LITMIR.BIZ

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freak mask saved me.”

      He helped her to her feet. “You handled yourself admirably.”

      “You think so?”

      “Your constant screaming definitely made it hesitate.”

      “Yeah, it’s a new tactic I’m trying out. Pants-wetting fear. Do you think its mate heard me?”

      “I wouldn’t say so. The wind carried your screaming in the opposite direction. But we should probably get moving before it comes back. I’d imagine it would be quite irate.”

      “If you threw me off a mountain, I’d be irate, too.”

      She walked beside him across the snow, her gloved hands tucked under her armpits. She kept her mouth closed. Her lips were freezing. Her eyeballs, too. The snow was sucking at her boots, trying to pull her down. It didn’t take long before her legs got tired.

      “Are we nearly there?” she asked, looking around at him for the first time since they started walking. “Hey. You’re cheating!”

      The snow curled around him but didn’t touch him, and the snow on the ground parted for his feet. “Snow is water,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for you to realise this for the past five minutes.”

      She glared. “My brain is frozen.”

      “Manipulate the snow just like you would water and you’ll be fine.”

      The gloves Ghastly had made for her were the same as Skulduggery’s, meaning she could click her fingers to generate a spark or feel the air to move an object. But for something like water, an element she hadn’t spent much time practising with, she needed a bare hand. She took off her right glove, the cold closing round her skin and robbing it of its warmth. She did her best to ignore all that, and focused on making the compacted snow under her boots roll backwards like a wave. But nothing happened. The dynamics were totally different than with free-flowing water. She gritted her teeth and poured her magic into it, and the snow surged, whipping her feet out from under her.

      “Found it,” Skulduggery said from up ahead.

      Growling, Valkyrie struggled up and clomped through the snow to where he was standing. Once, maybe, it had been a cave, but now it was just a mass of snow-covered boulders and rocks. “This looks just like everything else around here,” she said. “Are you sure this is it?”

      “There’s evidence of a bridge out there,” he said, nodding his head towards the ledge. “It must have connected this peak to the one next to it. Once all the equipment was shipped in, the bridge was destroyed and the entrance collapsed.”

      Valkyrie stamped her feet. “So how do we get in?”

      Skulduggery pressed his hands against the rock. A moment later, Valkyrie heard a low rumbling. Dust fell. The wall of rocks shifted violently, tearing a hole in itself. Skulduggery stepped back.

      “There,” he said. “That’s as much as I can do while still maintaining the integrity of the wall.”

      The hole was a narrow gash of an opening, slanting almost at a horizontal angle. Valkyrie was not a fan of tight spaces. “You want us to climb through there?”

      “I’ll go first,” he said, “to make sure it’s safe. Hold my hat.”

      She did so, and watched him crouch by the hole. He slipped his head and shoulders in first, manoeuvred around, then pulled himself through. She watched his shoes disappear.

      “How is it?” she called. “What’s on the other side?”

      “A tunnel,” he called back. His hand came through, fingers wiggling. “My hat, please.”

      She passed it to him, and crouched. She eyed the gap uneasily. Another tight space. “Are you sure I’ll be able to fit?”

      Skulduggery’s face appeared on the other side. “Of course you will. I did.”

      “But you’re a skeleton,” she pointed out.

      “Yes, but I’m big-boned. You’ll be fine.”

      She looked behind her, at the swirling snow and vast empty whiteness of it all, and sighed. She put her arms through first, getting a good grip, and then put her head and shoulders through. The other side of the cave wall was warm – much too warm to be natural. Skulduggery held fire in his hand so she could see what she was doing. Grunting slightly, she climbed in further, her chest scraping along the rock. When she was halfway through, she slipped sideways a little, down the slant. She tried to pull herself through.

      “I’m stuck,” she said.

      “No, you’re not,” Skulduggery told her. “Just wriggle, you’ll be fine.”

      “I’m stuck,” she insisted, and started laughing despite herself.

      Skulduggery tilted his head. “I thought you didn’t like tight spaces.”

      “I don’t. I’m kind of panicking, but my bum is jammed. How can you not laugh when your bum is jammed? Help me.”

      He took her hands and pulled.

      “Oh my God,” she said, doing her best to stop giggling, “that’s doing absolutely nothing. Could you please get me out of here?”

      “But of course, dear.” He reached in, gripped her waistband and pulled her out of the narrower end. He hooked his hands under her arms and dragged her the rest of the way through. Once back on her feet, she brushed the dust from her clothes and took off her mask, grinning at him.

      “Never mention this to anyone,” she said, stuffing the mask and gloves into her jacket.

      “Your secret is safe with me.”

      They walked down the sloping tunnel, holding fire in their hands until the darkness shifted to mere gloom, and then brightened. They let the flames go out and proceeded cautiously.

      The ground turned into a metal grille. Thick support struts criss-crossed overhead and glowing orbs hung from them, as if someone had caught handfuls of daylight and brought them underground. They passed through corridors of rock walls. The air was fresh, and carried a scent of cut grass and flowers. It was a warm summer’s day down here in this mountain.

      A bird flew past, disappearing around the corner.

      “Well,” Valkyrie said, “that’s just unexpected, is what that is.”

      They walked on until the corridor widened, and in this widened corridor a man wandered by. Valkyrie recognised him from his file. Kalvin Accord. Adept, specialising in science-magic. Now dressed in what looked like a bathrobe and sandals.

      “Kalvin,” Skulduggery said gently.

      Kalvin whipped around, eyes wide. Stared at them.

      Skulduggery took a step forward. “Sorry. We didn’t want to startle you. How are you?”

      “Oh, this isn’t good,” Kalvin murmured. “Oh, this isn’t good at all.”

      He turned and ran.

      Skulduggery glanced at Valkyrie, and they started jogging after him.

      “Kalvin,” Skulduggery called. “There’s nothing to be worried about. Please, just stop and talk to us.”

      But Kalvin kept running. Granted, it wasn’t a very impressive run – there’s only so fast a person can move wearing sandals. He stumbled and one of the sandals came flying off, and he went on without it. Valkyrie picked it up on the way past.

      Skulduggery caught up to him and they ran side by side. “Hi, Kalvin,” he said.

      Kalvin whined.

      Valkyrie appeared at his other elbow. She held the sandal out as they ran. “I picked this up for you.”

      Kalvin was panting. “Thank you,” he said, taking it from her.

      “Why

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