“I suppose I’m not,” she said. “I think I’ve become a little immune to the idea. Is that weird?”

“Not for me,” Skulduggery said. “For you … possibly.”

“I think I might deserve it, though, don’t you? Just a little? I don’t know. I might be talking nonsense. Hanging upside down is doing weird things to my brain.”

Below them, Lethe was prodding Smoke.

“Skulduggery!” Smoke said tightly. “Just kill her and be done with it!”

“In a moment,” Skulduggery answered.

Valkyrie was in the perfect position to see the look on Smoke’s face, as the surprise overtook the pain.

“Huh,” Skulduggery said. “I disobeyed an order.”

“Kill her!” Smoke shouted. “Do it now!”

Skulduggery brought up the nozzle, tapped it against the slot over her chest. “I feel the urge to do it,” he said. “But I have to admit, there is some urgency lacking.”

“Because you’re fighting it,” Valkyrie told him. “You’re about to break free.”

“Drain her!” Smoke yelled.

Skulduggery’s hands jerked before he pulled them back.

“This is an odd sensation,” Skulduggery murmured. “You’re really not afraid?”

She gave him a sad smile. “I don’t die like this,” she said. “I die on my knees.”

“Memphis!” Lethe shouted. “You do it!”

“Taking care of business,” Memphis muttered, and jumped from Tanner Rut’s X to Valkyrie’s.

Before he reached it, Skulduggery waved his hand and he was knocked off course. He fell, screaming, into the lake of energy and was instantly vaporised.

“Well, that’s torn it,” Skulduggery said, dropping the nozzle while his hand went to the latches on her clasps. He freed her limbs and her magic came back to her, flooding her system.

Below them, Lethe shoved Nero. “Get him! Teleport him into the lake!”

“My head hurts …”

“Do it!”

Nero scowled and fixed his eyes on Skulduggery as Skulduggery thrust his left hand down, the air rippling, while at the same time his right fist spun behind him. Nero, focusing only on the attacking hand, teleported to a space above Skulduggery and dropped on to him, catching the right fist just behind the ear. Nero’s head snapped back and he fell, too dazed to stop himself from crunching down on to the platform. He rolled over, clutching his left shoulder, screaming.

The curved plate swung away and Valkyrie immediately plummeted, but her fall was curtailed by cushions of air that rolled in beneath her. She found herself turned right way up and then she was drifting down by Skulduggery’s side.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Skulduggery announced. “You outnumber us. You’ve got us trapped in a prison full of people who hate us. But I need you to understand something. When we’re together, Valkyrie and I, there is nothing we cannot accomplish, and no number of enemies we cannot overcome.”

They landed gently. Immediately, Valkyrie toppled over.

Skulduggery looked down at her. “You ruined that.”