“What do you think will come of this? We know what the Passage is now. Everyone does. You think it’s going to go back to normal, with Necromancers left alone to scheme and plot? Temples are going to be torn down all over the world. It’s over for all of you.”

“Not necessarily. I think it’s still possible to blame this whole thing on one man.”

Skulduggery tilted his head. “Craven.”

“His mad ramblings have led to this,” Wreath said, displaying an impressive air of sadness. “He wilfully misinterpreted our sacred teachings. He warped what the Passage is truly about. Can we be held responsible for the actions of a madman? A fanatic?”

“You really think that act is going to work?” Valkyrie asked, frowning.

Wreath smiled up at her. “Why not? Everything that man has done reinforces what I’ve just said. He experimented on poor Melancholia. Brainwashed the poor girl. His insane ambition drove him to murder our kind and gentle High Priest, Auron Tenebrae. Tenebrae would never have condoned the actions he’s taken. But Vandameer Craven is unlike anyone I’ve ever met before. He is magnetic. He makes you want to follow him into destruction and madness. I am ashamed to say that I, too, was under the spell of his fervour, his faith, and his charisma.”

Valkyrie blinked. “Charisma?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you think that’s stretching it a little too far?”

“Do you think so?”

“Some people will have met him.”

“Hmm. You have a point. OK, then maybe not charisma. I’ll think of some other lie. It’ll be fine. The point is, yes, the Temple here in Ireland will be tarnished. It will probably be torn down, and Necromancy banned. But it will survive in the rest of the world, so long as Melancholia isn’t allowed to start killing people. Get the Council to agree to my terms, and I’ll tell you where they are. I’ll even take you there.”

Chapter 40 - The End of the Death Bringer

Chapter 40
The End of the Death Bringer

nce Erskine Ravel, with great reluctance, granted him amnesty, Wreath took Skulduggery and Valkyrie into the grounds of an abandoned Retirement Home, then nodded across to the main building. “In there,” he said. “I hope you still have your Teleporter, because the only way you’re going to catch them by surprise is if you manage to skip all the defences they’ve built up around them.”

Valkyrie frowned. “They’re here?”

“Next to graveyards and hospitals, Old Folks’ Homes are great places to absorb a whole lot of death. This one, however, hasn’t seen any activity in over twenty years. It’s kind of flat, as these things go. But beggars can’t be choosers, and Craven is most definitely a beggar right now.”

“How many are in there?” Skulduggery asked.