The ghost dragged his gaze away from Valkyrie and looked at Skulduggery. His head blurred with the movement. 'Of course,' he said, and the wall behind him shifted and grew a door. The door opened. 'Beware. The crystals kill.'
Mire stayed where he was as Valkyrie followedSkulduggery through to a tunnel with walls of rock. Embedded in those walls were thin veins of crystals, glowing with a black light.
Skulduggery looked at her. 'And you're absolutely sure you won't be harmed? '
'Absolutely.'
'How do you know?'
She reached out and touched the nearest crystal. 'See?'
He stared at her. 'That was an amazingly foolish thing to do.'
'Potentially amazingly foolish,' she corrected. 'It was a theory of Gordon's I read about in his notes.'
'He could have been wrong, you know.'
'I have faith in his theories,' she said with a shrug. 'Give me the chisel.'
He took the chisel from his jacket and handed it over. She lined it up against a crystal; then, using the butt of Skulduggery's gun, she hammered at it, barely making a scratch.
'Hold it in place,' Skulduggery told her. He flexed his fingers and swung his hand, and a concentrated blast of air hit the chisel like a pile driver. A chunk of crystal flew free, a little bigger than the one that had been housed in the Scepter. Valkyrie wrapped it in cloth. Skulduggery held out a small box, and she placed the crystal within; then he closed the box and put it in his jacket pocket. She gave him back his gun and chisel. 'Easy,' she said.
'Never do anything like that again. You could have been turned to dust, and then I'd have to explain to your parents why they were burying their beloved daughter in a matchbox.'
'Kenspeckle would never let you hear the end of it either.'
Skulduggery looked at her as he led the way back to the door. 'I've been meaning to ask you, with everything Kenspeckle has been saying: Do you think I should treat you differently?'
'No,' she said at once.
'Don't be so quick to answer.'
'Nooo ...' she said slowly.
'You are amusing to me, but the question remains. Maybe I should leave you in the car on occasion.'
'But I never stay in the car,' she reminded him.
'That's because I've never insisted before.»'It wouldn't make any difference.'
'I can be very commanding when I want to be.'
'Yeah, but not really though.'
He sighed, and they emerged into the living room. Mire's body was still on the ground near the overturned chair, and his ghost was standing, looking at them.
'You're not dead,' he said. 'That is a surprise.'
'Thank you for your cooperation,' Skulduggery said. 'Is there anything we can do for you in exchange?'
'Waking me was enough.'
'What will you do now?' Valkyrie asked.
Mire smiled. 'I will be happy, I think. Yes, I think I will.'
'I hope we meet again, Anathem,' said Skulduggery. 'You are an ... interesting being.'
Mire bowed, and as he did so, he caught Valkyrie's eye. She gave him a polite nod in return and followed Skulduggery to the front door.
'China owns the Scepter,' he said as he stepped out of the house, 'so she'll be the only one able to use it. Assuming it works when we replace the crystal.'
'And if it doesn't?»'If it doesn't, I'm sure I'll come up with something brilliant to--'
The front door slammed shut just as Valkyrie reached it, and she whirled. Mire drifted to her, a smile that had been neglected for centuries struggling to form on the memory of his face.
'You are not leaving,' he said. 'The skeleton can return to the surface, but you are mine.»
Chapter Twenty-four. The Changing House
She heard Skulduggery slam his fist against the door from the other side.
'Valkyrie?' he called. 'Open the door.'
'I'm not yours,' she said to Mire. 'I have to leave now.'
'You will never leave me,' Mire responded.
She stalked by him, into the living room, reaching the first window just as the wall melted into it. The other windows followed, enveloped by the walls, sealing off her escape.
She turned angrily. 'You can't keep me here!'
'But I can. You are living. You are breathing.This house hasn't seen a living, breathing person for centuries.'
'This house doesn't exist! You don't exist! You're a ghost!'
Valkyrie clicked her fingers, summoning fire.
'You cannot hurt me,' the ghost said.
She went over to Mire's body and held the flame close. 'If you do not let me out, I'll burn your corpse. I will.'
'You will stay here with me?' the ghost asked. 'You will keep me company? Tell me of the world above? You will be queen of this darkness?'
'I'll burn you.'
Mire smiled, and the body reached out and grabbed her wrist. Valkyrie cried out in shock, losing the flame. The body got to its feet and forced her back against the wall. She swung a punch, her fist colliding with the left side of the body's face, and the cheekbone collapsed into the head. She withdrew her hand in disgust. Bits of the face were stuck to her knuckles.
'I can feel your life,' Mire said, ignoring her actions. 'It fills me, too. Together we will rule the cold and the empty places.'
Valkyrie looked at the ghost and struggled to keep her voice even. 'I don't want to,' she said. 'I'm still alive, and I want to go back.'
The ghost shook his head, and the body did likewise. 'The light hurts you. The sun burns you. Once you are my queen, you won't have to worry about these things.'
She tore herself away and ran through the ghost as his form scattered and regrouped. The body spun on its heel and lurched after her.
Valkyrie got to the hall and took the stairs two at a time. She glanced back as the body clutched the banister and started climbing, its feet clumsy on the shallow steps. When she reached the landing, the ghost was already there, watching her.
'There is nowhere for you to run,' he said. 'I am master of this house and I will make you sale. You are my guest.'
She went to Gordon's study, but the door was locked. She kicked it, but it didn't even rattle in its frame. The ghost smiled at her.
Valkyrie clicked her fingers and hurled a fireball at Mire's body. The fireball struck its chest, and the body stumbled. It beat at the flames and lost its balance, hitting the banister and falling through. Mire's ghost hissed, and he was forced to divert his attention away from Valkyrie. The moment he did so, she slammed her shoulder against the door, and this time it burst open. She fell in, then pushed at the air and the window smashed.
'You do not want to be my enemy,' Mire warned.
Valkyrie lunged, but the window moved, sliding up the wall and across the ceiling until it was raining broken glass down on top of her. The wallpaper changed, becoming a thousand faces, all Mire's, glaring at her and echoing his words.
'My enemies suffer,' the ghost and his thousand faces said. 'My enemies bleed. They scream and beg and cry.'
