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Kingdom of the Wicked
“What happened to Nadir?” Skulduggery asked after him.
“Good day, Detectives.”
“Where is he, Mr Mien?”
“Good day.”
“How about the Summer of Light?”
Mien froze. Turned. “How do you know about that?”
“You know what it is?”
“No. No, I don’t have the first idea what it is. But the inmates … Our more psychologically disturbed inmates have taken to screaming about a man named Argeddion. They say he comes to them in their nightmares. Some of them have written his name, in their own blood, on the walls of their cells, along with that phrase. The Summer of Light.”
“What do they say about Argeddion?”
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just his name and that he appears in their dreams.”
Skulduggery considered the gaoler. “We’d like to speak to one of these inmates, if you wouldn’t mind. Preferably one of the more lucid ones. Do you have the list there?”
Skulduggery walked up to him, Valkyrie following behind.
“What does any of this have to do with Nadir?” asked Mien.
Skulduggery didn’t get a chance to answer. An alarm rang out, so sudden and so loud it made Valkyrie jump. She looked around, looked back, and a wall of glass slammed down in front of her, sealing her off from Skulduggery and Mien. At that moment, sigils faded up along the walls, and she felt her power dampen. On the other side of the glass, Skulduggery looked at her, then spoke to Mien, who was clearly agitated. Valkyrie couldn’t hear a word of what they were saying. Mien hurried away, and she raised an eyebrow at Skulduggery.
His jaw moved up and down. She pointed at her mouth.
His hand went to his collarbones, and a false face spread over his skull. This time, she could read his lips.
Don’t panic, he said.
I’m not, she mouthed back.
He knocked on the glass. We can’t break through this. We’ll get you out in a second.
Cool.
Mien appeared behind Skulduggery. He looked even more agitated than before. Skulduggery exchanged words with him. A lot of words. Still the alarm rang out. Finally, Skulduggery turned back to her. Good news, he said. You can start panicking now.
She glared. He took out his phone and rang her.
“It seems that a riot has broken out,” he said when she answered. “That prisoner who was released back into the general population evidently started some trouble. Now, before you begin to worry, the section of the gaol that I’m standing in is completely secure. No problems here. I’m not in any danger whatsoever.”
“And the section I’m standing in?”
“Well,” he said, “the important thing to remember is that I’m perfectly safe.”
Valkyrie sighed. “I’m stuck in here with the bad guys, aren’t I?”
“Or you could be glass-half-full about it and say that they are stuck in there with you. Which might make you feel better.”
“It really doesn’t.”
“Mien’s working on a way to isolate this corridor from the rest of the gaol in order to get the door open, but it might take – oh, do you mind holding on for a moment? I have another call coming in.”
She stared. “What?”
The line went silent, and she watched Skulduggery talk into his phone. She knocked on the glass. He held up a finger as he spoke.
She stood there and fumed.
Finally, he nodded to her, and she raised her phone to her ear.
“You look angry,” he said.
“You put me on hold.”
“For a very good reason.”
“You put me,” she said very, very slowly, “on hold.”
“And judging by the look on your face, and what a pretty face it is, I’m going to be very sorry about that later on. Back to now, though, that was Ghastly. A few moments ago I called him, asked him to get a Sensitive to run a remote scan of the facility, just out of curiosity. I wanted to know where the power was coming from to keep this place oscillating between dimensions. It’s coming from deep down in the lower levels.”
“Yay,” Valkyrie growled, still glaring.
“Before his apparent demise, Silas Nadir was a Dimensional Shunter. He could move himself, or other people or objects – such as the bodies of his victims – into different realities. They call it shunting.”
“I gathered that. You think he’s still alive and he’s being kept in the basement, where he’s constantly shunting this whole building around.”
“Yes, I do.”
