Skulduggery Pleasant_ Death Bringer - Derek Landy [109]
Chapter 40
The End of the Death Bringer
nce Erskine Ravel, with great reluctance, granted him amnesty, Wreath took Skulduggery and Valkyrie into the grounds of an abandoned Retirement Home, then nodded across to the main building. “In there,” he said. “I hope you still have your Teleporter, because the only way you’re going to catch them by surprise is if you manage to skip all the defences they’ve built up around them.”
Valkyrie frowned. “They’re here?”
“Next to graveyards and hospitals, Old Folks’ Homes are great places to absorb a whole lot of death. This one, however, hasn’t seen any activity in over twenty years. It’s kind of flat, as these things go. But beggars can’t be choosers, and Craven is most definitely a beggar right now.”
“How many are in there?” Skulduggery asked.
“Not counting Craven, Melancholia and the White Cleaver, thirty-three. But they aren’t experienced. They’ve spent most of their adult lives in one Temple or another. They’ll put up a fight, but it won’t be a good one, so I’d consider it a personal favour if you don’t kill every last one of them.”
Skulduggery turned to him. “What makes you think we’re inclined to do you any favours?”
“I don’t know. Naivety?”
“Why don’t you want them dead?” Valkyrie asked.
Wreath shrugged. “They’re scared and confused and they’re a little dim, to be honest. But they don’t all deserve to die, not if they don’t have to. Craven absolutely deserves it. Melancholia, it’d be safer for everyone if she stopped breathing. But the others…”
“They’re harmless?”
“Well,” Wreath said, managing a smile, “maybe not harmless, but certainly misguided. They’re my brothers and sisters. Granted, not the type of brothers or sisters that you actually like, but even so, I’d hate to see them die for nothing.”
“We’ll keep that in mind,” Skulduggery said. “How long can we expect them to stay here?”
“Oh, they’re not going anywhere. Apart from the fact that they have no other back-up available to them, this is where Melancholia will try to usher in the Passage.”
Skulduggery’s voice turned sharp. “Tonight?”
“Yes indeed. I don’t know what Craven is thinking, because Melancholia will be much more powerful tomorrow night. Maybe he anticipates your interference, and he wants to get it all out of the way as soon as possible.”
Valkyrie ducked back. “I saw someone at the window. They’re in there, all right.”
“Then my work here is done,” Wreath said. “I wish you both the best of luck, and I have faith that you will foil their evil plans and save the day. Skulduggery, it’s been a pleasure as always. Valkyrie, once Melancholia falls, there’s going to be an opening in the Death Bringer department, so if you ever want to continue your training with me…”
“Don’t hold your breath,” she said sourly.
Wreath smiled, the shadows curled around him, and he was gone. Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery. “Another raid on a Necromancer stronghold?”
“It would appear so,” he said. “Although this is less a stronghold than a Retirement Home, but your point is well made. Still, I have a feeling this one is going to go much quicker than the raid on the Temple, so long as…”
“So long as we have Fletcher with us.”
“Yes. I am sorry, Valkyrie, but we do need his help.”
“Don’t apologise,” she said. “Just don’t ask me to call him. I doubt he’d pick up.”
An hour later, Valkyrie was in a closed-down old factory ten miles from the Retirement Home. She nodded to two young women she knew, Kallista Pendragon and Rosella Ember. They were new to the Sanctuary, brought in as part of the effort to refill the ranks. There were a lot of new faces around, now that Valkyrie looked. The turnover rate for Sanctuary operatives had been getting pretty high in the past few years.
She saw Fletcher talking to Skulduggery. He glanced up, their eyes locked and her heart lurched, then he looked away again and she felt terrible. She stayed well away, letting Skulduggery brief him on what they needed to do. It was to be a two-man