Skulduggery Pleasant: Books 1 - 12. Derek Landy
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Название: Skulduggery Pleasant: Books 1 - 12

Автор: Derek Landy

Издательство: HarperCollins

Жанр: Учебная литература

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isbn: 9780008318215

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СКАЧАТЬ was quiet for a moment. “Even so, it would be foolish not to take precautions. We will report back to Guild if and when we have to. At no time will we tell him what we’re planning, where we’re going or who we’re hoping to punch next. Agreed?”

      “Agreed. So he doesn’t know we have the Grotesquery?”

      “I may have forgotten to tell him. I did remember to tell Mr Bliss though, so he has organised three Cleavers to provide security. Any more than that, unfortunately, and it would come to the attention of the Grand Mage.”

      “I just hope you realise, after Sagacious Tome and now Guild, that I’m never going to be able to trust anyone in a position of authority ever again.”

      Skulduggery’s head tilted. “You don’t view me as an authority figure?”

      She laughed. Then stopped. “Oh. I’m sorry. You were serious?”

      “That’s lovely, that is,” he said as Kenspeckle wandered in.

      “Detective, you will no doubt be happy to know that my assistants are moving the Grotesquery into my brand-new private Morgue, where it will clutter up the place just when I’ve finally managed to get everything in order.”

      Valkyrie frowned. “What would you need a private morgue for?”

      “Experiments,” Kenspeckle said. “Experiments so bizarre and unnatural they would surely make you vomit.”

      “Professor Grouse,” Skulduggery said, “we brought the Grotesquery here not only because your facility is more advanced than the Sanctuary’s, but also because you are the leading expert in science magic.”

      “Mm,” Kenspeckle said gruffly. “It is. And I am.”

      “We need your help. We have a chance to dismantle the Grotesquery and hide the pieces all over the world so it can never be put back together, and we need you to do it.”

      “Fine,” Kenspeckle said gruffly. “But you, Valkyrie, must rest. And you, Detective, must not place her in any danger for the next, oh, let’s say an hour. Do we have a deal?”

      “I can rest,” Valkyrie said.

      “And I can manage an hour,” Skulduggery said.

      “All right then,” said Kenspeckle. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a monster to take apart.”

       Image Missing

      Image Missinghe old hospital was steeped in dead terror and stale tears. How many people had breathed their last while lying on those small beds? How many had spent their final nights in those tiny rooms, sleeping fitfully while their nightmares rampaged across the landscape of their minds? When Baron Vengeous walked these halls he fancied he could count every single one of them.

      The psychiatric ward was the best. Here, even without the sensitivities brought on by his new armour, he could sense the echoes of fear, madness and desperation. But with the armour, these echoes soaked into him, making him stronger. He felt his armour flourish after all those years of neglect in that cavern.

      This would be the perfect place for the Grotesquery to break down the borders between realities, open the portal and invite the Faceless Ones to return. Now all he needed was the Grotesquery itself – but that wasn’t going to be a problem. For all his flashes of rage and his fearsome temper, Vengeous was a military man first and foremost. True, he had suffered a setback, but he had already initiated a plan to rectify the situation.

      One of the Infected was standing further along the corridor and it opened the door as he approached. He could tell by its eyes that it was close to becoming a true vampire. He had already ordered Dusk to kill them all before that happened. Dusk, because of the serums he used, controlled the vampire part of himself, but the Infected would be far too unpredictable to keep around.

      Vengeous focused on the armour, drawing it back in. He had been letting it writhe and revel in the collected anguish of the old building, but now it was time for business.

      Billy-Ray Sanguine was waiting for him. There was a man shackled to an operating table, and when Vengeous walked into the room, the man’s eyes widened.

      “Impossible,” he breathed. “You’re dead. You’re … it can’t be you, you’re dead!” Vengeous realised that with the helmet obscuring his face, the man thought Venguous was Lord Vile, risen from the grave to exact a terrible revenge. He said nothing.

      “This is a trick!” the man said, straining against his shackles. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but you’ve made a huge mistake! Do you even know who I am?”

       “Sure we do,” Sanguine drawled. “You’re a lily-livered sorcerer who’s managed to stay alive by runnin’ from every conceivable fight. Why do you think we chose you?”

       “Chose me?” the man repeated. “Chose me for what?”

      “For a quick answer,” Vengeous said, aware that the helmet even made him sound like Vile.

       The man paled. He was sweating already. “What … what do you want to know?”

       “As you can probably tell,” Sanguine said, “I ain’t from around these parts. And the gentleman who is makin’ you mess your britches right now … well, he’s been away for a time. So we need you, chuckles, to tell us where someone might go with the inanimate corpse of a half-god in order to, oh, I dunno, destroy it.”

       The man licked his lips. “And … and then you’ll let me go?”

       “Yeah, why not?”

      Vengeous felt his armour coil. This man’s fear was too potent to ignore. Vengeous narrowed his eyes, controlling the armour through sheer force of will.

      “They’d go to the Sanctuary,” the man said.

      “That ain’t what we’re lookin’ for,” Sanguine responded. “We got people keepin’ an eye on the Sanctuary and they ain’t turned up there. We’re lookin’ for somethin’ a little more specialist, y’know?”

       The man frowned. “Then … then maybe they’ve gone to Grouse.”

      “Kenspeckle Grouse?” Vengeous said.

       “Uh, yeah. He does work for the Sanctuary. They’d bring anything weird to him.”

       “Where?”

      “An old cinema, closed down now, the Hibernian. Are you going to let me go now?” Sanguine looked at Vengeous, and Vengeous looked at their captive.

      “What СКАЧАТЬ