The Dying of the Light (37 page)

Her mother was at the table, eyes fixed on the laptop while her dad hovered over her shoulder, pointing at the screen.

“Click that,” he said. “That looks important. We should click it and see what it does.”

Her mum batted his hand away. “Go on, shoo. You’re not allowed near this.”

“But it’s mine.”

“Hiya,” Valkyrie said, crossing straight to the oven.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” her mum said. “Lunch will be another half an hour or so.”

Valkyrie opened the oven, inhaled the steam that billowed out, and closed it again, her mouth watering. “Oh, I’m starving,” she said. “What are you doing?”

“Your father has a mission,” her mum said, sighing.

Her dad stood straighter. “That USB thing. It’s a video. We’re downloading something that’ll let us play it. Well, we think we are. We might not be. To be honest, we haven’t a clue what we’re doing.”

“I know what I’m doing,” her mum said, a little annoyed.

“Ah, a USB,” Valkyrie said. “How quaint. Half an hour, you say? I’ll be right back.”

“Leaving us so soon?” her mum asked.

“Just going to pop over to Fergus and Beryl’s and say hi.”

Her parents stared at her.

“Why?” they both said at the same time.

Valkyrie laughed. “You’re funny.”

As she left the house, she heard her dad say, “No, seriously, why?”

She took the short cut across the beach. The tide was out and the sky was grey. A few joggers on the sand. Some people walking their dogs. She didn’t know why she wanted to see her aunt and uncle. Some part of her just wanted to talk to them, to connect with them in some way. It was probably because of Gordon. She’d lost her favourite uncle for the second time and she was, what? She was grieving?

Valkyrie stopped walking. She was grieving.

Tears came to her eyes, but she wiped them away angrily. No. No crying. She’d cried enough. She’d deal with her loss later, when she had the luxury of time. She’d deal with it the same way she was going to deal with the guilt she felt over the things she’d done as Darquesse. She’d deal with it alone, without anyone around to see it. She walked on.

When she got to Fergus and Beryl’s house, the car was gone. She thought about just turning round and going home, but knocked on the door anyway, and Carol’s reflection answered.

“Hello, Stephanie.”

Valkyrie looked at it. “Hi. Are Fergus or Beryl home?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Crystal?”

“She’s out. With her boyfriend. She has a boyfriend now. He doesn’t treat her very well.”

“I know what you are.”

Carol’s reflection looked at her without expression. “What do you mean?”

“You’re not her. You’re not Carol. You’re her reflection. The real Carol is dead.”

“And you’re Darquesse.”

“No. I’m not.”

“Stephanie came over and told me what happened. Valkyrie allowed you to take over and now you’re free. Valkyrie’s gone and Stephanie has assumed her rightful place as daughter and sister.”

Despite herself, Valkyrie smiled. “Is that what she said? Her rightful place? Yeah, that sounds like her. What was the last thing Stephanie told you?”

“She came over about two weeks ago,” Carol’s reflection said. “She told me she’s been helping Skulduggery Pleasant track you down. She couldn’t wait for it to be over. Are you going to kill us now?”

“No. God, no. I’m not going to kill anyone. I’m not Darquesse. I’m me again, I’m Valkyrie. But Stephanie … she died.”

The reflection’s expression didn’t change. “Oh. I’m very sorry for your loss.”

“Yeah, you look it.”

“Since you know I’m not really Carol, I’m not bothering to appear convincing. If you’d rather I respond with appropriate emotions—”

“No,” Valkyrie said quickly. “No acting. This is fine.”

“OK. Then if you’re not here to kill me, why are you here?”

“I’m not really sure,” Valkyrie said. “I wanted to see Fergus. Don’t really know what I’d have said to him, but … and I suppose I wanted to check up on you, now that Stephanie isn’t able to any more. I wanted to see what you’re like. How do you feel?”

“I don’t feel. All my emotions are simulated.”

“And what do you think of your family?”

“Are you asking what Carol thinks of her family or what this
representation
of Carol thinks of her family? Because I hold no opinion.”

