Dark Days

by Derek Landy

  “Stop hittin’ me!” he cried. “This is hardly fair, now is it? Two of you against me?”

  “You’re the one who came at us with a gun,” Ghastly said, standing over him.

  “But that was for a giggle,” Jack tried. “I wasn’t aimin’ at you, I swear.”

  Valkyrie looked back and saw Skulduggery running to catch up with Guild and Scarab.

  “Besides,” Jack continued, “we accomplished what we needed to.” He looked up at Ghastly. “Are you usin’ a new face cream or somethin’? You look different.”

  Shudder frowned. “What did you accomplish?”

  “You got one unpredictable element in your little team,” Jack told them with an exaggerated sigh. “The kind of power that could mess up everythin’. It was our job to take that power out of the equation.”

  Valkyrie paled.

  “Where’s Fletcher?” asked Ghastly.

  Jack grinned. “He should be right—”

  A fist of cold granite hit Valkyrie and she went tumbling. Shudder went to leap over her at Dusk, but Dusk threw Fletcher’s limp body into him. They went down in a heap and Jack sprang, his knee smashing into Ghastly’s face, then he leaped off him and landed behind Valkyrie.

  He grabbed her, his hot breath in her ear. “I got someone who’d like to talk to you.”

  He shoved her at Dusk, who swatted her hand away as she brought it up. He didn’t waste time with talk, or threats, or anything as mundane as enjoying the moment. He just sank his jagged teeth into her neck.

  45

  SEARCHING FOR SCARAB

  For a time there was just the pain and the feel of her heartbeat thumping loudly and quickly. And when the pain stopped and her eyes refocused, Valkyrie saw Dusk holding her at arm’s length. His lips were red with her blood, but his eyes were narrowed in confusion.

  The window behind him exploded and Caelan came through, slamming into Dusk and lifting him off his feet. Valkyrie stumbled backwards, tripping over Fletcher’s unconscious form and falling. Dusk seized Caelan and threw him into the wall, but Caelan came back with a snarl.

  Valkyrie’s hand pressed against the wound on her neck. Her blood was warm. She felt it trickling between her fingers. She glimpsed Caelan and Dusk fighting, and even from that one glimpse she could see that Caelan was completely outmatched. No matter how fast he moved, he couldn’t hope to match the speed of a vampire like Dusk.

  She lay flat. She was thirsty. Her thoughts were muddled. She turned her head in time to see Caelan drop to the floor. He didn’t get up. Dusk slipped back to the side of Springheeled Jack.

  Ghastly and Shudder closed in, forcing Jack and Dusk to retreat towards the elevator. Jack grinned. Dusk stepped back behind him.

  “Careful,” Jack said, “we don’t want to hurt each other, now do we? I mean, who knows? After today, we’ll probably be fightin’ on the same side.”

  “I’d ask you what it is you’re talking about,” Ghastly said, “but I really don’t care.”

  “Oh, come now, ain’t it obvious? What do you think will happen when over 80,000 people are murdered live on air by a bomb that could only be described as magic? People are goin’ to know, ain’t they? They’re goin’ to believe in magic and they’re goin’ to believe in us. No more hidin’ for yours truly. I’ll be free to walk about on street level, do what I want, kill who I want…It’ll be a little slice of heaven.”

  “That’s why you’re doing this?” Shudder frowned. “To reveal magic to the world?”

  “That’s why I’m doin’ it, yeah. The others have their own reasons. They want the Sanctuary destroyed; they want the confusion of every sorcerer around the world scramblin’ for a piece of what’s left…I don’t know, I didn’t really ask them. We’re not what you might call a friendly bunch. Ain’t that right, Dusk?”

  “That’s right,” Dusk said from behind him. “But I don’t care about the Sanctuary or the war you’re hoping will start.”

  Jack nodded. “Dusk’s motives are pure. He’s only interested in revenge. So, mate, did you do it? Did you bite her?”

  “I did,” said Dusk.

  “Then has your thirst for revenge been sated?”

  “Not quite,” Dusk said. “Valkyrie Cain was only one of the people I sought revenge upon.”

