Playing With Fire. Derek Landy

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      China answered. “From what I have heard, yes. He did.”

      “So what is it?”

      “He knows. We don’t.”

      “Ah.”

      “Fortunately for us, and the world at large, Skulduggery was around to foil this plot before Vengeous could find the armour and retrieve this mysterious missing ingredient. He tracked the Baron to a known enemy hideaway and brought him to justice, in what became one of the most talked-about battles of the entire war. Skulduggery was badly injured in that fight, if I remember correctly.”

      Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery and he folded his arms.

      “This is a history lesson,” he said. “Why are we going over this?”

      “Because,” China said with a smile, “I have heard that this final missing ingredient – whatever it is – has at last been recovered, or at least located, by the Baron’s associates.”

      Skulduggery’s head tilted. “Who are these associates?”

      “I’m afraid not even I know that.”

      “So if Vengeous now has the missing ingredient,” Valkyrie said uneasily, “can he revive the, uh, the Grow Thing?”

      “Grotesquery,” China corrected.

      “And no,” Skulduggery said, “it’s impossible. He’d need Vile’s armour, which he doesn’t have.”

      “But if he did, and he revived this thing, what would it do? Would we be able to stop it?”

      Skulduggery hesitated for a split second. “The threat the Grotesquery would pose is a little bigger than that. Theoretically, it would be able to summon the Faceless Ones back to this world by opening a portal through realities.”

      “A portal?” Valkyrie said, a little doubtfully.

      “Yes, but the Grotesquery would have to be at full strength to do it and that’s not going to happen.”

      “Why not?”

      “A heart had to be provided for it, but the only one suitable was the heart of a Cu Gealach.”

      “I’m sorry?”

      “Cú na Gealaí Duibhe,” China said, “to give it its full Irish title. They do still teach you Gaelige in school, yes?”

      “Yes, it means … it’s Black Hound of something, right?”

      “Almost. Hound of the Black Moon. Terrible creatures. They’re virtually extinct now, but they were ruthless, savage things.”

      “Ruthless, savage things,” Skulduggery said, “that were only ruthlessly savage for one night every few years, at a lunar eclipse. So no matter how much power Vengeous pumps into that thing, the Grotesquery will not be strong enough to open a portal until the Earth, moon and sun line up, which won’t be for another—”

      “Two nights,” China said.

      Skulduggery sagged and his head drooped. “Well, that’s just dandy,” he muttered.

      Later, on the motorway back to Haggard, Valkyrie turned to Skulduggery. “So,” she said, “a legendary battle, eh?”

      Skulduggery turned his head to her. “I’m sorry?”

      “The battle between you and Vengeous, the legendary one. What happened?”

      “We had a fight.”

      “But why is it one of the most talked-about battles of the war?”

      “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe people had nothing else to talk about.”

      “China said you were badly injured. Is that why you don’t like him? Because you were injured?”

      “I don’t like him because he’s evil.”

      “So it’s got nothing to do with him injuring you?”

      “It’s because he’s evil,” Skulduggery said grumpily.

      They stayed on the motorway for another five minutes, then took the slip road. The roads became narrower and curved between darkened fields and lone houses, and then orange streetlights appeared on either side and they were driving into Haggard. They reached the pier, and the Bentley stopped.

      “Tomorrow’s going to be a big day,” Valkyrie said.

      Skulduggery shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. If we can keep Vengeous out of the country, we’ve got nothing to worry about.”

      “And if we can’t?”

      “Then we have a whole lot to worry about, and I’m going to need you rested and alert.”

      “Sir, yes sir,” she said, raising a mocking eyebrow. She opened the door and got out, and moments later the Bentley’s tail lights disappeared into the darkness.

      Valkyrie stood beside the pier for a moment, watching the dark sea churn at the rocks and play with the small boats moored nearby. She liked watching the sea. Its power made her feel safe.

      Back when Valkyrie Cain’s name had been Stephanie Edgley, she didn’t know much about life outside of Haggard. It was a small town, tucked into the east coast of Ireland, and things there were always so quiet and peaceful and so, so dull.

      That all changed when Nefarian Serpine murdered her uncle. Gordon was a bestselling novelist, a writer of horror and fantasy, but he was also a man who knew the Big Secret. He knew about the subculture of sorcerers and mages, about the quiet little wars they had fought. He knew about the Faceless Ones – the terrible dark gods, exiled from this world – and the people who wanted them to return.

      In the days that followed, she had met the Skeleton Detective and learned that she had a bloodline that could be traced back to the world’s first sorcerers, the Ancients. She was also faced with taking a new name. Everyone, Skulduggery had told her, has three names – the name they are born with, the name they are given, and the name they take. The name they are born with, their true name, lies buried deep in their subconscious. The name they are given, usually by their parents, is the only name most people will ever know. But this is a name that can be used against them, so sorcerers must take a third name to protect themselves.

      And so Stephanie Edgley became Valkyrie Cain, and she started on the road to becoming an Elemental – she started to learn magic.

      Valkyrie sneaked behind her house, stood directly beneath her window and concentrated. Until a few weeks ago, she had needed a ladder to climb up to her room, but every lesson with Skulduggery gave her more control over her powers.

      She took her time, felt the calmness flow through her. She flexed her fingers, feeling the air touch her skin, feeling the fault lines between the spaces. She felt how they connected, and recognised how each would affect the other once the right amount of pressure was СКАЧАТЬ