The Faceless Ones

  Skulduggery looked at him. “When you have lived as long as we have, you see things in the long term and you plan accordingly.”

  Sanguine emerged from the other tent and strolled happily across the bridge.

  “It’s starting,” Tanith said. “Fletcher, I’m really sorry about this, but you’re going to have to trust us.”

  “Oh, bloody hell …”

  Sanguine was a few steps away.

  “You’d better not let them take me,” Fletcher whispered.

  “Knock, knock,” came Sanguine’s slow, lazy drawl. He walked in, smiling, hands up and empty. “How ya’ll doin’ today? You don’t mind me sayin’, there are some serious faces lookin’ back at me. A more sensitive fella than me might believe not everyone’s excited about this. Come on people, it’s a trade! It’s meant to be fun!”

  “You talk an awful lot,” Tanith said, “and you say precious little.”

  “Sword lady.” Sanguine’s smile broadened. “I have missed you, y’know that? Many a night I have lain awake, thinkin’ of all the different ways I could kill you. My favorite scenario, it’s a silly little thing, but it’s where I cut your throat and your head rolls back, and your eyes are wide open and really, y’know, pleading, and I grab your hair and just …” He stopped and laughed. “Listen to me, gettin’ all sentimental when there’s business to be done. I been sent over here to orchestrate this whole affair, so … so I suppose let’s get to orchestratin’.”

  “Send Guild over,” said Skulduggery.

  “Now that ain’t how it’s gonna be played, an’ you know it. Rules of the game are fairly simple, but I’ll go slow on account of the dumb-lookin’ one—and I’ll let you decide among yourselves which one of you I’m referrin’ to.”

  Moving slowly, he took a pair of handcuffs from his pocket. “I’m gonna latch these here cuffs onto Fletcher-boy’s wrists,” he continued, “just to make sure he don’t do nothin’ dumb like teleport away. Then he’s gonna walk across to my friends there, as they send your boss man over here to you. It’s fairly simple, all things considered. Even a child could understand it.” He looked around. “Speakin’ of children, where’s the girl? I’m kinda missin’ the scowl.”

  Skulduggery ignored the question. “You’re staying this side of the bridge until the trade is complete.”

  Sanguine shook his head. “I got my orders. I gotta get back.”

  “We’re not running the risk of you grabbing Fletcher and disappearing with him.”

  “It’s a bridge, Bones. I travel through the ground, I travel through walls, I travel wherever I can fit. How am I supposed to fit beneath that little walkway?”

  “All the same, you’re staying here.”

  “All the same, no I ain’t.”

  Tanith’s sword slid from her coat and pressed against his neck.

  Sanguine hesitated for just a moment. “You know what? I’ve just changed my mind. I’ll stand over there and won’t say a word.”

  Ghastly moved up behind him, twisting his arm into a lock that, if Sanguine moved, would result in excruciating pain and torn ligaments.

  “I don’t see why you just don’t put me in handcuffs,” Sanguine grunted.

  “Because you said last summer that handcuffs don’t affect you,” Tanith told him.

  “I said that?”

  “Yes, you did.”

  “I was lyin’. Handcuffs render me powerless. I swear.”

  “Try not to talk so much,” Ghastly warned. “It annoys me.”

  “Tanith,” Skulduggery said, and stepped out of the tent. Tanith joined him, and together they walked slowly across the bridge. Gallow and Murder Rose came to meet them.

  The Liffey was dark and dirty beneath them.

  “Skulduggery,” Gallow said when they reached the middle. “Have you come to beg, perhaps? To cry? Maybe you’d like to switch sides? It’s too late, but it would be highly amusing to watch you try.”

  “Where’s your master, Gallow?”

  Gallow smiled. “I have no master. The Diablerie is a family of like-minded—”

  “Batu is your master,” Skulduggery interrupted. “He’s the one giving you your orders, handing out your assignments, patting you on the head whenever you need it. So where is he? He’s watching, isn’t he?”

  “He’s around.” Gallow smiled. Murder Rose whispered in his ear. “Oh yes, a very good point, Rose. Where is our Texan associate?”

