Read Skulduggery Pleasant: Dark Days Online
Authors: Derek Landy
Skulduggery Pleasant: Dark Days (11 page)
R
emus Crux dreamed of gods without faces and girls without heads. He dreamed of a vast forest of dead trees, of screaming things hunting him. He saw things in his dream that he recognised as pieces from his old life. They passed him by and he watched them go and didn’t miss them.
He woke.
He had told Dusk how to breach the Sanctuary’s defences, and where to go to get what they were after, and now the vampire was back, mission accomplished, and Crux felt not one shred of remorse. People that had once been his colleagues had just been killed and he didn’t care. They were
heathens, unbelievers, enemies of the Faceless Ones.
Dreylan Scarab was a heathen too, but he was a
useful
heathen. He served a purpose. Crux viewed Scarab and his little Revengers’ Club as a conduit to get him where he needed to be. Once they had fulfilled their usefulness, Crux would either abandon them or kill them, whichever was easier. But for now, they wanted the Sanctuary to fall almost as much as he did, and so he was content to go along with their plan.
He could be patient. He could wait. He’d get his chance. The girl had killed two of his Dark Gods after all. The girl had to pay for that
and
she had to pay for the legacy she had inherited.
Crux knew the legend well. The Faceless Ones had ruled this world until the first sorcerers, the Ancients, constructed the Sceptre to kill them and drive them out. Once the Faceless Ones had been banished, the Ancients fought among themselves like the petty insects they were, until only one of them was left alive. Valkyrie Cain was descended from the last of them.
It was now time for her to pay for the crimes of her ancestors.
“V
anguard had noble intentions,” Skulduggery said, his voice filling the space between them all. “His dream of peace was a dream that inspired a great many people who were sick of the war, people on both sides. Someone once said about him that he had seen what he was capable of, what we all were capable of, and it frightened him. So he tried to save us.
“He believed the answer was to allow Mevolent and his lot to worship the Faceless Ones openly, as a religion. He was certain that, given time, they would learn to curb their ruthlessness and to behave with…civility.
“Meritorious didn’t agree. He didn’t trust Mevolent or any who stood with him. And while Vanguard had started out as a lone voice, preaching understanding and acceptance, it was a voice that echoed and carried. Soon it was a roar.
“The dream of peace, you understand, is a dream that comforts everyone except the soldier on the battlefield. He can’t think about peace. He can’t hesitate. The soldier lives
in
the war. In combat, war is his mother, his friend and his god. To believe in anything else is suicide.
“I think Meritorious came to the conclusion that the voice that started it all had to be silenced. It was getting too dangerous. Too many people were starting to believe that there was an easy way out. Too many soldiers were starting to have doubts. Meritorious needed them fighting Mevolent, not dreaming of peace.”
“But this is all guesswork,” Ghastly said. “Skulduggery, I had my issues with Meritorious, but he was a good man. What you’re suggesting here is cold-blooded murder.”
“I know,” Skulduggery said. “And something like that, if it got out, would tear the Sanctuary apart. Which is why he would have assigned the job to Thurid Guild.”
Ghastly took a seat – heavily. “Of course. Guild headed the Exigency Programme.”
“What’s that?” Fletcher asked.
“Exigency Mages are highly trained individuals used for covert strikes against the enemy,” Skulduggery said. “Assassination. Sabotage. Dirty tricks. It’s not pretty, what they do, but it is necessary.”
“They tried to recruit us,” Ghastly said. “Skulduggery, me, a few others. We were an independent unit in the war. Guild tried to recruit us, but we didn’t like what he was asking us to do.” He looked up. “So you think Guild assigned the job to one of his guys?”
Skulduggery nodded. “It makes sense. Meritorious needed an assassin who could completely disappear afterwards and Guild would have volunteered his people. He’s always been brave like that.”
“Do you know who it was?” Valkyrie asked.
“No. Every single shred of evidence pointed to Mevolent’s men and Scarab in particular. By the time it registered that this was all too neat, too easy, we’d already captured Scarab and thrown him in prison.”
“You could have said something.”
