China tossed a seven-pointed star to Skulduggery. It was made of thick metal and inscribed with dozens of delicate symbols. Stephanie had seen one before in the Medical Wing – a Sunburst, it was called. Skulduggery pressed the star against Darquesse’s chest, held it there while the symbols began to light up.

No one said anything. No one moved.

When all the symbols were lit, they flashed red and instantly faded. Skulduggery felt for a pulse. Didn’t find one.

He tapped the Sunburst again. Once more, the symbols began to light up.

Stephanie’s hand was hurting. She looked down, realised she was gripping the Sceptre so tightly her knuckles were going white. She returned it to her backpack as quietly as she could.

The symbols flashed red. Still no pulse.

She’d been right. They all knew it. It hadn’t been Valkyrie communicating through Finbar. It was Darquesse all along – though once Valkyrie had been dragged out and trapped in the Soul Catcher, Darquesse had gone on to fool everyone, Stephanie included. Only Skulduggery noticed anything wrong. Only he noticed the tiny differences, picked up on the tiny clues. Only he knew to make the call to China, to get Fletcher to fake an injury and teleport home in preparation. And now here they were, with Darquesse dragged, kicking and screaming, from Valkyrie’s body and Valkyrie put back in. But no pulse. No brain function. The Deathtouch Gauntlet had been more effective than they’d anticipated.

Skulduggery held his hand above Valkyrie’s mouth, searching for the slightest breath. He tapped the Sunburst yet again. “It’s not working. It’s not working.”

Nobody else moved until China stepped forward. “Skulduggery,” she said gently, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You have to let her go.”

He ignored her, and threw the Sunburst to Gracious. “Fix it.”

Gracious could only stand there as Skulduggery interlaced his fingers and started pushing down on Valkyrie’s chest with his palms. A nudge from Donegan, and Gracious peered at the star, turned it over in his hands. He was something of an inventor, but Stephanie could tell by his face that he was no expert on Sunbursts.

Skulduggery continued giving CPR to Valkyrie’s dead body. Fletcher disappeared, arriving back a few seconds later with Synecdoche. The doctor went immediately to Valkyrie’s side.

“We need a Sunburst,” she said, checking for vital signs.

“We tried,” China told her. “It didn’t work.”

Synecdoche looked up, the colour draining from her face. She stopped checking for vital signs.

Stephanie felt sick.

“Finbar,” Vex said, “can you detect Darquesse’s presence?”

“She hasn’t come back,” Finbar said numbly.

“How long can she survive in her current state? Finbar? Finbar, I need you to focus.”

Finbar looked at him. “But Valkyrie …”

“We can mourn for Valkyrie later,” Vex said. “We need to make sure Darquesse won’t return.”