“Now, if I fail, the odds are that you’ll fail too. And if they can kill me, they can most certainly kill you, in an undoubtedly horrible manner. But by then I’ll be past caring.”

“So… you really aren’t trying to protect me.”

Skulduggery placed a hand on her shoulder. “Not even remotely,” he said warmly.

He moved off. Valkyrie waited a moment, then backed away, turned and hurried in the opposite direction. She rounded a corner and immediately stepped back. Solomon Wreath passed without looking at her. She chewed her lip.

And followed.

She kept her head down as they walked the corridors. He disappeared through a door and she quickened her pace, following him in. A hand grabbed her, tore the hood from her head and shoved her further into the room. She hit the wall and spun, Wreath’s cane stopping right before it met her face. His eyes widened.

“Valkyrie,” he said, surprised.

“Hi Solomon,” she responded. “You said if ever I needed a chat…”

He lowered the cane and stepped back, closed the door before anyone saw. “How did you get in?”

“Dragonclaw,” she said.

Wreath sighed. “Oh, him. I assume Skulduggery is with you?”

“He’s around here somewhere.”

“Then things are probably going to get very loud very soon.”

“More than likely.”

“In that case,” Wreath said, “now that we have a minute, I’d just like to say that I’m sorry for what happened. If I had known, if I had even suspected, that Melancholia might go after you, I would have—”

“You would have what?” Valkyrie asked. “Grounded her? What could you have done? Everyone’s saying she’s more powerful than anyone alive today. If she wants to slice me half to death, she’s going to slice me half to death, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.”

Wreath shook his head. “This isn’t how it should be.”

“You’re right. She should be on a leash.”

“No, I mean she shouldn’t have this power. It should have been you. At least it would have come naturally to you.”

“What do you mean?”

Wreath rubbed his face. He suddenly looked very tired. “Craven did something to her. He’s been studying the languages of magic for years. He can’t be as expert in the art as China Sorrows, but he’ll be good, nonetheless. You’ve seen the scars on her face, right? They’re all over her body. He says they’re to protect her, but I think he carved those symbols into her skin to heighten her power during the Surge.”

“Is that possible?”

“In theory. Of course it’s highly dangerous, and extraordinarily unstable. If that is indeed what he did, he stood a higher chance of killing her than succeeding.”

“But you think he did succeed.”