Skulduggery Pleasant_ Death Bringer - Derek Landy [144]
Valkyrie punched her, right across the jaw. “I’m not going to let you kill him, you nutcase. You think I’d ever choose you over him?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Melancholia said, her voice quiet. “I can’t do it. He’s cocooned himself away, I can’t… I can’t kill him.”
“Good.”
Melancholia glared up at her. “If I can’t kill him, how are we going to stop him?”
“We’re not,” Valkyrie said. “We’re going to run and hide, that’s what we’re going to do. What the hell is wrong with you, anyway?”
“I’m covered in blood and you’re still going to ask me that?”
“No, I mean what did he do to you? That isn’t just a cut he gave you.”
“These symbols,” Melancholia said reluctantly. “They’re designed to take the power of my Surge and loop it around my body continuously.”
“I know,” Valkyrie said. “Craven turned you into a self-charging battery. So what?”
Grimacing, Melancholia held her wounded arm up. The gash cut diagonally across her flesh, splitting symbols. “Vile’s damaged me. The power isn’t looping like it should. I’m not recharging like I should. It’s going wrong.”
Valkyrie knelt by her. “Release the energy you stole.”
“Get us out of here.”
“Release the energy, then I’ll help you.”
“He’s after us!” Melancholia snapped. “If he catches us, I’ll need all the strength I can find! And you want me to just release half of it?”
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Release it now, at once, immediately, or I walk away and leave you here.”
“You wouldn’t do that.”
“It’s you or my friends, and I’m always going to pick my friends.”
“Help me up before he comes. We can argue about this later.”
Valkyrie stood back. Leave her here, said the voice in her head. Vile will kill her, the energy will return on its own. Leave her. She’s not worth it.
Valkyrie gave Melancholia another few moments, then she turned and started to walk away.
“You can’t be serious,” Melancholia said. “You’re really going to abandon me?”
Keep walking.
“You’re really going to let him murder me?”
Don’t look back.
“Fine!” Melancholia shouted. “Fine! I’ll release it!”
Valkyrie turned, and waited.
Melancholia glared at her then shut her eyes. Her breathing became strained and she winced. Something like steam rose from her, drifting up and disappearing into the tunnel wall. She opened her eyes. They were no longer red. She was sweating. “There,” she said, panting. “Happy?”
“That was it?” Valkyrie asked dubiously. “That was the energy of three hundred people? A little bit of steam?”
“What were you expecting? Sparkling lights? A ray of sunshine? It is what it is. Now help me up.”
Valkyrie took out her phone, dialled Ghastly’s number. Even though her phone was magically enhanced, she barely had a single bar down here in the caves. Even so, it was enough for the call to go through, and enough for her to hear Ghastly’s tired voice, like he had just woken from a deep sleep.
“Ghastly?” she said. “Can you hear me? Can you—?”
She lost the signal, and put the phone away.
“Satisfied?” Melancholia asked.
“Very.”
“I hope you’re this smug when Vile catches up with us and I can’t do a thing to stop him.”
“Me too.”
They moved on, struggling to maintain a decent pace. More and more of Melancholia’s weight pressed down on to Valkyrie, and with every step her injured leg took, the Necromancer’s face would screw up in pain. She wasn’t going to last long in here, that much was obvious.
The ground dipped ahead of them and Valkyrie stopped, looked back, looked around.
“What are you waiting for?” Melancholia said. “Come on. Keep going.”
Valkyrie ignored her, looked up, saw a ledge. “There,” she said. “Climb.”
“What? Why? We’ll be faster going downhill.”
“We can’t go deeper. We have to stay as close to the surface as we can.” She tried pulling Melancholia to the ledge, but Melancholia yanked her arm from Valkyrie’s grip.
“I’m injured, you silly little girl. I can’t go around climbing everything for no reason at all. I say we vote on it.”
“We’re not voting. You’re going to do what I tell you.”
“And why would I do that?”
“Because I’ve been down here before. If we go deeper,