The explosion sent her spinning out of the sky, trailing smoke and fire, and she vanished behind a building. Skulduggery wrapped his arm round Valkyrie’s waist and they flew to a roof that overlooked the square. Darquesse was on her hands and knees, trying to rise. The helicopter – an AH-64 Apache, according to the pilot Fletcher had been partnered with – opened up with its minigun. Bullets chewed up the ground around Darquesse, pummelling her and driving her back to her knees. The pilot, a sorcerer who could fly anything but preferred aircraft with fun weapons, let loose another rocket, and the explosion lifted Darquesse up and threw her like a rag doll. She rolled, her body limp. She’d been hurt, but there was no blood. No burns.

Darquesse rose suddenly, stumbling away from the minigun’s angry bullets, raising her hand towards the Apache. The minigun altered its aim and loosed another barrage that thundered into her chest. She fell to a sitting position, but Valkyrie glanced up in time to see the helicopter’s rotor blades disintegrating. The Apache whined and dropped, and she saw Fletcher grab the pilot and they jumped, disappearing the instant they cleared the stricken aircraft. The Apache had time to flip halfway over before it hit the ground – right on top of Darquesse.

“My turn,” Skulduggery said, stepping away from Valkyrie. He hefted the God-Killer sword as Ravel and Saracen appeared on the rooftop opposite. Saracen already had an arrow nocked in the bow. Skulduggery and Ravel jumped down into the square.

There was a squeal of protesting metal, and then Darquesse stumbled from the smoking wreckage. Saracen let loose the arrow, but Darquesse whirled, snatched it from the air before it hit her. Saracen sent two more after it, keeping her busy while Skulduggery ran up behind her. She snatched both arrows and broke them, then ducked the swing that would have taken her head from her shoulders. Skulduggery spun, the blade going low for her legs, but again Darquesse moved just out of range, almost stepping straight towards Ravel’s spear. At the last moment, though, she seemed to sense he was there, and she slipped sideways and backed away from them both.

“Ravel?” she said, in a voice so loud Valkyrie could hear her from where she stood. “You’re working with Ravel, after what he did to Ghastly?”

“Until you’re dealt with,” Skulduggery said, “I’d make a deal with Mevolent himself.”

Saracen sent another arrow her way, but she caught it, stopping it millimetres from her eye.

“God-Killers,” she said. “And there I thought Tanith had destroyed them all.”

Valkyrie frowned. Darquesse was getting her cockiness back. She was being given time to recover.

“Let me guess,” Darquesse continued, “Billy-Ray, wasn’t it? He did something? Switched them? Oooh, that Billy-Ray. He is in so much trouble.”

“We’re giving you one last chance to surrender,” said Skulduggery.