Skulduggery Pleasant: Death Bringer Part 24

"Is it up those stairs?"

"It is. First you come to Pa.s.sport Control, then you pick up your luggage, and then you exit Customs."

Valkyrie smiled. "Thank you. You've been really helpful."

He nodded. "Sure. Just... try not to get delayed again, OK?"

"I'll do my best!" she laughed, and skipped up the stairs.

She moved onwards without encountering anybody else. Pa.s.sport Control was quiet. Directly opposite her, across the open floor, was a gla.s.s wall, and beyond that she could see a crowd of people who had just pa.s.sed through. Among the bright shirts and colourful dresses and blue jeans there were people in black, some in jackets, some in coats, some carrying bags and some not, walking apart so as not to attract attention. Necromancers. She peered round the door, to her right, where two cops were sitting in booths, chatting across to each other as they waited for the next influx of travellers. Valkyrie darted to the empty booth closest to her, using the air to rise over the barricade. She dropped gently to the other side and ran, crouched over. She sneaked behind the booths where the cops were sitting, and out into the corridor. Now she sprinted after the crowd of pa.s.sengers.

She caught up with the ones lagging behind, the ones for whom this long walk was just proving too much. They puffed and wheezed with red faces, fat droplets of sweat running down their cheeks, travel cases trundling along behind like sulky children. She ran under the sign that pointed to the Luggage Retrieval area. She doubted the Necromancers would have any bags to collect. They weren't here for a holiday, after all.

She barged through a small group of people, got to the top of the stairs and leaped. People around her cried out in alarm, but she didn't have time to waste. She waited until the last moment to cushion her landing, hit the ground and rolled. She ignored the disapproving headshakes, immediately catching sight of the Necromancers on the far side of the baggage belts. She took off, using the air to nudge people from her path. She jumped on to a conveyer belt that wasn't moving, slid across the highest point and jumped down the other side. An airport official stepped into her path and she jammed her hand against his chest. His cheeks bulged and he stumbled back as she vaulted on to the next conveyer belt. This one was moving, full of luggage. She almost tripped, but made it to the centre and scrambled over to the other side, leaped off and into a crowd of startled civilians. The Necromancers hadn't noticed the commotion. She ran to intercept them as they headed for the Exit, coming to a sharp halt in front of the Necromancer leading the march.

The Necromancers stopped, each one of them suspicious. Valkyrie held up a hand while she doubled over.

"Sorry," she gasped. "Let me... get my breath... back."

They didn't try to move around her. Their eyes were on the ring on her finger.

"You have instructions?" the lead Necromancer asked.

She breathed deeply, in through the nose, out through the mouth, and straightened. "Yes," she said. "You're... not needed. You're to... go home."

"High Priest Tenebrae sent a student to tell us this?"

She nodded, and shrugged.

"What's happened? Is the Death Bringer OK?"

"False alarm," she said. "Wasn't the Death Bringer. Just a girl... looking for attention. You're to go home at once and... sorry for the inconvenience. Naturally, we'll refund your air fare."

A female Necromancer frowned at her. "Who instructs you in the Temple?"

"I'm not really in the Temple that much," Valkyrie said, her breathing under control now. "Solomon Wreath is my mentor."

"Oh," the woman said. "Well, that would explain the lack of formality."

"Even so," said the lead Necromancer, "Cleric Wreath ought to know better than to send a student with information like this. If the High Priest wishes us to return to London, he can send someone of higher rank to tell us."

They went to walk by her, but Valkyrie jumped in front of them again. "Actually, no," she said, "he was quite insistent. Everyone's busy. Sanctuary agents are everywhere and they're putting pressure on and all the Clerics have their hands full and-"

The lead Necromancer glared at her. "Step aside, girl."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the airport official she had shoved. He was jogging over, flanked by two cops.

"Fine," she said to the lead Necromancer. "I'm not a Necromancer. My name's Valkyrie Cain. I work with Skulduggery Pleasant. And I'm here to tell you that we're about to drag the Death Bringer into custody and there's not a d.a.m.n thing you can do about it."

The Necromancers stared, and almost as one they reached for her, anger flashing across their faces. Then the cops were there, standing between them.

"That's her!" the official said. "That's the girl who hit me!"

"I'm sorry," Valkyrie said to the cops, looking as frightened as she could. "I lagged behind. They don't like it when I lag behind."

The cops frowned at her, then turned to the Necromancers.

"Is she with you?" the first cop asked.

The lead Necromancer scowled. "No. I've never seen her before. You can keep her."

He went to walk on, but the cops blocked his way.

"Just hold on a minute there, until we get this sorted out. She's dressed the same as you."

"So?"

"It's a little odd, isn't it?"

"Not for us."

"It's like a uniform," Valkyrie said, making her voice shake. "They make us wear black. It's for the church."

The second cop looked back at her. "Everyone here is part of a church?"

She nodded. "We call it a church, yes. Other people call it a cult. I shouldn't be talking to you. They don't like it when I talk to outsiders. They're afraid I'll tell people about their plans."

The cops turned to the Necromancers, and the airport official backed away.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to come with us," the first cop said. "Just to answer a few questions."

