Wreath grunted slightly as he sat up without the use of his arms. Valkyrie waited till he was sitting straight, then stepped over and put her boot to his shoulder. “Very mature,” Wreath sighed as she tipped him over again. He lay with his face squashed against the floor. “But if this is how you want to conduct this conversation, it’s fine. I am hardly in a position to argue.”

“You’re damn right,” Valkyrie said. “You attacked me.”

“I did, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to, but I did it. I hope I didn’t hurt you too badly.”

“If I were you,” Skulduggery said, “I’d be more worried about your own state of discomfort.”

“Oh, I am, Skulduggery, believe me. My overriding concern right now is my own well-being. Which is why I’m here. I’ve come to make a deal. I can tell you where Melancholia is.”

Skulduggery’s voice betrayed no hint of surprise. “Why would you want to?”

“Because she’s going to ruin everything. Her and Craven. They’re going to bring the Necromancer Order to its knees. They need to be stopped, and you’re the only ones who can do it. Well, you and the rest of the Sanctuary agents, obviously.”

“So you suddenly want to stop the Passage?” Skulduggery asked.

“Stop it? Good God, no. The Passage is the only thing that will save the world. But Melancholia is not the one to bring it about. She’s too unstable. She’s too unpredictable. Does she have the potential to kill millions? Yes, probably. But billions? I doubt it. And unless three billion are killed in the same instant, it’s not going to work. The only thing she’ll accomplish is the pointless death of millions of innocent people.”

Valkyrie shook her head. “You’ve got some warped ideas of right and wrong, you know that? So you come running to us to clean up the mess you made? Why don’t you guys handle it?”

“Because I’m the only one who can see the truth. The others, there aren’t many but there are enough, have been blinded by Craven’s words. I tried to take care of it without you, but my little assassination attempt didn’t work out too well.”

“Then where is she?” Skulduggery asked.

Wreath smiled. “Not yet. First, you get the Council to agree to my terms.”

“There are no terms, Solomon. Tell us where she is.”

“I want my attack on Valkyrie and my involvement in events so far forgiven and forgotten.”

Skulduggery took his hat from his knee and uncrossed his legs as he sat forward. “You were planning the murder of three billion people.”

Wreath nodded. “And I’d like that to be forgotten about, please.”