Playing With Fire

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  "You smoke?" Crystal asked.

  "No," Valkyrie said. "Never really saw the point."

  "Typical," Carol muttered, and Crystal made a show out of trying not to laugh. "We're going somewhere else, then. Oh, and you better not tell on us, all right? You better keep your mouth shut."

  "You got it."

  The twins looked at each other triumphantly, and walked out without another word.

  Echo-Gordon stood up through the table, and stepped out of it. "Ah, the twins. I'll never forget the day they were born," and his smile dipped as he added, "no matter how hard I try. ..."

  He noticed Valkyrie looking out the window again.

  He spoke kindly. "Fear is a good thing, you know."

  "It doesn't feel good."

  "But it keeps you alive. Bravery, after all, isn't the absence of fear. Bravery is the acknowledgment and the conquering of fear."

  She smiled. "I think I read that on the back of a cornflakes box."

  Echo-Gordon nodded. "Understandable. That's

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  where I get all my wisdom."

  She left the window and looked out the door, at her relations as they laughed and talked and drank and danced.

  "I am scared," she said. "I'm scared of being hurt, and I'm scared of dying. But mostly I'm scared of letting down my parents. Other kids my age, I can see it, they're embarrassed by their folks. Maybe the mother won't stop fussing, or the father thinks he's funny when he's not. But I love my parents, because they're good people. If we fail in this, if we don't stop Vengeous and the Grotesquery, then my parents"-- suddenly, unexpectedly, her voice cracked-- "will die."

  The image of her uncle looked at her and didn't say anything.

  "I can't let that happen," she said.

  Echo-Gordon looked at her and she saw it all in his eyes, and he didn't need to say anything. He just nodded, and murmured, "Well all right then."

  He looked back at the party, his broad smile returning, and he nodded. "It's time to put me back in the box, I'm afraid. You have things to do, don't you?"

  "Yes, I do."

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  She picked up the stone, placed it in the box.

  "Thank you for this," Echo-Gordon said. "It was nice being around the family again. Reminds me just how much I don't miss them."

  She laughed and closed the box.

  "Be careful," he said, and faded away.

  She walked out to the function room. She saw her father talking with Fergus and another man. Her mother was sitting at a table, pretending to be asleep. Beryl stood alone, looking around like a startled heron. She spied someone she hadn't gossiped with and descended with alarming zeal.

  Carol and Crystal entered from another room. Carol was looking a little green, and Crystal was red-faced with a coughing fit.

  Valkyrie stepped through the glass doors onto the small balcony, felt the fresh breeze, and looked out over the dark golf course. Beyond the course were the dunes, and the beach, and the sea. Both hands resting on the balcony railing, Valkyrie took a deep, calming breath.

  Something moved over the dark golf course.

  She blinked. For a moment it had looked like a person, running and keeping low, but now there was no one there. Had this been any other night,

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  she might have been inclined to believe it was merely her mind playing tricks on her. But this wasn't any other night.

  The vampires were coming.

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  Chapter Thirty-four

  UNFINISHED BUSINESS

  TANITH SAT IN THE Bentley and tried not to fidget. Her body wasn't used to sitting still and not doing anything. Skulduggery, sitting beside her, was a model of stillness and everlasting patience. She tried to relax, but every so often a shot of adrenaline would pump through her and her right leg would kick out involuntarily. It was very embarrassing.

  They were parked on a slight bluff overlooking the putting green. From here they could see the golf clubhouse, but they were far enough away so that Dusk wouldn't recognize the car. Once they

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  saw anything suspicious, the Bentley would be able to speed down the narrow road and they'd be able to intercept the vampire before he even got close to the reunion. It was a good plan.

  The moon was full and bright. Tanith checked her watch. The lunar eclipse was three hours away. Plenty of time to get what they needed to get and do what they needed to do. Hopefully.

  Something hit the Bentley, and the car shook. Tanith grabbed her sword and leaped out. Skulduggery was out the other side, gun in his hand. An old man stood in the silver moonlight and looked at them. Tanith had never seen him before. He didn't look like one of the Infected. She started to relax.

  "You lied to me," the old man said.

  "You wanted to see the girl die," Skulduggery responded. "You got what you wanted." He wasn't putting his gun away. Tanith knew who it was now. She gripped her sword tighter.

  The Torment's eyes were fierce. "It was a sham. I knew there was something wrong, but I had been in that cellar for so long I couldn't see it. It was a reflection, wasn't it? You did something to a reflection, improved it, so that it would fool me. You cheated."

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  "We don't have time for this. We've got a busy night ahead of us."

  "Oh yes," the Torment said with a smile. "You do."

  He opened his mouth wide, and a jet of black hit Skulduggery and knocked him back. Tanith tried to move away, but he turned to her and the stream of darkness struck her with such force, it knocked her off her feet. She rolled, keeping her mouth and eyes shut. She heard the black stuff, whatever it was, splatter on the ground beside her. It was inky and foul smelling but it had substance, and when she pulled it off her, it came away in thick strips.

  She opened her eyes, saw the Torment wipe his mouth and grin.

