Skulduggery Pleasant: Books 1 - 12. Derek Landy

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       30

      AN END, A BEGINNING

      omewhere in Haggard, a dog was barking. Somewhere a driver beeped his horn and somewhere else people were laughing. It was a Friday night and music drifted to Stephanie’s open window from the bars and pubs on Main Street, snatches of songs, piggybacking on the warm breeze.

      Stephanie sat in her swivel chair, her foot resting on the bed. Skulduggery had taken her to a friend of his, a cantankerous old man who had mended her broken leg within an hour. It was still stiff and she couldn’t walk on it, but the bruising had gone down and in another few days it would be like it had never been broken at all.

      She didn’t mind the recuperation period she had been advised to take. After the week she’d just had, a week in which she’d seen wonder and magic and death and destruction, she could do with a little holiday.

      Skulduggery Pleasant sat on the windowsill and told her what was happening in the world outside her bedroom. The White Cleaver had vanished, and they still didn’t know why, or even how, he had ignored his master’s final command. Skulduggery had a suspicion that he was under orders from somebody else, but just who this mystery master was, he didn’t yet know. Serpine’s allies had resurfaced and struck, and then vanished again when the news of the sorcerer’s demise had reached them. Serpine’s grand scheme may have failed, but because of it, the Cleavers’ numbers had been decimated, and their duties now stretched them thin.

      “How’s Tanith?” Stephanie asked. “Will she be OK?”

      “She’s lucky to be alive. The injury she took was severe, but she’s strong. She’ll pull through. I’ll take you to see her when you’re rested.”

      “And Ghastly? Any change?”

      “I’m afraid not. They’re keeping him safe, but… we don’t know how long he’ll stay like that. Fortunately for him, the time will pass in the blink of an eye. The rest of us will have to wait. On the bright side, the Sanctuary has a new and interesting addition to their Hall of Statues.”

      “Do they have a Hall of Statues?”

      “Well, no. But now that they’ve got a statue, maybe they’ll start.”

      “What are they going to do about the Elder Council?”

      “Meritorious was a good man and the most powerful Grand Mage we had seen in a long time. The other Councils in Europe are worried about who will fill the vacuum now that he’s gone. The Americans are offering their support, the Japanese are sending delegates to help us wrest back some control, but…”

      “It sounds like a lot of people are panicking.”

      “And they have a right to. Our systems of power, our systems of self-government, are delicate. If we topple, others will follow. We need a strong leader.”

      “Why don’t you do it?”

      He laughed. “Because I’m not well liked, and I’m not well trusted, and I already have a job. I’m a detective, remember?”

      She gave her own little shrug. “Vaguely.”

      Another snippet of pub music drifted by the window, and Stephanie thought about the world she’d grown up in, and how different it was from the world she’d been introduced to, and yet how similar. There was joy and happiness in both, just as there was heartbreak and horror. There was good and evil and everything in between, and these qualities seemed to be shared equally in the worlds of the magical and the mundane. It was her life now. She couldn’t imagine living without either one.

      “How are you?” Skulduggery asked, his voice gentle.

      “Me? I’m fine.”

      “Really? No nightmares?”

      “Maybe one or two,” she admitted.

      “They’ll always be there, reminding us of where we went wrong. If you pay attention to your bad dreams, they can help you.”

      “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind next time I’m asleep.”

      “Good,” said Skulduggery. “In any event, get well soon. We have mysteries to solve, and adventures to undertake, and I need my partner and student with me.”

      “Student?”

      He shrugged. “Things are going to get a lot rougher from here on in, and I need someone to fight by my side. There’s something about you, Valkyrie. I’m not quite sure what it is. I look at you and…”

      “And you’re reminded of yourself when you were my age?”

      “Hmm? Oh, no, what I was going to say is there’s something about you that is really annoying, and you never do what you’re told, and sometimes I question your intelligence, but even so I’m going to train you, because I like having someone follow me around like a little puppy. It makes me feel good about myself.”

      She rolled her eyes. “You are such a moron.”

      “Don’t be jealous of my genius.”

      “Can you get over yourself for just a moment?”

      “If only that were possible.”

      “For a guy with no internal organs, you’ve got quite the ego.”

      “And for a girl who can’t stand up without falling over, you’re quite the critic.”

      “My leg will be fine.”

      “And my ego will flourish. What a pair we are.”

      She had to laugh. “Go on, get out. Mum’ll be up soon to check on me.”

      “Before I go…”

      “Yes?”

      “Aren’t you going to show me what you’ve been practising? You’ve been dying to show off from the moment I knocked on this window.”

      Stephanie looked at him and arched an eyebrow, but he was right and he knew it. The other good thing about СКАЧАТЬ