Skulduggery nodded. “A very bad lot. Vincent Foe was a mercenary during the war. I won’t tell you what war, I don’t want to complicate things. Mercy Charient is, for all intents and purposes, a serial killer. Obloquy, I doubt you’ll disagree, is something of a moron – but a savage moron. And then there’s Samuel.”

Valkyrie made a face. “Bloody vampires.”

Ryan sat forward. “That was a vampire? That guy who looked like an accountant?”

“We don’t talk about vampires,” Skulduggery warned.

“But it was daytime. How could he have been out during the—”

“We don’t talk about vampires!” Valkyrie said sharply.

Ryan shrank back. “Sorry,” he said.

“Don’t worry about it,” Skulduggery told him. “Valkyrie used to date a vampire, that’s all.”

“We didn’t date,” Valkyrie said immediately.

Skulduggery held a hand up. “I’m not judging.”

Valkyrie scowled, and looked back at Ryan. “Anyway, Deacon Maybury fell in with Foe’s gang, and Foe’s gang are nuts. Some people want to take over the world. Some people want to change the world. Foe and his mates want to destroy the world.” She shook her head. “They’re idiots.”

“Nihilists,” Skulduggery corrected.

“Idiots,” Valkyrie repeated. “There’s something called a Doomsday Machine, Ryan. Yes, I know how that sounds. And yes, it is as stupid as it appears. Some genius went ahead and built a bomb that could blow up the planet. He said he built it so that if the Faceless Ones ever returned, we could kill ourselves and kill them at the same time so that they could never travel to and infect other realities.”

Ryan frowned. “Faceless Ones?”

“Don’t complicate things,” Skulduggery said.

“Yeah, sorry Ryan,” said Valkyrie. “Anyway, that’s why it exists. So it was sitting there, existing, not harming anyone, and then a few years ago it was stolen. Foe and his gang stole it and hid it – which wouldn’t be an easy thing to do because the Machine is bigger than a house.”

“Why did they hide it?” Ryan asked. “Why not just set if off?”

“Because they didn’t have the key,” Skulduggery said. “They spent the next few years searching for it. That’s when Deacon joined them. They finally found it, nine days ago. But Deacon had no intention of activating the Machine. He hid the key, shaped like a clasp, to sell to the highest bidder.”

“But Foe’s gang caught up with him before the auction could take place,” Valkyrie said. “They chased him and he accidentally fell into a wood chipper.”

Ryan winced.

“Yeah,” said Valkyrie.

“So now Foe is hunting for the key,” Skulduggery said. “Their hunt led them to the library, and our hunt led us to them. And both hunts have led to you, Ryan.”

Ryan looked at his hand. “But the key’s gone. It crumbled when I held it. It’s just dust now.”