Skulduggery Pleasant: Mortal Cole

by Derek Landy

  She moved quickly, pushing at the air, sending the table hurtling to the other end of the room. But not Fletcher. Fletcher wasn’t there any more. She sensed him behind her, but was too slow to do anything as he grabbed her under the jaw with both hands and started dragging her across the floor.

  “Knew you were fooling,” he said. “I know you too well, you see. Can’t bluff me, babe.”

  Valkyrie grabbed his wrists to ease the pressure and swung her legs up and over in a backwards somersault. Her boots caught him in the face and he let go, cursing. She was up now. She took hold of the shadows in the room and they lifted him up and slammed him to the ground. She glanced at the door, but she couldn’t outrun a Teleporter and she knew it.

  She aimed a kick at his head. He moved at the last second, rolled away, tried to come up, but her knee caught him under the chin. He fell back and she pressed in. If she gave him even a moment to recover, he’d teleport. She got behind him and wrapped one arm around his throat, braced it with the other, going for a choke. Fletcher reared back, but she hung on. He heaved forward, lifting her off her feet, trying to shake her loose. She tightened her hold. The Remnant might not need air to function, but the body it was using sure did. Another few moments and Fletcher would be unconscious.

  He stopped trying to pry her fingers back, and instead, staggered to a chair that stood against the wall. He put one foot up on the seat. Valkyrie wriggled, did her best to throw him off balance, but didn’t dare loosen the choke. Grunting, Fletcher shifted his weight forward, and slowly stood up on the chair, taking Valkyrie with him.

  She screamed a thousand curses in her mind, but there was nothing she could do, as Fletcher stood on shaky legs, and then propelled himself backwards. They fell in silence, Valkyrie shutting her eyes and waiting for the impact. She hit the ground and her head smacked off it, and stars burst behind her eyelids. She wasn’t even aware that she’d lost the choke. She wasn’t even aware of Fletcher getting to his feet beside her. She just lay there.

  “Wow, you’re tough,” she heard Fletcher say. His voice sounded dim. “I’m not mad. I’m not. This is good. Darquesse is going to have to be tough, am I right?”

  His image came into view. “But, wow, you nearly got me there. You nearly had me. If I didn’t have all this extra strength, I’d be out cold. I think I like that, you know, my girlfriend being stronger than me. I’d never admit it – well, the old me wouldn’t – but the new me is a lot more self-assured.”

  Valkyrie moaned, and Fletcher knelt beside her. He gently raised her head off the ground, then slammed it back down again. His hands moved over her, checking her pockets.

  “You know, I fancied you the moment I saw you. I didn’t want to admit it, because you were young and, you know, really annoying, but yeah, I liked you. We had something, didn’t we? A connection? I liked the way you took all of this so seriously. I found that really funny. Ah, here they are.” He dangled her own handcuffs over her. “I’ve really liked being your boyfriend, actually. I love all the fun stuff we do. But that’s nothing compared to the fun we’re going to have.”

  He clicked the cuff on to her right wrist, and was going for the left when someone collided with him from behind. They crashed against the chair in the dark.

  Valkyrie rolled slowly on to her side. Her head hurt and she felt sick, but she brought her legs in and got them under her. In the dark around her were more crashes, the sounds of struggle. Two figures, throwing each other into walls. She took a deep breath, then another, willing herself not to throw up. Strength was returning with each moment that passed. The world was becoming clearer. She stood.

  Fletcher came stumbling from the shadows. There was a snarl and he turned just as Caelan leaped at him, and they both vanished.

  Valkyrie frowned, and even as she started to wonder what Caelan was doing here, a wave of dizziness nearly pitched her on to her face. She managed to stay upright and staggered out into the corridor. She slumped against the wall and stayed there, gathering her strength. She took a small key from her pocket, opened the handcuff and put both away. Warm blood trickled down her face.

  Her phone was on the floor nearby. She held out her hand. She could feel the air, but it took a few seconds before she could focus enough to pull it towards her. The phone lifted into her hand, and she slipped it into her jacket, then pushed herself away from the wall. Her balance was back. Her strength was back. She was hurting, but she’d get over it.