“And you can’t get to the basement, can you? But I can. And that’s where you want me to go. You want me, a seventeen-year-old girl without any magic or protection, to wander through a prison while the convicted murderers and God-knows-whats are running around having a riot. Is that what you want me to do, Skulduggery?”
“It is.”
“And is this a safe thing for me to do, Skulduggery?”
“It isn’t. But there are two very good reasons why you should do it anyway. Reason number one, it’s our chance to look around without Mien’s interference. Reason number two, the corridor you’re standing in will soon be filled with convicts.”
“How do you know?”
“You heard Mien. The front door is the only exit. This is the only corridor to the front door. There are bound to be some convicts who are going to try and take advantage of the distraction the riot provides.”
“So I should go now, before they get here.”
“Indeed you should. Keep your phone to your ear, I’ll guide you.”
“How do you know the way?”
“I glanced at the schematic on the way in.”
“You memorised it?”
“Glancing, memorising, it’s the same thing. You should really, really go now.”
She took a deep breath. “Get this door open and come after me.”
“Count on it.”
Valkyrie looked at him, then turned, ran down the corridor and round the corner.
“At the junction,” Skulduggery said, “turn right. Can you see anyone?”
“No,” she said, moving fast, “not yet.”
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to keep you out of sight. You won’t be in the prison area as such – but then neither will the prisoners, so …”
“I have to admit,” she said, “I’m worrying.”
“Perfectly understandable. I’m heading to the security room. I’ll be able to see you on the monitors soon enough. You should be seeing three doors ahead of you.”
“Yeah, I’ve just reached them.”
“Take the second one to your left.”
She tried it. “It’s locked.”
“Kick it open.”
“It’s a sturdy door, Skulduggery.”
“But it’s not reinforced. It’s not designed to keep any prisoners in or out, it’s designed to keep unauthorised personnel from going places they don’t have clearance for. It’s just a simple door with a simple lock. And you’ve got very strong legs.”
She looked at the door. “See, this is where a gun would come in really handy.” She kicked. “Ow! Oh, God!”
“Are you OK?”
“Kicking doors hurts! Even with Ghastly’s boots!”
“Put your weight behind it. Pretend the door is someone who has really annoyed you recently.”
“Can I pretend it’s you?”
“I really don’t see how that would—”
She kicked it, and the door burst open. “I’m in,” she said, closing the door behind her. “And that really hurt my foot. I’m in a room with machines along the walls. Lots of blinking lights.”
“Do you see the ventilation duct along the floor?”
She froze. “Please tell me I don’t have to crawl through that.”
“I’m afraid you do.”
“No. I can’t. It’s too small.”
“The measurements are—”
“I get claustrophobic! You know I do! Especially after the caves last year, with all those things and I couldn’t move my arms and they were in my hair and—”
“Calm down.”
“I’m not getting in there, I’m just not.”
“You’ll be able to fit,” he said, his voice gentle. “You will have space to move. You won’t be trapped.”
“I can’t.”
“Valkyrie, listen to my voice. I know you don’t want to, I know you don’t think you can, but you don’t have a choice. I’m in the security room now and I can see the monitors. The prisoners are swarming the building. You can’t let them catch you.”
She dropped to her knees at the duct. “How do I even open it? It’s screwed in place.”
“You’re going to have to prise it open. Is there anything you could use?”
She looked around. “There’s a bench here with things on it, bits of machinery and stuff. And some tools. There’s a screwdriver! I could use the screwdriver to prise it open!”
“Yes,” Skulduggery said, “or you could use it to unscrew the screws.”
“Oh, yeah,” she muttered. She grabbed the screwdriver, hurried back to the duct and got to work.
“The Cleavers are doing a good job with the riot,” Skulduggery said, “but there are prisoners running everywhere. How are you doing?”
“One almost … OK, it’s out. Three left.”
“The prisoners have reached the security door.”
The screwdriver kept slipping out of the groove. “The glass door?”
“Yes.”
“So they’re really close.”
“Yes.”
