too embarrassed to say it.”
“I’m sure she’ll be thrilled.”
Sanguine laughed. “Good luck to you, Valkyrie Cain. You got a lifetime of dark days ahead of you, if I’m not mistaken. I’d enjoy the quiet moments while you can.”
He tapped a finger to his temple in a salute then turned and walked away.
She called Skulduggery and he told her where he was. She went round to the back of the stadium, slipping by a Staff Only sign. She saw Cleavers loading Springheeled Jack into the back of a van. He was kicking and struggling. They closed the door and his pleas were instantly cut off.
Skulduggery stood with Ghastly and Shudder by the No Entry door. Caelan stood apart from them. They all turned and watched her as she approached. She didn’t say anything.
Davina Marr led Scarab to a second van. She got in behind him, a Cleaver joined them and the van followed the other one away. Sorcerers filed into the stadium, their job being to cover up whatever needed to be covered up.
“Dusk and Remus Crux are unaccounted for,” Ghastly said. “Vaurien Scapegrace too, though I don’t really know if he counts.”
“I don’t know about Crux or Scapegrace,” Valkyrie said. “but Sanguine and Dusk are over their revenge thing.”
Skulduggery nodded and didn’t ask any questions. The questions would come later, she knew.
“Where’d you lot disappear to?” Fletcher Renn asked as he stepped out into the rain behind them.
Valkyrie turned, saw him there and the next moment she had her arms wrapped around him and her head on his shoulder. He laughed and hugged her back. He was soaking wet, but she didn’t mind.
Thurid Guild hurried out after him and made straight for Skulduggery. “My family,” he said. “Sanguine has—”
“They’re OK,” Valkyrie said, stepping away from Fletcher and composing herself. “They’re in Howth, around Nashville Drive.”
He looked at her, surprised. He was drenched too. “He let them go?”
“I let them go,” she said. “But I don’t think he was going to hurt them anyway. You’re the one they wanted to hurt.”
“What happened?” Shudder asked Guild. “Where’s the bomb?”
“Mr Renn teleported us over the ocean somewhere,” Guild said.
“I took this cruise once,” Fletcher said. “Thought I’d like it. It was boring so I left halfway through. But I needed somewhere safe, somewhere without any people, and that popped into my head. I teleported there, dropped off the Grand Mage and teleported away again.” He turned to Valkyrie. “Your window’s fixed by the way.”
She frowned. “You teleported into my room?”
“I didn’t mean to. I didn’t have time to think, you know? I just needed to get somewhere safe and I ended up there. No one saw me. Your room is still a mess though.”
She scowled and he laughed.
“The Desolation Engine detonated,” Guild said, picking up the story. “The blast left me unharmed, but I expect it vaporised every fish around me.”
“Better fish than people,” Ghastly said.
“Not if you’re a fish,” Shudder pointed out.
“I was in the water,” Guild continued, “and I tried to imagine what it would have been like to have detonated that bomb with all those people around. You saved over 80,000 lives today, boy.”
Fletcher’s smile kind of froze. “I … I hadn’t thought about it like that.”
“I
