Skulduggery Pleasant: Books 7 – 9: The Darquesse Trilogy. Derek Landy

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СКАЧАТЬ Kitana and I was just sitting there, and then I felt sick. Like, hot and sweaty but also really cold, you know? Like I had the flu or something. And I looked up and the others were the same. We just thought it was a bug. We went home, and we all had the same dream, about Argeddion. I can’t remember much of it, just this man in white and he was giving me something. A gift. I woke up the next morning and... and I just knew. I knew there was power inside me.”

      “How did it make you feel?”

      “I didn’t like it. Kitana said it was amazing but... I don’t know. It was like there was a part of me that wasn’t me. It was – what’s the word? Unsettling.”

      “So all four of you suddenly had powers,” Skulduggery said. “What did you do?”

      Elsie shrugged. “We messed about for a few days. The more we used the powers, the stronger they got. Sean was really excited, he was talking about being superheroes and whatever. Doran called him stupid, he said we should rob all the banks in the country. Kitana said this was going to make her famous. She’d always wanted to be a model or be in the movies or something. It was going to make her a star.”

      “What about you? What did you want to use your powers for?”

      “I liked Sean’s idea the most,” she mumbled.

      “So what happened?”

      “I don’t know. We were all getting along great, we were all laughing and trying to decide what to do, and then...”

      “Then?”

      Elsie hesitated. “There was a bouncer in a nightclub who never let Doran in, because he was underage. Doran was always talking about him, about how he was going to go up one of these nights and kick his teeth in. And that’s what he did. He went up, the bouncer told him he wasn’t getting in, and Doran used his powers. He put the bouncer in hospital. I think he’s still in a critical condition. Doran was laughing when he told us about it.”

      “How did Sean and Kitana react?”

      “Sean was quiet at first, but Kitana kept asking all these questions, like what did it feel like, stuff like that. You could tell that she was into it, and because she was into it Sean got into it.”

      “And that’s how it started.”

      “Yeah. Then it really got out of control. They killed Kitana’s ex, they killed this guy who turned up and started telling us about the magic police… they killed Doran’s brother…”

      “We need to stop them before they hurt anyone else. Once they’re back to normal, we can deal with whatever we have to deal with. But right now we need to stop them. Can you help us?”

      “What do I have to do?”

      “Do you have any idea where they are, or what their plans are?”

      “They keep moving around, and I don’t even know if they have plans. The lads do what Kitana tells them, and Kitana does whatever she feels like.”

      “Patrick Xebec was killed because he was a threat, but their real targets have been Kitana’s ex-boyfriend and Doran’s brother. They’re going after people who treated them badly at some stage in their lives. Does Sean have anyone like that?”

      “No. Not that I know of. His parents are nice. Doran’s dad is drunk most of the time and Kitana’s parents are never home, but Sean’s whole family is lovely. Sean wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

      “His power is corrupting him.”

      “But still, he wouldn’t. He’s not like the other two. He’s nice.”

      “He’s an accomplice to murder, Elsie. We have to stop him before he makes things any worse for himself. Can you think of anywhere they might go, or any score they might have to settle?”

      “I can’t think of anything. I’m really sorry. It doesn’t even make any sense. Kitana didn’t care about her ex. Not really.”

      “Then she was just looking for an excuse to hurt someone,” Skulduggery said. “No one is safe from her, Elsie.”

      “I don’t know where she is, honestly. The only... the only place I can think of that has people she’d like to hurt would be, you know, our school. You don’t think they’d do anything, do you? We have friends there.”

      “I’ll send some people round to keep an eye on the place. If they turn up, we’ll deal with it. In the meantime, I’d like you to accompany me back to a place we call the Sanctuary. It... may not be the safest place in the world, but at least Kitana and the others won’t find you. Will you accompany me?”

      Elsie nodded. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

      Skulduggery opened the passenger door and she got in, then he slid in the other side. “You might have to adjust the seat,” he said. “The girl who usually sits there is quite tall, and likes everything exactly right.”

      Elsie moved the seat forward. “Will she mind?”

      “Assuming she’s still alive and she ever gets home, I’m fairly certain I’ll never hear the end of it. Buckle up.”

      he Barge rumbled and shook as it moved over Dublin City. Were it not for the fact that her reflection was somewhere down there, Valkyrie would have been perfectly happy to spend hours in this little cell, just filling in the time until she was pulled back to her own dimension. But she didn’t want to leave it there. She didn’t want to abandon it.

      The shackles hurt her wrists, but comfort hadn’t been uppermost in Vengeous’s mind when he’d thrown her in here. Vengeous. The last time she’d seen him the Grotesquery was crushing his head, which was, what? Four years ago? She was pretty sure she preferred him with a crushed head. The Vengeous from this reality was every bit as humourless as his alternate self, and every bit as intimidating. He didn’t have his sword any more, though, that cutlass thing. That was one thing to be grateful for, Valkyrie supposed.

      It was pretty much the only thing.

      Vengeous hadn’t wasted any time with questions. He assumed she was part of this Resistance everyone kept talking about, and was probably looking forward to a nice bit of interrogation once they got back to the Palace. Valkyrie wondered if this version of Vengeous had been arrested by Skulduggery during that legendary fight China had once spoken of, or if none of that had happened here. If Mevolent, and now Vengeous, was alive here, then who else was? Was Nefarian Serpine waiting for them beyond the wall? And where was this reality’s version of Skulduggery? Would he be much different to the Skulduggery she knew?

      The idea that there could be two identical versions of Skulduggery Pleasant actually made her smile despite herself. The conversations that would result would probably be brain-punchingly narcissistic, at the very least.

      The pitch of the Barge’s engines changed. Deprived of a view, Valkyrie had no idea what was happening until the whole thing СКАЧАТЬ