Skulduggery didn’t answer.
“Let’s say you’re right,” Tanith said. “Let’s say Meritorious and Guild orchestrated Vanguard’s assassination and framed Scarab. For 200 years Scarab’s been sitting in his cell. After being cut off from his magic for so long, he would have started to age again, right? So he’s an old man, he’s out and he’s angry. He has his psycho son and their nutball gang, and they’re looking for revenge. So they steal a Desolation Engine that won’t go off and a Soul Catcher. How does this help them get their revenge?”
“And who are they going to get revenge on?” Fletcher added. “Meritorious is dead.”
“They’ll be going after Guild,” said Skulduggery, “so we should warn him. They’ll probably be after me too, but you don’t have to warn
me.
I already know. As for what they want with the things they’ve stolen, I haven’t worked that out yet. But I will.
“On the plus side, the more people Scarab has, the greater our chances are of finding one of them. Crux was last seen in Haggard – maybe he’s still there, trying to find a way through China’s perimeter.”
“I know the area,” Tanith said. “I’ll take my bike, have a look around.”
“And I know of a couple of bars Sanguine used to frequent when he was here last,” Ghastly said. “They’ll still be open, even this late. I can ask if he’s been in recently.”
Skulduggery nodded. “Take Fletcher with you – you’ll get through it faster. Unfortunately, we know next to nothing about Dusk. The vampire I took to the holding cell isn’t co-operating, which isn’t much of a surprise, and his kind are impervious to most kinds of psychic reading.”
“Then just get Valkyrie to ask her vampire mate,” Fletcher said.
Skulduggery turned sharply. “Her
what
?”
Valkyrie glared at Fletcher and he blushed.
“Uh, didn’t she…She didn’t tell you?”
“I didn’t tell him,” Valkyrie said, her jaw tight.
Skulduggery looked at her. “You have a vampire friend?”
“He set up the meeting with Chabon,” she explained. “I was never alone with him. Tanith or Ghastly were always—”
Skulduggery whirled on them. “You
knew
about this? You knew she was meeting with a vampire and you
allowed
it?”
“We had it under control,” Tanith said.
“
You never have a vampire under control!
” Skulduggery roared. “It could have killed her! For what? For a chance to get me back?
You should have left me there!
”
Tanith looked away and Valkyrie lowered her eyes, her face burning. Only Ghastly kept his gaze level.
“It was a risk,” Ghastly said, as calm as ever, “but it was a risk we decided to take. And now that she
has
made contact with this vampire, we should consider using him to try and find Dusk. It’s only logical.”
Skulduggery didn’t move for a moment.
“Agreed,” he said at last, all anger gone from his voice. “Valkyrie, would you be able to arrange that?”
She nodded slowly. These abrupt changes of mood were becoming unsettling.
“Excellent. If we’re lucky, one of those three possibilities will lead to Scarab. Call if you find anything out. Valkyrie?”
She led the way out of the shop. The night was cold, but at least it hadn’t started to rain yet. They walked to the Bentley.
“I
could
have said something,” Skulduggery told her.
“What?”
“You said I could have said something, once I realised Scarab had been framed. I was agreeing with you.”
“So why didn’t you?”
They reached the car. He unlocked it, but they didn’t get in.
“When the war started,” he said, “I was flesh and blood. I was a father and a husband first, and a soldier second. When Serpine killed my family, killed me, that changed. I came back a soldier. The war was all I had.
“I didn’t like Esryn Vanguard and I didn’t agree with him. I saw him as a weakening influence that we couldn’t afford to tolerate. If he continued to make his speeches, to try to negotiate with Mevolent, I truly felt we would have lost the war.
“I found out, a few years later, that Meritorious’s suspicions had been correct. Mevolent planned to accept the peace that Vanguard was preaching then move his people into position and strike against his enemies in one bloody night. I happen to take some comfort from that – the knowledge that what Meritorious did was, essentially, the right thing to do.”
“So you approved of him ordering the murder of an innocent man?”
“We were fighting a war,” Skulduggery said. “Harsh decisions had to be made every day. This was one of them.”
