Jeremiah goes to the back of the Cadillac, opens the trunk. Danny gets his good leg under him and charges, aiming to ram him with his shoulder and hobble on, but Jeremiah steps out of the way and Danny slips and falls, coughs out a gurgle as the taut rope cuts off his air.

“Don’t misbehave,” says Jeremiah, looping the rope round his hand. “You really don’t have much of a chance of emerging from all this alive, not if I’m being honest, but you’ll live longer if you’re good. Now hop in.”

Jeremiah pulls on the rope and Danny is jerked to his feet. Standing, the pressure on his windpipe is lessened. He looks into the trunk.

“I don’t have to get in there,” he says. “I’ll behave. I’ll be good.”

“In,” says Jeremiah.

“I’ll freeze.”

“It’s more comfortable than it looks. In.”

“Jeremiah, please, you can let me go. I won’t tell anyone, I swear.”

“Me and Mr Gant are driving away,” says Jeremiah. “You can either climb in the trunk right now without any more complaints, or I’ll tie this rope to the tow bar and we’ll drag you behind us the whole way home. It’s a long way, Danny. You’re gonna be a red smear on the road before we get fifty miles. Up to you.”

Danny climbs in.

39

FINDING THE FOUNTAIN

alkyrie led the way down the stone stairs, her torchlight pushing back the gloom with every step, Skulduggery behind her and Gordon drifting through solid objects with barely concealed delight. Cold down here. The ground flattened as much as it was able and they walked quietly through a tunnel carved into the rock, till the walls around them vanished and the ceiling disappeared and they emerged into the first of many caverns. Slivers of captured sunlight criss-crossed its length and breadth and Valkyrie put away her torch so that she could grip the tranquilliser gun with both hands. She liked the tranq gun. Skulduggery held its long-barrelled twin. He liked to keep them as a set.