Death Bringer (26 page)

Chapter 38
Back at the Window Again

tapping woke her.

Valkyrie groaned, turned over in bed, cracking her eyes open to look over at the window. The morning sunlight framed the curtains, and through a sliver of an opening she saw Skulduggery's gloved hand. Her parents were gone but she still lay where she was, unsure if she even wanted to talk to him. Then she got up, wrapped the sheet around herself, and walked over. She pulled the curtains apart and undid the latch, then returned to her bed. She was snuggling down again as the window opened and Skulduggery climbed in. Valkyrie turned so she was facing the wall.

“I'm in bed,” she told him. “I'm having a lie-in.”

“I can see that. Do you plan on rising any time soon?”

She shrugged.

“Oh,” he said. “So that's it.”

She waited for him to continue.

“I was wondering how you were going to punish me for not confiding in you. Punishment, actually, is something I've been thinking about for a long time. What form of punishment is enough for what I did? Imprisonment? Death? Something else? Something scarier? I could only think of so many horrible tortures before they stopped having meaning. But you, you've come up with a punishment I never considered. You're going to sulk me to death.”

“I'm glad you find this amusing.”

“I've had years to see the funny side.”

“What do you expect me to do? It's not the… This isn't about the Vile thing. Yes, it's awful, yes, it's insane, but OK, it happened, it's in the past.”

“Not as in the past as we'd like.”

“Shut up.”

“Of course. You were saying?”

“This is about you and me, and you not telling me the truth. It's about—”

“May I interject?”

“No.”

“I'm going to interject anyway, simply to point out that you only told me about the ‘Darquesse thing'
after
you had Nye seal your true name. You may continue.”

She turned over, and glared at him. “That was different.”

“Yes, it was. It was you.”

“I kept it from you because I was scared and confused and I didn't know how you'd react…” She faltered. “Shut up.”

“I didn't say anything.”

“You didn't have to. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking the things we didn't tell each other cancel each other out. You're thinking if I keep on being angry with you, I'll eventually realise that I don't have a leg to stand on, and start to feel stupid. Well, you're wrong. I do have a leg to stand on. And I never feel stupid.”

“That's good to hear.”

“You should have told me about Vile.”

“And you should have told me about Darquesse. And please remember that when you did, eventually, get around to telling me, I accepted it with grace and understanding.”

Valkyrie narrowed her eyes. “Because you knew what it was like.
That's
why you took it so well! I thought you were just being really nice!”

“I'm often nice, but rarely really. I couldn't be angry with you, Valkyrie. I am many things, but I am not a hypocrite. Are you?”

“That isn't fair.”

“Are you?”

She sighed, and sat up, holding the sheet against her. “OK. Fine. I forgive you. And now that we're confessing, is there anything else you'd like to tell me? Any other huge big massive secrets you've been hiding?”

“Virtually none.”

“Virtually?”

“Practically. And you?”

“Being the psycho who kills the world is the only one worth mentioning.”

“Excellent. Then our consciences are clear.”

“Is that it? Do we go back to being friends now?”

“I certainly hope so. Unless you were enjoying sulking?”

“I hate sulking.”

“You're very good at it.”

“Thank you. I didn't think it'd be this easy – going back to being friends, I mean. It's a pretty big thing that just happened, isn't it? There's a part of you that's… evil.”

“Yes.”

“Just like there's a part of me that's evil.”

He tilted his head. “You think we're different from everyone else?”

“Aren't we?”

“Every human being who has ever lived has the same potential in them for good and evil. Mortal or sorcerer, it doesn't matter. Power has a way of bringing out the worst in people. Mevolent. Serpine. Hitler. Lord Vile. Darquesse. We're all the same.”

“You just put me on a list with
Hitler
.”

“You're going to start sulking again, aren't you?”

“
Hitler
, for God's sake.”

“Power corrupts, Valkyrie. You're better off learning that now, so you can prepare for later.”

“But
Hitler
.”

“We may need to focus here.”

“Right. Yes. OK. Turn round.”

“Are you going to throw something at me?”

“What? No, I'm getting out of bed.”

“Ah,” he said, and turned.

She swung her feet to the floor, stood up and adjusted the sheet, then walked out of the room. “So what are we dealing with? Is Lord Vile your subconscious, or is it your old Necromancer power with a mind of its own?”

Skulduggery followed her on to the landing. “I think it's both, to be honest.”

“Was he hiding inside you this whole time?”

“It certainly looks that way. I didn't see him, of course. When you can turn to shadow, it's easy enough to find places to hide, even in a skeleton. It's all very unsettling, to be honest.”

She went into the bathroom while Skulduggery waited outside.

“And did you notice that he's terribly unruly?” he asked through the door. “He completely ignored my commands.”

Valkyrie dropped the sheet and got in the shower, talking loudly over the water. “So how do we stop him? Do we just send you to a psychiatrist or something?”

“Excuse me?”

“Hey, it's
your
subconscious that's attacking people.”

“I don't need therapy.”

She turned her face up to the showerhead. “Have you ever tried it?”

“Talking about one's feelings defeats the purpose of having those feelings,” she heard him say. “Once you try to put the human experience into words, it becomes little more than a spectator sport. Everything must have a cause, and a name. Every random thought must have a root in something else. This is all missing the point.”

“But if you can confront your inner demons—”

“I did confront my inner demon. I punched him in the face and he exploded.”