The first raindrops of the night fell. Valkyrie didn’t move.
“I have done terrible things in my life, Valkyrie. Things that haunt me. Some of those things I had to do. Some…I didn’t. But I did them anyway. For my sins I should have stayed on the other side of that portal, where I belonged. I should have been hunted and tortured until my bones turned to dust. But you came into hell and you brought me back. I may disappoint you, but you have
never
disappointed me. And you never will.”
He got in the car. A few seconds later she did too. They drove.
She slept in the Bentley, seat back and using her coat as a blanket. When she woke, just after dawn, her dream slipped away from her and she sat up.
“Bad dream?” Skulduggery asked.
“Was it? I can’t remember.”
“Sounded like a nightmare from all that muttering. Not that you could be blamed for having nightmares.”
Valkyrie frowned, the dream too far gone now, dispersing even as she grasped for it. “Don’t know,” she said. “It was an odd one though, I can remember that much. Did I say anything embarrassing?”
“Nothing that could be used against you.”
She smiled thinly and looked across the street to the storage facility. “Any movement?”
“Not yet, but it takes a few minutes for a vampire’s human skin and hair to grow back. He should be out soon, if he’s even in there at all.”
Valkyrie readjusted her seat. “This is where he’s got his cage set up.”
“Why did he help you? Vampires aren’t known for being nice.”
“He hates Dusk. He won’t tell me why, but he hates him. He helped us because we put Dusk in prison. Dusk’s stay didn’t last too long, but Caelan still appreciated it.”
The door of the facility opened and Caelan stepped out. For a moment Valkyrie didn’t make a sound. She hadn’t realised he was so good-looking. His new skin was so fresh it practically glowed with health and his black hair shone. She watched him walk to a car parked nearby, then stop. He turned his head and looked directly at her. Skulduggery got out and she followed.
“Be nice,” she muttered as they walked over.
“I’m always nice,” Skulduggery responded.
“Don’t point your gun at his head.”
“Oh,” he said, “
that
kind of nice.”
Caelan greeted them with a nod. He didn’t waste time mentioning the obvious – that she had got Skulduggery back. Neither did he waste time looking for an introduction. He just stood there and waited for them to start speaking.
“I don’t like you,” Skulduggery said.
“OK,” Caelan said with a single nod.
“I don’t like vampires as a rule,” Skulduggery continued. “I don’t trust them. I don’t trust you.”
Valkyrie sighed. “I told you to be nice.”
“Well, I haven’t shot him yet.”
She rolled her eyes and said to Caelan, “We need your help finding Dusk.”
“I’m sorry. I wouldn’t know where to find him even if I wanted to.”
“But you’d know people who
would
know, yes?” Skulduggery asked. “Other vampires, like the ones who stormed the Sanctuary last night and slaughtered twenty-nine people. I wonder, were you locked up in your cage the
entire
night, Caelan? Or did you slip out for a snack?”
Caelan looked at him slowly. “My cage is time-locked, programmed to open only at dawn.”
“You’re a vampire with a conscience, is that it?”
“No, sir,” Caelan said. “I’m a monster, just like you say I am. I lock myself up at night because if I don’t, someone like you will come and hunt me down. And someone like you will eventually find a way to kill me.”
Valkyrie stepped between them and Caelan’s eyes came back to her. They were as dark as her own. Maybe darker. “Caelan, I know you helped me out with Ghabon, and I know you don’t owe me anything, but we need to find Dusk and stop him.”
“I keep to myself.”
“I know.”
His eyes flickered away, to her shoulder. “I can ask Moloch. But I can’t go alone.”
“We’ll come with you.”
He nodded. “I can’t promise that he’ll have anything useful for you, or even that he’ll agree to see us. But really, he’s the only one who might talk to me.”
“The other vampires don’t like you?” Skulduggery asked. “Why is that?”
Caelan hesitated. “In our culture it’s forbidden for one vampire to kill another.”
“You killed another vampire?”
“Yes, sir. I did.”
“Why?
Caelan shrugged. “He had it coming.”
