Was this it? Was this what Scapegrace had been searching for? The chance to do something important, the chance to make a difference … Sure, it wasn’t what he’d had in mind. In truth, it had nothing to do with him. It was his old body that was doing all the work. But still … it was something. He was something. He mattered. Maybe this could be it. Maybe this could be his pathway to contentment. He wasn’t going to save the world, but by contributing to the world of science, well … That was something to be proud of. Finally.

An odd thing happened to his face. His facial muscles contracted and pulled and his mouth twisted.

“Master!” Thrasher exclaimed. “You’re smiling! And it’s beautiful!”

25

GOING TO AMERICA

exter Vex was talking with Saracen Rue when she walked in, and they both turned and Vex smiled and came over, arms out for a hug.

“Welcome back,” he said, and Darquesse hugged him. He smelled of pine needles and fresh air. She could have tightened her grip and crushed his spine, and all of those tightly-bound muscles underneath his shirt would have been for nothing. But she didn’t. She behaved.

Saracen Rue, though. She was curious about how he would react to her. Saracen Rue knows things, that was what people said, after all. She wondered if he’d be able to see through her act. But he just came over, wrapped her up in another big hug, said nice things and gave her a lovely, happy grin.

So she didn’t crush his spine, either.

She got hugs off Gracious O’Callahan, clad in a Captain America T-shirt, and Donegan Bane, clad in extraordinarily tight jeans, and she got a friendly nod from Dai Maybury. Poor Dai. So cool, so aloof, and so recently an only child. She wondered how he’d react if she told him what she’d just done to his brother. Probably not well, she figured.

Skulduggery walked in, followed by Stephanie and Fletcher.

“Six renegade sorcerers are hiding out in the New York Sanctuary,” Skulduggery said, adjusting his cufflinks. Little black skulls that Valkyrie had bought him as a Christmas present. “If these renegades are being monitored, if they’re secure, we leave them alone. If they’re roaming free, however, they present a clear and present danger to the sorcerers around them and the public at large, and we will take them down. Questions?”

“What do we do about Zafira?” asked Vex.

“If Grand Mage Kerias is harbouring these renegades because she doesn’t think they’ll be treated fairly by us – that’s fine. If she has some other agenda, we’ll take that into account. Kerias was one of Ravel’s staunchest supporters, remember. We do not turn our backs on her for a moment.”

Nods all round. Even Darquesse nodded.

“Everyone link up,” Skulduggery said. “Fletcher, teleport us straight into the lobby area, if you please.”