“Taking them by surprise seems to work,” Skulduggery said.
Kitana looked around and whispered, “The magic people.”
“If they can’t see us coming, their instincts can’t kick in to save them,” Skulduggery said. He left Sean on the floor and took out his gun, held it straight out, aimed right at Doran’s head.
Valkyrie blinked.
“You think they’re still here?” whispered Doran. “You think they can see us?”
Kitana didn’t answer. Doran waved his hand through the air, trying to feel for enemies. Skulduggery’s gloved finger rested on the trigger as Doran turned his way.
“You can’t just...” Valkyrie said, and faltered.
“You said I’d have to be my usual ruthless self,” Skulduggery replied. “If I take them both out now, they won’t get to harm another living soul. It’s better for everyone if they die right here.”
“You’re just going to shoot them?”
“This is life or death, Valkyrie.” He thumbed the hammer back. “Giving someone a fighting chance is giving them a chance to beat you. What have I taught you about combat?”
She looked at Doran and Kitana as they slowly backed away. “Never fight on someone else’s terms,” she said quietly. She closed her eyes. “Do it.”
She waited for the gunshot, hearing only Doran’s whisperings. She looked up. Skulduggery was putting his gun away.
“Dammit,” he said, then picked Sean up off the floor and threw him straight at Doran. To Doran, Sean suddenly appeared out of thin air and collided with him. They cracked their heads together and went down, and Kitana jumped back, cursing.
“Evacuate them,” Skulduggery said, and used the air to leap at Kitana. He grabbed her, arm round her neck, but a wave of energy rippled out from her centre, flinging him away.
Resisting the urge to jump into the fight, Valkyrie instead ran into the classroom. She slammed the door, deactivated the sphere, scaring the hell out of everyone inside.
“The windows,” she said. “Out the windows. Hurry!”
Windows were opened and there was a frantic dash. They were shoving and pushing and stamping to get out. The teacher was doing his best to orchestrate things but he was making it worse.
Valkyrie clicked her fingers, summoning a ball of flame into her hand. Everyone froze. She nodded at a group. “You. Out first. Go. No one else move.”
The group did as they were told. When they were off and running, she nodded to the next group. “You lot. Go.”
Group by group, they left, followed by the teacher. Valkyrie turned back to the door. It had gone suspiciously quiet out there.
She turned the handle and peeked out. Sean was still unconscious, still in shackles. She stepped over him, ran to the double doors at the end of the corridor. Smoke rose from a huge scorch mark in the wood. She passed through. Heard a crash. She ran, came to the gym. One of the doors was off its hinges. There was a flash of light from inside and she heard Skulduggery cry out. She twisted the sphere and ran in.
Skulduggery was on the floor of the gymnasium. His façade had retracted, and Kitana scowled at Doran as they closed in slowly. “Would you please learn to aim?”
“Don’t blame me,” Doran said defensively. “I got a massive headache because of this guy.”
Kitana looked back at Skulduggery. “So what are you? Are you actually a skeleton, or is this just a trick or something, like a disguise?”
“No disguise,” Skulduggery groaned.
“Why do you wear a suit?” Doran asked.
“Would you rather me naked?”
“No,” Doran shot back. “That’d be gross.”
Kitana sighed. “Why would it be gross? He’s a skeleton.”
“Well, yeah, but he’s a guy, like. If it was a naked skeleton woman, then that’d be OK.”
“So a naked skeleton woman would be hot, would she?”
“Yeah,” Doran said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Because she’d be naked.”
Kitana turned back to Skulduggery. “I want to apologise for my friend. He’s not very bright, and he’s a bit of a homophobe.”
“It’s not homophobia,” Skulduggery said, slowly getting to his feet. “It’s just typical teenage boy bluster. He’ll grow out of it, assuming he lives that long.”
“Is that a threat?” Kitana asked. “Are you threatening us?”
“Not at all. But now that we have a private moment to talk, why not discuss some rather pertinent matters? Such as what you’re hoping to accomplish with all this.”
“All what?” Kitana asked. “Oh, you mean the murder and mayhem? Don’t you like it? Aren’t you a fan?”
“Not especially.”
“Well then, Mr Skeleton, you are no fun. We were chosen by Argeddion because we would use these powers in the way they were intended, to punish the people who have messed us about in our lives.”
“Your ex-boyfriend, did he mess you about?”
“He humiliated me.”
“He broke up with you. There’s a difference. Doran, you killed your brother. Do you really think he deserved to die like that?”
“Yeah,” said Doran. “I do.”
“What about Patrick Xebec, and the others? What about all the people you’ve hurt? And when all the punishing is done with? Then what are you going to do?”
“Whatever we want,” Kitana said. “For the rest of our lives, we will do whatever we want.”
“You know I can’t allow that.”
“You can’t stop us. Those magic men tried to stop us earlier and we killed them so easily I was laughing.”
“I see.”
Kitana smirked. “Do you?”
“I do,” said Skulduggery. “You’re psychopaths. The magic may have pushed you over the edge or maybe you were like this anyway, I don’t know. But the point is you’re psychopaths now.”
“I suppose we are.”
“I should have shot you when I had the chance.”
“And we’re the psychopaths?” Kitana laughed.
“You didn’t get these powers so you could punish those who’ve wronged you. You weren’t chosen for any special reason.”
“You’re just jealous.”
Valkyrie moved around them, heading towards Skulduggery as he straightened his tie.
“Argeddion is using you in an experiment,” he said.
Doran frowned. “You know Argeddion?”
“You see? You don’t even know who the players are. Who did you think Argeddion was – some mystical being granting great power to mere mortals? Before he was Argeddion, he was just an ordinary sorcerer. He worked for peace and enlightenment. You’re his test subjects and you’re trampling over everything he believes in.”
Kitana put her hands on her hips. “Oh, really? Well, if we’re such a mistake, then where is he? How come he isn’t here to tell us where we’re going wrong?”
“He’s refusing to believe that you’re as bad as you are. But this? Coming to your own