"That won't be possible," the lead Necromancer said. "We have somewhere to be."

"I'm afraid I have to insist."

The lead Necromancer ignored him, turning his eyes to Valkyrie. "Are you sure you want to do this? In front of all these people? In front of security cameras? Because we'll do it. The world is about to change a we could start that change right here and now."

"That sounded like a threat," the second cop said.

"I wasn't talking to you."

"Yeah," the cop said, "but I was talking to you."

Valkyrie hadn't even noticed the movement in the crowds of people, but suddenly there were four more cops surrounding the Necromancers, done up in tactical gear and carrying automatic weapons. The Necromancers stiffened. Unlike Elementals and other Adepts, the Necromancers kept most of their magic in objects. But right now, their weapons were in their bags and pockets, and any move to get them would result in extreme violence.

Valkyrie backed away as the cops issued orders. The Necromancers glared at her, and she smiled back, slipping away through the crowd that had formed around them. She hurried for the doors, emerging into the Arrivals Area as more cops ran through to help their comrades. She rejoined Skulduggery and a handcuffed Dragonclaw, and they walked quickly for the exit.

"You handled it?" Skulduggery asked.

"I did. I could have used your help."

"Nonsense. You're more than capable of doing these things yourself. Were there many Necromancers?"

"Twelve or so. If they're not escorted directly on to a flight home, I'd say, at the very least, they're not going to be let near their weapons for another few hours."

"By which point we should have broken into the Temple. Well done, Valkyrie. You are good."

"Yes, I am. What about Bison here? Did he have anything interesting to say?"

"Indeed he did," Skulduggery said, his false mouth smiling. "He knows of a top-secret supply tunnel that leads right into the depths of the Temple, and he's going to take us there, aren't you, Bison?"

Dragonclaw sagged.

"How sweet," Valkyrie said. "You've made a friend."

Chapter 27.

Into the Temple.

he warehouse was dark. Three jeeps and two trucks were parked under a thick layer of dust. Dragonclaw led them to the centre of the floor, and stopped.

"You'd better not be lying to us," Skulduggery said, his gun out.

"I swear," Dragonclaw responded. "Director Solus used to have me guard it when supplies were brought in through here. Only a few people know about it."

He stepped on a pebble, put all his weight on it, and the floor beside him opened up, revealing steps leading down. Skulduggery motioned for him to go first, and they followed him into a long stone corridor lit by bare bulbs.

"This leads directly to the Temple?" Skulduggery asked.

Dragonclaw nodded. "There's a door with a lever at the other end. It opens up into a room n.o.body ever uses. It's how Solus transports all his best stuff."

"No pa.s.swords needed? Nothing like that?"

"No. You just pull the lever."

"Good to know," Skulduggery said, then smacked him with the gun. Dragonclaw spun and fell to the ground, unconscious.

Valkyrie glared. "You could have warned me."

"Of what?" Skulduggery asked, his arm encircling her waist. They lifted off the ground, started moving down the corridor.

"That you were going to hit him. It'd be nice to be told these things."

"Did it give you a fright?"

They were picking up speed now and Valkyrie's hair was being blown off her face.

"A little one, yeah," she said. "You were standing there all normal and then you hit him. I jumped."

"I do apologise."

"Just a little warning, that's all I ask."

"In my defence, if I had told you that I intended to hit him, he probably would have overheard the conversation."

"Then we should come up with a code or something."

The bulbs were blurring into one long stream of light above them.

"We already have a code," Skulduggery said. "It's be brave."

Valkyrie scowled at him. "Be brave is nothing. Be brave is you telling me to trust you, you have a plan, when we're surrounded by enemies. Be brave tells me nothing other than you're about to do something stupid. We should have another code for when you're about to hit someone."

"Very well. How about the sparrow flies south for winter?"

"Seriously?"

"What's wrong with it? It's a cla.s.sic."

"And how would you work that into the conversation?"

"With my usual aplomb."

"So if that had been our code, and Dragonclaw had just told you that all we have to do is pull the lever, how would you have worked the sparrow flies south for winter into the conversation?"

"I would have said OK, Bison, so you're sure we only need to pull a lever? And he would have said yes, and I'd have said excellent, thank you. Did you know, by the way, that the sparrow flies south for winter? And then I'd have punched him."

"I'm going to do my best to ignore the ridiculous things you say from now on," Valkyrie decided. "What are we going to do when we get into the Temple, anyway? Are we going to fight our way through the Necromancers on our own?"

"No, we're going to find a way to let our friends in, and we'll let them fight while we stand by and look smug."

"I like that plan."

"It has its moments."

They slowed as they neared the end of the corridor, touched down on to solid ground and Valkyrie reluctantly stepped away. She loved the sensation of flying, but it did make walking seem absurdly clumsy.

Skulduggery pulled the small iron lever set into the wall, and the bulbs went out as the door swung open. They crept out into darkness. It was colder here a it was always cold in the Temple.

"We should be on the main level," Skulduggery whispered, "but I'd say we're half a kilometre from the Antechamber." Valkyrie's eyes were adjusting to the gloom as Skulduggery searched through stacks of boxes and supplies. He made an amused sound, and threw something to her. "We're going to need to fit in."