Foe glanced at Mercy, who shrugged, and then he looked back at Valkyrie. “Expecting? Kind of. We knew there was a strong chance you’d come down here, but it wouldn’t have been a total loss if you hadn’t.”

“Where is she? Where’s Darquesse?”

Foe looked at Mercy. “Want to tell her?”

Mercy smiled. “Love to. Valkyrie, you’ve actually saved us quite a hazardous trip, so thank you. Were it not for you, we would have had to go back up ourselves to bring her down here. So, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for saving us the trouble.”

Valkyrie frowned. “But I didn’t. I didn’t bring anyone down with me.”

“Well,” Gordon said from behind her, “that’s not strictly true.”

40

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

alkyrie felt herself go ashen-white with shock. “Gordon?”

Gordon’s image flickered as he walked by her, to the edge of the pool. “I’m afraid not,” he said, peering in. “You have to understand, the Echo Stone had all the properties I needed for a place to rest. I figured if it could store a personality then it could store a – what was it? Untethered entity? – even if it is just temporarily. Sort of like a summer home, you know? Mr Foe, you can take my body out now.”

Foe and Mercy waded into the pool while Gordon turned back to Valkyrie. “So I moved some furniture around,” Darquesse continued, “knocked down a few walls, redesigned the interior …”

“What did you do to Gordon?”

A wince. “Ah. Yes. Unfortunately, the previous tenant proved … uncooperative. So I had to evict him.”

“What do you—?”

“I mean he’s gone, Valkyrie. I wiped his consciousness before I moved in.”

Valkyrie’s insides went cold and plummeted. “You murdered him!”

“Gordon died six years ago. It’s taken him this long to shut up about it, that’s all.”

Foe and Mercy laid Stephanie’s body on the ground, then Foe took a Sunburst star from his jacket and placed it on her chest. It started to light up.

“Isn’t that cool?” Gordon’s image said. “Skulduggery used one on you. It kick-starts the brain as well as the heart, and the entire central nervous system along with it. Higher chance of a successful revival than a regular defibrillator, and this one has been tinkered with to increase its power. Just what I need.”

The sigil on the device pulsed red.

“Wish me luck,” came Gordon’s voice, and then his image disappeared and the Echo Stone flashed with a bright light. All at once, Valkyrie’s head was filled with a torturous shrieking and she ducked back, stumbling, as Foe and the others did the same.

Then the shrieking went away and Stephanie’s body gasped and sat bolt upright.

“Wow,” said Darquesse.

Foe took her hand, helped her to her feet. Darquesse wobbled unsteadily.