The Faceless Ones (Skulduggery Pleasant - Book 3) (25 page)

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"And why is that? Because people are
afraid
of killers. People are going to be afraid of
me."

He stepped forward and she stepped back, feeling the cold steel of the door through her clothes.

"What about Skulduggery?" she asked quickly.

"I don't see him in here." Scapegrace smiled.

"You don't want him as an enemy, Vaurien. You know you don't. Once he finds out that I've been arrested, he'll come for me. He'll appear at this door just like he did yesterday, and he'll open it and see what you've done. Do you really want to be standing here when that happens?"

Scapegrace hesitated. "They'll put me in protective custody," he decided. "They don't much like your friend these days, in case you've forgotten. They'll put me in a special cell where he won't be able to find me."

"He'll find you. He'll hunt you down."

Scapegrace sneered. "Let him try."

Valkyrie knew the rules. Tanith had drilled them into her often enough. With no other choice, when the onset of violence was a virtual certainty and retreat was not an option, the rule was to strike first and without warning.

Scapegrace was a grown man. He was a little

302

over six feet tall and of average strength for a man his size. Valkyrie was a fourteen-year-old girl who was tall for her age, and she'd been working out with two of the best fight trainers around for two years. Physically, Scapegrace was still superior, but he was also injured. He was keeping his weight off his left leg, and his body was twisted slightly. She suspected cracked ribs.

Strike first and without warning.

Valkyrie kicked Scapegrace's left leg, and he howled. She tried shooting an elbow into his face, but his arms were up, flailing. She pushed him back to give herself room, and he looped his right fist against her jaw. Her head spun and she hit the door and nearly fell.

He came in with another punch, but she swerved away and it caught her on the shoulder. If she had been wearing her black coat, the blow would have been absorbed by the material. As it was, she went stumbling.

He reached for her again, and she grabbed his bandaged hand and wrenched it. He shrieked and forgot all about his attack. She moved away from the door and, still leading him by his broken fingers, spun him in a tight circle around her. She brought

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his hand low, and he dropped to his knees.

"Let go!" he pleaded, tears in his eyes. "I wasn't going to kill you, I swear! I was joking!"

She released his hand and he clutched it to his chest, and she grabbed his head and drove her knee into the hinge of his jaw. He fell over backward and didn't get up.

The backs of her legs hit the side of the bed, and she collapsed into a sitting position. Her breathing was fast and shallow, and her eyes stayed glued to Scapegrace's unconscious form.

Her shoulder started to ache. His punch had caught her right on the side of the head, and her ear was burning. She thanked God he hadn't busted her in the mouth. She didn't think she could handle breaking another tooth.

She wondered what she would do when he woke up. There was nothing in the cell that she could use to tie him up, and no one had come to investigate the sounds of struggle.

She had beaten him. She had beaten him without using magic. True, he was already injured, and she had caught him by surprise, but the fact remained: She had fought a grown man and she had beaten him.

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She started to smile, and then the smile faded as she thought what would have happened if she
hadn't
beaten him. She'd probably be lying dead on the cell floor right now.

She got off the bed and unwrapped the bandage around Scapegrace's injured hand. His fingers were badly swollen, the skin blue and yellow and purple and black. He didn't even murmur as she tied one end of the bandage around those fingers, and the other end around the iron leg of the bed. At least now he wouldn't be able to jump her when he woke up.

She sat on the bed again, well away from him, her back against the wall. She tied her hair into a pony tail and wondered if Skulduggery had realized yet that something had gone wrong. She tried to think of what he would do.

First, he'd call her phone and get no answer. After a while he'd turn up at the house--or more likely send Tanith, someone a little more normal-looking. He'd definitely speak with the reflection, and hopefully work out what had happened. And then he'd come for her.

Valkyrie sat back and waited.

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Thirty

***

B
eryl

Beryl Edgley was a busy woman.

She really didn't have the time to take in and feed abandoned waifs. But that being said, when Melissa Edgley had asked if she would take care of Stephanie while she jetted away to Paris for the weekend, Beryl had of course accepted the challenge graciously.

Her niece had always been a stubborn and willful child, with a sharp tongue and an attitude that Beryl found quite distasteful. Although even
she
had to admit that over the past couple of years Stephanie had seemed to become a lot more

306

subdued. Beryl liked to think that this new, quieter Stephanie was a result of her own hints and tips to Melissa and Desmond about raising well-behaved children. Beryl's twins, Carol and Crystal, were not
perfect
by any means, and they had both been losing far too much weight lately, but at least they didn't drink or smoke or hang around with loutish boys like so many of their friends.

The family, plus Stephanie, ate lunch at the kitchen table without speaking. Fergus's eyes were glued to the television, and the twins were picking at their food without enthusiasm. In fact, only Stephanie seemed to be intent on eating what Beryl had placed before her. Which was surprising, given what had happened to her earlier that day.

The doorbell rang, and Beryl went to answer it. There was a young woman standing on the doorstep, smiling. She had tousled blond hair and was wearing a brown leather outfit that was far too tight. The poor girl was practically falling out of her top.

"You must be Beryl," she said in an English accent. "I've heard so much about you."

Beryl didn't trust new people. Ever since they had sold the gigantic boat that Fergus's brother had

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left them, she'd had a niggling suspicion that everyone wanted their money.

"And you are?" Beryl asked, standing with her back straight so she could look down her nose.

"Name's Tanith," the young lady replied. "I was wondering, is Stephanie about?"

