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Skulduggery grunted, then turned to Valkyrie. “The Seven-As-One are—”
“Seven Sensitive siblings,” Valkyrie said, “who maintain a psychic link at all times. They’re used to guard people and places, making it almost impossible for anyone to sneak up on them without the alarm being raised.”
Skulduggery tilted his head. “How do you know all that?”
“I do get out every now and then,” she said, returning her attention to Oberon. “So you think your son is being held in the house across the road.”
“I don’t know,” Oberon said, deflating slightly. “I only know that the people over there are sorcerers, and they’re involved. Maybe they have Robbie in there, maybe they don’t. But they definitely know more about what’s going on here than I do, so, if you wanna know who’s behind all of this, I’d say that helping me bust in there is a great place to start. And I ain’t gonna give you much of a choice in the matter. I’m going in.”
He got out of the car and started striding across the road.
“Oh, I like him,” Valkyrie said.
“I thought you might,” said Skulduggery. “Go round the back, will you? Let’s at least pretend like we’re professionals.”
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Valkyrie put her boot to the door and it burst open and in she went, shock sticks swinging, catching the first guy in the jaw and the second guy in the knee, the back, and then the face. They both fell and she moved out of the kitchen, down the short corridor. There were a lot of crashes coming from the front of the house. Lot of cries of pain.
A woman came hurtling out of a doorway, not even looking where she was going. Valkyrie jabbed her in her chest with both sticks and there was a flash and she went flying back.
“Clear,” she heard Skulduggery say.
“Clear,” she responded.
She put her sticks away, forming a cross on her back, and stepped into the living room. Five unconscious people in here – one still conscious, bleeding from a busted nose and sitting on a chair. Skulduggery and Oberon stood over him.
“What’s your name?” Skulduggery asked. The man twisted his lip as he was about to answer and Skulduggery hit him. “Rudeness will not be tolerated – let’s just make that clear right at the start. I’m Skulduggery, she’s Valkyrie, he’s Oberon. What’s your name?”
The man spat out a tooth. “Sleave,” he said.
“Where’s my son?” Oberon demanded.
Sleave frowned. “How the hell would I know? Who’s your son?”
“Robbie,” said Oberon. “His name’s Robbie.”
“Ah,” Sleave said, “you’re his dad, are you? Not much of a family resemblance, if I’m being honest.”
“Where is he?”
Sleave held up his hands. “I refer you to my earlier reply. To wit: how the hell would I know?”
“You move him around, don’t you?”
“I did,” said Sleave, “with the rest of these mooks. Every week, we’d take the kid somewhere new and guard him, feed him, put up with his nonsense and take him to see his mommy two or three times a week. But recently we were informed that our services were no longer required. Sadly, I have been made redundant.” His voice suddenly filled with hope. “I don’t suppose you have any other kids we could kidnap, do you?”
Oberon lunged and Skulduggery held him back, and Sleave laughed.
Valkyrie hunkered down in front of him. “How long were you on this particular job?” she asked.
Sleave shrugged. “Four months, maybe five.”
“So you’re not the first to keep him moving around.”
“And we’re not the last, either.”
“Who’s your boss?”
“We’re freelance. We don’t have a boss.”
“Then who hired you? Who gave you your instructions? Who did you report to?”
Sleave grinned. “The answer to all those questions is the same name, and I’ll tell you what it is – providing you let us go.”
“I’m afraid that’s not how it works.”
“Then you should probably change how it works, because you may have come in here and kicked all our asses, and some of them twice, but, from where I’m sitting, I’m the one in the position of power.”
“Careful now,” Valkyrie said. “We can always send a Sensitive into your head, and who knows what they might scramble while they’re in there.”
Sleave didn’t look too worried. “You don’t think I’ve got defences for that sorta thing? Sure, those defences don’t last forever, but I’d hold out for as long as I could, just out of spite. Let us go. All of us. Even the stupid ones. Then I’ll tell you the name of the man you’re looking for.”
With Oberon now at the other side of the room, Skulduggery straightened his tie. “We won’t do that,” he said. “But you tell us his name, and, when we’ve verified that you told us the truth, then we’ll let you go.”
“That’s more like it!” said Sleave. “See, girl, this is how you negotiate! May I stand?”
“By all means,” said Skulduggery.
Sleave stood. “I like your counter-offer, Mr Pleasant. It shows potential. But we’re not gonna be able to accept this whole being released afterwards thing. The problem is, yeah, we’re criminals, and so decidedly untrustworthy – but you’re Sanctuary folk, and so you’re absolutely untrustworthy.”
“You obviously haven’t heard,” said Valkyrie. “We’re Arbiters now. We don’t report to anyone.”
“Huh,” said Sleave. “I didn’t know the Arbiters were still a thing.”
“They weren’t,” Skulduggery said. “They are now.”
“But you’re still working with the Sanctuaries,” Sleave said, “which means you’re bound by their rules.”
“Not all of them.”
“Then you can let us go, and once you do that I’ll tell you his name. If I don’t, or if I lie, you feel free to hunt us down. Contrary to what you might be thinking, we’re really not that smart, so you won’t have too much trouble finding us.”