  “He’s staying with us for the moment, until the trade is complete.”

  “A wise move, I suppose. You wouldn’t want us cheating you, after all. Send the boy out, with the cuffs on.”

  Gallow turned and walked back to the tent, Murder Rose behind him.

  Tanith and Skulduggery returned to their tent.

  “Are you ready?” Skulduggery asked Fletcher.

  Fletcher looked at Tanith, and she saw that he wasn’t bothering to hide it anymore—he was afraid. His eyes flickered back to Skulduggery, “You have a plan, right?”

  “I do.”

  “Can you tell me what it is?”

  “We save the world, we all go home.”

  “That’s a good plan.”

  “I have my moments.”

  Raindrops started to tap lightly on the tarpaulin cover.

  “I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” Skulduggery said.

  “Do you think Valkyrie is all right?”

  “Crux probably has her in one of the holding cells. To be honest, there’s a fair chance that she’s safer than any of us right now.”

  “Okay. Okay.”

  “They’re not going to hurt you,” Tanith said. “They need you.”

  Fletcher nodded. “After this, what say you and me go for a coffee or something? You’d really like me if you got to know me. I’ve known me for years and I love me.”

  She smiled. “Maybe.”

  “Really?”

  “No.”

  He returned the smile with a shaky one of his own, and then he stepped into the bubble and vanished from sight. Tanith put her hand through, watching how it became instantly invisible, and then she took a step forward, and now she could see him leaving the tent. Skulduggery was beside her, and Ghastly dragged Sanguine up so that he could see what was going on.

  Fletcher stepped onto the bridge. Across the way, the other tent opened, and Thurid Guild emerged. They walked toward each other in the rain.

  Skulduggery looked at Sanguine. “What are they planning?”

  “What’re who plannin’?”

  Ghastly tightened his grip, and Sanguine spoke quickly. “They ain’t plannin’ nothin’! This is a straight trade! ”

  “Ghastly, break his arm.”

  “Ghastly, do not break my arm!”

  “Do it.”

  “There’s a bomb!”

  Skulduggery leaned in. “Where?”

  “Guild’s jacket,” Sanguine said through gritted teeth. “He doesn’t even know it’s there. Gallow has the detonator. It’s a small bomb, but enough to kill everyone here. Me included. So if you could do me a favor and stop him from gettin’ close, that’d be just swell.”

  Tanith looked back at the bridge. Fletcher and Guild had met in the middle and were passing each other without saying a word. Then Skulduggery was beside her, holding his gun out through the tent flap, pointed at Guild.

  “What are you doing?” Tanith asked, alarmed.

  “Stopping him from getting close,” Skulduggery said, and fired.

  The bullet hit Guild’s leg and he went down, screaming. Fletcher jumped back.

  Horrified, Tanith grabbed Skulduggery’s arm. “Are you insane?”

  “Do not move!” Skulduggery shouted to Fletcher. “Stay beside him!” He shook Tanith’s hand off. “Gallow won’t detonate the bomb if Fletcher’s going to be caught in the blast.”

  There was movement at the far tent, Gruesome Krav emerging with Murder Rose, but before they could run at Fletcher, Skulduggery clicked his fingers and sent a fi
reball into the air. It cleared the cloaking bubble and flared before dying out. It drew some curious looks from passersby, and Tanith saw three figures in black—two men and one woman—converging on the enemy’s tent from the other side of the bridge.

  The Necromancers.

  There was a burst of blackness in the far tent, and Gallow came hurtling out. He hit Murder Rose and they both went down. The Necromancers strode onto the bridge after him, shadows curling around them.

  Gallow recovered quickly and pulled a gun from his jacket and fired. The nearest Necromancer used the shadows of her cloak to absorb the bullets, then spun, her cloak whirling and lengthening, slashing toward Gallow, who had to dive to avoid being cut in two.

  Murder Rose ran at Solomon Wreath, who gathered darkness in his cane and whipped it. Shadows flew like spears, hit Rose’s leg, and went right through. She shrieked and fell.

