“—whose power goes beyond that of regular Vitakinetics – though in what way, I don’t know. We might have a lead on him. Smoke would appear to live up to his namesake. I can’t find a trace of him in the database. But Melior divides his time between Baltimore and his modest house right here in Roarhaven. I say we drop by, see if he’s home and ask him where they’re keeping Temper.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You have a query?”

She didn’t know how to put this gently. “You have taken into account the possibility that Temper Fray might be dead, right? They might have killed him when they caught him and just disposed of the body.”

“I have taken that into account,” said Skulduggery, “but I’m not overly fond of the possibility so I’m choosing to pretend it doesn’t exist. It’s a remarkably cheering solution to an otherwise depressing situation.”

“Pretending something doesn’t exist is a practical outlook, is it?”

“I never said it was practical, just that it cheered me up.”

“And this Melior guy … We’ve both seen Vitas use the same energy to hurt people as well as to heal them. Can this guy hurt us?”

“If you’re asking if things could get dangerous … that’s always a possibility. I see you’re still not wearing the armoured clothes Ghastly designed for you.”

“They were getting a little snug around the shoulders.”

“Snug or not, they’ve saved your life on more than one occasion.”

“If I decide to come back full time, I’ll wear the black, I promise.”

His head tilted. “I haven’t persuaded you yet?”

“Not yet,” said Valkyrie. “But your twenty-four hours aren’t up for another—” she checked her watch “—hundred and fifty-seven minutes.”

“Ah,” he said, “plenty of time.”

“So will we be going after Melior with an army of Cleavers or what?”

“Not really, I’m afraid. That would mean handing over authority to the City Guard, and we want to stay as far away from them as possible.”

“So we’re going in alone?”

“Don’t say it like that.”

“How should I say it?”

“I don’t know.” He stood. “Say it with a little more enthusiasm.”

“So we’re going in alone,” she said. “Yay.”

Skulduggery put on his hat. “Much better.”

18

They took the Bentley to the Narrows, in the South-East District. The buildings along the wall were smaller than those in the middle of the city, and here the streets were thin and winding. Skulduggery parked and he and Valkyrie went walking. The shade cast by the tightly packed buildings robbed them of their shadows. Only at midday did sunlight ever have a chance to warm the paving stones.

They passed a mother and her children, all of whom stared at Skulduggery as they passed, and ignored Valkyrie. It was a nice change.