Her mouth was dry. “The moment they realise they can’t break through that door they’re going to turn around, find their way through here.”
Skulduggery hesitated. “They’ve turned around, Valkyrie.”
Two screws left.
“They’re heading towards you.”
The screwdriver slipped again.
“Valkyrie …”
“I’m going as fast as I can.” Her heart hammered. The third screw fell. “One left.”
“Valkyrie,” Skulduggery said, “you’re going to have to be really, really quiet.”
She heard voices, and running footsteps. She turned, screwdriver clutched like a knife, waiting for the door to burst open.
The voices passed the door, started to grow distant.
“They’re carrying on to the end of the corridor,” Skulduggery said. “There’s no way out there. They’ll have to double back. You don’t have long.”
She spun, screwdriver working, twisting and twisting until—
“Done,” she said, the last screw joining the others on the ground. She dug the screwdriver in at one corner and prised the covering loose, then got her fingers in there. She bit her lip and pulled, ignoring the pain as the metal dug into her skin. It came free all of a sudden and she lifted it away. She looked at the square hole. It was dark, and looked too small to fit in.
“Are you sure I won’t get stuck?” she asked.
“You don’t have a choice,” Skulduggery said. “They’re on the way back to you. You’re going to be crawling to your left. Move!”
Valkyrie took a deep breath, and plunged in.
It was small and tight and dark. She couldn’t even raise herself up on to her hands and knees. She shuffled forward on her elbows.
“See?” Skulduggery said. “I told you you’d be fine.”
She kept shuffling until she froze. She closed her eyes, turned her head so she could whisper into the phone. “Get me out of here. It’s too small. How am I going to get out? I can’t turn around.”
“It won’t do you any good to panic.”
“I’m going to get stuck in here, I know I am.”
“Shh. They’re in the room behind you.”
She quietened. She could hear them, their raised voices, arguing among themselves. One of the voices got suddenly louder, and she twisted to look back. A head appeared in the shaft, examining the space. He couldn’t see her, lying there in the dark.
“Valkyrie,” Skulduggery said, very softly. “There aren’t any cameras in the room. I can’t see what they’re doing.”
She didn’t answer. The head ducked back out and the voices started up again. Valkyrie crawled on, as fast and as quietly as she could. There was a series of loud noises behind her.
“They’re in here with me,” she whispered. “They’re following me.”
“Just keep going,” she heard Skulduggery say. “You’re going to pass four more covers like the one you just opened. The fifth one will overlook a stairwell that should be empty. That’s where you’re getting out.”
The first ventilation cover was up ahead. Already her muscles were burning. Her hair fell over her face but she didn’t have room, or time, to tie it back. She crawled on, phone in one hand, screwdriver in the other.
The closer she got to the vent, the louder the alarm sounded.
She didn’t want to glance back, didn’t want to see anyone moving back there. She kept her eyes front, kept her elbows working. She reached the vent and glanced through into a dark room. She moved on. She could hear voices behind but she did her best to block them out.
There was another vent ahead. Light streamed in through the slats. There was some movement outside. People running. She reached the vent and shuffled onwards, but a voice behind her drifted up.
“You see that?” the voice said. “There’s someone up there.”
She froze.
“No there’s not,” said another voice. “Just keep going, will you?”
“Just look. See? They were moving just a second ago. Hutchinson, get up here. See that?”
“Yeah,” said the third voice, the one they called Hutchinson. “Hey there! Hold on a sec!”
Valkyrie took a deep, deep breath and started crawling again, as fast as she could, without caring about the noise she was making. The men behind her shouted but she couldn’t hear the words. She didn’t want to hear the words. They were far behind her and there was no way they were going to catch up.
Her muscles burned and she stopped for a moment, heard frantic movement close behind her and glanced back, saw a grinning face moving through the slotted light.
“Hey!”
