Until the End, page 24
“You’ll find out, sister. They get bored after a few years of standing around.”
“Maybe in your future. In mine, they’ll do what I tell them.”
Malice laughed. “Is that right? You’ll be the one issuing orders, then? You’ll be the one telling a race of gods, fourteen billion years old, what to do? Oh, I hope I’m around to see that.”
“I doubt you will be.”
“And what are you going to tell them to do? Keep standing on horizons? Look scary?”
“Pretty much. I’m going to tell them to take care of the Earth while I’m away.”
“And where will you be?”
“Travelling the cosmos,” said Valkyrie. “Conquering alien worlds.”
Malice folded her arms. “That’s their job. That’s what they’re meant to do.”
“Not any more,” Valkyrie said. “I’ll take one or two with me as backup, in case I need them, but I’ll be doing all the work. I’m a bit of a control freak, as it turns out. I don’t trust anyone else to do the job properly – not even my own children.”
“They’re not your children,” said Malice. “You’re the Child, remember?”
“I’m the Child and the Mother,” Valkyrie told her. “Did people not call you that? No? Oh, dear. Maybe it’s a title Creed came up with, just for me. I suppose I have an advantage over you, though. When you were the Child of the Faceless Ones, you were a child. And then it took another few years until you could face the Child of the Ancients and move to the next level. Until you could grow up, basically. But me? I’m a grown woman, with years of experience handling untold amounts of power. I don’t have to face the Child of the Ancients. I don’t have to prove myself. I was born for this, Malice. Every trauma I’ve been through, every moment of torture, has been preparing me for the role I took from you.”
The energy that formed Malice’s figure crackled with hostility. “And that’s who you’re going to be, is it? Valkyrie Cain: Conqueror of Worlds? Terror of the Cosmos? You think you have the power to do that?”
“No,” said Valkyrie. “I’m not Darquesse any more. I’m not a god. But I do respond well to a challenge.”
“You’ll die out there.”
“Probably. It sounds fun, though, doesn’t it?”
A reluctant smile twitched at the corner of Malice’s mouth. “I suppose.”
“So what’s the plan here?” Valkyrie asked. “Are you supposed to tug at my heartstrings? To snap me out of it?”
“Of course not,” Malice said with another laugh. “That wouldn’t have a chance of working. Skulduggery has it in his head that it’s only a matter of time before the real Valkyrie reasserts herself. What he doesn’t understand, what none of them understand, is that that Valkyrie isn’t coming back. There’s nothing to snap you out of. You aren’t possessed or brainwashed. You’ve just been … added to.”
“Have you told them that?”
“Dude, I tried.”
“Then why are we here?”
Malice sighed. “Listen, I should be happy that the Faceless Ones have returned. I shouldn’t really care that it wasn’t me who brought them back. I should be consoled by the fact that they’re here at all, right?”
“Right.”
“Only I’m not. Valkyrie, I’m resentful. I’m bitter. I can’t stand that the Child of the Faceless Ones is someone else. I can’t stand that you, my own sister, whom I love, whom I lost decades ago and have only just found again, has robbed me of this impossible privilege. I’m sorry if that makes me petty, or mean-spirited, or somehow small, but that’s the truth. That’s my truth. Do you understand?”
“So why are we here, Malice?”
“Basically? If I can’t be the Child of the Faceless Ones, then nobody can.”
Malice became streaks of light that sliced into Valkyrie’s chest and took her off her feet. She hit the ground and writhed, hands at her head, screaming as Malice tore through her system.
Temper opened the door and Skulduggery and Cadaver rushed in. Cadaver pulled Valkyrie’s hands behind her back and Skulduggery shackled her wrists, but still she screamed and squirmed on the floor.
“Malice!” Skulduggery called. “Leave her! Malice!”
Valkyrie continued to thrash, smacking her head against the floor.
China stalked in and slapped her hand against the far wall. Streams of dancing light left Valkyrie’s body and formed a figure in the middle of the room. When the figure solidified, Valkyrie finally slumped, and didn’t move.