  “Really? You didn’t tell me that. Ah well, I suppose this is what you get when you don’t talk, am I right? You get surprises. So come on, Dusk, who else is on your list?”

  “You are.”

  Jack frowned and turned as the elevator doors closed and Dusk was lost to sight. Suddenly alone, Jack turned back to Shudder and Ghastly just as they attacked.

  Valkyrie forced herself up, one hand at the wound on her neck, and she ran. The wound was burning, but there wasn’t much blood loss. She followed the corridor and took a left, jumping over the unconscious body of another security guard. Skulduggery came running back towards her.

  “Where is he?” she called.

  “Guild went after him. I lost them both.” He started to say something else then grabbed her. “You’ve been bitten.”

  “Kenspeckle can cure me, right? So long as I get to him in the next few hours, I’ll be fine. Dusk bit me and basically spat me back out. It’s not even bleeding any more.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Well, it’s not bleeding much.”

  “Valkyrie, you have to listen to me. Go back to Fletcher and get him to teleport you both out.”

  She pulled away from him. “What?”

  “The Desolation Engine could go off at any moment. If it does, it won’t care how strong you are or how tough. It won’t be something you can fight.”

  “I’m staying with you.”

  “Damn it, Valkyrie, if it goes off, I won’t be able to save you.”

  “I’m not going to need you to save me.”

  “I didn’t involve you in all this just so you could die by my side, do you hear me?”

  “You didn’t involve me in this – I involved myself. I tagged along after Gordon was killed, I got you to teach me magic, I did it, OK? You didn’t have a choice in the matter.”

  “For once, please will you do what I ask?”

  “Not a chance. And the more we argue about it, the less time we have to stop Scarab.”

  Skulduggery looked at her then wrapped his scarf around his jaw. “He’ll be among the crowd now,” he said. “It’s the safest place for him now that he knows we’re after him. We’ll have to keep each other in sight at all times.”

  “I’ll be able to move faster than you. I don’t have to worry about a disguise slipping off.”

  “You’ve got blood all over you.”

  She snapped up the collar of her coat. “Better? Now come on, we don’t have much time.”

  46

  ENDGAME

  Guild watched Scarab move in off the steps and take a seat in the crowd. There was a time when an assassin of Scarab’s calibre would never have allowed himself to be followed like this, but that time had drifted by while Scarab had been sitting in his cell. Now he was just an old man who thought he had escaped. There was an empty seat beside Scarab and Guild sat in it.

  “Hello, Dreylan,” he said. “Don’t try to run. I wouldn’t want you to embarrass yourself.”

  Scarab’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t move from his seat.

  “Look what I found in the Repository,” Guild continued, opening his hand. The copper disc he held was almost as wide as his palm and it had eight thin legs curled up against its underside like a dead spider. “Do you recognise it? I’m sure you do. You built it, didn’t you? How many did you kill with this particular little weapon?”

  “I didn’t keep count,” Scarab said.

  “It just attaches to its target, isn’t that right? And releases all this awful energy? So, for example, if I were to press it against you, the power it would release would be enough to give you a heart attack a hundred times over, yes?”

  The eight legs flexed, as if the device
had sensed a new victim.

  Scarab swallowed. “Yes.”

  The crowd roared and people jumped to their feet around them. Guild and Scarab remained seated.

  “Where’s the Desolation Engine, Scarab?”

  “In my pocket.”

  “Your near pocket?”

  “Yes.”

  Guild smiled, carefully dipping his free hand into Scarab’s coat. His fingers closed around the bomb and he pulled it out slowly. The liquid within the glass was still a calm green colour. It hadn’t even been armed yet. He held it under his jacket, away from prying eyes.

  “You have caused us so much worry,” he murmured. “It’s a good thing I found you before you did something to actually trouble us.”

  “You’re going to kill me,” Scarab said, “is that it? Right here?”

  “I think it would be for the best.”

  Scarab turned his head and looked at him. “Do you have what it takes? To look into a man’s eyes and kill him? You’ve ordered deaths. You’ve orchestrated them, facilitated them, covered them up…But have you actually been this close when you murdered someone? Close enough to look into their eyes as they die?”

