LITMIR.BIZ

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can’t even walk, Tanith.”

      “An hour or two is all I need.”

      “A few days’ rest – those were your doctor’s orders.”

      “Yeah, well, my doctor’s the one who tortured me for God’s sake. I don’t think his opinion really matters, do you?”

      Valkyrie looked at her boots. Skulduggery was silent.

      “Fine,” Tanith muttered.

      “Valkyrie,” Skulduggery said as he left, “we have work to do.”

      She looked at Tanith. “You’re really OK, huh?”

      “Don’t start, Val.”

      Valkyrie hunkered down until she was looking straight into Tanith’s eyes. “You’re my sister,” she said. “I have another sister or maybe a brother on the way, but you’re my sister too. I want you to stay here and get better, and try to accept the fact, with every part of you, that it wasn’t Kenspeckle who did this. I want you to be OK. OK?”

      “OK,” Tanith said softly. Valkyrie hugged her and kissed her cheek.

      “You’ve got mud on your chin,” smiled Tanith.

      “Yeah, but I make it work.”

      

      Ghastly and Anton Shudder were waiting for them in the darkened cinema. Fletcher appeared on the stage, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

      “You have a visitor,” he said. “Your friend the vampire’s outside. He wants to talk to Valkyrie.”

      “By all means,” Skulduggery said. Then, much to Fletcher’s satisfaction, he said, “Fletcher, you go with her. Caelan’s been banished from vampire society because of us. He might be cross.”

      Valkyrie glared. “I don’t need protection.”

      “A vampire’s waiting for you outside – of course you need protection. Keep it brief. We’ll be waiting for you.”

      Fletcher grinned. Valkyrie shot him a look and jumped off the stage. He followed her up the aisle and out of the gloom.

      Caelan was standing just outside the door. He turned to them as they approached, his dark eyes on Valkyrie. It was as if he didn’t even notice Fletcher beside her.

      “Hi,” she said. “Anything wrong?”

      “My home was burned down,” Caelan said. “My cage was destroyed. Moloch has lifted his protection – the other vampires see me as fair game now.”

      “Oh, God,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”

      “That is terrible,” Fletcher muttered.

      “I have no friends left,” Caelan continued, “and nowhere to go. I thought you or the skeleton would have a suggestion. I need somewhere secure.”

      “What about the Midnight Hotel?”

      He looked surprised. “That…That would be ideal. You know where it is?”

      “I can do better than that – the owner is inside.”

      A big car pulled in off the street and Thurid Guild got out. He waved his driver away, then strode towards them. By his narrowed eyes, Valkyrie could tell he knew instantly what Caelan was, but he passed them without saying anything and disappeared into the cinema.

      “Shudder might not want a vampire as a guest,” Fletcher said when Guild was gone. “I mean, let’s face it, not many people like vampires. Take me, for instance.”

      Valkyrie glared at him then softened her gaze for Caelan. “We can ask him,” she said. “I’m sure he won’t mind.”

      “Very well,” Caelan said. “Thank you.”

      She walked back into the cinema, Caelan behind her, Fletcher stuck like a limpet at her side. Skulduggery, Ghastly and Shudder stopped talking and watched them approach. Guild didn’t look around.

      “Anton,” she said, “this is Caelan. His home was destroyed and he needs somewhere to stay.”

      Shudder looked deep into Caelan’s eyes. “Over the hotel’s history,” he said, “I have had two vampires stay as guests. I had to kill one of them.”

      “Valkyrie and I are responsible for Caelan’s situation,” Skulduggery said. “I would consider it a personal favour.”

      Shudder considered this, then inclined his head. “All are welcome, provided they obey the rules. I’ll lock you in before dark and unlock the door in the morning. We should have no problems.”

      Caelan nodded, saying nothing.

      “Miss Low could be right,” Guild said, resuming their conversation. “It might be over. Scarab and his lackeys may have scuttled back under whatever rocks they choose to call home. It is possible.”

      “I don’t think so,” Skulduggery said. “Scarab’s an assassin. He never has just one plan, one route to the kill. He has back-ups. I think he has a back-up for this too.”

      “Then the search continues,” said Shudder. “But now it could be anything, yes? One route has been blocked for him, but we have no idea what the second route could be.”

      “We need to figure out what he was planning to do with the Desolation Engine,” Ghastly said. “We can work backwards from there.”

      “The obvious target would have been the Sanctuary,” Guild said. “As it is, our work there has been disrupted immensely following the evacuation. We’re only just now returning people to their posts.”

      Kenspeckle came through the door in the screen, walking quickly. Valkyrie hadn’t seen much of him since he woke up, on account of the fact that he had immediately thrown himself back into his work. She knew very well what he was doing. He didn’t know how to deal with what the Remnant had done when it was in control, so he had retreated to what he did know how to deal with – treating injured people and dismantling the Engine.

      “There’s too many pieces,” he said, hurrying across the stage to them. “Do you understand me? The so-called junk that was found with the Desolation Engine in the castle, there’s too much of it.”

      He saw Caelan and froze. “Vampire?” he whispered, appalled.

      Immediately, Valkyrie grabbed Caelan’s arm and led him away. “He has a phobia about people like you,” she told him softly. “Would you mind waiting outside?”

      “Not at all,” Caelan answered smoothly, and left.

      “Sorry, Kenspeckle,” she said.

      Kenspeckle’s eyes were wide and his hand was clutching something that hung from his neck. She knew it was the vial of saltwater he wore in case of vampire attack.

      “Professor,” Skulduggery prompted. “The leftover pieces from the Desolation Engine. Why is that troubling?”

      “I-I don’t know,” Kenspeckle said. “I just…It doesn’t make any sense.”

      “A lot of things don’t make any sense,” Guild said. “Such as how you were able to restore that Engine to working order so quickly. We thought it would take you days, if you could do it at all.”

      “Of course I could do it!” Kenspeckle snapped, suddenly back to his old self. “There was never any question of whether I could do it! They didn’t know that of course. They just got lucky by picking me.”

      “I don’t care how smart you are,” Guild said. “Sanctuary experts have examined that bomb for decades and they still have no idea how it worked, let alone how to fix it in a single afternoon.”

      “Of course they don’t, you damn fool. They didn’t build the thing in the first place, now did they?”

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