Skulduggery looked at Oberon, and then at Valkyrie. She shrugged.
“OK,” Skulduggery said. “We won’t arrest you.”
Another smile broke out across Sleave’s face. “Knew you were a man with an open mind. I could see it in your eye sockets.” He kicked one of his unconscious friends until they stirred. “Hey! Hey, get up. Wake the others or drag ’em out. You got two minutes.”
They stood silently while Sleave’s friends were either revived or hauled out through the back door. It took a lot longer than two minutes.
When they were gone, and only Sleave remained, he pulled on his jacket. “It was very nice to meet all of you,” he said. “Detective Pleasant, you’re a surprisingly reasonable fellow for a bunch of bones in a suit. Detective Cain, you’re a scary lady and that’s all I’ll say about that. Robbie’s dad, I don’t know anything else about you, so all I’ll say is that you just need to calm down in general and maybe people will like you more.”
Skulduggery took out his gun and aimed it at Sleave’s head. “The name.”
Sleave raised his hands slowly. “We only met him once,” he said. “He came to see us, told us what he expected, told us when and where to move, and explained how we’d be getting paid. We never saw him again, never saw anyone else working for him.”
“His name.”
“Crepuscular Vies.”
Skulduggery glanced at Valkyrie, then at Oberon.
“Never heard of him,” Oberon said.
“I’m not surprised,” said Sleave. “I didn’t have a clue who he was, either, and I still don’t. He’s tall, about the same height as you fellas, and wears a suit, bow tie and a hat. But I wouldn’t worry about what he’s wearing, because his face is … It’s just wrong. You’ll know it when you see it.”
“Nationality?” Valkyrie asked.
Sleave laughed. “Don’t you know? Irish, of course. The most evil people in the world are Irish.”
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“What do you think of him?” Valkyrie asked as they waited in the diner for Fletcher to come and pick them up.
One eyebrow rose on Skulduggery’s façade. “The waiter?”
“Oberon,” she said, and took a sip of coffee. It was not good.
“He seems capable,” Skulduggery said. He had a glass of water before him that he was never going to touch. “He threw around some of Sleave’s people without too much bother.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I have no reason not to. You?”
“Yeah, I believe him.”
“Well, OK then.”
It was pitch-black outside, and the diner was empty of customers apart from them and a drunk guy in the corner booth who kept getting up to play sad country songs on the jukebox.
Valkyrie took another sip of her coffee. It wasn’t getting any better. “Do you think he’ll be able to find out anything about this Crepuscular Vies?”
“Probably not,” Skulduggery said. “Oberon’s motivations may be pure, and he could have useful contacts in the criminal underworld that might provide a lead, but we’ll probably have to devote some time to it ourselves after our show of strength for Serafina tomorrow. Once all this is out of the way, I promise we’ll come up with a way to find Doctor Nye.”
Valkyrie nodded and took another sip, hoping he wouldn’t spot the look of guilt that flashed across her face.
Fletcher came in. Valkyrie scooched over so he could sit beside her. “Everything good? Everyone unharmed? Sorry I’m late. Had a bit of trouble finding the place. How’s the coffee?”
“Wonderful,” said Valkyrie. “You should get some.”
“Naw, caffeine makes me jumpy, and I’m going straight back to sleep after this.”
She winced. “We’re sorry for getting you out of bed. Aren’t we, Skulduggery?”
“Absolutely,” Skulduggery said.
“And we appreciate you doing this, don’t we, Skulduggery?”
“Thoroughly.”
Fletcher smiled. “The way I look at it, I’m not only helping you, I’m also helping the environment. That’s one of the great tragedies about keeping magic a secret, isn’t it? If everyone knew about us, Teleporters could transport people all round the world without a single harmful emission. Makes you wonder if we should just tell them for the sake of the planet.”
“I’m not entirely sure that the war that would inevitably follow wouldn’t damage the environment all over again,” Skulduggery said.
“You should have more faith in mortals,” Fletcher countered. “Not all of them are war-hungry simpletons, you know.”
“No,” Skulduggery said, “but they do tend to scare easily and, when people are scared, they lash out.”
Fletcher adjusted his hair slightly. “You have such a dim view of the people you fight every day to protect.”
“I’m just waiting for them to prove me wrong.”
Fletcher looked at Valkyrie. “Please tell me you have a cheerier outlook on life. You can’t be as miserable as him. You just can’t.”
She smiled. “I believe that people are good.”
“Thank you,” Fletcher responded.
“Most of them anyway.”
“OK.”
“I mean, not any that I’ve met, but—”
“You can stop there,” he said. “Wow, the two of you must have fun saving the world for people you don’t even like.”
“I’m joking,” said Valkyrie.
“I’m not,” said Skulduggery.
“I believe people are good,” Valkyrie continued, “though flawed, and, given all the information and enough time, they will do the right thing.”
Skulduggery picked up his hat from the seat, and put it on the table. “And I believe that life is arbitrary and when time moves on it will be as if we never existed. Do you want any pie?”
“No,” said Valkyrie.
“Then we should probably get going.”