"She's having lunch."

"Could I talk to her for just a moment?"

Beryl frowned. "She's having lunch, I said. She's eating. She cannot come to the door while she is eating."

The young lady, Tanith, looked at Beryl for a few moments and then she smiled again.

"Maybe she can stop eating, come to the door, I'll be really quick saying what I have to say, and then she can go back to eating. That sound good to you, Beryl?"

"I would prefer it if you called me Mrs. Edgley."

Tanith took a deep breath that threatened the integrity of her top. "Mrs. Edgley, be a dear and get Stephanie for me, will you?"

"I don't like your tone."

"I don't like your shoes."

Beryl looked down, wondering what was wrong with her shoes, and Tanith moved in and around

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her. Before Beryl realized what was happening, Tanith was walking into the kitchen.

"Bloody hell ..." came Fergus's whisper.

"Stephanie," Tanith said, "could I have a word?"

Beryl stormed in after her, outraged, as Stephanie stood up from the table. The twins were looking at the young lady curiously, and Fergus was staring at her, his eyes wide and full of wonder.

"Stephanie, you are
not
leaving this room!"

"This is a private matter," Tanith said.

"And this is private
property!
Fergus, call the police!"

Fergus just kept staring at the intruder.

"If this has anything to do with what happened earlier today," Beryl said, "the police will certainly want to talk to you!"

Tanith frowned. "What happened earlier today?"

Stephanie opened her mouth to speak, but Beryl took control of the conversation. "Three hours ago, Alan Brennan came to my door and told me he had been attacked by a man who had been chasing Stephanie. Attacked! In Haggard!"

"Who was the man?"

"I don't know," Stephanie said. "I don't remember much of it. I think I must still be in shock.

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He probably thought I was somebody else. After he attacked Mr. Brennan, he went away, and I returned home."

"We found her hiding under the bed," Beryl said, and Carol and Crystal snorted.

"Have you seen Val?" Tanith asked Stephanie, ignoring Beryl completely. "Do you know what happened to her? "

"She was supposed to come back." Stephanie shrugged. "But she never did."

"Who is this Val?" Beryl asked, confused. "What has she got to do with anything? There is a dangerous lunatic on the loose, claiming to be a policeman!"

Tanith's eyes narrowed. "He said he was a cop?"

"Mr. Brennan said he told him he was a detective."

"Crux ..."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I know this man." Tanith nodded. "And you're right, he
is
a lunatic. Have you called the police?"

Fergus spoke up at last. "They, uh, they said they'd stop by this afternoon...."

"Tell them not to bother. This man has a history of psychiatric problems. He just forgot to take his

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pills this morning, that's all. I'm his doctor."

"What kind of doctor dresses in brown leather?" Beryl asked suspiciously.

The young lady flashed her a quick smile. "The kind who looks good in it," she said. "Thank you for your time. You all have a good day now. Good-bye, Stephanie."

"Good-bye," Stephanie said, and sat down to finish off her lunch.

Beryl followed Tanith to the front door, her mind overloading with questions, but Tanith just kept walking and didn't look back. She got to the road, and a dreadful purple car pulled up and she got in. Beryl tried to catch a better look at the driver, but all she could see was a man in a hat, and then they were gone.

Beryl frowned. The man in the hat seemed awfully familiar....

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Thirty-one

***

O
ld Friends

Crux burst into her apartment, and China turned, appraising him coolly. "We have the girl," Crux said triumphantly. "I tracked her down and arrested her. Put her in the cell myself."

"She's fourteen," China said. "That was very brave of you."

"You can save your snide comments. The Diablerie have the Grand Mage."

"It's the talk of the town, but apparently, you'd still prefer to go after Skulduggery than the real enemy."

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"He
is
the real enemy. I figured it out, and it's all so obvious. It fits."

"What fits, Remus?"

He stood with his hands on his hips." Skulduggery Pleasant
is
Batu."

"Oh, my God...." China stared at him. "You
are
actually thicker than you look."

Crux stepped in close. "Where is he? Where are they keeping the Grand Mage?"

"I tried to help you, Remus. I told you where Skulduggery was making his headquarters, and you went in, you stormed the place, and what happened? You missed Skulduggery, you missed Valkyrie, and you got the Grand Mage kidnapped. I've done what I can--it's not my fault you're not very good at your job."

"I'm good enough, China. I was good enough to figure out your dark little secret, wasn't I?"

"You didn't work anything out. A dying man told you because you were the only one around at the time."

"Where is the skeleton?

"I don't know."

"Then where will he
be?"

"Oh, now that one I
do
know. Once he learns

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that you've arrested Valkyrie, you're not going to have to look for him. He'll come to you."

"I'm not scared of Skulduggery Pleasant."

"Yes, you are, Remus. Everyone is."

"You have failed to cooperate with a Sanctuary investigation, and furthermore, you are an obstruction to said investigation. I'm placing you under arrest."

Crux produced the handcuffs with a flourish. China sighed and allowed her hands to be shackled behind her back.

"Once again, you're concentrating on the wrong people. First it was Skulduggery and now it's me, when the people you should be after are the Diablerie. Why are you doing this, Remus? Are you afraid of challenging them? Is that why you're going after everybody
but
them?"

"You will lead me to the enemy. You're working with Pleasant--"

"If Skulduggery
was
Batu, then he wouldn't have brought in Fletcher Renn in the first place, would he? He'd have locked him up until he needed him."

"Your attempts at logic are as pathetic at your attempts at seduction."