The Faceless Ones (Skulduggery Pleasant - Book 3) (22 page)

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"Priceless, Skulduggery. Beyond priceless. The secrets they held, the histories they contained ..."

"I'll be happy to pay for any damage caused."

"You cannot pay for priceless books! That's why they call them priceless!"

"Then let me at least pay for the bookcase."

"The bookcase?" China screamed, and then she whirled, hands over her face, and Valkyrie could hear her counting, slowly, to ten.

At ten, she turned and tried to smile, and after a few moments it actually became convincing. "Valkyrie, it appears you are the Scepter's owner. This is wonderful news. It means, among other things, that you need not leave the ultimate weapon in the hands of someone you don't trust."

"China," Skulduggery began, but she held up a hand to silence him.

"You can't use it, of course," she continued. "Not now, anyway. You have to keep it hidden."

Valkyrie frowned. "Why?"

"If the Diablerie find out that it is operational, they will target you. They'll try to take you alive, subdue you, keep you breathing so that the ownership of the Scepter won't pass to the next person to pick it up."

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"And there's another reason," Skulduggery said. "If they manage to get their hands on it, we have nothing with which to stop the Faceless Ones. It's a last-resort weapon--it needs to be kept hidden until the gate opens."

"If
the gate opens," Valkyrie corrected.

"Optimistic to the last," China said dryly.

"We could still do with your help," Skulduggery said to her.

"Nonsense," China responded. "You'll do fine without me. Besides, the portal opens on a farm. A
farm,
Skulduggery. Do I look like I have any shoes suitable for a farm? "

The thin man hurried over and whispered in her ear. She nodded and looked at them. "I think you should get back to the Hibernian. There have been developments."

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Twenty-seven

***

B
link

Mr. Bliss met them as they strode toward the cinema. He told them

what had happened, then told them that Remus Crux had left with the Cleavers in a preposterous attempt to catch the Diablerie as they made their getaway with Guild. The main problems with this course of action were that first, the enemy had too much of a head start, and second, nobody knew what kind of vehicle they were in, if they were even in a vehicle at all. But Bliss had let Crux go, simply because he wanted him gone.

They hurried down the aisle, as Ghastly and

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Tanith emerged from the door in the screen, onto the stage. Valkyrie looked at them, checking for injuries, but Tanith caught her eye and winked. A small gesture, but reassuring, and Valkyrie's heart stopped beating so hard in her chest.

"Sorry," Ghastly said to Skulduggery. "We tried our best, but..."

"Your job wasn't to protect Guild," Skulduggery reminded him, "it was to protect Fletcher. Where is he? "

"Here," Fletcher said from right behind Valkyrie. She jumped and glared at him; then he vanished and reappeared on the stage beside Tanith. "You're not going to give me to those nutcases, are you? I mean, I know they have a hostage and all, but he's an old guy, he's practically dead already. I'm the important one, so I'm the one who has to stay safe, yeah? "

"We're not doing the trade," Tanith said.

"Actually," Bliss said, "we are."

Everyone stared at him. He stood there like a rock in a churning sea.

"That's insane," Ghastly said. "You're telling us to hand over the last Teleporter just because they
ask
us to? And in return for Guild, of all people?"

"If we do not, they will have no hesitation in

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killing the Grand Mage."

"Bliss," said Skulduggery, "if we give them Fletcher Renn, this world dies."

"And if we let them kill Thurid Guild," Bliss countered evenly, "the world collapses into chaos."

"I'd rather chaos over death," Ghastly said.

Bliss shook his head. "Ireland is the Cradle of Magic. Our people were the first Ancients. Our people fought the Faceless Ones on
these
shores. This land holds secrets, both magnificent and terrifying, that are coveted by Councils across the world. If we lose another Grand Mage a mere
two years
after we lost Meritorious, how long do you think our friends and neighbors will wait before stepping in?"

"You all know I'm not the biggest fan of the English Sanctuary," Tanith said, "but even they wouldn't do anything as stupid as try to take over."

"If they could claim that it was for our own good, they might decide it's worth the risk. This isn't about politics. It's about
power.
We have a duty to protect what is ours--not out of selfishness, but out of necessity. In the wrong hands, the magic of this land could change the face of the world."

Skulduggery took off his hat and brushed a

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speck of imagined lint from its brim. "And yet if we hand over Renn, and the Diablerie succeed in their scheme, the face of this world will be changed anyway."

"Which is why, Detective, it is going to be your job to make sure that doesn't happen. You have two tasks: to get Thurid Guild back alive and relatively unharmed, and to make sure the Diablerie do not get their hands on Fletcher Renn."

"So you're saying we should double-cross them."

"That is indeed what I am saying."

Skulduggery shrugged. "Well, I was going to do
that
anyway."

"Are we still fugitives?" Valkyrie asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," Bliss said. "In Guild's absence, I am in command, but while there is a spy in the Sanctuary, it is far too dangerous to bring you back in. I will do my best to keep Remus Crux away from you, but I'm keeping him on as Prime Detective so that our spy will have something to keep himself occupied."

"Out," Kenspeckle said.

They looked at him as he stepped through the door in the screen.