Valkyrie had to laugh. “But now he's back.”

“Of course he's back. He's resourceful. He is
my
inner demon, after all.”

“But he ignored your commands. He, it, whatever, ignored you. He doesn't need you. He's become a… a being, a person.”

“Completely independent,” Skulduggery said. “An individual. I'd be proud, if I wasn't so disturbed. Does this mean I don't have a subconscious any more? If my subconscious is up and walking around and calling itself Lord Vile, then what do I have left?”

“Skulduggery, now
you
need to focus.”

“Yes. Of course. Besides, that's more of a conversation to have with Gordon. Conversations I have with you, Valkyrie, revolve around finding solutions and saving the day.”

“That's what I want to hear,” she said as she turned off the water. She got out of the shower, grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself. “So how do we stop Vile?”

She opened the bathroom door and Skulduggery tilted his head at her. “Very simple,” he said. “We don't.”

Valkyrie frowned. “That
is
very simple. In fact, it's a little
too
simple.” She walked back to her room.

“The Sanctuary is going to say the same thing,” he said, following behind. “Vile is after Melancholia, so we should leave him alone, see how far he gets. He might get lucky.”

“He might kill her.”

“That's what I mean.”

Valkyrie got back inside her room, turned and held up a hand to stop Skulduggery from coming in after her.

“Ah,” he said, and nodded as she closed the door.

“Skulduggery, it's Melancholia. I know I hate her, and I know she tried to kill me, and I'm well aware that she plans to kill billions of people, but we can't just let her
die
.”

There was a pause before Skulduggery responded. “I have to admit,” he said, “I did not think that sentence was going to end where it ended.”

“I'm just sick of everyone killing everyone else. When I heard that Mum had been hurt, I went to Moore's cell with the intention of killing him. I wanted to actually
kill
him. I don't like that. I don't like that I wanted that. There's too much killing, I think.” Valkyrie scrubbed herself half dry, then had a better idea and straightened up, went back to the door and opened it. “Hat in front of your eyes,” she said. “No peeking.”

He did as he was told and raised his free hand. She held the towel away from her as the moisture drifted from her body.

“You should be able to do this yourself by now,” Skulduggery said from behind his hat.

“I can do it,” she said. “But I always leave my skin too dry.” She stepped back inside her room and closed the door again, then she went to the mirror and tapped the glass. Her reflection blinked, and stepped out.

“Why can't we arrest Melancholia?” Valkyrie asked, taking her black clothes from the wardrobe. “Put some shackles on her, send her to prison for a few years, then let her out and tell her to be good?”

“Because she's the Death Bringer,” said Skulduggery.

“She's Melancholia. She's the annoying girl I used to laugh at. I don't want her dead.”

The reflection shrugged. “Melancholia doesn't share that compunction,” it said.

Valkyrie frowned at her mirror image.

“Either you're arguing with yourself,” Skulduggery said from the landing, “or your reflection makes more sense than you do.”

“Shut up,” Valkyrie said to the door, and then looked back at the reflection. “And you, nobody asked for your opinion. And stop standing there all naked and stuff. You're distracting.”

The reflection shrugged again, went to the dresser and started picking out clothes.

Valkyrie pulled on her underwear and trousers. “We can't just let Vile kill her,” she said loudly. “We have to try and arrest her.”

“We will,” Skulduggery answered.

“But it's a race, is that what you're saying? If we get to her, we arrest her. If he gets to her, he kills her.”

“If she resists arrest, we might have to kill her too. Don't forget that.”

“So no one is going after Vile.”

“That's correct.”

She grabbed her boots, started putting them on. “And what about when all this is done?”

“If the Death Bringer, for whatever reason, ceases to remain alive, there's a good chance that the thing that is Lord Vile will simply… disappear. Whatever aspect of my subconscious that is walking around will come back to me, the armour will return to its inert form, and everyone will be happy.”

“Except Melancholia.”

“Except Melancholia, who will be dead.”

Valkyrie stood up. “And me?”

“Hopefully, you won't be.”

“But if Melancholia dies,” the reflection said, still picking out clothes, “then won't the title of Death Bringer switch over to Valkyrie?”

“Stop contributing to this conversation,” Valkyrie said crossly.

The reflection gave another shrug.

“Well?” Valkyrie said loudly. “Will it switch over to me?”

Skulduggery hesitated. “That is a possibility, I grant you.”

“And if it does, then Vile will want to kill me too, won't he?”

Another hesitation. “Perhaps.”

“So we're going to have to figure out a way to stop him, no matter what happens,” she said, her voice muffled slightly by the T-shirt she was dragging over her head.

“Not quite,” Skulduggery answered. “There is the possibility that he will go up against Melancholia and she will destroy him utterly, which will take care of the Lord Vile problem quite nicely but, obviously, add to the Melancholia problem. And it might also pose a problem for me, if someone manages to kill my subconscious.”

“This is getting very complicated.”

“Not if you pay attention.”

“Do you think he can do it?” Valkyrie said, running a brush through her hair. “Do you think he has a chance?”

“I don't know. From what we've seen, her power ebbs and flows. If he manages to catch her when she's at her weakest, yes, he will kill her in an instant. But if he gets to her when she's strong…”

“And we have the same problem, which means we have to arrest her when she's ebbing, not flowing. How do we do that?”