would have ... I would have made you scream. ...'
'Fine,' China said, crossing to the phone. 'I suppose I'll have to call in the professionals.'
'China . . .,' Vengeous gasped.
She turned. 'Yes, dear Baron?'
'You didn't. . . you didn't really think it would be that easy, did you?'
Dusk walked through the door. A man followed. The stranger had blond hair and wore a brown suit, a white shirt, and dark sunglasses. His cowboy boots were old and scuffed, and he was grinning.
The carpet at his feet frayed and split, and he sank downward, disappearing into the floor.
China dived for the phone, but Dusk darted in and shoved her back.
Valkyrie stared as the stranger's hand burst up through the floor at Vengeous' feet, grabbed him, and pulled him down. The floor sealed up behind him, and the symbols pulsed one last time, then returned to normal.
A moment later Vengeous and the stranger stepped through the wall beside China.
'Your hospitality used to be so much better,' Vengeous said. His eyes flashed and China stumbled. Dusk picked her up.
'Don't let her touch anything,' Vengeous told him. 'She has symbols everywhere. Some are invisible. Some are even etched onto her body. Don't let her touch anything.'
Dusk grabbed both her wrists and wrenched her arms behind her.
Vengeous took out a handkerchief, used it to wipe away the blood on his face. 'I expected more from you, China. When you left us, I thought you'd be back. No one could do the things you'd done and then walk away. I didn't think it was possible.'
She looked up at him, grimacing against the pain that was locking her arms straight behind her. 'I found other interests. You can too. Stamp collecting, maybe.'
Dusk twisted her arms and she gasped. The man in the sunglasses laughed.
Vengeous put the handkerchief away. 'I can still be merciful, even if my gods are not. The girl, China. Valkyrie Cain. Tell me where she is, and I will let you live.'
'Skulduggery doesn't care about her,' China said through gritted teeth. 'She's a hobby, nothing more. You won't be able to get at him through her.'
'My mercy is on a timetable. Tell me where I can find her or I shall torture you until you beg to tell me.'
'Okay,' China said, 'okay, I'll tell you.' She nodded to the bedroom. 'She's in there.'
Valkyrie went cold, but Vengeous just shook his head sadly.
'China, I don't like this side of you, these jokes.'
'I've been spending too much time around Skulduggery. You remember his jokes, don't you, Baron? What else do you remember? You remember him arresting you?'
'I remember almost killing him.'
'Almost wasn't enough,' China said, and actually managed a laugh. 'He's coming for you, you know. I hope I'm there when he gets you.'
Dusk twisted, and China cried out in pain.
'Tell me where the girl is,' Vengeous said, 'or I will have your arms broken.'
'Here I am,' Valkyrie said, kicking the door open as the fire flared in her hands.
Chapter Eight
BILLY-RAY SANGUINE
HER AIM WAS OFF on the first fireball she threw, and it missed Dusk. The second fireball, however, was on target, and it would have hit Baron Vengeous if he hadn't moved out of the way at the last moment. He was fast. Maybe even faster than Skulduggery.
'Cain,' he snarled.
'Run!' China shouted, and Valkyrie obeyed.
She was out in the corridor before she glanced back, just in time to see China wave her hand. The door slammed shut, sealing the men in the apartment.
She got to the stairs, heading down, when something grabbed her ankle and she nearly fell.
She kept going, looking back in time to see a hand disappear back into the steps.
She reached the second floor, banged off the wall, and kept going down. The wall below her cracked and crumbled, and the man in the sunglasses lunged out. Valkyrie gripped the banister and jumped, using her momentum to lend force to the kick. Her boot slammed into his chest, and he hit the wall hard and bounced off.
At the first floor she almost tripped over herself, the man right behind her. She jumped the last few steps and ran out onto the street.
Cars were passing and people were walking. Too many innocent people who could be caught up in a battle they weren't ready for. She sprinted into the alley beside the tenement building. It was narrow and cut off from the sun. The other side led out onto a quieter road.
The man in the sunglasses was behind her, closing the gap between them to an arm's length. She barely kept out of reach.
Valkyrie dropped, and the man's legs crashed into her and he went flying over, losing his sunglasses in the process. He hit the ground and sprawled, and when he snapped his head to her, she saw that he had two small black holes where his eyes should have been.
She spun, ran back the way she had come, and glanced over her shoulder in time to see the man sink into the ground, straight down, like he was in an invisible elevator. When she had five paces left till she got to the street, the ground in front of her exploded and he surged upward.
She fell back, trying to wipe her eyes clear of gravel and dirt.
'I don't see what all the fuss is about,' the man said. He was American, and spoke with a strong Deep South drawl. 'You're just a little girl.'
She clicked her fingers, but he smacked her hand down before she could conjure a flame, then grabbed her. She felt something cold and sharp on her throat.
'Don't try that again,' the man said.
He held a straight razor with a wooden handle, and as her vision cleared, she saw that the initials B.-R.S. were engraved on it. She raised her eyes. Up ahead, parked at the side of the quiet street, was a black motorbike. Tanith's black motorbike.
An old woman with a lined face and bad teeth stepped into the alley. She stared at them, then turned and hurried away.
The man shook his head. 'See, that's the problem with ordinary, regular folk. They see somethin' freaky, somethin' scary, they run the other way. Y'know what that means, don't you?
It means no one's comin' to help you. It means you're all alone.'
And then someone coughed right behind them. The man looked around, and Tanith Low kicked him in the face.
He stumbled, and Valkyrie tore herself free, spinning around to keep him in sight as she backed off to the wall. He would have been handsome were it not for those awful black holes.
The man smiled. 'And who might you be?'
'You first,' Tanith said.
The man chuckled. 'Very well. Billy-Ray Sanguine, master of all manner of unpleasant deaths and purveyor of cruel and unusual punishments, at your service.'
'You're a hit man?'
'Not merely a hit man, darlin'. I am a hit man deluxe. I also do muscle-for-hire, and a nice little sideline in mercenary activities. I'm very, very expensive, and I'm very, very good. And you are?'
