Nye stood, towering above them all, outrage showing on its face. “This… This is deplorable. Madame Mist personally granted me amnesty for past misdeeds, and she assured me that I would not be held accountable for merely following orders. Elder Bespoke, I hope you will discipline Detective Pleasant for his unacceptable actions.”

“Shut up, Nye,” Ghastly said. “I’m this close to putting a bullet in you myself. Where’s your assistant? He was supposed to stay with Valkyrie at all times.”

“The man was an imbecile,” Nye replied stiffly. “I told him to go away and never let me see him again. If I had known it was so important to you, I would have had him stay.”

“It’s not important to me, Doctor,” Ghastly said. “It’s essential. It’s essential both for my peace of mind and for your well-being that you have an assistant with you at all times. You are not to be left alone with any patient. Do you understand me? Do you understand those orders?”

“Yes,” Nye said. “Of course.”

On the drive to Skulduggery’s house, Valkyrie took off the black ring and examined it thoughtfully.

“Want me to open the window so you can throw it out?” Skulduggery asked.

She smiled. “No, but thanks for offering. Melancholia took this off me, you know. Just whipped it off my finger and bam, I had no Necromancer magic to call on.”

Skulduggery nodded. “That’s the problem with Necromancy. It’s powerful magic, absolutely it is, but it’s so unstable it needs to be housed in something to make sure it can be controlled. Power that unstable… it’s a terrifying prospect, if one were in the habit of being terrified.”

“Is Necromancy the only discipline that has to do that?”

“Not the only one, but the main one. There are very few others. It’s called Inhabiting.”

Valkyrie nodded. “Solomon told me about it. He said a perfect example was Lord Vile’s armour. When Baron Vengeous wore it, it still had all of Vile’s power. Maybe that’s what happening now. Maybe Vile isn’t back – maybe someone is just wearing his armour and using his magic and pretending to be him.”

“I don’t think so,” Skulduggery said. “He spoke to me. It was him. It’s impossible, but… it was him.”

She put the ring back on. “Have you found any trace of him since?”

He turned his head slightly. “How do you know I’ve been looking?”

“Little things,” she said. “You’ve been taking more of an interest in odd little crimes that don’t make any sense, you’ve been asking certain kinds of questions that aren’t really relevant to whatever case we’d be working on… You’re trying to find someone.”

“My my,” said Skulduggery. “What dashing mentor has been teaching you to be a detective? Oh, that’s right, it’s me.”

Valkyrie laughed. “So? Any trace?”