Tanith lay at her feet. She was ruined. There was blood everywhere. Darquesse could sense her life about to leave her. Poor Tanith. She hadn’t wanted to hurt her. Not really. She knelt, placed her hand on Tanith’s cheek. She wasn’t at full power yet – not even close – but even so she knit those broken bones and repaired those failing organs and healed that flesh and that skin, and when she was done she stood up and almost blacked out.

She chuckled as she steadied herself against the wall. That could possibly be her last-ever act of kindness, and she would never be thanked for it. Typical.

46

THE CONVERSATION

don’t get it.”

There was a paused image on the screen, showing Valkyrie in the middle of a battle she didn’t remember. No, it wasn’t Valkyrie, it was Stephanie, and it was the Battle of Roarhaven. Around her, sorcerers fought Warlocks and Wretchlings in a frozen blur of violence and death.

“I don’t get it,” her dad said again. “What is it?”

Ice water flooded Valkyrie’s body. She was suddenly cold and sick and her head spun. No. No, no.

“When did you do this?” her mum said. “It looks real. It doesn’t even look like special effects. When did you do this? Who did this?”

The USB. Someone had given this to them. Valkyrie tried to speak. She couldn’t.

“Stephanie,” her dad said, “the stuff on this video … I’m sorry, I don’t understand what it is.” He gave a shaky laugh. “I mean, it looks real, for God’s sake. And the guy, the guy talking over it, he said you died. That you died saving us, saving the whole world.”

Valkyrie knew what she had to do. She had to grin, make a joke out of it, demand to see the footage, squeal in delight at how realistic the effects looked. She had to give herself time to come up with an excuse. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t say anything.

“He talked about Skulduggery Pleasant,” her dad continued. “Skulduggery Pleasant is that friend of Gordon’s. He was at the reading of the will.”

“You don’t forget a name like that,” her mum said.

Her dad shook his head. “No you don’t. What’s been going on, Steph? What have you been hiding from us? Gordon was mixed up with some shady characters, but I told him, I begged him, to keep all that craziness away from us. Away from you. For God’s sake, Steph, tell us what the hell is going on.”

“Dad,” she said, “I …”

Alice came in, saw Valkyrie and cheered and ran over. Instinctively, Valkyrie scooped her up, hugged her, her eyes wide, her blood still cold. Alice babbled and yapped excitedly, and eventually Valkyrie put her down.

“I have to make a phone call,” she said numbly.

Her mum shook her head. “Not until you—”