“I told you to leave her,” Skulduggery said, straightening up.
“My apologies,” said Malice. “It was hard to hear in there, what with all the screaming. She’s fine, though, and I did my part, so now you honour your side of the deal by letting me go.”
“There is no ‘our side of the deal’,” Skulduggery said.
“Then why did I help?”
“You didn’t,” Cadaver said. “You did what you did out of bitterness and resentment, remember?”
“I’ll have you know that what you heard was part of a private conversation and should not be used against me.”
Cadaver took the Soul Catcher from his coat. “Back you go.”
“I can help more if I stay out here,” Malice said quickly. “Being stuck in that thing is … well, it’s boring. And it’s weird. And it does things to your thoughts. It’s not nice, and after what I’ve done to further the cause of freedom and justice and other noble ideas, I think I should be allowed to roam free. I’m energy, for God’s sake. What harm can I do?”
“A lot,” said China.
Malice glared at her. “You know, I preferred you with scars.”
“Back in the Soul Catcher,” Cadaver said.
“I have more to offer.”
“Back.”
“I’ve got insight. Literally, I was inside Valkyrie and I saw all kinds of stuff in there. Stuff that not even she knows about. Useful stuff.”
Skulduggery tilted his head. “Such as?”
Malice tilted her own head. “First, I want guarantees.”
“You’re bluffing.”
“How dare you!”
“If you have something useful to tell us, tell us now. We’ll decide how useful it is, and figure out what to do with you then.”
She thought about it, then shook her head. “No. I’ve changed my mind. I’m not going to tell you.”
“OK.”
“Aren’t you going to argue?”
“No,” Skulduggery said, and Cadaver tapped the sigil carved into the Soul Catcher and Malice howled as she was sucked into it.
There was a moment of quiet.
“I believed her,” Temper said. The others looked at him and he shrugged. “I did. She sounded like she’d seen something important, then decided not to tell us.”
“I believed her, too,” said Militsa, from the doorway.
“The question, then,” said China, “apart from what it is she saw, is why did she decide not to share it.”
“Leverage,” Skulduggery said, using the air to lift Valkyrie off the floor.
“Or she’s protecting the Faceless Ones,” said Cadaver.
Skulduggery nodded. “If she saw something, a way to hurt them that Valkyrie doesn’t consciously know, we’ll need that information.”
“She won’t tell us,” said Cadaver. “She saw an opportunity to gain her freedom, then thought better of it. We can’t waste time on that now. We’re deep in enemy territory and we need to get Valkyrie out of here before we’re discovered. We can’t afford to let things go horribly, hilariously wrong right now. There’ll be plenty of time for that later.”
Frightening Jones was tied up in the basement and Tyler’s dad wasn’t letting anyone down there to see him.
The handcuffs that the fake FBI agents had with them, the ones inscribed with all those weird symbols, seemed to stop Frightening from using his magic to escape, but, even if he managed it, he’d still have to deal with a locked basement door and Tyler’s dad, who was now camped outside that door with a handgun in his lap.
He was not taking the magic thing well. Tyler’s mom wasn’t, either, but at least she was handling it better than her husband.
Mila spent most of her time making Tyler repeat what he’d seen that night at the Madison farm, like hearing the same story over and over again would let magic suddenly make sense.
“Sorcerers,” she said, keeping her voice down. They were in her room and she was cross-legged on her bed and Tyler was sitting on the floor. “There are sorcerers. Good and evil sorcerers.”
“He didn’t say evil,” Tyler corrected. “He just said bad.” Tyler wasn’t altogether sure why that mattered, but it just felt like it did.
“Bad sorcerers,” Mila breathed. “That is messed up.”
“Yeah.”
“And Dad won’t even let us talk to him. I mean, this would change the world, do you realise that? If this got out, it would change everything.”
Tyler did realise that, but he pretended he didn’t because Mila looked like she was thinking things through.
