“No you won’t,” said Ghastly, standing in front of him. “You think your brief encounter with Vile five months ago has prepared you? That was nothing. I went up against him during the war. I saw him slaughter dozens of sorcerers, including my mother – a woman, you’ll remember, who had proved herself to be very hard to kill. He killed her with barely a wave of his hand.”

Skulduggery was silent for a moment. “Melancholia is not Lord Vile.”

“If she’s the Death Bringer, their power levels will be similar. Skulduggery, you know as well as I do, if Melancholia had wanted to kill Valkyrie, Valkyrie would be dead. But she didn’t. She just wanted to inflict some pain. And she won’t get away with it. I’ve spoken with Erskine and Mist, and they agree. An attack on one Sanctuary agent is an attack on the Sanctuary as a whole. Melancholia has just handed us the excuse we needed to take that Temple apart.”

“Then give me an army, and I’ll take it apart and drag her out.”

“We have to do this right. Before we go in, we issue a warrant for her arrest.”

“She’s not going to give herself up,” Skulduggery said.

“No, but we have to give her the chance. Maybe High Priest Tenebrae will see it as an opportunity to bring his Order in from the cold. Maybe he’ll co-operate.”

“I doubt it.”

“I doubt it too. So if she doesn’t turn herself in within twenty-four hours, then yes, we go after her, and you get all the back-up you need.”

“If Melancholia resists?”

Ghastly looked at him. “Then you do what needs to be done.”

Chapter 16 - Full Recovery

Chapter 16
Full Recovery

octor Nye had a smile like splitting skin. “Welcome back,” it said, “to the land of the living.”

Valkyrie jerked against the restraints tying her to the bed. Nye waved its hand.

“Do not exert yourself. You are still quite weak. The restraints, I assure you, are for your own good.”

“Where am I?” she snapped.

“In the Sanctuary. You are quite safe. The woman who did this to you is long gone.”

“It’s not her I’m worried about.”

Nye chuckled. “Oh. Of course. You remember our little… encounter. But that’s all in the past, is it not? Any indiscretions I may have perpetrated against you I have made up for, yes? I replaced your organs, sewed you back together and you walked from my facility as a living, breathing person once again. Forgive and forget.”

“You tried to dissect me.”

“I did dissect you. I just didn’t dissect you enough.”

“Let me out of here.”

“I am worried that you may injure yourself.”

“Let me out of here or I swear to God—”