Playing With Fire

  "That's true."

  "He doesn't like you, either."

  "That is mystifying."

  "So what about Vengeous? Is he bad news?"

  "The worst. I don't think he's ever forgotten the time I threw a bundle of dynamite at him. It didn't kill him, obviously, but it definitely ruined his day."

  "Is he all scarred now?"

  "Magic gets rid of most physical scars, but I like to think that I scarred him emotionally."

  "How about on the Evil Villain Scale? Ten being Serpine, one being Scapegrace?"

  "The Baron, unfortunately, turns it all the way up to eleven."

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  "Seriously? Because, you know, that's one more evil."

  "It is indeed."

  "So we're in trouble, then."

  "Oh yes," Skulduggery said darkly.

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  Chapter Three

  VENGEOUS

  The first thing Baron Vengeous did when he set foot on Irish soil was murder someone. He would have preferred to arrive without incident, to have stepped off the boat and disappeared into the city, but his hand had been forced. He had been recognized.

  The sorcerer had seen him, picked him out in the crowd as he disembarked. Vengeous had walked away, led the sorcerer somewhere quiet, out of the way. It was an easy kill. He had taken the sorcerer by surprise. A brief struggle, and Vengeous's arm had wrapped around the man's throat. He hadn 't even needed to use his magic.

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  Once he had disposed of the body, Vengeous walked deeper into Dublin City, relishing the freedom that was his again after so long.

  He was tall and his chest was broad; his tightly cropped beard the same gun-metal gray as his hair. His clothes were dark, the jacket buttons polished to a gleam, and his boots clacked on the lamplit sidewalks. Dublin had changed dramatically since he 'd been here last. The world had changed dramatically.

  He heard the quiet footsteps behind him. He stopped but he didn't turn. The man in black had to walk around him, into his line of sight.

  "Baron," the man said in greeting.

  "You're late."

  "I'm here, which is the main thing."

  Vengeous looked into the man's eyes. "I do not tolerate insubordination, Mr. Dusk. Perhaps you have forgotten. "

  "Times have changed," Dusk responded evenly. "The war is over."

  "Not for us."

  A taxi passed, and the sweeping headlights illuminated Dusk's pale face and black hair.

  "Sanguine isn 't with you," he noted.

  Vengeous resumed walking, Dusk by his side. "He

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  will join us soon, have no fear."

  "Are you sure you can trust him? I appreciate that he freed you from prison, but it took him eighty years to do it."

  Had Dusk been any other man, this remark would have been the height of hypocrisy, as he himself had not lifted one finger to help Vengeous either. But Dusk was not any other man. Dusk was scarcely a man, and as such, loyalty was not in his nature. A certain level of obedience, perhaps, but not loyalty. Because of this, Vengeous harbored no resentment toward him.

  The resentment he harbored toward Sanguine, on the other hand . . .

  Dusk's breathing suddenly became strained. He reached into his coat, fumbled with a syringe, then jabbed the needle into his forearm. He depressed the plunger, forcing the colorless liquid into his bloodstream, and moments later he was breathing regularly again.

  "I'm glad to see you're still in control," Vengeous said.

  Dusk put the syringe away. "I wouldn 't be much good to you if I wasn't, would I? What do you need me to do?"

  "There will be some obstacles to our work, some enemies we will no doubt face. The Skeleton Detective, for example. Apparently he has an apprentice now -- a dark-haired girl. You will wait for them outside the Sanctuary,

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  tonight, and you will follow them, and when she is alone, you will fetch her for me."

  "Of course."

  "Alive, Dusk."

  There was a hesitation. "Of course," Dusk repeated.

  Chapter Four

  THE BEAUTY, THE BEAST

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  THEY LEFT THE Sanctuary and drove across town, until they came to a street lined with ugly tenement buildings. Skulduggery parked the Bentley, wrapped his scarf around his jaw, and pulled his hat down low, and they got out.

  "I notice you haven't mentioned how I was thrown off a tower tonight," Valkyrie said as they crossed the road.

  "Does it need mentioning?" Skulduggery queried.

  "Scapegrace threw me off a tower. If that doesn't require mentioning, then what does?"

  "I knew you could handle it."

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  "It was a tower."

  Valkyrie led the way into one of the tenement buildings.

  "You've been thrown off higher," Skulduggery said.

  "Yes, but you were always there to catch me."

  "So you've learned a valuable lesson: There will be times when I'm not there to catch you."

  "See, that sounds to me like a lesson I could have been told."

  "Nonsense. This way, you'll never forget."

  Skulduggery removed his disguise as they climbed the stairs. Just as they reached the second floor, Valkyrie stopped and turned to him.

  "Was it a test?" she asked. "I mean, I know I'm still new at this, I'm still the rookie. Did you hang back to test me, to see if I'd be able to handle it alone?"

  "Well, kind of," he said. "Actually, no, nothing like that. My shoelace was untied. That's why I was late. That's why you were alone."

  "I could have been killed because you were tying your shoelace?"

  "An untied shoelace can be dangerous," he said. "I could have tripped."

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  She stared at him. A moment dragged by.

  "I'm joking," he said at last.

