“I love you, too,” Skulduggery said, and Valkyrie opened her eyes, watching the fierce red of his aura bursting through the black like the sun through storm clouds. Her ears rang, the gun having gone off so close to her head. The red swirled, overcoming Smoke’s darkness, burning so fiercely that she had to switch off her aura-vision before it blinded her.

“What are you doing?” Smoke demanded, hobbling on his good leg. “What the hell are you doing?”

Skulduggery turned and pushed at the air, and Azzedine Smoke flew backwards off the dais, and fell to the lake of energy below.

It was so incredibly surreal. Valkyrie was supposed to be dead, yet life seemed determined to continue.

She watched, dazed, as Lethe grabbed Melior and shoved him over to Abyssinia’s body on the slab.

“Use me,” Lethe said, attaching one of the hoses to the tripod and pressing the other end into his chest. “Use my life force. I’m a Neoteric. My life force will work, won’t it?”

“I … I don’t know,” Melior said.

“It’s over,” Skulduggery said. “You’ve failed, Lethe. Let it go.”

Lethe shook his head. “It’s not over. It’s not. Richard, kill me now, right now, and you get Savant back. I promise you. I swear to you. That’s what you want, isn’t it? Above all else?”

“I … I’m not going to kill you …”

“Do it,” Lethe said. “I’m the one who’s kept him from you. It was me. It was all me. Don’t you understand? I did it. I ruined your life, and I have tortured Savant every day since then. Every single day. Have your revenge. Kill me.”

Skulduggery raised his gun. “Don’t do it, Richard.”

“Kill me now,” said Lethe.

Then Never teleported in, but, instead of bringing with her dozens of Cleavers, her hands were on the shoulders of Omen Darkly and Temper Fray.

“Stop!” Temper shouted, hands out towards Melior. “Don’t do anything!”

“Kill me and you’ll get Savant back,” Lethe said.

“Kill him and you’ll kill Savant!” Temper countered. “Richard, a few hours ago I spoke with a mutual friend of ours – Tessa Mehrbano.”

Melior frowned. “So?”

“She knew Smoke. For weeks leading up to Savant’s abduction, she saw Smoke pour his corruption into a black rubber suit – Lethe’s black rubber suit.”

“Kill me,” Lethe growled.

“Lethe is Savant!” Omen blurted. “Lethe is your husband!”

Melior froze.

Skulduggery lowered his gun. “Smoke drenched the necronaut suit with his power,” he murmured. “Once they sealed it, Savant was stuck. He had no escape.”

“They’re lying to you,” Lethe said.

“The affectations,” Skulduggery continued, “the vocal distortions, the deliberate speech patterns … it was all to disguise the man beneath.”

Melior hesitated, then shook his head. “Savant is a pacifist,” he said. “He couldn’t hurt someone if he tried.”