Skulduggery Pleasant: Books 1 - 12. Derek Landy

looked at her. “What do you want in exchange for him?”

      The Hag curled a lip. “I want nothing. He belongs to me. This lake is the place of his death. Its waters have already claimed him.”

      “There must be something you want, something we can give you in exchange.”

      “I want nothing you can offer. I am a Maiden of the Water. I am above temptation.”

      “You’re not a Maiden of the Water,” Valkyrie said. “You’re a Sea Hag.”

      The Hag’s eyes narrowed. “When I was younger, I was a Maiden of the—”

      “Don’t care,” Valkyrie interrupted. “You may have been beautiful once, but now you’re an ugly old fish-woman.”

      “Do not raise my ire, girl.”

      “I have no intention of even touching your ire, but we’re not leaving without the dead man. So hand him over or things are going to go bad for you.”

      “It seems you do want to drown after all,” the Hag snarled, and lunged, and in an eye blink her bony hands were gripping Valkyrie’s shoulders. She reared back and Valkyrie was lifted off the ground, high into the air and tossed, like a rag doll. She hit the water hard and went under. She twisted and through the bubbles, she saw the Sea Hag’s long serpent-like body tapering off into a tail. And then the body coiled and the Hag was beside her, eyes wide and triumphant, grabbing her again and holding her under.

      Valkyrie tried to punch, but her fist moved way too slowly underwater. The Hag laughed, the lake filling her mouth, running down her throat, and for the first time Valkyrie saw the lines of gills on either side of her neck.

      Valkyrie’s lungs were already burning. She hadn’t had time to take a breath. She went for the Hag’s eyes, tried to jab at them, but those bony fingers closed over her wrists. The Hag was too strong for her.

      And then something moved towards them, and Valkyrie saw Skulduggery, shooting through the water like a torpedo. He was right up beside them before the Hag even realised he was close.

      The Hag tried clawing at him, but Skulduggery took hold of Valkyrie’s wrist, the wrist that the Hag had released, and Valkyrie was yanked free.

      She clutched Skulduggery tight, feeling the water part in front and boost them from behind. The Hag was after them, her body undulating as she gave chase, her face furious. She drew close and reached out, but Skulduggery veered, taking them into the murky depths of the lake, and then they rolled, changing course, heading back, passing right by the Hag, who screamed her rage in escaping bubbles.

      The lake bed was close as they passed over it and getting closer. Valkyrie could have reached out and touched the pebbles and the rocks and the silt and the sand.

      And then Skulduggery kicked upwards and they burst free of the water, rising high through the air and falling now, falling to the treeline. Then there was a screech, and the Sea Hag erupted from the churning waves behind them and grabbed Skulduggery, her thin arms encircling his waist, pulling him back under.

      Valkyrie dropped, grabbing for a tree branch. She couldn’t hold on. She hit the ground and grunted, barely aware that her hands were cut and bleeding, lacerated by splinters.

      She groaned and moved her head slightly to look back at the water. She couldn’t see Skulduggery or the Hag, and the ripples were already spreading out and dying, as if the lake was trying to hide what was going on beneath its surface. Valkyrie rolled over, her dark hair hanging in front of her face, and got up slowly, grimacing when she saw her hands.

      The corpse was still standing in the water where they had left him, probably waiting for the Hag to come back and reclaim what she saw as hers. Valkyrie started moving. The corpse had helped them and they’d promised to return the favour.

      She ran along the edge of the lake, slipping every now and then, coming too close to the water for her liking. Even so, the Hag didn’t jump out at her, didn’t snatch her as she passed. Skulduggery was probably kicking the hell out of her. At least, she hoped he was.

      She got back to the corpse, breathing hard, holding her hands away from her body because they were starting to sting.

      “Hey,” she said. “Come on out of there.”

      He shook his head. “I can’t move on my own. I’ve spent the last fifty years at the bottom of this lake. I don’t think I can even remember how to move.”

      “In that case,” Valkyrie said, “I’ll come and get you.”

      “Thank you,” said the corpse.

      Valkyrie stepped into the lake. The waters here were calm. No sign of the Sea Hag – which meant that Skulduggery was either keeping her busy or she was lying in wait for Valkyrie to step within easy reach. Valkyrie walked in up to her knees, then her thighs, and when she was waist-deep, she thrust herself forward and swam.

      So far, so good. So far, no hands grabbing her and pulling her under.

      She reached the corpse and looked up at him. “How do I get you down?”

      “I’m afraid I don’t know,” he replied.

      She took a breath and plunged her head underwater. He wasn’t standing on anything. It was as if the lake itself was keeping him upright.

      She surfaced, reached out to try and pull him down, but the moment she touched his skin the lake stopped holding him and he splashed down.

      “Sorry,” he said.

      “It’s OK,” Valkyrie responded, hooking her hand under his chin. She fought the urge to shiver as her hand closed over his ice-cold, mottled flesh, and she swam back to land, taking him with her. Her feet touched the bottom. She held him under the arms and started dragging him out.

      “Thank you for doing this,” he said.

      “We owe you.”

      “It was horrible, in that lake.”

      “We’ll find you a nice dry grave, don’t you worry.” He managed to twist his head and look back at her. “If the Faceless Ones return, the world will end. Please promise me you’ll stop them.”

      She gave him a smile. “Stopping the bad guys is what we do.”

      The moment his feet left the water, his head lolled forward and he stopped talking. He was just a corpse once again.

      Valkyrie kept dragging him until they were well clear of the lake and then, very carefully, she laid him down.

      She was drenched, she was freezing, her hands were cut and stinging, she had muck and dead flesh under her fingernails and she needed to wash her hair as soon as humanly possible.

      Something was happening in the middle of the lake. She looked closer, saw a ripple, moving fast, something breaking the surface. Skulduggery rose up out of the water until he was standing. He skimmed across the lake, hands in his pockets, like he was waiting for a bus.

      He slowed as he neared and then stepped on to land.

      “Well,” he said, “that takes care of that.” He waved a hand and the water lifted from his clothes, leaving him dry.

      “You still haven’t taught me how to do that,” Valkyrie scowled.

      Skulduggery picked his hat off the ground and brushed off the dirt. “You’re the one insisting that lessons on fire and air manipulation are more important than lessons on water. You can’t really blame me for how much you resemble a drowned rat, now can you?”

      “I’m sure I could manage it,” she said grumpily. “How’s the Hag?”

      He shrugged. “Regretting her life choices, I imagine. I see you’ve rescued the corpse.”

      “Yes. He’s dead.”

      “Corpses usually are.”