  She relaxed. "Really?"

  "Absolutely. I would never have tripped. I'm far too graceful."

  He moved past her and she glowered, then followed him to the third floor. They walked to the middle door, and a slight man with a bow tie opened it and let them in.

  The library was a vast labyrinth of tall bookcases, one that Valkyrie had managed to get herself lost in no fewer than eleven times. It seemed to amuse Skulduggery whenever she found herself at a dead end, or even better, back where she had started, so she let him lead the way.

  China Sorrows passed in front of them, wearing a dark trouser suit with her black hair tied off her face. She stopped and smiled when she saw them. The most exquisitely beautiful woman Valkyrie had ever seen, China had a habit of making people fall in love with her at first glance.

  "Skulduggery," she said. "Valkyrie. So good to see you both. What brings the Sanctuary's esteemed investigators back to my door? I'm assuming it is Sanctuary business?"

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  "You assume correctly," Skulduggery said. "And I'm sure you already know why we're here."

  Her smile turned coy. "Let me think ... a certain recently liberated Baron? You want to know if I've heard any particularly juicy rumors?"

  "Have you?" Valkyrie asked.

  China hesitated, looked around, and gave them another smile. "Let us talk privately," she said, leading them out of the library and across the hall, into her luxurious apartment. Once Skulduggery had closed the door, she took a seat.

  "Tell me, Valkyrie," she said, "how much do you know about Baron Vengeous?"

  Valkyrie sat on the couch but Skulduggery remained standing. "Not a whole lot," she said. "He's dangerous, I know that much."

  "Oh yes," China agreed, her blue eyes twinkling in the lamplight. "Very dangerous. He is a fanatical follower of the Faceless Ones, and there is nothing more dangerous than a zealot. Along with Nefarian Serpine and Lord Vile, Vengeous was one of Mevolent's most trusted generals. He was assigned to their most secret operations. Have you ever heard of the Grotesquery, my dear?"

  Valkyrie shook her head.

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&nbsp
; "Before he was caught, Baron Vengeous was given the task of resurrecting a Faceless One from the remains found in a long-forgotten tomb."

  Valkyrie frowned. "Is that even possible? Bringing one of them back to life after all this time?"

  It was Skulduggery who answered her. "Bringing the Faceless One back whole proved to be beyond his abilities, so Vengeous combined the remains with parts and organs from other creatures, forming a hybrid-- what he called a Grotesquery. But even then, an ingredient was missing."

  China took over. "Two ingredients, actually. First, he needed a Necromancer's power to revive it, and then, once it was alive, he needed something to keep it that way.

  "When Lord Vile died, Vengeous thought he could harness Vile's power. Vile was a Necromancer, a practitioner of death magic-- shadow magic. It is the Necromancer way to place most of their power in an object, or a weapon, or, in this case, his armor."

  "So if Vengeous wore that armor," Valkyrie said, "he'd have all Vile's power. . . ."

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  "But he couldn't find the armor," Skulduggery said. "Lord Vile died alone, and his armor was lost."

  "What about the other missing ingredient? Did he find out what that was?"

  China answered. "From what I have heard, yes. He did."

  "So what is it?"

  "He knows. We don't."

  "Ah."

  "Fortunately for us, and the world at large, Skulduggery was around to foil this plot before Vengeous could find the armor and retrieve this mysterious missing ingredient. He tracked the Baron to a known enemy hideaway and brought him to justice, in what became one of the most talked-about battles of the entire war. Skulduggery was badly injured in that fight, if I remember correctly."

  Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery and he folded his arms.

  "This is a history lesson," he said. "Why are we going over this?"

  "Because," China said with a smile, "I have heard that this final missing ingredient-- whatever it is-- has at last been recovered, or at least

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  located, by the Baron's associates."

  Skulduggery's head tilted. "Who are these associates?"

  "I'm afraid not even I know that."

  "So if Vengeous now has the missing ingredient," Valkyrie said, uneasily, "can he revive the, uh, the Grow Thing?"

  "Grotesquery," China corrected.

  "And no," Skulduggery said, "it's impossible. He'd need Vile's armor, which he doesn't have."

  "But if he did, and he revived this thing, what would it do? Would we be able to stop it?"

  Skulduggery hesitated for a split second. "The threat the Grotesquery would pose is a little bigger than that. Theoretically, it would be able to summon the Faceless Ones back to this world, by opening a portal through realities."

  "A portal?" Valkyrie said, a little doubtfully.

  "Yes, but the Grotesquery would have to be at full strength to do it, and that's not going to happen."

  "Why not?"

  "A heart had to be provided for it, but the only one suitable was the heart of a Cu Gealach."

  "I'm sorry?"

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  "Cu na Gealai Duibhe," China said, "to give it its full Irish title. They do still teach you Gaeilge in school, yes?"

  "Yes, it means . . . it's 'Black Hound of something,' right?"

  "Almost. Hound of the Black Moon. Terrible creatures. They're virtually extinct now, but they were ruthless, savage things."

  "Ruthless, savage things," Skulduggery said, "that were only ruthlessly savage for one night every few years, at a lunar eclipse. So no matter how much power Vengeous pumps into that thing, the Grotesquery will not be strong enough to open a portal until the Earth, moon, and sun line up, which won't be for another-- "

  "Two nights," China said.