T
he tower blocks rose from the cement like dreary canyon walls, oppressive in stature and depressing in structure. Built in the 1960s, most of the towers had been demolished decades later in an attempt to get rid of the drugs and crime that had seeped through, permeating everything. Six of the seven Ballymun Flats had been flattened, the Sheriff Street Flats had been torn down, the Flats at Fatima Mansions redeveloped and replaced. By the time Dublin City Council got round to the Faircourt Flats, however, they had run out of money.
Towers, thirteen stories high, of tiny apartments stacked side by side. No grass. No trees. One little shop, defaced by graffiti. Rusted shopping trolleys and old mattresses.
The gleaming Bentley parked beside a burnt-out husk of a car and Skulduggery, Valkyrie and Caelan got out. Skulduggery clicked on the car alarm and they followed Caelan through a rubbish-strewn tunnel, as grey as the sky it was blocking. They emerged on the other side and walked across a concrete square to a stairwell that stank of human waste. They passed no one.
The elevator was broken and the climb to the top burned the muscles of Valkyrie’s legs. Skulduggery and Caelan didn’t even notice it.
Still they passed no one.
They reached the top, where every second door was paint-flecked steel, with the locks and the bolts on the outside. Heavy bars criss-crossed the windows.
Caelan hammered his fist against one of the steel doors and they waited. There was the click of a lock being undone on the other side and the door cracked open. A young woman looked out. She was pale and sweating, her eyes red-rimmed and jittery.
“We’re here to see Moloch,” Caelan said and the woman licked her lips, glanced behind her and slipped out. Valkyrie watched her hurry away, arms wrapped around herself.
Valkyrie followed the others into the apartment. It was unfurnished. There were grooves in the walls, long and deep, and more scratches on the back of the steel door. This was where a vampire lived – where a vampire raged and fought to leave. There was another steel door in the living room, leading into the next apartment. In much the same way as China had knocked down the walls in her building to accommodate her library, the vampire Moloch had expanded his living space to accommodate both sides of his nature.
In this furnished apartment they found Moloch. He may have been handsome once, but the years had turned his sharp features cruel. His hair was thinning and his eyes burned with intelligence. He wore tracksuit bottoms and a white T-shirt, despite the cold, and he sat on the couch, hands laced behind his head, master of his domain.
“You scared away my breakfast,” he said in a thick Dublin accent. His eyes drank in Valkyrie. “But it looks like you’ve come with a healthier option. There’s a syringe on the table beside you, love. One pint of your blood is all I’ll be needing.”
“It’s an interesting set-up you’ve got here,” Skulduggery said, ignoring his comment. “Let me guess. The other tenants provide you and your brethren with nourishment, while you protect them from the drug dealers and petty criminals. Am I about right?”
“You sound like you disapprove,” Moloch said. “But isn’t it better than vampires going around killing mortals? This way we don’t have to be the hunters and they don’t have to be afraid.”
“Someone should have probably told that to the girl who ran out of here.”
“The first time is daunting,” Moloch shrugged. “But enough about our situation. I’d heard you were gone. The story I heard, you were pulled into hell and you were gone for good.”
“I was,” Skulduggery said. “I’m not any more.”
Moloch cracked a smile. “The skeleton detective, standing here in my own home. Imagine that. All this time we’ve managed to keep a non-existent profile. You didn’t even know we were here, did you? So what’s next I wonder? You send the Cleavers in?”
“They’re looking for Dusk,” Caelan said.
Moloch blurred from the couch and then Caelan was gone from Valkyrie’s side. There was a crash and she whirled. Moloch had Caelan by the throat, pressing him up against the far wall.
“
You led them here
,” Moloch snarled. “You led them to my
home
, you ignorant pup. I should rip your head off right
now.
”
Skulduggery had his hands in his pockets, seemingly unperturbed by the possibility.
“We forced him to bring us here,” Valkyrie tried.
Moloch tightened his grip and Caelan kicked uselessly, but then he released him. Moloch turned.