It was the one called Hutchinson. He was small and thin and squirming through the ventilation shaft like a rat. She started crawling again but it was no use. She felt his grip on her boots and tried to stamp her foot back into his face. His soft chuckle echoed as his hands wrapped round the back of her knees. He hauled himself forward, moving over her kicking legs centimetre by centimetre. He got another handhold, the waistband of her trousers this time. She squirmed, reached behind her and tried to keep him away, but he pushed her hand down and now he was squeezing in on top of her. He wasn’t heavy but he was filling every space now, and she couldn’t even move her arms.
“It’s OK,” he whispered as he crawled up her back. “I’m not going to hurt you.” She could hear the smile in his voice. He tried to slip his right arm round her throat but she tucked her chin down. His fingers worked beneath her jaw. “It’s OK,” he whispered. “Shhh …”
He pulled her hair with his free hand, but didn’t have the space to make it unbearable. He abandoned that tactic, tried to make her loosen up by jabbing at her, but she kept her chin down. Even so his right hand was getting in there. He was going to get in eventually. She readied the screwdriver.
His hand slipped through and suddenly his arm was round her throat. She jabbed blindly over her shoulder with the screwdriver and he squealed, started thrashing as she heaved herself ahead of him. He didn’t try to stop her. He fell against her legs and she grunted, kicking back to shove him off. She’d lost the screwdriver but it had been worth it, and now he was an obstacle to the men crawling behind him.
But his screams had attracted attention. There were shouts from up ahead, and someone started kicking the vent. If they got it open, she’d be trapped.
She stuffed her phone into her jacket pocket, and crawled faster.
The men behind were shouting now, trying to make themselves heard over Hutchinson’s screams. And then there was a horrible cracking sound, and the screams stopped. Valkyrie didn’t have to look back to know what they’d done.
“Kick it in!” one of them shouted. “She’s trying to get by!”
The kicking resumed. Intensified. The covering started to buckle.
Valkyrie reached it, didn’t even glance through the slats.
“There she is!” a man shouted. “Get it open!”
Multiple boots, kicking. She got by but the ventilation cover burst open behind her and a man reached in, grabbed her ankle.
“Got her!”
She kicked, kept kicking, kept slamming her heel on to his hand, even as she was hauled backwards. She looked over her shoulder, saw more hands reaching in, grabbing her, and now her feet were out of the duct, and she was dragged out after them.
She slid across the floor, men in prison uniforms staring down at her. She got her legs free and scrambled up, burst through them into the corner of the room then turned, hands clenched, teeth bared. Exhausted, sweating, terrified.
The men formed a semicircle, cutting her off from the open door. Four of them, and now two more crawling out of the duct. All the shouting had ended. All the cursing. Now they looked at her, and she looked at them, and none of them said anything.
One of them, the biggest, started to grin. It started small, then spread across his face. “I haven’t killed anyone so pretty in years.” He stepped forward.
Another man, a skinhead with facial tattoos, put a hand on his arm. “No,” he said. “We use her as a hostage. She’s our ticket out of here.”
The big man tried to shake the hand off. The skinhead held on. A scuffle broke out, and then a fight, and suddenly all six men were slamming into each other. One of them, a man with yellow teeth, reached for her, grabbed her wrist, and yanked her through the gap he had made.
“Run!” he shouted, and cried out as the big man snapped his neck.
Valkyrie ran, kept running, found herself skirting the top tier of the Observation Deck. Two convicts were sitting against the wall up ahead, just talking, looking like they’d opted out of all the violence going on down below. She ran past them and they stared at her, but didn’t try to follow. There was a shout and she glanced back. The big man was coming.
She saw an AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY sign and followed it, sprinting through a narrow corridor that ended with a door. A convict was on his knees by the door, trying to pick the lock. He gave a little cheer and stood up, opened it and turned with a smile on his face that she wiped off with a flying elbow. She didn’t even see him crumple to the ground, and now she was in a stairwell, jumping down the steps.
