Lethe hit him again, then reached down, forcing a hand into Skulduggery’s mouth, taking a grip. “I told you,” he said. “The world is a different place.”

Lethe wrenched and Skulduggery screamed as Lethe pulled his jawbone off.

Valkyrie grabbed the Australian and sent white lightning coursing through her, and she shot back off her feet and Valkyrie spun, raising her arm to Lethe.

But everything was moving so fast. Lethe blurred and her lightning was too slow. She tried whipping the lightning after him, but he blurred back, ducking under it. Impossible. Nobody was that fast, not even with magic.

And then Lethe was moving at normal speed again and Valkyrie stepped back, trying to work out what the hell had just happened. Suddenly the guy with the bleached hair was standing right in front of her. He hit her, square on the chin, and her head rocked back and her legs gave out and she was on the ground, looking up at the cloudless sky.

“You shouldn’t have come,” the Teleporter was saying. “Should’ve found somewhere else to hide. Now we’ve got you.” He grinned down at her. “Bet today isn’t turning out how you hoped, huh?”

“Don’t gloat, Nero,” said Lethe. “It’s not cool.” He looked down at Skulduggery, who was sitting up, his broken arm curled against him, his good hand clutching at his damaged skull. “I’ve damaged you. Richard could put you back together quite easily, I imagine. He might even be able to do more, given time. That’s why we have him, after all. To breathe life into the lifeless. But as interested as I would be in seeing that, from a purely academic point of view, I’m afraid I cannot allow it. You are the enemy. You must die. Richard, can you kill him?”

Melior hesitated. “Yes,” he said. “Probably.”

Lethe beckoned him over with Skulduggery’s jawbone. “Then, by all means, have at it.” He tossed the jawbone away.

Melior hesitated, but with a nudge from the goateed man he started walking over. Valkyrie tried getting up, but Nero stomped on her shoulder and she screamed and fell back.

And then Fletcher Renn appeared in the middle of it all.

Even through tear-filled eyes, Valkyrie recognised him. Tall. Good-looking. Blond hair still ridiculous.

Fletcher turned, taking in the scene. For the first time, Lethe and the others didn’t seem so confident. Fletcher winked at Valkyrie.

“I don’t know exactly what is going on here,” he said. “All I do know is that two dozen Cleavers are on their way. You can try to leave if you want. I don’t care. But I’m taking Valkyrie and Skulduggery. If I were you, I wouldn’t try—”

He stopped talking.