It sounded so familiar. It sounded just like Valkyrie’s own reflection had, way back at the start. “So you don’t see yourself as an improvement on the real Carol?”

“The only advantage I have over Carol is that she is dead and I am not.”

“So what are your plans?”

“Stephanie told me what my role is,” the reflection said. “I’m to take over as Carol until my family is dead. I will age with them, I will follow the course of Carol’s life as it unfolds before me. I will get a job, probably get married and start a family of my own, and hopefully make my parents proud.”

“
Can
you start a family?”

“I am flesh and blood. There’s no reason why not.”

“And what about Crystal?”

“Stephanie told me to avoid Crystal for the time being. As Carol’s twin, she’s more likely to spot the flaws in my performance. When enough time has passed, I will work to establish a sisterly bond. She’ll notice some changes, but I’m confident these will be overlooked.”

“And what about this boyfriend of hers?”

“Stephanie advised me on that also. She told me I’m my sister’s protector. If Crystal’s boyfriend damages her, emotionally or physically, I am to damage him physically in an appropriate, measured response.”

“Huh,” Valkyrie said. “Seems like you’ve got everything sorted.”

“I know my role.”

“How is Crystal doing?”

“At home, she’s withdrawn. Sullen. The gap between us is affecting her, which is unfortunate but necessary. Apart from her boyfriend, she’s making good friends, and spending more time out of the house. She’s becoming quite sociable.”

“Good,” said Valkyrie. “That’s … that’s actually good. And Beryl and Fergus?”

“Mum is sad,” Carol’s reflection said. “But she’s always been sad. She just disguised it with a sharp tongue. She thought money would make things better, but it hasn’t. Dad is worried about her. I think he’s worried about a lot of things. Stephanie told me that one of my jobs is to make their lives better by pretending they’ve been good parents. That is what I plan to do.”

“OK,” said Valkyrie. “Well, I’ll … I’ll head off, then.”

“Very well,” said the reflection, and went to close the door.

“Wait,” said Valkyrie. “Listen. My reflection malfunctioned. She did some terrible things. But in the end … in the end, she’d changed. She had become a good person. I’d like you to become a good person.”

“Very well.”

Valkyrie stepped back. “OK,” she said. “See you around.”

The reflection gave a convincing smile, and closed the door. Valkyrie got to the top of the road and a car passed her. Fergus and Beryl, returning home. She waved, and kept going.

She hadn’t walked through Haggard in months. It felt nice. It felt normal. It was cold, and it looked like rain, but her childhood had been spent here, on these streets, on that beach, running and playing and chatting and laughing. It had been a normal life. It hadn’t been boring, as she had once thought. It hadn’t been drab. It had just been normal. Haggard was her own personal sanctuary, the place she could go now and be the person she used to be. Here, nobody knew her secret. Here, she could be Stephanie Edgley again.

She got back to her house and walked into the kitchen. Her parents were sitting at the table, staring at the laptop.

She grinned. “You get it working?”

At the sound of her voice, they both looked up, startled. Afraid. Her eyes flickered to the screen. The video playing was of a war zone. Screams and shouts and a shaking camera. And there, in full view and perfect focus, was Stephanie Edgley, firing black lightning from the Sceptre of the Ancients.

arquesse stood over Tanith. “So, young lady,” she said. “Do you have anything you want to say to me?”

Tanith looked straight up at her. Not confrontational, exactly. Just … confident. Assured. From where she was sitting, with her hands shackled to the radiator, that was quite a feat. “What did you have in mind?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” said Darquesse. “Perhaps an apology? You let Valkyrie escape and you cut off Mercy’s head. The second one was funny. The first was not.”

“What do you care?” Tanith asked. “You’re getting your power back, aren’t you? Let Valkyrie be free. Let her enjoy her last few days.”

Darquesse hunkered down. “What is this? Why did you betray me?”

Tanith took a moment, like she was trying to figure it out in her own head. Then she said, “Valkyrie’s my friend.”

“But you’re a Remnant. You have no friends.”

“Then I also have no loyalty, so my betrayal shouldn’t come as a shock to you.”