  She pulled away another strip of black, threw it down, where it joined the pool. And then the pool started to shift. It moved in on itself, bunched up and thickened, and grew legs.

  Lots of legs.

  "Oh hell," Tanith muttered, as the black stuff formed into spiders and the spiders clacked.

  Skulduggery clicked his fingers and hurled twin fireballs into the lake of scuttling blackness that was filling the ground before them.

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  Tanith's sword was out, slicing at the spiders as they leaped for her. The blade cut through their hard bodies, and dark green blood splashed onto her tunic.

  She felt something on her leg and swatted at it, and another spider leaped onto her shoulder. She slammed the sword hilt into it and stepped back, stood on another spider that squished underfoot, and she slipped. The ground went away and she was falling, then she hit something solid and flipped over as she tumbled down the bluff.

  She rolled through long grass, burst through it to level ground, realized she was on the putting green. A few spiders had joined her for the trip, and she looked up as they leaped for her. She fell back again, flicking her wrist, the sword blade catching the moonlight. One of the spiders squealed. Tanith grunted with satisfaction.

  She looked up at the bluff, to where the Bentley was parked, saw a wave of darkness blacker than the night spilling over and coming down toward her. Hundreds of spider legs clacking against stone and earth.

  "I've got this," Skulduggery said from beside her right shoulder. She hadn't even heard him join her.

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  He stepped forward and raised his arms, like he was welcoming the wave of eight-legged killers. Tanith watched his fingers curl slightly as he took hold of some invisible thing, and then, ever so slowly, he moved his hands clockwise.

  The long grass swayed in the sudden breeze.

  And then Skulduggery struck, his fingers tightening, his hands moving over each other in wide circles, and the spiders were lifted high off the ground. They spun in a whirlwind, more and more of them getting sucked in.

  Tanith's sword dealt with the few that the whirlwind didn't t
rap, and then she stepped back and marveled at Skulduggery's control. His hands moved faster and faster, in tighter and tighter circles, and the whirlwind narrowed and became a mass of churning black bodies. Then Skulduggery twisted his hands and the whirlwind folded in on itself, and the night was filled with terrible cracking sounds. Green blood, thick and heavy, spurted into the warm air.

  Skulduggery dropped his hands, and the mangled bodies of the spiders fell to the putting green.

  "We have to get to Valkyrie," he said, turning toward the golf club. Tanith went to follow him but stopped when he stopped.

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  The Torment was standing between them and the clubhouse, and the inky substance filled his eyes and rolled down his cheeks like tears. It ran from his nostrils, and his ears, and his mouth, and spread over his skin, in through his hair and his beard, covering his clothes and spreading further. His arms jerked, his hands becoming talons, and his shoes split as his legs grew and the blackness covered him completely. He arched his back and lifted his arms, and two pairs of giant spider legs burst from his torso, flexed, and touched down. His limbs kept growing, and his body lifted off the ground as a third eye opened on his forehead and blinked.

  He stopped growing. His eight legs clacked and his mouth was open wide and showing teeth. The Torment-spider looked down at them and chattered.

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  Chapter Thirty-five

  ATTACK OF THE VAMPIRES

  VALKYRIE WALKED FROM the party and went downstairs, passing the trophy cabinet and the golfing Wall of Fame; and as she approached the doors, she saw someone standing just outside. The doors were glass, with stainless steel handles, and the parking lot outside was supposed to be lit up-- but right now it was in darkness. The lights must have shorted out.

  The man wasn't moving. She could see his outline but not his features.

  Valkyrie slowed. She could feel his eyes on her. The closer she got, the more she could see. There

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  were others out there with him, just standing there in the gloom.

  She stopped, looked at him through the glass.

  The man reached for the handle and rattled the door, but it wouldn't open. This time of night, it was controlled by the door-release button on the inside. If someone wanted to get in, they had to talk into the intercom, get a member of staff to come down and open the door.

  Dusk pressed his face against the glass door and looked at her. She could see his scar quite clearly.

  She heard a window break somewhere else on the ground floor, and she turned and ran back to the stairs, taking them three at a time. She burst into the function room, assailed by the music and the noise. She looked around for some way to secure the door, but there was nothing. There was no lock. She could barricade it, but how long would that last? And what would she tell everyone in here? What would she tell her parents?

  And where the hell was Skulduggery?

  There had to be a way. She needed to stop people from getting hurt, and she needed to do so without alerting anyone that there was actually any danger. She opened the door a crack.

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  The lights were out, and the Infected were climbing the stairs.

  It was her they wanted. They'd ignore everyone else if they thought they could get her.

  Valkyrie slipped out, making sure the door closed behind her and the Infected on the stairs saw her, then bolted for the staircase, heading up to the top floor.

  Footsteps behind her, running, and she reached the top floor and glanced around quickly, getting her bearings.

  Her adrenaline was pumping. The air shifted and she felt someone almost upon her. She ducked down and spun, bringing her right arm around in a wide arc to slam into the Infected man's back and send him flipping over her straightened leg. Another grabbed at her, and she batted the arms away and snapped her elbow into his chest. Her attacker crashed back. The others tumbled over him and snarled.