  Valkyrie found her way back to Sanguine, who raised an eyebrow as she approached, but didn’t say anything. He took her underground, and they moved slowly through the earth and under the street. He was breathing hard, straining against the pain.

  Finally, she heard shouting. Hands gripped her, pulling her from the ground. They were on the other side of the road, away from the Hibernian. She opened her eyes to see Ghastly dragging Sanguine to his feet, his fist pulled back, ready to punch. She called out and he looked around, puzzled.

  “Our side,” she coughed in Skulduggery’s arms. “He’s on our side.”

  Ghastly frowned at Sanguine and let him go. The Texan dropped to his knees, exhausted and in pain. Valkyrie heard shouting.

  “They’ve noticed us,” said Tanith.

  “Everyone get to the van,” Skulduggery ordered.

  They ran, the Remnants behind them. Ghastly jumped in behind the wheel and they took off, tyres spinning.

  “Are we going to drive there?” Tanith asked. “I know this thing is fast, but I don’t like the idea of a five-hour car chase on icy roads. And they have Fletcher now. He could teleport them all to any one of a hundred places he’s been between here and Kerry, and we’d drive right into them.”

  “Fletcher’s distracted,” Valkyrie said. “I don’t know for how long. Caelan was there. He helped me. Kenspeckle’s dead.”

  There was a moment of awful calm, that Skulduggery quickly dispelled. “We need to stay ahead of them just long enough so we can find somewhere to pull in. We’ll let them overshoot, get to Kerry ahead of us, and we’ll take our time, approach it right.”

  “It’s going to be tricky,” Ghastly murmured.

  “It usually is.”

  48

  PLAN FALLS APART

  Valkyrie chewed on a leaf to numb the pain as Tanith stitched the cut on her face as best she could. When Tanith was finished, Valkyrie sat back and closed her eyes. After an hour of driving, they turned off the main road and bounced down narrow lanes of potholes and ice for twenty minutes, then headed north, moving perpendicular to their destination. Valkyrie kept her head down. The van was warm, but it was no comfort. After everything she’d seen and been through, she just wanted her boyfriend’s arms around her. Sometimes the most comforting thing in the world was a hug.

  It got dark, and Ghastly turned the headlights on. They passed three cars in two hours, and with every one they’d ready themselves for an attack. But the drivers were human, and mortal, and no threat to them.

  Skulduggery asked questions. Sanguine answered them in his lazy drawl. Valkyrie didn’t pay attention. She lay down in the back, her head on Tanith’s lap, and fell asleep.

  She woke to a conversation Skulduggery was having with Ghastly about abandoning the van and getting another. Ghastly was insisting on speed. Skulduggery was of the opinion that they should pick the first suitable vehicle they came across – there was no telling when this van would be recognised and reported.

  Valkyrie dozed off again, only opening her eyes when the van pulled into an all-night petrol station. There was snow outside. Tanith took a few food orders and got out, hurried up to the bored man at the station window. Ghastly activated his façade and went to keep an eye on her, in case the Remnants had spread out this way. Valkyrie got out to stand beside Skulduggery while he filled the tank.

  “I know he hid it well,” Skulduggery said, “but Kenspeckle really liked me.”

  She surprised herself with a small smile. “No, he didn’t,” she said.

  �
�No, he didn’t. But he liked you.”

  “I don’t really want to talk about this. What is there to say? I can’t believe he’s gone? Can’t believe he’s dead? Obviously, it’s a shock. I don’t need to tell anyone that.”

  “Sometimes it’s not what you say, Valkyrie, it’s just the fact that you’re saying it.”

  She shook her head. “We don’t have the time. Fight now, mourn later. That’s our thing, right? If we stop and consider the implications every time something bad happens, we’d never get anything done.”

  “Kenspeckle was your friend.”

  “When all this is over, we’ll see who’s alive and who’s dead, and then I’ll cry, OK?”

  He put his hand on her shoulder. “OK.”

  “Clarabelle’s going to feel so bad when this is done with,” Valkyrie said quietly, then shook her head. She had to focus. “How far are we from the Receptacle?”

