Playing With Fire

Chapter Eighteen OLD ENEMIES

VALKYRIE EDGED up to the battlement, peeking down as Skulduggery landed gently.

Dusk turned his head like he had heard something, but then looked the other way. Skulduggery crept up behind him, wrapped an arm around his throat, and hauled him back.

Dusk struggled, tried to release the grip, but Skulduggery was cutting off the oxygen to his brain, and Valkyrie knew it would be over in moments. Once Dusk had gone limp, Skulduggery laid him on the ground.

The entire thing had been done in complete silence.

Skulduggery crept to the castle entrance, and Valkyrie moved to the very edge of the collapsed roof, lying flat and peering over.

The Infected had managed to place the mummified figure into the crate without dropping it again. Valkyrie saw their eyes narrow when Skulduggery walked in. Vengeous still had his back to him.

"Hello, Baron," Skulduggery said.

She saw Vengeous stiffen slightly, then turn.

"Of course," Vengeous said. "Whom do they send to try and take me down? Not even a man. Not even a monster. They send you."

Skulduggery gave a little shrug. "How've you been, Baron?"

"You taint me," Vengeous said, disgust in his voice. "Even being in your presence, it taints me. I can feel it in the air. Even these Infected, these half-Undead, even they are more worthy of my time than you would ever be."

Skulduggery nodded. "So, you married, or anything? Do I hear the pitter-patter of tiny evil feet?"

"I will destroy you."

"You're still upset about that time I made you explode, aren't you? I can tell."

"You never stop talking, do you?"

"I don't have to talk," Skulduggery said. "I can be quiet." A moment passed. "So, who've you got in the crate? Is it the shriveled, lifeless, patchwork corpse of the Grotesquery? Am I right? Because if it is, I'm afraid I can't let you take it. I could, you know, give you its big toe, or something, as a keepsake, but that's about it."

"What you are saying, skeleton, is blasphemous."

"You're the one who dug up your own god."

Vengeous started forward, taking his cutlass from its sheath. "I wish I didn't have to kill you now. I wish I could see the fury it would wreak upon you for this blasphemy."

"You do realize I've got no skin to cut, right?"

Vengeous smiled again as he approached. "This sword is woven razor, the same process they use to make the Cleavers' scythes. It will shear through your bones."

"Ah," Skulduggery said, taking a step back.

Vengeous was almost upon him. "What's this?

No jokes? No taunts? Let me see how confident you are now, you abomination."

Skulduggery's hand went into his jacket and came back out with his revolver. He aimed it squarely at Vengeous's face. Vengeous froze.

"As it turns out," Skulduggery said after a moment's consideration, "I'm still pretty confident."

"Are you going to shoot me?" Vengeous sneered. "I wouldn't be surprised. What would a thing like you know about honor? Only a heathen would bring a gun to a sword fight."

"And only a moron would bring a sword to a gunfight."

Vengeous scowled. "As you can see," he said, "you are vastly outnumbered."

"I usually am."

"Your situation has become quite untenable."

"It usually does."

"You are within moments of being swarmed by these filthy creatures of undeath and torn apart in a maelstrom of pain and fury."

Skulduggery paused. "Okay, that's a new one on me."

"Kill him!" Vengeous barked.

The Infected started forward and Valkyrie saw Skulduggery wave his arm, and a gust of wind raised a cloud of dust to obscure her view.

She glimpsed Vengeous backing up, shielding his eyes. There were gunshots, flashes of fire, and guttural snarls of anger, and the Infected flew backward through the air.

When the dust cleared, only Skulduggery and Vengeous were left standing.

"Six shots," Vengeous said. "I counted. Your gun is empty."

"You're assuming I didn't reload in all the confusion."

"And did you?"

Skulduggery hesitated. "No," he admitted, and put the gun away.

Vengeous took a moment to look around. "The girl," he said. "Cain. Where is she?"

"She had to stay home, unfortunately. It's a school night, so . . ."

"Pity. I would have liked her to see me kill you." Vengeous laid his cutlass on the ground.

"And I won't be needing a sword to kill you."

He strode toward Skulduggery, who raised his hand.

"Um, since you're not going to be using it, can I?"

Vengeous almost laughed.

He punched, and Skulduggery darted low and to the side, but Vengeous was expecting the maneuver, and he brought his clenched fist down on Skulduggery's shoulder blade.

Skulduggery tried to move in for a throw, but Vengeous shifted his weight slightly and stuck out his foot, and Skulduggery went tumbling. His leg hit the crate, and he fell onto the Grotesquery.

Vengeous roared and reached in, grabbing Skulduggery and hauling him out. He sent out a right hook that cracked against Skulduggery's jaw. He followed it with a left cross, but Skulduggery managed to raise his arm in defense. The block turned to a strike to the throat, as sudden and savage as a snake. Vengeous coughed and fell back, and Skulduggery kicked the inside of his leg.

Vengeous kept his guard close, protecting his head, but dropped it low when Skulduggery kicked for his ribs. The kick was a feint and turned to a step, and Skulduggery swung a punch, but Vengeous caught it, his left hand closing around Skulduggery's right wrist. Vengeous surged upward and in, his right elbow hitting Skulduggery's right shoulder like a bullet.

Vengeous torqued his body and took Skulduggery off his feet and threw him to the ground, landing heavily on top of him.

Skulduggery's left hand came up to Vengeous's face, the fingers flexing, and Vengeous swatted the hand away before Skulduggery could push at the air. Vengeous punched, again and again, and grinned down at him.

"I'd hate to be you," Vengeous said. "A skeleton who feels pain. None of the advantages of a flesh-and-blood body, and all of its weaknesses. Whoever brought you back should have left you where you lay."

Skulduggery groaned.

Some of the Infected were back on their feet, and they looked at Skulduggery as he lay there. Vengeous stood and brushed the dust from his clothes. He picked up his cutlass.

"I'm going to cut you," Vengeous said, "into little, tiny pieces. I'm going to take a small part of your skull and turn it into some dice. Maybe I'll use the rest of you as keys on a piano. I wonder, skeleton, would you still be alive? Would you be conscious, if you were dice, or keys on a piano?"

"Always wanted a life in music," Skulduggery mumbled.

Valkyrie couldn't watch any more. She got to her feet. "Hey!"

Vengeous looked up to the collapsed roof and saw her.

"Heard you've been looking for me," she called out.

"Miss Cain," Vengeous said with a smile. "So you are here."

"That girl," Skulduggery muttered, "never does what she's bloody told."

"You want me, Baron?" Valkyrie shouted. "Come and get me!"

And then she stepped back, and Vengeous started running up after her, and she went to the battlement and flung herself over.