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"Out," he said again. "All of you. Get out. This is a science-magic facility, a place of knowledge and a place of healing. What it is
not
is a place of violence."

"Professor," Skulduggery started, but Kenspeckle held up a hand to silence him.

"You bring death and destruction to my door, Detective Pleasant. You always have. And while I am happy to patch you up, and patch up your friends, I am not willing to just stand by while you use this place as your headquarters.

"Tonight, this establishment was raided by
Cleavers.
And if that wasn't bad enough, I had fanatical worshippers of the Faceless Ones attacking people right where you're standing. I took an oath to heal people, but today I was forced to take my power and use it to hurt. Unforgivable.
Unforgivable!"

Valkyrie shrank back, dreading the moment when he'd use her injuries as another weapon against Skulduggery. Kenspeckle glanced at her, then looked back at Skulduggery, but the moment came and went.

"I will heal your wounds," he said, "but I will not facilitate your battles. All of you, get out."

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He turned and walked back through the door in the screen. A moment later the picture of the door faded and the heavy curtains started to close. The few remaining houselights came on.

Bliss was the first to leave. The others looked at Skulduggery, who put his hat back on. They shrugged into coats, and Ghastly picked up two large bags; then they left the cinema.

The rain had stopped. Skulduggery unlocked the Purple Menace.

"Back to my place, I suppose," Ghastly said as he threw the bags into his van.

"Okay," Fletcher said, taking hold of Valkyrie's arm. "We'll meet you there."

And they teleported.

It was like she blinked, and within that blink there was a rush of air and she felt light, and her belly lurched, and there was nothing around her or beneath her except for Fletcher's hand on her arm. His hand was the only thing that was real, and it felt good, and warm, and comforting.

And then they were standing on the roof of Ghastly's shop. A wave of dizziness swept through Valkyrie and she nearly fell to her knees. Fletcher was smiling at her.

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"You okay?" he asked gently.

She punched him across the jaw and he went stumbling backward.

"Why'd you do that?"
he bellowed.

She glared at him, the dizziness passing.
"Shock
mostly," she said angrily. "You just can't teleport people without asking them! What if something had gone wrong? What if you'd only teleported half of me?"

"That'd never happen."

"Or you let go of my arm halfway through?"

"It can't be done."

"Or we reappeared in a wall or something? "

He hesitated. "Okay, now that
was
a danger.... But as long as I've been somewhere before, and I can picture it in my head, that's all I need. I thought you'd like it, to be honest."

Her phone rang. It was Skulduggery. Valkyrie assured him she was okay and waiting for him at Ghastly's. She hung up.

"He said he's going to kill you," she told Fletcher, who shrugged.

"He's always saying that."

"But this time he means it."

"What does it matter? If he hands me over to

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those lunatics, I'm dead anyway, right? "

Valkyrie didn't say anything. Fletcher looked at the city around them.

"It's quite pretty up here," he continued. "All the streetlights. The rain makes everything kind of glitter, doesn't it? It's like this in London, too. You can sometimes forget how dirty everything is." His eyes found her. "What'll happen to that Guild guy? Do you think they'll kill him?"

Valkyrie hesitated. "I don't know."

"Do you care?"

"What? Of course."

"You don't like him."

"I still don't want him
killed."

Fletcher didn't say anything for a bit. "Does Tanith have a boyfriend? "

Valkyrie looked at him in disbelief, amazed by the radical change of topic. "You don't have a chance."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do."

"Give me three good reasons."

"I only need two. The first one is that she is way too old for you, and the second one is that you are really annoying."

"Hey, just because you're too young to appreciate

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my charms doesn't mean I don't have them. I'm a catch."

"Is that what your mummy says?" Valkyrie grinned.

"Not really. My mum's dead." The grin faded. "Oh."

"What about
your
family? What do they think about all these magical adventure crime-solving things you do?"

"They don't know about any of it. At home I have this mirror, and all I have to do is touch it and my reflection steps out and does all the boring stuff like go to school and do homework and be nice to people."

"Your reflection comes to life?" Fletcher said, eyes wide. "Yep."

"You're serious? That is so
cool!
So everyone thinks you're just this normal girl?"

"They think I'm a tad weird, but yes, basically."

"That is amazing. So there are two of you?"

"Kind of, yes."

He went quiet, and after a few moments she began to wonder what he was thinking about. "Cool," he said at last. "So could I get one of

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these mirrors? Maybe we could trade my reflection for this Guild guy. Unless the reflection would have the same abilities as me, which'd kind of defeat the purpose."

"No, they can't do magic, but it wouldn't work. Sorcerers can generally spot a reflection a mile off."

Fletcher shrugged. "Worth a shot. I tell you, it'll sure be nice when all this is over and I can get back to my life."

"What
was
your life? What did you do all day? "

"Whatever I wanted. I have this power and I didn't train for it, I wasn't told about it, it just happened. I'm a natural. And it means I can go anywhere and do anything. And that's what I do all day--whatever I want."

"You should get someone to train you."

"Who? Every other Teleporter is dead."

"As Skulduggery keeps telling me, magic is magic. The basic underlying principles are the same no matter what your power is."

Fletcher made a face. "Sounds a lot like school."

"It's generally more fun." She smiled. "You may