'It can't be done.'
'Or we reappeared in a wall or something? '
He hesitated. 'Okay, now that was a danger.... But as long as I've been somewhere before, and I can picture it in my head, that's all I need. I thought you'd like it, to be honest.'
Her phone rang. It was Skulduggery. Valkyrie assured him she was okay and waiting for him at Ghastly's. She hung up.
'He said he's going to kill you,' she told Fletcher, who shrugged.
'He's always saying that.'
'But this time he means it.'
'What does it matter? If he hands me over to those lunatics, I'm dead anyway, right? '
Valkyrie didn't say anything. Fletcher looked at the city around them.
'It's quite pretty up here,' he continued. 'All the streetlights. The rain makes everything kind of glitter, doesn't it? It's like this in London, too. You can sometimes forget how dirty everything is.' His eyes found her. 'What'll happen to that Guild guy? Do you think they'll kill him?'
Valkyrie hesitated. 'I don't know.'
'Do you care?'
'What? Of course.'
'You don't like him.'
'I still don't want him killed.'
Fletcher didn't say anything for a bit. 'Does Tanith have a boyfriend? '
Valkyrie looked at him in disbelief, amazed by the radical change of topic. 'You don't have a chance.'
'You don't know that.'
'Yes, I do.'
'Give me three good reasons.'
'I only need two. The first one is that she is way too old for you, and the second one is that you are really annoying.'
'Hey, just because you're too young to appreciate my charms doesn't mean I don't have them. I'm a catch.'
'Is that what your mummy says?' Valkyrie grinned.
'Not really. My mum's dead.' The grin faded. 'Oh.'
'What about your family? What do they think about all these magical adventure crime-solving things you do?'
'They don't know about any of it. At home I have this mirror, and all I have to do is touch it and my reflection steps out and does all the boring stuff like go to school and do homework and be nice to people.'
'Your reflection comes to life?' Fletcher said, eyes wide. 'Yep.'
'You're serious? That is so cool! So everyone thinks you're just this normal girl?'
'They think I'm a tad weird, but yes, basically.'
'That is amazing. So there are two of you?'
'Kind of, yes.'
He went quiet, and after a few moments she began to wonder what he was thinking about. 'Cool,' he said at last. 'So could I get one of these mirrors? Maybe we could trade my reflection for this Guild guy. Unless the reflection would have the same abilities as me, which'd kind of defeat the purpose.'
'No, they can't do magic, but it wouldn't work. Sorcerers can generally spot a reflection a mile off.'
Fletcher shrugged. 'Worth a shot. I tell you, it'll sure be nice when all this is over and I can get back to my life.'
'What was your life? What did you do all day? '
'Whatever I wanted. I have this power and I didn't train for it, I wasn't told about it, it just happened. I'm a natural. And it means I can go anywhere and do anything. And that's what I do all day--whatever I want.'
'You should get someone to train you.'
'Who? Every other Teleporter is dead.'
'As Skulduggery keeps telling me, magic is magic. The basic underlying principles are the same no matter what your power is.'
Fletcher made a face. 'Sounds a lot like school.'
'It's generally more fun.' She smiled. 'You may be a natural at this, but you're never going to be as good as you can be if you don't train.'
He vanished, then said from behind her, 'I'm good enough already.'
She sighed and turned, but he was already gone. 'Okay,' she said, 'this is mature.'
He tapped her on the shoulder, and she laughed and swiped for him, but he appeared in front of her, flashing that cocky grin.
They waited on the roof for another ten minutes, and Valkyrie did her best not to smile at his annoying remarks. Despite her good intentions, however, she found herself being amused by him. When the headlights of the Purple Menace and Ghastly's van approached, Fletcher extended his arm, and she took it. Once again it was like she blinked, and was swept away, and then they were on the sidewalk. Valkyrie held on to him while the dizziness passed.
They parted as Skulduggery strode up. He towered over Fletcher, who was looking quite nervous. Ghastly and Tanith hurried to join them.
'Never,' Skulduggery said, 'do that again.'
Fletcher nodded.
'Someone's in the shop,' Ghastly said quietly.They followed his gaze to the door, which stood open slightly. Inside was darkness.
Skulduggery took out his gun and glanced at Fletcher. 'Forget what I just said and teleport somewhere. Valkyrie, go with him.'
She took Fletcher's arm and motioned upward. He nodded and they reappeared on the roof. The dizziness was fleeting this time, and she moved quietly, leading the way to the skylight. They crouched and peered through the glass.
The light from the streetlamps pierced the gloom as the door opened fully. Valkyrie couldn't see them, but she imagined Skulduggery and the others swarming in, checking the corners, moving with silent purpose. A few seconds later, she heard voices--not raised in alarm, but in conversation.
Someone turned the light on.
Skulduggery was putting his gun away, and Tanith was sheathing her sword. Ghastly walked back from the light switch to join them as they stood facing Solomon Wreath and two other Necromancers.
'It's safe,' Valkyrie told Fletcher. 'Let's go.'
They stood and he held her hand. She blinked; then they were in the shop, people's heads turning at their sudden arrival. Wreath nodded her a greeting before resuming talking.
'What you see before you is the full extent of the Necromancer contingent. The opinion held by the majority is that we should leave you to fight your battles alone.'
'But you don't agree with that?' Skulduggery asked.
'I think it is a foolish approach to take, and my colleagues agree with me.'
His colleagues wore black. The woman had a cloak thrown back over her shoulders, the ends of which seemed to writhe in the shadows. The man had an old flintlock pistol in a holster on his leg. Neither of them looked remotely friendly.
'Three Necromancers isn't much of a contingent,' Ghastly said, clearly unimpressed.
'Four, actually,' Wreath said, and tapped his cane on the ground.
A figure walked in from the back room. Immediately, Skulduggery's gun was out, and Tanith's sword was flashing, and Ghastly had fire in his hands.
The White Cleaver took his place beside Wreath.
Skulduggery thumbed back the hammer of his gun. 'Explain yourself, Wreath. This man has been on the Sanctuary's wanted list for two years.'
Wreath smiled innocently. 'I assure you, Skulduggery, my colleague was not responsible for his