  Tanith saw the third Necromancer firing the flintlock pistol at Krav, firing it without the need to reload. The bullets hit and Krav dropped to one knee, frantically trying to pull away the darkness that spread across his chest.

  “Guess it’s time,” Sanguine said, and Tanith looked around. He’d been holding something in his hand the entire time and no one had checked, and now it was dropping to the ground….

  It flashed white and Tanith stumbled back, blinded. She could hear the others cursing around her, and Sanguine laughed, for he didn’t have any eyes to blind.

  But then, neither did Skulduggery.

  Sanguine’s laugh was cut off in a strangled gurk, and Tanith heard a body crashing down. There was the thump of an impact, and then she heard a pained wheezing. Someone charged by her, out of the tent, and there were gunshots and shouts.

  She blinked hard, images fading in, at first hazy and indistinct but rapidly taking solid form. She saw a figure in brown, Sanguine, curled up on the ground, but Ghastly was a mere shape to her.

  “Skulduggery?” he called.

  “He’s gone after them,” Tanith told him. His features were too blurred to make out, but she was starting to see his ridged scars.

  “Typical,” she heard him mutter. “Can you see anything?”

  “Sure,” she lied, and grabbed her sword and lunged out onto the bridge. Through the rain and the haze, she could just make out waves of darkness on the far side, where the Necromancers were doing their thing. Skulduggery was ahead of her—tall and thin and unmistakable—and his arm moved and a figure that could only have been Krav went flying back.

  Her foot hit a step and she stumbled, but her vision was clearing fast. Ahead of her, Fletcher’s blurred form was kneeling at Guild’s side. Even with her eyes the way they were, she could see that Guild himself was pale and losing blood.

  She ran to them, hearing Ghastly behind her. The Diablerie were being fought to a standstill, and the good guys were about to secure both Fletcher and Guild. The battle was over. They’d won.

  And then the final part of Batu’s plan made itself known.

  Something surged up from the river and loomed over the railings, splashing them with water. The Sea Hag dipped, her bony hands closing around Fletcher’s waist. Without even a snarl, she lifted him into the air. Guild tried to snatch him back, but it was no use. Tanith glimpsed Fletcher’s terrified face as he disappeared over the side, and she heard a heavy splash and knew he was gone.

  Gallow shouted an order and ran back through the far tent. He jumped into the black van, Murder Rose limping right behind him, and the van screeched away, chasing cars out of its path. Skulduggery went for Krav, but it was too late. Krav pulled himself over the railings and dropped into the Liffey.

  Now, Tanith realized, the battle was over.

  The Necromancers looked at Skulduggery, and Solomon Wreath turned and walked away, his coat billowing in the wind and rain.

  Ghastly came up beside Tanith.

  “Sanguine’s gone,” he said, but she’d already guessed that. Guild lay unconscious, his blood mixing with the rainwater. They watched Skulduggery as he stood there, his suit soaked and his fists clenched. His glistening skull was lowered, held in a way Tanith was unused to. It was something like defeat. And then he straightened.

  “Okay,” he said. “Looks like we have a fight on our hands.”

  Thirty-three

  JAILBREAK

  VALKYRIE BRUSHED the dried mud off the bottoms of her jeans. Dust rose as muck fell, and she brushed it off the bed.

  Scapegrace moaned, and she sat forward. He didn’t make another sound for a minute or so, and then he moaned again, and moved slightly. She watched him return to consciousness and prepared to spring into action.

  He raised his head, looked at the bandage that tied his broken fingers to the leg of the bed, and made a sound like a particularly dim and miserable cat. He looked at the cell door, then swiveled his head and saw Valkyrie. “Oh, no,” he mewled.

  “If you move—” she began to threaten, but he interrupted her.

  “I’m not going to move,” he said. “I’m just going to lie here. I’m not going to do anything.”

  “Because if you do move …”

  “I’m not going to!” he insisted. “If I didn’t have a broken hand, then yes, I probably would move, and I’d probably try to kill you.”

  “No talking. Talking is not allowed.”

  He glared at her. “You know, every time I see you, you’re more and more like him.”

  “Like who?”

  “The detective. You think you’re so smart and superior.”