“Valkyrie Cain,” he said, wiping the spittle from his lips. “Two years ago you killed my Infected brothers. You led them into the sea, so I hear.”
“I
jumped
into the sea,” Valkyrie responded. “It’s not my fault they jumped in after me.”
“You misunderstand, young one. I’m thanking you. If they’d been allowed to turn, one of them would probably have gone on a rampage through the city, or been caught on camera, or been seen doing
something.
It would have been disastrous for us.
“Creating new vampires is an art form. The Infected have to be contained, trained, taught how to behave. They’re not
zombies
, for God’s sake. But Dusk views them as an army, not family.”
“He sent fourteen fresh vampires into the Sanctuary last night,” Skulduggery said.
“Is that so?”
“You didn’t hear?”
“I sleep late. What makes you think I’ll help you anyway? We’re not all tortured souls like Caelan here pretends to be. I don’t work with sorcerers. And I sure don’t work with Sanctuary agents.”
“You’ve been wondering how to solve a problem like Dusk for a long time. Every morning you’ve been waiting for an opportunity to come knocking on your door. Well, we knocked.”
Moloch considered. Behind him, Caelan stayed flat against the wall, staring at the back of Moloch’s head like he was boring a hole through it.
Moloch pulled back the rug, revealing a steel trapdoor. It was big and round, and looked heavy, but Moloch opened it without difficulty. Valkyrie and Skulduggery stepped to the edge and peered into the gloom.
“It’s where we keep them,” Moloch said. “You’d be surprised how many people living in these buildings want to be like us. Strength, speed, long life and no magic required. Just a bite. Or maybe you wouldn’t be surprised. Poverty, unemployment, no prospects, no self-respect – what else is there to aim for? The point is, being a vampire is just like any other attractive employment opportunity – there are a lot of people applying for a small number of places.
“So whenever we need more, we gather the applicants together, take a little bite and dump them down this hole. For two days they fight among themselves. Whoever is left at the end, once the infection is complete, joins the family.”
“And the rest are slaughtered along the way,” Skulduggery said.
“Darwinian in its simplicity, don’t you think?”
“How does this help us find Dusk?” Valkyrie asked.
“One of my potential brothers down there was not infected by us – he was infected by one of Dusk’s vampires. He saw their lair before he managed to escape and come here.”
She frowned. “How do we ask him?”
“You’re going to have to do that in person,” Moloch said, and moved. He crashed into Skulduggery, sending him hurtling off his feet. Caelan came forward and Moloch threw him across the room, then he grabbed Valkyrie.
“By killing those Infected,” he snarled, “you did us a favour. Thanks for that. But I can’t let that crime go unpunished.”
She raised her arm, but he was already pushing her and she cried out as she fell into the hole. She twisted as she fell, hands out against the darkness, dropping through another hole in the next apartment. She felt pressure on her palms as the floor rushed to meet her and she pushed against the air. Her descent slowed and she got her feet under her, landing in a crouch.
Dim light drifted from low-wattage bulbs, illuminating faded wallpaper, ratty carpet and not much else. She’d fallen from the thirteenth floor, through the twelfth, and now she was in the eleventh. Moloch had already closed the trapdoor above her, sealing her in. Valkyrie focused and tested the air, feeling movement around her. She was not alone.
She stepped back against the wall, saw a gap that had been knocked out of it and slipped through. There was another gap ahead, and through the murk she saw yet another beyond that. Every apartment on this floor was clumsily linked together, and by the looks of it, every door and window was bricked over.
No, she told herself, not
every
door. There would be one door, undoubtedly steel and locked from the other side, that allowed the last vampire standing to get out of here.
She just had to find it.
There was a snarl, somewhere to her left. A flurry of movement and a man darted into the light, and she pushed at the air and caught him just as he jumped at her. She spun, gripping the shadows and punching them into the chest of the woman coming up behind her. Then she ran.
She jumped through a hole in the next wall, straight into the arms of another Infected. His mouth was open, sharpened teeth diving for her throat. She slammed her forehead into his face and he howled in pain and dropped her. She staggered, dazed, knocking against a small table. Her hand found a lamp and she swung it into his head. The light exploded and darkness swarmed around them, but she was already pushing by him.