  Skulduggery sagged and his head drooped. "Well that's just dandy," he muttered.

  They were on the motorway, heading to Haggard. "So," Valkyrie said, "a legendary battle, eh?" Skulduggery turned his head to her. "I'm

  sorry?"

  "The battle between you and Vengeous, the legendary one. What happened?"

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  "We had a fight."

  "But why is it one of the most talked-about battles of the war?"

  "I don't know," he said. "Maybe people had nothing else to talk about."

  "China said you were badly injured. Is that why you don't like him? Because you were injured?"

  "I don't like him because he's evil."

  "So it's got nothing to do with him injuring you?"

  "It's because he's evil," Skulduggery said grumpily.

  They stayed on the motorway for another five minutes, then took the off-ramp. The roads became narrower, and curved between darkened fields and lone houses, and then orange streetlights appeared on either side and they were driving into Haggard.

  They reached the pier, and the Bentley stopped.

  "Tomorrow's going to be a big day," Valkyrie said.

  Skulduggery shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. If we can keep Vengeous out of the country, we've got nothing to worry about."

  "And if we can't?"

  "Then we have a whole lot to worry about, and

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  I'm going to need you rested and alert."

  "Sir, yes sir," she said, raising a mocking eyebrow. She opened the door and got out, and moments later the Bentley's taillights disappeared into the darkness.

  Valkyrie stood beside the pier for a moment, watching the dark sea churn at the rocks and play with the small boats moored nearby. She liked watching the sea-- its power made her feel safe.

  Back when Valkyrie Cain was known as Stephanie Edgley, she didn't know much about life outside of Haggard. It was a small town, tucked into the east coast of Ireland, and things there were always so quiet and peaceful and so, so dull.

  That all changed when Nefarian Serpine murdered her uncle. Gordon was a best-selling novelist, a writer of horror and fantasy, but he was also a man who knew the Big Secret. He knew about the subculture of sorcerers and mages, about the quiet little wars they had fought. He knew about the Faceless Ones-- the terrible dark gods, exiled from this world-- and the people who wanted them to return.

  In the days that followed, she had met the Skeleton Detective and learned that she had a

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  bloodline that could be traced back to the world's first sorcerers, the Ancients. She was also faced with taking a new name. Everyone, Skulduggery had told her, has three names: the name they are born with, the name they are given, and the name they take. The name they are born with, their true name, lies buried deep in their subconscious. The name they are given, usually by their parents, is the only name most people will ever know. But this is a name that can be used against them, so sorcerers must take a third name to protect themselves.

  And so Stephanie Edgley became Valkyrie Cain, and she started on the road to becoming an Elemental-- she started to learn magic.

  Valkyrie sneaked behind her house, stood directly beneath her window, and concentrated. Until a few weeks ago, she had needed a ladder to climb to her room, but every lesson with Skulduggery gave her more control over her powers.

  She took her time, felt the calmness flow through her. She flexed her fingers, feeling the air touch her skin, feeling the fault lines between the spaces. She felt how they connected, and recognized how each would affect the other once the right amount of pressure was applied. . . .

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  She splayed her hands beneath her, and the air rippled and she shot upward, just managing to grab the windowsill. She still missed it occasionally, but she was getting better. She opened the window and, grunting with exertion, pulled herself through. Moving as quietly as she could, she closed the window behind her and turned on the light.

  She ignored the girl who sat up in her bed, the girl who was an exact replica of herself. She went to the door, put her ear to it, and listened. Satisfied that her parents were sound asleep, Valkyrie shrugged off her coat as her replica stood up.


  "Your arm," it said. "It's bruised."

  "Had a little run-in with a bad guy," Valkyrie answered, keeping her voice low. "How was your day?"

  "School was okay. I did all the homework, except the last math question. I didn't know how to do that. Your mum made lasagna for dinner."

  Valkyrie kicked off her boots. "Nothing strange happened?"

  "No. A very normal day."

  "Good."

  "Are you ready to resume your life?"

  "I am."

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  It nodded, went to the full-length mirror and stepped through, then turned and waited. Valkyrie touched the glass, and a day's worth of memory flooded into her mind as the reflection changed, the clothes Valkyrie was wearing appearing on it, and then it was nothing more than a reflected image in a mirror.

  She sifted through the new memories, arranging them beside the memories she'd formed on her own. There had been a careers class in school. The teacher had tried to get them to declare what they wanted to be when they left school, or at least what they'd like to study in college. Nobody had any idea, of course. The reflection had stayed quiet too.

  Valkyrie thought about this. She didn't really need a regular career, after all. She was set to inherit Gordon's estate and all his royalties when she turned eighteen anyway, so she'd never be short of money. Besides, what kind of career would interest her outside of magic?

  If she'd been in that class, she knew what she would have answered. Detective. That would have garnered a few sniggers around the room, but she wouldn't have minded.

  The main difference between her and her

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  friends was not the magic, nor was it the adventure. It was the fact that she knew what she wanted to do with her life, and she was already doing it.