  “I haven’t,” Guild admitted. “But I’m curious to find out what it’s like.”

  “Can I be honest? I wish Meritorious were still alive. I would have much preferred him to do this.”

  “Well, we can’t always choose who gets to kill us.”

  “That’s true I guess. I mean, I chose you, but none of these people did.”

  “I’m not sure I follow your ramblings, Scarab. I’m not going to be killing these people.”

  “Actually, Grand Mage Guild, you kind of are. I didn’t have this Engine built to set it off myself, you know. I did it so you could set it off.”

  Guild laughed. “And why on earth would I do that?”

  “Because I’m about to tell you to.”

  “Two hundred years of loneliness has cracked your mind, old man. I’m not going to kill these people. I’m not going to kill myself. I’m only going to kill you.”

  “You’ll kill me, you’ll kill these people, but you won’t kill yourself. I had the Professor make sure of that. The bomb’s designed to spare your life and your life alone. I wouldn’t let go of it just yet, by the way. That’s when it’ll detonate.”

  “What are you talking about? It’s not even armed.”

  “Once it’s been in your hand for more than ten seconds, Grand Mage, it arms itself.”

  Guild frowned and glanced down at the bomb in his hand. The liquid was red, churning and bubbling against the glass. Guild’s heart sank into the chasm that his chest had become.

  “Eighty thousand people,” Scarab continued, “live on air. Rebroadcast around the world as the moment that changed everything. And the Grand Mage of the Irish Council of Elders is going to be the one held responsible. It’s just…perfect, don’t you think?”

  “You’re insane,” Guild said. “I’ll have it deactivated. I’ll—”

  “You’ll walk out on to that football field,” Scarab said, “and you’ll drop the Desolation Engine. And all around you 80,000 people will be disintegrated.”

  “Why?”

  The crowd roared again.

  “I never liked Nefarian Serpine,” Scarab said as if he hadn’t heard Guild’s question. “Vengeous was a good man. I never got to meet Lord Vile, but I couldn’t stand Serpine. Couldn’t see why Mevolent put so much faith in him. But credit where it’s due – he knew how to get to people. That’s how he killed Skulduggery Pleasant. Went after the family, you know? Made him so mad, so full of rage, he didn’t stand a chance. Rage clouds the mind. Vengeance can make you blind. Which is why you have to wait, and choose your moment carefully. Timing, as they say, is everything.”

  “And this is your moment?” Guild snarled. “All I have to do is press this spider against you and this will be the last moment you ever have.”

  “My last moment’s coming, don’t you worry. But no, you miss my point. Serpine knew how to get to people. The family is an effective way of doing this. I’m going to reach into my coat now. If I were you, I wouldn’t kill me just yet.”

  Moving slowly, Scarab took a phone from his coat.

  “You might have to shield the screen from the light,” he said as he pressed some buttons – “it’s kind of hard to see the picture.”

  He held it out. Guild swallowed, hurriedly put the spider back in his pocket and took the phone from Scarab. He angled it out of the glare of the dull sun and saw what he knew he would see – his wife and daughter, bound and gagged.

  “They’re OK,” Scarab said, looking back at the football game. “Unharmed. And they’re going to stay that way too, if you do what I tell you.”

  “Let them go,” Guild said, all breath gone from his body.

  “Billy-Ray’s with them right now and they’re all watching TV. As soon as you drop the Engine, he’ll release them. We got no reason to kill them, Grand Mage. Your family never did anything bad to us.”

  “I’m not going to kill these people.”

  “Yes, you are.”

  “You’re insane.”

  “You’ve said that. Guild, you don’t like these people, these mortals. From what I’ve heard, you never did. It’s time to break the rules, Grand Mage.”

  “I won’t do it.”

  “You are not only going to do it, but you’re going to do it in the next three minutes or Billy-Ray will kill your wife and daughter.”

  “This isn’t revenge. These people never did anything to you. You don’t have to do this. You don’t even want to do this. You want to make me pay, fine, make me pay. Not them. Not my family.”