Darquesse sighed, and stood up. “I’m not shocked. Not really. I’m disappointed, though. I thought, out of everyone, you’d be by my side till the very end.”

“I had every intention of doing that. But then I realised I had a choice. I could either be a bad guy, or a good guy. So I’m a good guy.”

“And look where this choice has landed you. You don’t even know the trouble you’re in, do you? You think I’m going to chain you up, but eventually I’ll let you out because, hey, I’m a fun girl. But that’s not going to happen. Because of what you’ve done. Before today, I’d have found another way to do this.”

“Do what?”

“You’re right, of course,” Darquesse said. “My power’s coming back. I can feel it growing. It’s a nice feeling. But you know what I can’t feel? Ravel. He’s not there any more. Tanith, he deserves the pain I’ve been giving him, you know he does. But right now, Ghastly’s murderer is out there somewhere feeling fine. Feeling good. Feeling smug. He thinks he’s beaten me. He thinks he’s got away with it. But he hasn’t. I’m going to find him and I’m going to do far, far worse things to him than he could ever imagine.”

“Maybe he’s dead,” said Tanith. “Maybe he couldn’t take any more and his body gave up.”

“No,” said Darquesse. “I’d have felt that. He isn’t dead. He just isn’t here any more. He’s gone. They’ve taken him to the only place beyond my reach. They’ve shunted him.”

“And what does this have to do with me?”

“I need to find Argeddion,” she said. “I need to find him and absorb his knowledge. Then I’ll be able to shunt after them and bring Ravel back. Now, there are two ways to track down Argeddion. The first is to read the
Hessian Grimoire
. Unfortunately, that is locked away in the Sanctuary, so that’s not really an option any more.”

“And the second way?”

“I’m going to need the kind of knowledge that only Kenspeckle Grouse had.”

“So you want to ask my Remnant side some questions,” said Tanith. “Well, I’m all for Ravel’s eternal agony, so go right ahead. A lot of Kenspeckle’s memories are closed off to me, but I’ll answer what I can.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be enough, Tanith. I’m going to need Kenspeckle’s knowledge for myself.”

Tanith frowned. “I … don’t understand.”

“I’m going to have to take your Remnant.”

Immediately, Tanith’s eyes widened and her black veins rose. “You can’t. You can’t do that, it’s impossible. The Remnant is bonded to me. It’s a part of me.”

Darquesse hunkered down again, closer this time, and said gently, “And like every part of you, it can be removed from the rest.”

Tanith flinched away from Darquesse’s hand. “No. Stop. It’s not like you can just find the Remnant bits and put it back together.”

“Actually, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.” Darquesse gave her a kind smile. “You forget, a Remnant once tried to take control of me, but I consumed it. I know the taste.”

“Darquesse, wait, please don’t do this. I’ll be split into two again. I won’t be me any more. I’ll be Tanith and I’ll be the Remnant. You’ll kill me.”

Darquesse’s fingers closed round Tanith’s chin, holding her head in place. “Look at me. Look how sad my face is. Don’t think for a moment that this won’t upset me. But I need to do it. I need the information that is resting somewhere below your thoughts.”

“Help me find it, then,” Tanith said desperately. “Help me unlock the memories and I’ll tell you what you need to—”

“Tanith,” Darquesse said softly, “I’ve made my decision.”

Pulling a plaster off is best done quickly, so that’s what Darquesse did. She wrenched open Tanith’s mouth and jammed her hand in, breaking teeth. Tanith’s eyes bulged, her lips burst and her skin tore as Darquesse shoved her hand down the throat, ignoring the sounds of breaking bones and the gurgle-spit of screams. Deep inside, her fingers puncturing organs and rupturing meat, Darquesse called the Remnant to her. She poured her magic through her arm, into her hand, and this magic dragged the Remnant from Tanith’s being, corralling it, forcing it to take form. Piece latched on to piece and bit by bit the Remnant was put back together. Darquesse kept her eyes closed the whole time, seeing it in her mind, focusing on what she needed to happen. She was only dimly aware that Tanith had stopped struggling. She was only dimly aware of the massive damage she was doing, or the mere seconds Tanith had left to live.