“What does that mean for religion?” she asked. “If there’s magic in the world, if it’s actually real, does that mean there’s a greater chance that there is some sort of God out there somewhere, or a lesser chance? And, if people find out, will they start worshipping these sorcerers? You know what people are like. Religions and cults start at the drop of a hat. Will we all start worshipping Frightening Jones?”
She wondered at that, and shrugged. “I mean, that wouldn’t be altogether bad. What? He just seems like a nice guy. Why do you have that stupid look on your face? God, grow up, Ty, would you?”
“Sorry.”
“And what about politics?” Mila continued. “There’d be a new bad guy, wouldn’t there? So all the old enemies and rivals that exist now, would they reach out to each other to face a new threat? This could lead to world peace.”
“I don’t think they would,” Tyler said. “I think they’d shrink back instead of reaching out. It’d probably make things worse.”
“Maybe.” Mila was quiet for a bit. “You know … if we could get into the basement, we could record what Frightening says, maybe put it online. We could show people what’s really going on. I mean, we could actually change the world, Tyler.”
“We can’t.”
She made a face. “Why not?”
“Because of the bodies.” The bodies of the fake FBI agents were wrapped up and stored in the freezer shed while Tyler’s parents decided on the wisest course of action.
“Ah, yeah,” said Mila. “That’s, like, hiding evidence or something, isn’t it? It’s definitely disturbing a crime scene.”
He nodded. “The crime scene was definitely disturbed.”
Mila sagged back. “So we can’t change the world and become super-famous and get endorsement deals all because our folks moved some corpses into a shed. Typical.”
“Typical.”
“I swear, though – if anyone else announces the discovery of sorcerers while we have a real-live one chained up in our basement, I will sue our parents for, like, severe loss of potential earnings.”
“That’s a good idea.”
She flopped back on to her bed. “I’m full of them.”
Duenna and Vice-Principal Noble walked towards the chapel, exchanging a few words as they went, but mostly staying silent. Funny how none of the teachers would walk with them. When they got to the doors, they gave the City Guard their phones – and Duenna also handed him the remote, which he placed immediately in a bag that he folded and placed in a tray on his desk.
Omen followed Duenna in, keeping an eye on the cop as he passed. Now that the woman in charge was gone, the guard went back to slouching, his gut once again smoothing out the creases on his uniform. He didn’t even look at the students as they filed in – he just stared into empty space, bored out of his mind.
In the chapel, Omen found a spot to kneel between Never and Axelia, and, when the priest started to drone, they began to whisper.
“Anyone know what the cop’s name is?” Omen asked.
“Limerence,” said Axelia. “He’s not the brightest. When Duenna asked for an officer to be stationed here, I don’t think they sent the cream of that particular crop.”
Never shuffled a little closer. “That’s good, right? If he’s thick, he’ll be easier to steal the remote from, won’t he?”
“Maybe,” said Omen. “But stupid people aren’t curious people, and curious people are the easiest to distract.”
Never raised an eyebrow. “So his stupidity might, in fact, be a strength? Curse my innate intelligence.”
“We could always just hit him with a chair,” said Axelia.
Omen frowned at her. “What is it with you and chairs?”
She shrugged. “I imagine they’re good for hitting people with. I don’t know – I just always wanted to hit someone with furniture.”
“You’re a strange girl, Axelia.”
“Every girl is a strange girl, Omen. You just have to get to know us.”
Temper stood beside Skulduggery and they watched Valkyrie wake. The room they were in was small, the only light streaming through the two-way mirror set into the wall.
Valkyrie examined her surroundings, then looked at the mirror, smiling. “You can’t keep me in here forever,” she said. “Sooner or later, one of you will feel sorry for me, or I’ll fool you into believing that the old me has come back, and then I’ll escape and get back to doing what I was doing and nothing will have changed. So why bother? Just save everyone the hassle and accept defeat.”
