Valkyrie turned and ran, and the vampire bounded after her. Something blurred out of the corner of Ryan’s eye and suddenly Skulduggery was vaulting over the railing and dropping to the ground far below.

Ryan ran for the travelator, heading down, heading down to help Valkyrie. He heard her cry out and nearly tripped, nearly went head first. There was a crash of breaking glass and Ryan glimpsed Skulduggery disappearing through a shop window. He was almost at the ground floor when he saw her, saw Valkyrie, hurling fireballs and whipping shadows at the vampire that came at her like a wild animal. It twisted in mid-air, avoiding the slash of darkness Valkyrie sent its way. It landed on her, took her down, its claws raking across her body. She gasped and it raked again, and again, trying to get through her protective clothing, trying to rend flesh and puncture skin, trying to draw blood.

“Hey!” Ryan screamed, running into full view of the monster. “Hey you! Hey! Come and get me! Come on!”

The vampire snapped its head up, snarling.

“I’ve got what you want!” Ryan shouted, holding up his imprinted palm. If Samuel the man was still in there somewhere, maybe he’d remember why all this was going on in the first place. Maybe he’d remember that Ryan was the real target. Or maybe the vampire would just see an easy kill and—

The vampire leaped off Valkyrie. Ryan howled in terror and started running again. He glanced back in time to see it claws and its teeth and feel the rush of air as it swooped up and over him.

Ryan’s feet got mixed up and he tripped over himself. He sat on the ground, looking up. The vampire hung in the air, looking down. It writhed and snarled, slashed at him with its claws.

Skulduggery walked over, hands open, fingers flexing slightly as he held the creature in place. His suit was torn and his tie was crooked. Valkyrie limped over, holding his hat. She showed it to him, and he groaned. There was a large hole burned through the top.

The vampire snarled at them all.

Skulduggery raised his arms, and the vampire rose in the air. Higher and higher it went, up past every floor. Valkyrie took Ryan’s arm, escorted him to the benches. When the vampire couldn’t rise any higher, Skulduggery dropped his hands quickly, and the vampire plunged downwards.

“This won’t kill it,” Valkyrie told Ryan as the vampire fell. “But it’ll break enough bones to stop it from bothering us.”

The vampire hit the ground with a satisfying thwack, and didn’t get up.

Skulduggery examined his poor hat, and laid it to one side. “Ryan,” he said. “I know you’ve been through a lot, but there is the small matter of dismantling a bomb to get through, and then I’ll let you rest. I promise.”

TEN