“Yep. The Engineer shrugged, said Skulduggery made a fair point, it allowed the soul to shut down the Accelerator, and Skulduggery turned round and made fun of me.”

There’s a knock on the door, and Valkyrie glances at her watch. “That’ll be him now.”

Danny jumps to his feet. “Skulduggery? That’s Skulduggery Pleasant?”

“Probably, yeah. I called him, told him it was time I came home. It’s like he said, years ago – punishment is the easy option. If I really want to make up for the things I’ve done, I’ve got to help people. If I want to make up for what I did to my sister, I have to be around her. I have to be a part of her life. She’s six now, for God’s sake. Six. She barely knows me. It’s … it’s time that changed.” She picks up her bags. “You can let yourself out, can’t you?”

“Uh … yeah …”

Valkyrie smiles. “I’ll get the rest of my stuff shipped over to me and then, I don’t know …” She looks around. “I’d sell the place, but I kind of like it.”

“Will I ever see you again?” Danny asks.

“You might.”

“But I might be an old man, yeah? And you’ll look exactly the same?”

She gives him a sad smile. “Yeah. Maybe. There’ll be some people calling round to talk to you. Sorcerers. Good people. They’ll make sure everything is all right.”

“Yeah. Cool.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Is everything going to be all right?”

“I … I don’t know. You’re asking me to return to my boring life after … after all this. After you. I don’t know if I can do that.”

“So don’t. You have dreams, right? You don’t want to spend the rest of your life running a grocery store in Meek Ridge, do you?”

“No. I … I used to have a record deal.”

Valkyrie tilts her head. “Seriously? Wow. Well, there you go. Get your record deal back. Become a rock star. Live an extraordinary life. You don’t have to save the world to change it.”

She taps her leg and Xena trots over. Danny goes as far as the hall with them. Through the frosted glass in the front door, he can see the dark outline of a tall, thin man, wearing a hat.

He remembers, as a kid, being scared of Santa Claus. He remembers lying in bed on Christmas Eve, curled in a ball, eyes wide, jumping at every creak the house made, waiting for this ghostly presence to visit. He feels that same kind of fear now – fear of the supernatural, mixed with pure, undiluted excitement.

Valkyrie stops with her hand on the latch, and looks back. “You want to meet him?”