Skulduggery Pleasant: Books 1 - 12. Derek Landy

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      enspeckle poked her arm. “Does that hurt?”

      “No,” Valkyrie answered.

      He nodded, scribbled something in his notebook. “Have you eaten?”

      “One of your assistants brought me a burger for breakfast.”

      He sighed. “I meant, have you eaten sensibly?”

      “I was very sensible while I was eating the burger. Didn’t miss my mouth once.”

      He prodded her again. “What about that? Does that hurt?”

      “Ow.”

      “I’ll take that as a yes. Hopefully, the pain will teach you not to break yourself when your van crashes.” Kenspeckle scribbled something else and Valkyrie looked around. There were no windows in here, but she could guess what kind of morning it was. Bright, blue skied, sunny and warm.

      Kenspeckle closed his notebook and nodded. “You’re making an excellent recovery,” he said. “One more hour, the bone will be healed.”

      “Thanks, Kenspeckle.”

      “Think nothing of it.”

      “And, you know, sorry about what I said yesterday, about the salt water and the vampires …”

      Kenspeckle chuckled. “Don’t you worry about me, Valkyrie. I’m tougher than I look. Last night, when the nightmares came, they weren’t so bad. I remember them being awful. Now, you just lie back there and let the muck do its work.”

      Feeling guiltier than ever, Valkyrie settled back on the bed. The mixture that coated her entire right arm was cold and slimy. It had to be reapplied every twenty minutes as its magical properties were absorbed through the skin.

      She heard Skulduggery come into the medical bay. His fight with Vengeous had resulted in a fractured collarbone and a few cracked ribs. She looked over at him and laughed.

      He stared at her. He was wearing a bright pink hospital gown, decorated with elephants and bunnies. It hung off him like a sheet on a hatstand.

      “How come she gets the blue hospital gown?” he asked Kenspeckle.

      “Hmm?” mumbled the professor.

      Skulduggery’s head tilted unhappily. “You said the only gowns you had left were these pink bunny ones, but Valkyrie is wearing a perfectly respectable blue one.”

      “Your point being?”

      “Why am I wearing this ridiculous gown?”

      “Because it amuses me.”

      Kenspeckle walked out and Skulduggery looked over at her. “The important thing,” he said, “is that I can wear this gown and still maintain my dignity.”

      “Yes,” she responded automatically. “Yes, you can.”

      “You can stop grinning any time now.”

      “I am so trying, I swear.”

      He walked over and when he spoke his voice had changed slightly, tinged with concern. “Feeling OK?”

      “Yes.”

      “Are you sure?”

      “Yes. No. I don’t know. Whatever happens with the Grotesquery, it’s my fault.”

      “Nonsense.”

      “But I’m the missing ingredient.”

      “That doesn’t make it your fault, Valkyrie. However, if you insist on taking responsibility for something you never had any control over, you can use that to make you stronger. You’re going to need all the strength you can muster, especially when Dusk catches up to you.”

      She frowned. “Why Dusk?”

      “Oh, yes, something I should maybe mention. Dusk will be wanting to kill you. He has a history of vendettas. He holds a grudge and he doesn’t let it go until he’s spilled blood.”

      “And because I cut his face …?”

      “You cut his face with Sanguine’s blade, the scars from which do not heal.”

      “Ah. That’d … that’d make him pretty mad, wouldn’t it?”

      “I just thought you’d like to know.”

      “So СКАЧАТЬ