“That’s right,” said Valkyrie. “And I can’t believe you’re letting it happen. I can’t believe you’re letting someone else dictate how you behave. I’m not the only one who’s changed, you know. Back in the old days, your ego would never have allowed this.”

“Are you saying I’ve become more humble?” he asked, amused.

“No,” she said. “Just more ordinary.”

A moment passed, slow and heavy.

She turned her head a millisecond before he struck her, and he was grabbing her jacket to make sure she didn’t fall back out of range. His elbow jabbed into her shoulder, deadening her left arm. She didn’t know what hit her then, a fist or another elbow, but her head snapped back and the world blurred and suddenly she was falling to her knees.

He retrieved his hat while he waited for her to recover.

Smoke was alternating now between screaming and sobbing. Nero gave out the occasional moan. Omen and Byron were back on their feet but not fighting. They panted for breath and glared at each other.

Slowly, Valkyrie stood up. Skulduggery punched her and she went down again, flattened on to the grass, the world growing mute and grey.

He crouched over her and snapped a pair of cuffs on to her wrists. She felt her magic drain.

“Goddammit!” Smoke shouted. “Skulduggery! Stop wasting time with her and help me!”

“But of course,” Skulduggery said instantly. He walked over to Nero, hauled him to his feet. “Take us to Coldheart,” he said. Nero tried to push him away and Skulduggery wrenched his arm behind him. “I’m under orders, remember. I will break you into bits if you do not teleport us all in the next five seconds.”

“I can’t!” Nero yelped. “I think I might have concussion! She kicked me in the head!”

“Then just the four of us.” Skulduggery took out his gun, pressed it to Nero’s temple. “Three. Two. One.”

“OK!” Nero cried, and the grey sky turned into a grey ceiling. They were inside, in a cavernous room.

Skulduggery looked at her. “Welcome to Coldheart.”

59

Skulduggery and Valkyrie and Smoke and Nero vanished, leaving Omen and Byron all by themselves.

“They left me behind,” said Byron. He sounded disappointed.

“This is your chance,” Omen said. “Get out of here. Run.”

Byron frowned. “Why?”

“Mr Lilt wants you dead, Byron. You split from them. He’s going to want to kill you.”

“Lilt’s not going to kill me,” Byron said.

“He was going to kill you anyway, even before you split. I heard him say it.”

Byron considered it for a moment. “Maybe,” he said. “Maybe I’ll run after I kill my mother.”

“What? No. Come on.” Omen stood in front of him. “You have a chance to get away. You don’t want to kill her.”