As China followed Skulduggery down the stairs, she inhaled deeply from her wrist. Her perfume was fading, but she could still make out heart notes of jasmine and sandalwood, and base notes of musk and vanilla. It was a soft, sweet scent. China liked that. It was probably wasted on Skulduggery, though the full extent of his remaining senses was still a mystery to her.

Hansard and the driver met them in the hall. "Detective Pleasant, this is Mr. O'Donnell."

China blinked, unable to believe it at first. "Jerome O'Donnell," she said, gazing at his flame-red hair. "You're the one who brought me the note about Tanith."

"Really?" Skulduggery's head tilted, taking his gun loosely in his hand. "Well, this just about confirms that we're on the right track."

O'Donnell stupidly put his hands in the air. Then Valkyrie appeared from the living room and stepped round him. "What confirms we're on the right track?"

"Dagan's driver is the one who told us Tanith would be in Kildare." Skulduggery produced his gun and O'Donnell eyed it nervously. "The question is, is he telling the truth?"

"Of course I am!" O'Donnell insisted, in a higher pitch than China remembered. "I've been driving him to Kildare every day. I've seen Tanith Low with my own eyes."

"What are they doing to her?"

"Just keeping her in a secure spot. In a sort of bunker in Carragh."

Skulduggery took out his phone. There was no need to keep the gun trained on O'Donnell, because now Hansard Kray had him by the shoulders. Kray was blushing, of course.

"I need to speak to Elder Bespoke," murmured Skulduggery. "It's Detective Pleasant." The next moment, Ghastly Bespoke's voice came out on speakerphone.

"Skul," he said urgently. "I was going to call. Doctor Nye is missing."

Valkyrie blinked. "Wait, what?"

"What do you mean, Nye's missing?"

"It hasn't been seen near the Sanctuary for days. We need it brought back as soon as possible."

O'Donnell spoke up. "I've seen him, too. In Kildare."

For a moment, Skulduggery paused. "Ghastly, I'm investigating into Tanith Low's supposed appearance in Kildare. It's possible that Nye is there too."

"What?" China heard a medley of emotions in Ghastly's voice. "You've found her? What is Nye doing to her? For God's sake, Skulduggery, where is she?"

China stormed over to O'Donnell, making him flinch.

"Address," she ordered. "Now."

"He calls it the Daganbunker," O'Donnell squeaked, wriggling in Kray's grip. "In Carragh. I can take you there now."

"Good answer," China smiled.

"Send the cleavers," she heard Skulduggery say.

This time when they got in the Bentley, Skulduggery sat O'Donnell in the passenger seat so that he could direct the way. China sat in the back between Valkyrie and Kray. Part of it was having a clear view of the road ahead, but it was also prudent at this point to keep the young people separate. Hopefully, Kray would realise how much he wanted to sit beside Valkyrie and would overcome his shyness. China was old and wise enough to know how men worked. Well, most men.

"How is Arthur Dagan in a bunker, anyway?" Valkyrie asked aloud. "Ireland was neutral during World War Two. I mean, I know we got a few bombs dropped on us, but..."

"This bunker may not have been built in the Emergency," Skulduggery said. "They were used in our war, with Mevolent. As well as being magically reinforced, they are hidden from non-mages with cloaking spheres and so on. Can we assume from its name that the Daganbunker was built by your family, Hansard?"

"It was," he replied, "though I've never seen it."

Once again, China's own perfume registered with her. She thought about Skulduggery's scent. She suspected there was a little cologne on his collar and cuffs, because when she was close, she smelt fern and sycamore mixed with the leather of his gloves. It was a wonder how a mere skeleton could be so charismatic. But Skulduggery wasn't really a mere anything.

China could hardly believe she was thinking like this, but it was the truth. He was her soul mate. He'd been the one to challenge her and change her over the years. Maybe he'd be true to his word and kill China in the end, but she was determined to enjoy every moment until then. "You belong in the Louvre..." That would stay with her for a long time.

China shut her eyes. Enough. They were going to find Tanith now.

From what little information they had, Nye would be there, and so would Dagan and whatever his new power was. She had to wonder why Doctor Nye was there. Was it there to operate on Tanith, remove the remnant inside her? Nye was interested in the soul in all its forms, after all.

She sat upright. She'd left the book in Dagan's house. It was red and it had a bookmark. Musings on the Soul by Raymond Carniferous - the man who invented the Soul Catcher.

China glanced across at Hansard, who rested an arm on the window. His hand was long and pale, stained yellow at the fingertips. "Master Kray," she murmured. "Was your father interested in the soul?"

A strange look flashed into Kray's eyes. "I'm sorry?"

"I noticed a book in one of your bookcases," China said, "that has been retrieved and bookmarked, probably recently. Musings on the Soul. Could that have anything to do with his plans?"

"I'm afraid I don't know. What makes you think that it does?"

"If Nye is involved..."

Skulduggery turned his skull to them, listening.

"What do you think he plans to do?" said Hansard, clearly concerned.

"Tanith Low is possessed by a remnant," China told him. "I think your father may wish to tear it out of her."

Valkyrie leaned forward as far as her seatbelt would allow. "But he can't do that. He could kill her!"

"If that's what he wants to do, why would he hand us an invitation?" said Skulduggery.

"He wants us to watch," Valkyrie said fearfully. "He wants us to see Tanith being sliced up by Doctor Nye."

The Bentley sped up, making O'Donnell yelp. "We can stop him," Skulduggery said. "We have cleavers on our side and we also have the element of surprise. But it would help to know what power Dagan has given himself."

