Skulduggery Pleasant_ Death Bringer - Derek Landy [105]
“Shut up,” Valkyrie said to the door, and then looked back at the reflection. “And you, nobody asked for your opinion. And stop standing there all naked and stuff. You’re distracting.”
The reflection shrugged again, went to the dresser and started picking out clothes.
Valkyrie pulled on her underwear and trousers. “We can’t just let Vile kill her,” she said loudly. “We have to try and arrest her.”
“We will,” Skulduggery answered.
“But it’s a race, is that what you’re saying? If we get to her, we arrest her. If he gets to her, he kills her.”
“If she resists arrest, we might have to kill her too. Don’t forget that.”
“So no one is going after Vile.”
“That’s correct.”
She grabbed her boots, started putting them on. “And what about when all this is done?”
“If the Death Bringer, for whatever reason, ceases to remain alive, there’s a good chance that the thing that is Lord Vile will simply… disappear. Whatever aspect of my subconscious that is walking around will come back to me, the armour will return to its inert form, and everyone will be happy.”
“Except Melancholia.”
“Except Melancholia, who will be dead.”
Valkyrie stood up. “And me?”
“Hopefully, you won’t be.”
“But if Melancholia dies,” the reflection said, still picking out clothes, “then won’t the title of Death Bringer switch over to Valkyrie?”
“Stop contributing to this conversation,” Valkyrie said crossly.
The reflection gave another shrug.
“Well?” Valkyrie said loudly. “Will it switch over to me?”
Skulduggery hesitated. “That is a possibility, I grant you.”
“And if it does, then Vile will want to kill me too, won’t he?”
Another hesitation. “Perhaps.”
“So we’re going to have to figure out a way to stop him, no matter what happens,” she said, her voice muffled slightly by the T-shirt she was dragging over her head.
“Not quite,” Skulduggery answered. “There is the possibility that he will go up against Melancholia and she will destroy him utterly, which will take care of the Lord Vile problem quite nicely but, obviously, add to the Melancholia problem. And it might also pose a problem for me, if someone manages to kill my subconscious.”
“This is getting very complicated.”
“Not if you pay attention.”
“Do you think he can do it?” Valkyrie said, running a brush through her hair. “Do you think he has a chance?”
“I don’t know. From what we’ve seen, her power ebbs and flows. If he manages to catch her when she’s at her weakest, yes, he will kill her in an instant. But if he gets to her when she’s strong…”
“And we have the same problem, which means we have to arrest her when she’s ebbing, not flowing. How do we do that?”
“First, we have to find out where they’re hiding her.”
Valkyrie put the brush down, went to the door and opened it. “Can I ask you a question? And I don’t mean this in a bad way, but are you insane?”
Skulduggery looked at her. “Would it make any difference if I was?”
“Probably not.”
“Then why put labels on ourselves? That’s a job for a psychiatrist. We punch people, Valkyrie. That’s who we are. Embrace your inner lunatic. Fun times guaranteed.”
She smiled. “You’re a bad influence.”
“I never claimed otherwise. Your reflection is still naked, by the way.”
Valkyrie shrieked, shoved him back and slammed her bedroom door closed.
Chapter 39
Killing Craven
reath never had a problem with killing people, but he always preferred it when he had right on his side, when they deserved it, and when he was sure he could get away with it. Today he planned to kill Craven, and while he was sure that right was on his side and that Craven thoroughly deserved what was coming to him, he wasn’t overly confident he could get away with it. Still, he figured, sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, and then sometimes you’ve just got to run like hell after it’s done.
Getting Craven alone was proving to be a problem, however. He had everyone convinced that he had all the answers, so now they flocked around him like he was the High Priest. It was a most disheartening