  “We’re less than an hour from the mountain range, but we should wait until morning before approaching. Once we’re there, that golden key in your pocket will guide us to where we need to go.”

  “Do we have a plan?”

  “Plans are an invitation to disappointment.”

  “And yet we’re probably going to need one. The Remnants are going to be all over the place to stop us from reaching the machine. Are you going to fly us in over their heads?”

  “They’ll be expecting that. Now that we have Sanguine on our side, we could always burrow right under them.”

  “I don’t think so. These days he can’t go 3 metres without needing a rest.”

  “So we can’t go above, and we can’t go under. Looks like we’re going to drive in as close as we can, and just walk right in.”

  “The direct approach.”

  “The only approach we have left.”

  Morning was slow in coming, and failed to bring with it warmth. Valkyrie’s nerves jangled beneath her skin. She noticed Tanith clenching and unclenching her fists beside her, and Ghastly had gone scarily quiet. Only China and Skulduggery seemed unperturbed by the danger they were about to walk into. Valkyrie couldn’t have cared less about how Sanguine was coping.

  They drove deeper into a small town, which seemed to be hibernating under all the snow. Valkyrie longed to see normal people out walking, or buying the morning paper, or even sitting at traffic lights. She didn’t like this ghost town thing that had struck and spread, turning Ireland into a ghost country.

  The van slowed suddenly, pulling in to the side of the road. Valkyrie peered over Skulduggery’s shoulder. A police car lay on its side at the junction ahead of them, its lights still flashing.

  “The rest of you stay here,” Skulduggery said. “Valkyrie, you’re with me.”

  They got out. She slid the door closed, and pulled the bandage away from her face. “How does it look?”

  He peered at her. “It’s healing. The swelling has gone. It’s a nasty scar, but with everything Tanith applied to the wound, it should disappear in a day or so.”

  She glanced back at the van, and her voice lowered. “You don’t trust them.”

  “Not entirely,” he admitted.

  “You think one of them’s possessed?”

  “We have no way of knowing until they reveal themselves. You’re to stick with me, OK? Do not allow yourself to be caught alone with any of them.”

  She nodded. Skulduggery held his gloved hand out in front as they approached the car, turning the ice to steam, allowing them a firm grip on the road. Valkyrie wished she could have done that while she was slipping and sliding all over Drogheda.

  They reached the junction. Two cops lay on the far side of the car. Valkyrie went to one, Skulduggery to the other. She hunkered down, felt for a pulse.

  “This one’s alive,” she said.

  “This one isn’t,” Skulduggery replied. “But I don’t think the Remnants are out this far any more. I’d say they’re panicking, keeping everyone back.”

  “So they’re content to just sit around and wait for us to show up?”

  “Why not? They know we have to go to them eventually. They probably have a few scouts flying around, checking the perimeter. We’ll have to be very careful from here on out.”

  They turned, and retraced their steps. Sanguine walked towards them.

  “Get back in the van,” Skulduggery said.

  “We may,” Sanguine responded, his words slurring like he was drunk, “have a bit of a problem.”

  And then he collapsed. A stream of red light hit Skulduggery and blasted him back, all the way to the junction, where he hit the overturned police car and flipped over it. Valkyrie jumped sideways. She could see Ghastly, lying on the road beneath the open door of the van, and then China, strolling towards her with a beautiful, black-lipped smile.

  Valkyrie raised her hand, but China flicked a dagger of red light into her. It hit her jacket and it was like she’d stuck her fingers into an electrical socket. She jerked back and fell to her knees.

  “It’s time to come with me,” China said. “You’ve impressed all of us, but really, you didn’t need to. You’re Darquesse. That’s all we needed to know.”

  China crouched over her, and took the golden key from Valkyrie’s jacket, and put it in her own pocket. “I don’t think this is going to be much use to you, to be perfectly honest.”