The big man was hurtling down after her.
There were no cameras in the stairwell, but surely Skulduggery had seen where she was heading. She jumped and slammed against the wall, pushed herself off, almost falling down to the next level. Speed was one thing, but if she twisted her ankle trying to get away, she’d never leave this stairwell alive.
She heard the big man stumble and fall, his curses ringing out, giving her a boost of hope. She was going to make it. Five more floors to go before she reached the basement. He was, what, maybe three levels above? She was going to make it. She was going to get to the basement level and burst through the door and Skulduggery was going to be there, gun in hand.
He’d better be.
Valkyrie got to the basement, all cold walls and leaking pipes, flickering lights and gloom stretching into shadows. She lunged out through the door, into a small maze of corridors. Skulduggery wasn’t there.
The big man came through the door like a bull and she took off. He was right behind her, and gaining. Valkyrie dodged left so he overshot, then took the adjoining corridor, glancing back to see him stumbling to correct his course. There was a door ahead, marked MAINTENANCE. She ran into the tiny room, slamming the door shut behind her. She spun, planted her left foot forward, her right leg ready. His footsteps and his curses got louder and as he burst in, she was already kicking.
Her boot hit the door, the door hit his head.
Valkyrie fell back from the impact and he dropped to his knees, hands clutching his face. She sprang up, grabbed a mop, smacked the handle on to the top of his skull. He howled, started moving away. She jabbed him in the face with the handle until he knocked it from her hands, and she jumped out after him, swinging kicks into his side. He caught her leg, held it to him as he struggled to his feet. He was panting heavily from the exertion, blood running from his nose. He slammed her back against the wall, one hand still holding her leg, keeping her off balance while the other hand wrapped round her throat.
She went for his eyes, digging her thumbs in. He tried turning his head, then took her violently to the ground. Kneeling between her legs, both hands now at her throat. Unable to breathe, her head suddenly pounding, Valkyrie squirmed into position then turned on to her hip, bringing one leg in to press against him. He pushed forward and she scissor-swept his legs, flipping him on to his back. Now she was on top and she rose up, started raining down palm shots and elbows. Four of them were all she needed, but she kept going, just to be sure. When he sparked out, unconscious and limp, she rolled off, breathing hard.
She forced herself to her feet. Her arms and legs were drained. She couldn’t get her breathing under control. She staggered away from him, turned a few more corners before she let herself stop and bend over, hands on her knees, panting. While she was down there, she noticed a series of pipes free of rust or wear. She started following them, all the way to a door.
Once she was breathing properly again, she wiped the sweat from her forehead, and stepped into the room. “Ah,” she said. “Found you.”
The door burst open behind her and Skulduggery ran in, gun in hand. He saw her. Froze. “Are you OK?”
She nodded.
“They didn’t hurt you?”
She shook her head.
“The Cleavers are taking back control. The riot has been subdued. The last stragglers are being rounded up. You’re sure you’re OK?”
“I’m grand. You can probably put your gun away.”
He looked at it. “I think I’ll keep it out, actually. In case I want to shoot someone. I see you’ve found the dearly departed Mr Nadir.”
“Mien’s been using him to shunt the prison through realities. Look at all these wires. The whole place is hooked up to him. It must be awful.”
Skulduggery joined her. “Don’t forget, the man is a serial killer.”
“He still shouldn’t be used like this.”
“The alternative is to keep him in a cell, being of no use to anyone.”
“Are you actually in favour of this?”
“Not at all,” Skulduggery said. “But I understand how Mien justified it to himself. Of course, I doubt either of us would be so morally righteous if Nadir had murdered anyone we knew.”
“That’s not the point,” said Valkyrie. “So what do we do now?”
“We unhook him,” Skulduggery said, examining the cables. “Hopefully, he’ll wake up and we can question him about Lament. Once we have our answer, we throw him back in his old cell.”
“Do you know how to unhook him?”