The door opened and China walked in. “Do you really think any kind of defeat will be accepted with Skulduggery involved?”
Valkyrie sighed. “I know it’s a long shot, but I have to try. There’s literally nothing you can do to stop me. Even if you get every Sensitive you know to try to push me down, to subdue one part of me in favour of another, I’m too strong. The real me will resurface eventually.”
China sat in the chair opposite her. “This is the real you, is it?”
“In all my glory.”
“Skulduggery doesn’t think that’s true.”
“I know what Skulduggery thinks. Malice told me. He thinks he can convince the old me to reassert herself by appealing to, what, my sense of decency? My love for my family and friends? My love for Militsa? I can still love all those people, I can still be a decent person, and also be the Child of the Faceless Ones. They’re not mutually exclusive.”
“I’m sure they’re not, dear. But that’s not what Skulduggery thinks.”
“That’s what Malice told me he thinks.”
“Do you really expect Skulduggery Pleasant to explain his plan to Malice? She was an integral part of it, we needed her to distract you, but there was no chance that we would ever actually trust her with the truth. There was no telling how she would have reacted. She’s a Child of the Faceless Ones, too, after all, albeit once removed.”
“So what is it?” Valkyrie asked. “What’s the plan?”
China sat forward, her elbows resting on her knees, her fingertips pressed together. “We have a working theory,” she said. “We don’t think you’ve changed – in many respects, you’re still the Valkyrie Cain we all know and love. We just think you’re being influenced.”
“By the Faceless Ones.”
“By your psychic connection to them, yes.”
“I’m not psychically connected to them now,” said Valkyrie. “The moment you bound my magic, the connection was lost.”
China shook her head. “It’s been muted,” she said, “not lost. We think, in order to break their hold over you, that link needs to be severed.”
“And how do you plan on doing the severing?”
“That’s my job.”
Valkyrie nodded. “You’re going to tattoo some sigils on to me. You really think that’ll work? The Faceless Ones are quite loud.”
“Then there will need to be a great many sigils. We’re going to be here for a while, Valkyrie. You may suffer some discomfort. I do apologise for that.”
“It won’t make a difference. Say you shut their voices out of my head, say you’re actually capable of doing that – so what? I’ve already been changed, China. It’s too late. Can’t you see that? Don’t you understand? I’ll still be the Child and the Mother of the Faceless Ones even if I can’t hear them.”
“True,” China said, “but that’s a problem we’ll deal with once we have the old Valkyrie back in control.”
“There is no old Valkyrie,” Valkyrie said, losing her patience. “I am the old Valkyrie. I’m the new Valkyrie. I’m the only Valkyrie left.”
“Well,” said China, smiling, “I certainly hope that’s not true.” She stood up. “Let’s get to work, shall we?”
“We should leave them to it,” Skulduggery said.
Temper nodded. He’d had no great desire to watch China carving tattoos into Valkyrie anyway. “Is everything in place?”
“The building has been scrubbed, but keep an eye out for anything we’ve missed,” Skulduggery said. “Evacuation is in an hour.”
“I won’t be late,” Temper said.
He passed rooms of maps and files and notes, all carefully arranged to look as authentic as possible. The real files were already off-site, safe in boxes stacked in a corner of their next temporary base. This whole resistance thing was one long pursuit, slowed down enough so that it was both unbelievably dull and terrifyingly tense.
Temper stopped, a frown on his face. Light danced beneath the closed door of a room that should have been abandoned. He drew his gun and crossed over to it, moving quietly. He listened at the door, then pushed it open.
Cadaver Cain lay on the floor next to the Soul Catcher containing Malice. His clothes still had a shape to them – they still looked like they were worn by a normal, flesh-and-blood person – but his skeleton itself was flat on the floor. The Soul Catcher pulsed with crackling light, and then some of that energy flowed from the Soul Catcher into the skeleton, and the bones clicked and realigned and Cadaver sat up suddenly, tilting his head at the gun levelled at him.