  Someone moved around the van. Valkyrie’s vision cleared, just as Tanith collided with China from behind. They slipped on the ice and went down, but Tanith instantly sprang to her feet. China kicked out, catching her in the leg and knocking her back, then came up and tapped her forearms and flung them wide. Tanith dodged the wave of blue energy and got in close, her fist smacking against China’s cheek. Tanith’s hands blurred. A punch caught China in the ribs. She staggered back, gasping for breath, but managed to block the kick that followed. She tried to give herself some room, but Tanith was already closing in.

  China knocked her knuckles together, and the tattoos glowed briefly red. She swung a punch that missed, but the next one caught Tanith in the chest. Tanith went sprawling, and slid across the ground.

  Valkyrie glimpsed the glowing symbol on China’s right palm a moment before she seized Tanith’s wrist. Tanith screamed in abject agony, kicking out by pure instinct. Her boot crunched into China’s ribcage. China grunted and released her hold, and Tanith scrambled up and charged.

  She went low, her shoulder against China’s stomach while her arms wrapped around her legs. She lifted China and then slammed her to the ground, falling on top of her. With her left arm, China held Tanith close, not giving her the room she’d need to throw damaging attacks. Tanith was concentrating on keeping China’s right hand, with that glowing symbol, away from her.

  Feeling returned to Valkyrie’s legs, and she started to get up. Her brain struggled to sort itself out.

  Tanith shoved China away and they parted, coming up on their feet at the same time. Tanith was the first to strike, but China parried the blow and chopped at Tanith’s bicep. Tanith back-peddled, her right arm hanging uselessly, and China stepped in quickly and caught her with a solid haymaker to the jaw. Tanith spun and fell to her knees.

  Sanguine leaped at China, wrapping an arm around her throat. They stumbled back, but instead of trying to break the choke, China’s hand went to her belly. Blue energy crackled through her, throwing Sanguine off. He dropped to the pavement, and China turned her attention back to Tanith. She activated the symbols on both of her palms, then stepped up to clamp her hands on either side of Tanith’s head. Tanith arched her back and screamed.

  Valkyrie pushed at the air, but her focus was off, and all she could do was stir up a breeze that played with China’s hair. China looked at her and let go of Tanith, who collapsed beneath her. Valkyrie’s legs gave out and she fell. She saw a Remnant flitting down towards Tanith, but China held out her hand.

  “No,” she commanded. “Leave her. She annoys me. Take the scarred one.”

  The Remnant hovered as if reluctant,
then darted for Ghastly. China turned back to Valkyrie. “Come now,” she said. “Your disciples are waiting.”

  49

  FOLLOWING THE KEY

  Tanith raised her head, and watched China and Ghastly drive off in the van, taking Valkyrie with them. Tanith’s head was buzzing and every joint was sore.

  “Is someone gonna help me up?” Sanguine asked as he lay spreadeagled on the pavement. Tanith ignored him. Skulduggery came over, pulled her to her feet, and a wave of dizziness overtook her. She stumbled back against a lamp post.

  “They have Val,” she muttered, waiting for the world to stop spinning. “Why didn’t China just kill her? Why do they want to keep her alive?”

  “Valkyrie is Darquesse,” Skulduggery said.

  “What?”

  “It’s a long story, one that we’re going to help her make sure never comes true. Our only chance is the Receptacle. Are you OK? Can you fight?”

  “Always.” Tanith pushed herself away from the wall, managing to stand by herself. “But China has the key. Can you activate the machine without it?”

  “Hello?” said Sanguine. “Anyone hear me?”

  “According to Gordon we need the key,” Skulduggery said. “We have to get it back.”

  “So we fight our way through all the possessed to China, and then fight our way back to the Receptacle? I like a good scrap as much as the next girl, Skulduggery, but we’d never make it. We need another plan.”

  “We don’t have another plan. The Remnants are in place right now. We don’t have time to mess about trying to hotwire a machine that none of us have ever seen before.”

  Sanguine grunted. “Fine. Don’t help me up. See if I care. I’ll just lie here an’ freeze to death.”

  Tanith spun to him. “Will you shut up?”

  Sanguine smiled. “You are finally succumbing to my charms, ain’t ya?”

  “Unless you have something constructive to add,” Skulduggery said, anger biting the edges of his words, “then I agree with Tanith. Shut. Up.”