“Midnight,” Cadaverous said, smiling again. “And Valkyrie Cain hasn’t come to save you. Are you disappointed in her? I thought she was made of sterner stuff.”
Pleasant waved a hand in his direction. “I have a retort,” he said from the floor. “And it’s a good one. Just wait there. It’ll be worth it, I promise.”
“I am dreadfully sorry,” said Cadaverous, “but your time has run out. No more waiting for you. No more procrastinating.”
The little girl ran up to stand between them. “Stop hurting him,” she said. Her little hands were on her little hips. It was almost adorable.
Pleasant moaned. “You tell him, Alice.”
“Hurting people is wrong, and you shouldn’t do it.” The little girl wagged her finger. “You are being naughty.”
Cadaverous hunkered down, and peered at her. “You don’t feel any fear, do you? Not an ounce. Not one jot.”
“I’m brave,” the little girl said. “Like my sister.”
Cadaverous smiled and shook his head. “I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, but your sister is not brave. If she were brave, she’d be here right now, fighting for you.”
Alice frowned, and looked back at Pleasant, who was on his feet and testing his jaw, probably to make sure it hadn’t fallen off. “Is he right?” she asked.
“No,” Pleasant said. “He’s just a cranky old man who doesn’t know what he’s talking about. If your sister isn’t here to fight for you, then I am. You’ll always have someone, Alice.”
Cadaverous straightened. “Oh, I apologise, are we not telling her that she’s about to die? It’s just, once she sees me kill you, the idea might occur to her anyway.”
Pleasant moved Alice behind him, and took out his gun. “I’ve got my second wind,” he said. “And I’ve been studying your moves. I know exactly how to beat you.”
“You do?”
“Yes,” said Pleasant, and threw his gun. It bounced off Cadaverous’s head.
Cadaverous laughed. So did Pleasant.
“I’m going to kill you now,” Cadaverous said.
Pleasant squared his shoulders. “I’d imagine so.”
And then Valkyrie Cain called Cadaverous’s name, from outside the house.
“Huh,” said Cadaverous, and walked to the front door. Pleasant followed, holding the little girl’s hand.
Valkyrie stood waiting in the moonlight, her clothes caked in dried mud. Most of the blood flow had stopped, which allowed Cadaverous to see the deep lacerations along her forehead. The skeleton’s car was parked beside her, and she was chewing on something – probably those foul-tasting leaves – in an effort to dull her pain. She held no weapons, and the bracelet on her arm was still secure, so she obviously hadn’t found whatever she’d been hunting for.
“You’re late,” Cadaverous said, “and, sadly, the offer I extended to you was time-sensitive. I’m afraid I can no longer allow your sister to live.”
Valkyrie shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry about that, if I were you. I’m about to give you an ass-kicking like you wouldn’t believe.”
“Is that so? I’ll admit, such a proclamation would ordinarily have me positively quaking in my boots, but unless you found a God-Killer weapon hidden somewhere in the undergrowth, I sincerely doubt it.”
Valkyrie wiped a trickle of blood away from her eye. In the moonlight, the blood looked black. “I don’t need a God-Killer to stomp your head into the ground,” she said, and started walking.
Cadaverous watched her, oh so casual, oh so cool, as she disappeared round the side of the house. He reached back, took Alice by the arm. “Come along,” he said. “You, too, Detective. You wouldn’t want to leave Alice alone with me, would you?”
He walked after Valkyrie, not even feeling Alice as she tried in vain to struggle from his grip. They got to the side of the house and kept walking. Cadaverous was enjoying this. No matter how weak her hand would turn out to be, Valkyrie was acting as if she was leading him into a trap from which he would not escape. He was looking forward to watching the confidence slip from her face. He was looking forward to catching sight of the first flickers of fear. That was one of his favourite moments.
They came round the corner, and Cadaverous stopped, and frowned.
“I wasn’t looking for a weapon,” Valkyrie said, standing on the roof of a building that shouldn’t have been there, a building that was no taller than Valkyrie herself. “I was looking for a seed.”
It took him a moment to recognise the building. It was the Midnight Hotel, and it was growing slowly before them.
But … but no. They were in the Midnight Hotel. This didn’t make any sense. They were both in the Midnight Hotel and outside it at the same time.
Holding the chimney for balance, Valkyrie raised her foot and brought it down hard on the roof, and thunder shook the sky and made the moon tremble.
He should have leaped forward. Should have pulled her down and snapped her neck. But in his confusion he could only say, “Stop.” He could only say, “What are you doing?”
She brought her boot down again and, to the north, the sky over the mountains splintered –
– and a giant foot broke through.