  “It’s all part of the same plan. With 80,000 deaths, every Sanctuary around the world will be shown just how vulnerable they are. The Sanctuaries should’ve been disbanded after the war with Mevolent ended. We didn’t need you Elders setting up your fancy Councils, electing yourselves to positions of authority over the rest of us. I don’t like people telling me what to do. I got a problem with it, point of fact. A system like that, well, it’s open to all kinds of abuse. Miscarriages of justice as it were. Your system failed me and I got put in prison for killing someone I never killed, and because of that, you’re going to go to prison for the murder of 80,000 helpless mortals. Let’s see how you like spending the rest of your life alone in a cell. Grand Mage, you have about two minutes to walk to the middle of the field there. I think it’s about time you started walking.”

  Guild had no breath to form words and Scarab was already looking back at the game. Guild stood, the Desolation Engine heavy in his hand. He thought he could feel it pulsing with a low and terrible life, but he dismissed the idea. The bomb wasn’t alive. It had no consciousness, no sentience. It was not an object of evil – it was simply an object. The man who set it off, however, now he would be evil.

  There was a gap between where he stood and the tunnel where the officials entered and exited. He could slip through and walk on to the pitch before anyone could even try to stop him. He looked back at Scarab. The old man wasn’t even smiling any more. He was calm in the face of impending death. Of course he was. This was what he’d been waiting 200 years for.

  Guild stepped down from the seats, his eyes fixed on the ground ahead. He didn’t want to look up and see the tens of thousands of faces around him. He wished he could block out the noise – the cheering, the chanting, the thunder of living people – and yet if he’d had the option, he didn’t know if he would. He was a man who was about to commit one of the single most monstrous acts the world had ever seen. Shouldn’t he suffer for it? Shouldn’t he invite that pain in at the earliest opportunity?

  He realised his feet were still moving, that he was getting closer to the officials’ tunnel, closer to the cameras and the football field, and still no ideas were coming to him. If he didn’t think of something now, immediately, in a few seconds he would find himself either committing mass murder or sentencing
his own family to death.

  “Grand Mage,” said a smooth voice in his ear, “could I have a word with you?”

  Skulduggery Pleasant took his arm, the bones of his fingers digging into Guild’s elbow like a vice, and suddenly Guild was in the officials’ tunnel, walking through to where it intersected with the main utility tunnel that ran beneath the terraces. He pulled his arm free and turned, sudden panic setting in. Pleasant stood there, his scarf concealing his jaw, his hat pulled low and his gun levelled straight at Guild’s gut.

  “Sanguine has my family,” Guild said. “You have to let me do this.”

  “Give me the Engine.”

  “It’ll detonate when I let go. Where’s Fletcher Renn? He can save you and the others. If you act fast, you can save a dozen people, maybe more.”

  Pleasant wasn’t moving. “The lives of your wife and child in exchange for the lives of 80,000 strangers? That seems a tad unfair, doesn’t it?”

  “You, of all people, must know that I would do anything to protect my family. At least my walk to the middle of the field buys you some time.”

  “Time to save a handful of people and leave the rest to die?”

  “If you try to stop me, I’ll detonate it right here.”

  Pleasant nodded and put his gun away, but Guild knew what was coming. When Pleasant swept his hand wide, Guild was already pressing at the air. The space between them rippled and a breeze stirred. Within moments Guild’s jacket was flapping in a hurricane force wind, localised to the tunnel and the tunnel alone. This wasn’t going to work. He didn’t stand a chance against someone like the skeleton.

  As if to prove the point, Pleasant suddenly shifted position and instead of pushing against the air, he pulled. Guild stumbled forward and Pleasant got behind him, wrapped an arm around his neck and tried for a choke. Guild struggled against it and Pleasant broke off the choke and shot a side kick into the back of Guild’s thigh. Guild stumbled, but Pleasant was right behind him, making sure the Engine didn’t drop from his grip. Guild let him come closer then pressed the copper spider against the side of Pleasant’s head. The spider’s legs unfurled instantly and sank into the bone, and there was a crack, like lightning hitting a tree, and Pleasant jerked sideways and collapsed.