  She sprinted down the corridor and barged into a dark room, almost tripping over a chair. The terrace stood out against the darkness along the far wall, and she made for that, the Infected right behind her. She pulled open the balcony doors and

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  ran out and leaped over the railing.

  Wind rushed in her ears.

  Directly below her, the Infected stood outside the glass doors, waiting for their undead comrades to flush her out. They looked up in surprise, saw her flying over them.

  And then the tarmac-covered driveway was coming at her and she used both hands, trying to manipulate the air. She did her best to cushion her fall, but this wasn't the easy drop from her bedroom window-- this was much higher, it was at an angle, and she hadn't taken into account the sheer velocity. . . .

  She landed and cried out in pain as she rolled, knees and elbows striking the driveway, her hip scraping as she tumbled, her skin torn and bleeding.

  She knew she should have worn trousers.

  The world rocked to a stop and balanced itself out, and she opened her eyes.

  The Infected were standing looking at her, and Dusk strode between them, his eyes narrowed and his lips curled in hatred.

  And then Valkyrie was up and running.

  She was sore, she felt blood on her legs and arms, but she ignored the pain. She looked back,

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  saw the mass of Infected surge after her.

  She passed the club gates and took the first road to her left, losing a shoe in the process and cursing herself for not wearing boots. It was narrow and dark, with fields on one side and a row of back gardens on the other.

  She came to a junction. Up one way she could see headlights, so she turned down the other, leading the Infected away from any bystanders. She darted in off the road, running behind the Pizza Palace and the video store, realizing her mistake when she heard the voices around the next corner. The pub had a back door that smokers used.

  She veered off to her right, ran for the garden wall, and leaped over it. She stayed low and wondered for a moment if she'd managed to lose the Infected so easily.

  Dusk dropped onto her from above, and she cried out. He sent her reeling.

  "I'm not following the rules anymore," he said. She looked at him, saw him shaking. He took a syringe from his coat and let it drop. "No more rules. No more serum. This time there'll be nothing to stop me tearing you limb from limb."

  He grunted as the pain hit.

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  ' "I'm sorry I cut you," Valkyrie tried, backing away.

  "Too late. You can run, if you want. Adrenaline makes the blood taste sweeter."

  He smiled, and she saw the fangs start to protrude through his gums.

  He brought his hands to his shirt, and then, like Superman, he ripped the shirt open. Unlike Superman, however, he took his flesh with it, revealing the chalk-white skin of the creature underneath.

  She darted toward him, and his eyes widened in surprise. She dived, snatched the syringe from the ground, and plunged it into his leg.

  Dusk roared, kicked her onto her back, his transformation interrupted. He tried to rip off the rest of his humanity, but his human skin tore at the neck. This wasn't the smooth shucking she'd seen the previous night. This was messy, and painful.

  Valkyrie scrambled up. The Infected had heard Dusk's anguished cries, and they were closing in.

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  Chapter Thirty-six

  GIANT SPIDER MADNESS

  THE EDGLEY family reunion was taking up the main function hall, at the front of the building, leaving the rear of the golf club in darkness. That was probably a good thing, Tanith reflected, as she watched Skulduggery fly backward through the air.

  The Torment-spider turned to her, and she dodged a slash from one of his talons. She turned and ran, but he was much faster. Tanith jumped for the side of the building and ran upward, a ploy that had got her out of a lot of trouble in the past-- but then, she had never faced a giant spider before.

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  His talons clacked as he
followed her up, chattering as he came. She stepped over the ledge, onto the rooftop, then turned and waited for him to follow. The spider legs appeared over the edge first, then the head and the torso, and Tanith lunged. Her sword flashed but hit one of the armor plates that protected the Torment-spider's underside. His leg swept in and crashed against her, and Tanith lost the blade and hit the rooftop and rolled. She reached for her sword, but a talon stepped on it.

  Tanith backed away. The Torment-spider chattered once more, then went quiet. His three eyes, devoid of any recognizable human trait, observed her. She knew he could strike and she'd never see it coming.

  "Excuse me," she said, as politely as she could, "I believe you're standing on my sword."

  The Torment-spider didn't answer. She briefly wondered if he could answer, if there was any kind of rational being left in there.

  "I don't think this is entirely fair," she continued. "You're angry with Skulduggery because he didn't kill Valkyrie, but you and me, we've never even met. I mean, you have no reason to attack me.

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  You don't even know me. If you got to know me, if you took the time, I'm sure you'd really like me. I'm a likable girl. Everyone says so."

  The Torment-spider chattered in a short burst.

  "Did you know-- and this is a fact here-- did you know that most spiders are really, really ugly? It's true. The women spiders have a really hard time of it. I saw it in a documentary. Why do you think the black widow kills the guys she mates with? Shame, that's why. I'm not saying you're ugly. Who am I to judge? I've only got two legs, right?"

  The Torment-spider advanced. Tanith took another step back.

  "I didn't mean to insult you. Did I insult you? I didn't mean to. I'm sure, for a giant spider person, you're quite the catch. And, hey, looks aren't everything, yeah? You know what us girls really go for? A sense of humor. And you look like a guy who is ready to laugh. Am I right?"