  “I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

  “You shouldn’t. I’ve heard stories about him, you know. About the things he’s done. He’s not this great and good hero you think he is.”

  “You don’t know what I think of him.”

  Scapegrace laughed. “I can see it in your eyes. Everyone can. It’s cute, actually, the way you follow him around, believing every word he says.”

  Valkyrie shifted her weight slightly, and the bed creaked and moved, and the bandage tugged on his fingers. Scapegrace howled.

  “Sorry,” she said unconvincingly.

  “You did that on purpose!” he raged.

  The slot in the door opened up and a pair of eyes peered in.

  “What’s going on in there?” a voice demanded. Valkyrie bounded to her feet, jarring the bed and making Scapegrace howl again.

  “You can’t keep me here!” she called.

  “Who is that? Are there … are there two people in there?”

  She recognized his voice now—the cell guard they had encountered the previous day. “Weeper?” she said.

  His eyes found her and they widened in shock. “Valkyrie Cain?”

  “Remus Crux put me in here, with a man who wants to kill me. You can’t keep me here. Please.”

  Beneath her, Scapegrace snorted contemptuously. She nudged the bed with her foot and heard him mewl in pain.

  “Why did he make you share a cell?” Weeper asked. “We’ve got four empty ones. Are you okay? Have you been injured?”

  “Please get me out of here.”

  “I can’t transfer prisoners without orders from my superiors.”

  “But this isn’t even a transfer! This is just moving from one cell to another! Please, Weeper. If you leave me in here another minute, he’ll kill me.”

  She looked down at Scapegrace and glared, and he sighed.

  “She’s right,” he said reluctantly. “I’ll kill her.”

  On the other side of the door, Weeper was shaking his head. “I’m sorry, there is a procedure to follow. Just wait there; I’ll get this sorted out in ten minutes.”

  “Don’t go!” Valkyrie cried. She had moved her hands behind her back, and was hoping Weeper wouldn’t have noticed that they had been at her sides. “Please, move me to an empty cell and then check with your bosses. I’m defenseless in here. Please, Weeper.”

  She made her eyes as wide as possible, and Weeper sighed.

  “Fine,” he said gruf
fly. “Put your hands through the bottom slot so I can cuff you.”

  “I’m already cuffed. Crux didn’t bother removing my handcuffs when he threw me in here.”

  “That is strictly against protocol,” Weeper muttered disapprovingly, and she saw him open the cell directly across from hers.

  “Okay then,” he said. “You are to move directly into the empty cell. You do not engage me in conversation or stall in any way. Clear?”

  “Clear.”

  “And Scapegrace, you stay on the ground or I’ll have the Cleavers here so fast …”

  “I’m not moving,” Scapegrace said.

  “All right then. I’m opening the door.”

  The door swung open, and Valkyrie breathed with relief. “Thank you,” she said.

  “Move to the empty cell.”

  She stepped into the corridor. “Thank you so much.”

  “The cell. In. Now.”

  “I’m really sorry about this,” she said as she brought her hands up and pushed lightly at the air. The space between them rippled, and Weeper stumbled backward into the empty cell, tripping over his own feet. Before he could recover, Valkyrie slammed the door.

  Immediately, his eyes appeared at the open slot. “Oh, no. This can’t happen again.”

  “I’m so, so sorry.”

  Scapegrace got to his feet, carefully untying the bandage from his fingers. “How stupid are you?” he laughed. “Locked in your own cell, twice in two days! They give out medals for morons now, do they?”

  He was grinning as he moved to leave, but Valkyrie stood in front of him, clicking her fingers and conjuring fire into her hand.

  “And where do you think you’re going?” she growled.

  He blinked at her. “We’re escaping.”

  “We?”

  “Yes, we. We’re breaking out.”

  “You’re not going anywhere.”

  “But I helped you! ”

  “You lay on the ground and whined.”

  “In a helpful manner,” he insisted. “You’re going to need my help to get out of here. You think you’re going to be able to just stroll out? You’re going to need backup, an extra pair of eyes, even a distraction—and I think I’ve proven what a good distraction I can be.”