don’t believe that. You can’t. If you believed that, you wouldn’t be able to get out of bed in the morning. The guilt would have already hammered you into the ground. Do you bear some responsibility? Yes. But not all of it. Not even most of it.”
“Even some of it is enough.”
“You’re lying.”
Valkyrie stood up. “Excuse me?”
“You’re lying,” China repeated. “What else happened? What did you do that made you walk away?”
“Being responsible for the deaths of over a thousand people whose names and faces I will never know … that isn’t enough for you?”
“It isn’t.”
“Then I don’t know what to say to you, China. I don’t know how I can—” Her voice caught suddenly, and tears came to her eyes.
China waited.
Valkyrie swallowed and looked away again, feeling the sting in her throat that warned her she was about to cry. She growled instead, and that made China smile.
“That’s a little of the old Valkyrie,” she said. “You always did hate to show weakness.”
But Valkyrie shook her head. “Wasn’t weakness I hated,” she said. “It was losing control.” She swallowed again, took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “It wasn’t the thousand faces I didn’t know. It was the one face I did.” Valkyrie put her hands through her hair, fixing it, recognising even as she did so what a transparent attempt at nonchalance it was. “I needed the Sceptre of the Ancients to fight Darquesse, but it was bonded to my sister.”
“And you couldn’t use it until it was bonded to you,” China said slowly. “So you …”
“I killed her,” Valkyrie said. “She was dead for a few seconds, long enough for the bond to be severed. I used the Sunburst to revive her, the Sceptre bonded with me and I used it against Darquesse. All’s well that ends well.”
“It must have been an unimaginably difficult thing to do.”
“To murder my sister? I’ve done easier things.”
“But you revived her.”
“But I murdered her. You can say your part as much as you like – my part will always be louder. That’s why I walked away.”
“And yet you came back.”
“That may have been a mistake.”
China folded her arms, her chin dipping to her chest. “What you had to do, for the greater good, was horrible. So, if you’ve lost your nerve, tell me. Just tell me and get it over with. I’ll hug you and send you on your way. I’ll give you a squad of Cleavers to protect you until all this is over, and we’ll stop them from resurrecting Abyssinia ourselves.” She raised her eyes. “Is that what you want, Valkyrie?”
Valkyrie looked away. “Might be for the best.”
China shrugged. “If that’s true, say the word and it’ll be done. Say yes.”
Valkyrie opened her mouth, but the word was taking its time to build.
“You mentioned the trained investigators I have on the City Guard,” China said, “like they’d notice something you wouldn’t. Like they’d be better than you. You seem to have forgotten that you were trained by the best.”
“I’m not a detective, China.”
“Your badge says differently.”
“I can’t do this without him. You know that.”
“You don’t have a choice. Skulduggery Pleasant is your enemy now. You’ve never faced anyone like him before. But he’s never faced anyone like you, either.”
“He’ll kill me.”
“He’ll certainly try.”
“China, I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I don’t stand a chance against him. The moment he decides to end the game, I’m dead.”
“You know him better than anyone. You know him better than I ever did. With Skulduggery on their side, the anti-Sanctuary will succeed. Abyssinia will be resurrected and, if she wants war, she’ll have war. She’ll lay waste to everything. The entire mortal world is in danger. That means your family, Valkyrie. We have one chance to stop them, and that chance is to stop him. You’re the only one who can do that.”
“No, I’m not. Get Saracen Rue and Dexter Vex back here. Find Tanith, wherever the hell she is. Call Gracious and Donegan off whatever adventure they’re on right now and put guns in their hands. That’s what you need. You need a team.”
“We need you,” said China. “I’ll ask Gracious and Donegan to help you if you need them. I’ll try to find Rue and Vex, but the last I heard they weren’t on good terms. You don’t need Tanith Low, but Roarhaven needs you. I need you, Valkyrie. And Skulduggery definitely needs you. He abandoned his family crest because of the things he’d done during the war, and he’s spent the time since looking for redemption. How do you think he’ll take it if he kills someone while under Smoke’s influence? Do you think he’ll forgive himself?”
“China …”
“This is a burden. I understand that. You wish you could just walk away. I understand that, too. I’m offering you that chance right now. Tell me you want to go. Say yes, and you’ll get a Cleaver escort home. But, if you can’t say yes, then find that girl you once were and be her again. We need that Valkyrie Cain. I’m sorry, but we don’t need you.”
The rain got heavier. Valkyrie watched it hit the shield surrounding the balcony, the drops hissing, steam rising. Cleavers wouldn’t be able to save her, not if Skulduggery came looking, and there wasn’t anywhere she could run that he wouldn’t be able to follow. She felt like she was on a sinking boat. Her only hope, as much as it scared her, was to dive into the churning waters before the boat took her down with it.
“I need Richard Melior’s old address back in San Francisco,” Valkyrie said. “I looked it up in the Neoteric Report, but all contact details have been blacked out.”
China nodded. “I’ll get it for you.”
“And I’m going to need a Teleporter. A healthy one.”
“Difficult,” said China. “There are only three in the world that I know of, plus this Nero and one of Fletcher’s own students. Maybe I can organise something. If not, you’ll have access to my jet. You also have the entire City Guard at your disposal if you need them.”
Valkyrie shook her head. “Skulduggery didn’t trust them. That means I don’t, either. No offence.”
China hesitated. “Of course.”
“But I might need Cleavers. Lots of them. At a moment’s notice.”
“I can give you a sigil,” China said. “It can be both a distress call and a homing device.”
Valkyrie hesitated. “Sure,” she said. “So long as it can’t track me without my knowing.”
China tapped her forefinger and it began to glow. “You can activate and deactivate it at will,” she said. “It’s a small sigil, easily concealable. Where do you want it?”
Valkyrie sat again and leaned back, hooked a thumb into the waistband of her jeans and pulled it down to her hipbone. China got to her knees and pressed her fingernail into Valkyrie’s skin. It was hot, very hot, but not entirely unpleasant.
“Why did he really quit as City Guard Commander?” Valkyrie asked as China worked. “What did he do? What did you do?”
China focused on the tattoo she was carving and didn’t look up. “He felt his time here was at an end. I was sorry