Black lightning flashed, turning the wall behind Darquesse to dust.

Darquesse darted sideways, but Valkyrie fired again, sending her reeling. Everywhere she moved, every direction, Valkyrie cut off with a streak of lightning, until Darquesse was scrambling backwards and Valkyrie was standing over her, breathing hard, the black crystal pointed right into her face.

The Sceptre trembled. Inconsolable, unknowable rage scraped its fingers through Valkyrie’s mind.

“Bring them back,” she said.

Darquesse looked up at her, licking her lips to wet them. Valkyrie recognised the mannerism. She did that sometimes. When she was nervous. Even Darquesse was scared of the Sceptre.

“Bring them back.”

“They’re energy,” said Darquesse. “Don’t think of them as dead, think of them—”

“I will kill you,” Valkyrie told her, “if you do not bring them back to me right now. I know you can do it.”

Darquesse shook her head. “Before, maybe. When I was whole. When we were together. But I’m not as strong as I was. If you join with me, if you let me absorb your energy, I’ll be able—”

“I will kill you,” Valkyrie said dully. “Bring them back. You have three seconds.”

“Valkyrie, come on.”

“Three.”

“I’m not strong enough any more!”

“Two.”

“Please! I’ll bring them back when I have more—”

“One.”

“OK!” Darquesse said. “OK! I’ll do it.”

Valkyrie didn’t lower the Sceptre.

Darquesse raised her hand, very slowly, to the space where Valkyrie’s mum and dad had been standing. She narrowed her eyes, bit her lip …

… and then, with a soft whump, Valkyrie’s parents were standing there, blinking.

“What the hell just happened?” her dad said.

“You stupid girl,” Darquesse said, lifting her off her feet. She kicked uselessly as her parents ran to help. “You had a chance to kill me. You had the only chance to kill me. And you wasted it.”

With a flick of the wrist, Darquesse threw Valkyrie into her parents. They went down in a heap.

Darquesse examined the Sceptre. “This was your one remaining weapon. I am disappointed. I thought you were smarter than that. You take your chance when you can, Valkyrie. Haven’t you learned anything from Skulduggery? You have to be ruthless. You just have to be. Because what have you achieved here? You made me return your parents to you at the expense of controlling the situation.”

She cocked her hand back and hurled the Sceptre into the air. In an instant, it was a speck in the distance. Then it was gone. “And I’m just going to kill them again. Along with you. And everyone else. So congratulations, Valkyrie. You’ve doomed the world.”