There were three Infected waiting for her. She clicked her fingers and set fire to a sofa, then sent it hurtling towards them. The Infected dodged out of the way and she ran by, through a door into a dark kitchen, out through the wall, tripping over herself and stumbling into the next apartment’s bedroom.
Something rushed her and for a moment she flew through empty space. The wall smacked into her and as she fell, she saw the man lunging at her again. She tried to push at the air, but he grabbed her wrist. He squeezed and the pain brought her to her knees. His other hand lifted her and he whirled, sending her through into the living room. She landed on a table, scattering whatever junk had been piled on top of it, and rolled off.
Another one grabbed her. Valkyrie jammed her forearm into his mouth as he tried to bite her, forcing his head back, and with her free hand she sent a half-fist into his throat. He gagged and fell away, and a weight landed on her. She went down and a fist cracked against her cheek and the world spun. She covered up as the Infected sent punches raining down on top of her, her coat sleeves absorbing much of the punishment. The others would be coming. If she stayed down for any length of time, they’d be all over her.
She clicked her fingers and thrust a handful of flame into the Infected’s face. He screeched and recoiled. She pushed at the air and he was flung back, crashing his head into the wall. She got up. Through the gloom she saw more of them running in. This wasn’t going to work. Skulduggery could have battled his way to the door, but she wasn’t Skulduggery. She needed a new plan.
“Stop!” she shouted.
Amazingly, the Infected stopped.
“I’m not here to fight you,” Valkyrie said loudly and clearly. “I’m not here to hurt you or compete with you. Moloch sent me down here to talk. He wants one of you to help me. Do you understand?”
They looked at her like she was food, but they stayed where they were. Somewhere in the darkness an Infected growled.
“I need to find Dusk. One of
his
vampires infected one of
you.
You were brought to his lair. I need to know where that is.”
Somewhere to her right, there was another growl.
“If you don’t help me,” she continued, glaring at them, “you’re all going to
burn.
Do you hear me? Moloch has no time for vampires who disobey him.”
She figured about half of them were growling now and she was seriously regretting this plan. Her back was to the wall and they were gathered in front of her, ready to rip her apart the moment she said the wrong thing.
“My name is Valkyrie Cain,” she shouted over the noise. “You may have heard of me. I killed
twenty
of you two years ago and I’ll kill twenty more today and I won’t think it too many.”
The growling stopped.
“I’m not down here for the good of my health, so I’m going to ask just one more time – which one of you knows where Dusk is?”
She saw them glance at each other, and then one of them, a girl with a shaved head, stepped forward. She pointed at the unconscious Infected on the floor, the one Valkyrie had burned.
“He does,” she said.
Valkyrie’s shoulders sagged. “You’re kidding me.”
“He was talking about it earlier, before we were thrown down here.”
“Did he happen to mention where he was brought?”
“Not that I heard.”
“Anyone? Did he mention it to anyone?”
No one answered. One of them started to growl again.
“Where’s the door?” she asked quickly, before she lost them completely. “The steel door out of here, Moloch told me to find it. Where is it?”
The skinhead’s eyes were once again locked on to her, but she managed to nod her head to the next apartment over.
“OK,” Valkyrie said, preparing herself. “OK.”
The first Infected came at her like a bullet, and she sidestepped and slapped her fist into his back, sending him into the wall behind her. The skinhead girl charged and Valkyrie kicked her knee then kneed her face. She whipped the shadows at the next Infected who came close and sent a wave of darkness into another. She clicked her fingers and threw fireballs and manoeuvred over to the unconscious man.
The moment there was a break in the attacks, she squatted down and lifted him by his collar. She snapped her palms, sending his ragdoll body across the room, knocking down the Infected like bowling pins.
Hands reached for her as she ran after him. The air shimmered and she cleared a path, reaching him and dragging him through the hole in the wall. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the outline of a door in the darkness. Now all she had to do was hold them off until Skulduggery did what he tended to do – arrive in the nick of time.
