“I thought I did,” Ravel said. “But what Darquesse did to me … that’s what we’d label cruel and unusual. I can’t go back to that. I just can’t. You have no idea what it was like. You’ve no idea what something like that does to you. I’m exhausted. I need to recover. I need to get strong again.”

“You need to put those shackles back on and come with us,” Skulduggery said.

“No!” Ravel said, almost shouting, before visibly calming himself. “No. You’re not taking me back. Darquesse will find me and it’ll start all over again.”

Skulduggery thumbed back the hammer of his gun. “This is not a negotiation.”

Ravel offered a wan smile. “You won’t shoot me. You need me alive.”

“I’ll settle for wounded.”

“Go ahead. Wound me. Hope the wound slows me down but doesn’t bleed me dry. Hope it makes me more co-operative and not more stubborn.”

Skulduggery didn’t respond for a moment, and then he gave a shrug. “Very well,” he said, passing his hat and his gun to Valkyrie. “Hold these.”

Ravel chuckled softly as Skulduggery stepped towards him, and flexed his fingers, readying his magic. Before he could raise his hands, however, the door opened beside him and four unsuspecting Children of the Spider walked out.

Alarm swept over their faces, and Ravel lunged at one and Skulduggery dived at another. Ravel was still recovering from Darquesse’s punishment, so the dismantling of his opponents wasn’t as precise or as polished as Skulduggery’s, but it was impressive nonetheless. Valkyrie had seen Skulduggery fight like this before, alongside Ghastly or any of the other Dead Men, giving battle with the absolute assurance that the person by his side was doing his job. The Children of the Spider didn’t have time to even cry for help. Fist collided with chin and elbow smashed into jaw and forehead met nose, and in moments Skulduggery and Ravel were standing over four unconscious, broken bodies.

“You’re going to need my help getting out of the city,” Ravel said. “I came here looking for assistance. It’s obvious I’m not going to get it, so I need to escape, too.”

“And when we’re out of here,” Skulduggery said, “you’ll surrender?”

“Not a chance. But we can have that argument once we’re clear.”

From somewhere close, running footsteps. A whole lot of running footsteps.

“Come on,” Skulduggery said, turning to the window. He flicked his hands and the glass exploded outwards, and then all three ran forward and jumped.

Air rushed.

It brought Valkyrie to Skulduggery’s side. She hung on. The street hurtled towards them. No Redhoods gathered below. Not yet.

They slowed, following Ravel’s trajectory, and landed at the same time.

“Get to the back streets,” Skulduggery instructed. “Get under cover as fast as—”