"I have no idea," Hansard apologised. "As soon as this is over, I shall have to convince him to relinquish it. I'm so sorry; I never knew he was capable of this."

"We'll take care of it," Skulduggery assured him.

The bunker was underground, hidden in the middle of a field. O'Donnell made Skulduggery park a little way away and they walked to the spot he indicated. The metal hatch was obscured by long grass and weeds. Skulduggery knelt down and moved them away.

"That's it, there," said the driver. "It should still be unsealed."

"Excellent," Skulduggery said. "You can go now."

"Go?"

Valkyrie nodded and pointed back the way they'd come. "Thanks for your help, but we don't really need you now. Wait by the car."

"Not the car," Skulduggery interjected, "I don't want you breathing on the paintwork. You'd better stay in this field."

For a moment, O'Donnell just stood there. "You want me... to just stand in the field?"

"You can sit, if you'd prefer."

"But-"

"Good man." Skulduggery rolled up his sleeves, pulled up the metal hatch with both hands and let it rest on its hinges. "Oh, and Jerome, we'll know if you try to escape or warn somebody of our imminent arrival."

"Trust me, I won't."

Valkyrie smiled. "He's so well behaved; it's lovely."

China noticed Hansard press his lips together, possibly to hide a smile of his own. They went down the hatch, down a rusting metal ladder. China's shoes scraped on each rung, dislodging more rust. Not for the first time, she thought it would have been better to wear flat shoes.

The ladder ended and they stood in an open space with concrete walls. China couldn't tell yet how many rooms there were under here, but it was big for a personal bunker. There was ventilation coming in from somewhere, making the air taste recycled and dusty.

"We'll spread out," Skulduggery said, loading his gun. "We're looking for Dagan, but we don't want to kill him. The same goes for anybody he may have working for him."

"Thank you very much," Hansard said with a raised eyebrow.

"I mean, it goes without saying" Valkyrie assured him. "Are you sure you want to be here?"

He nodded and turned his head, scanning for the nearest door. "I want to confront him about what he's doing. I want to tell my father that he cannot go on carrying out these acts of terrorism."

"There might be fighting."

"Just because I do not practice magic doesn't mean I cannot be of any use. I want to help."

Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery, but he didn't give her his opinion, so she turned back to Hansard. "Come with me then. Stay behind me in case there's trouble."

"OK."

Skulduggery left a message on Ghastly's phone and put his phone away. He nodded to China and walked to the first door, and she followed. Valkyrie and Hansard disappeared through another door. The musty air was starting to get to her, tickling her lungs unpleasantly.

"What if we find Tanith first?"

"If we find Tanith, then we retrieve her, put her somewhere safe and then arrest Dagan and Nye."

China paused. "Do you think anybody else is involved?"

The room they emerged into was dark and empty, but there was another door at the far end. "It's acknowledged within the Sanctuary that Tanith has been travelling with Sanguine," he said. "He is either involved, or he is trying to track Tanith down. If we encounter him down here, he should be easy to take care of."

"Anybody else?"

Skulduggery looked at her. A sliver of light from the doorway they'd just left caught the jutting-out parts of his skull. "I think we're about to find out."

This was a weird experience, Valkyrie thought, going through a dimly lit underground bunker with Hansard Kray to arrest his father (and probably kick him in the face). She still couldn't believe that Hansard didn't do any magic at all. How did you survive without magic? Maybe afterwards she could show him a few things. He needed something to defend himself against his father.

What was it like, having Arthur Dagan as a father? All those rules and expectations. All that responsibility of upholding the family honour - whilst having to carry a drunken parent up the stairs every evening. No wonder Hansard was so reserved.

"Aren't your parents worried about you?" he asked from behind her.

"What?" she said, caught off guard. The flame she's been holding in her palm went out. "I... Sorry, hang on..." She lit it again. "They wouldn't be, no. I've got a reflection at home that happens to be really convincing. I use it nearly every day."

"That makes sense," he said.

They came to a door, but it was locked. Valkyrie let the flame go out and splayed her hands. She had to force the air into a small but powerful jet, just like Skulduggery had taught her. It was what he used to break open locks. But every time, the jet wasn't focused right.

"Maybe we could pick the lock." Hansard's hand went to her fringe, and Valkyrie held her breath. "Do you have a hair slide?"

"No," she said. Hansard stopped looking. "I might have a paperclip somewhere, though." Valkyrie began to search her pockets, and Hansard looked through his for good measure.

"There's something I want to say before you arrest my father."

"What's that?"

"Well, I think you're really pretty."

She turned. China had said that nothing worthwhile was ever easy to attain. Maybe she should play hard to get too. "Thank you," she said, turning back to the lock.

"It's hard for me to say," he went on. "I expected you to look your best when I met you at the ball, but you're... you're always pretty."

Valkyrie smiled and turned back to him.

"That's not all," he said. His hands were still in his pockets. "I think you're-"

"Hansard, really, thanks." She waited for a moment. "Do you want to kiss me?"

"Yes, I do." He still didn't move. "Sorry."

Sighing good-naturedly, Valkyrie put a hand on his shoulders, closed her eyes and leaned in. Then she frowned, because her face was full of cloth and she must have missed. That had only happened once before with Caelan, and he was taller. At least he smelt sweet. It was a strange smell, actually...

She drew her head back, which was more difficult than she'd imagined, and saw Hansard putting a damp rag back into his pocket. Valkyrie tried to reach out and scratch him, shout for Skulduggery, anything, but it was too late. She'd been drugged and she was falling to the ground.