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Authors: Derek Landy
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sinister, Mr. Bliss. As for the missing ‘observers,’ maybe they’ll turn up safe and well, and the Elders can apologize for dragging
you out of your retirement.”
“They turned up yesterday.”
“Oh?”
“Dead.”
“How terrible for them.”
“Not a mark on their bodies. No indication at all as to how they died. Sound familiar?”
Serpine thought for a moment, then arched an eyebrow and held up his gloved right hand. “You think this did it? You think
I
killed those men? I haven’t used this power in years. When I first learned it, I thought it was a wonderful thing, but now I look on it as a curse, and a reminder to me of my many mistakes and transgressions in my servitude to Mevolent. I don’t mind telling you, Mr. Bliss, that I am deeply ashamed of what I have done with my life.”
Bliss stood there and Serpine almost spoiled it all by laughing, but he managed to retain his look of mocking innocence.
“Thank you for your cooperation,” Bliss said, turning to leave. “I shall be in touch if I need to ask you more questions.”
Serpine waited until Bliss was at the door before speaking again.
“They must be scared.”
Bliss stopped. “What makes you say that?”
“They sent you, didn’t they? Why didn’t they send the detective, I wonder?”
“Skulduggery Pleasant is busy with another investigation.”
“Is that so? Or maybe they thought I would be intimidated by you.”
“They thought you’d listen to me. This Truce will hold only for as long as both sides want it to. The Elders want it to hold.”
“That must be nice for them.”
Mr. Bliss looked at him as if he was trying to read his thoughts. “Be careful, Nefarian. You might not like what’s at the end of this road you’re on.”
Serpine smiled. “You’re sure you won’t join me for a drink?”
“I have a plane to catch.”
“Going somewhere nice?”
“I have a meeting in London.”
“I hope that goes well for you. We’ll have a drink some other time, then.”
“Perhaps.”
Mr. Bliss inclined his head in a small bow, and left.
Eight
G HASTLY
S TEPHANIE WENT TO bed as soon as she got home, and woke at a few minutes past two in the afternoon. She padded to the bathroom and showered, her body aching as she stood under the spray. Her knees were scraped and cut from when she’d been dragged along the road. Her skin was mottled with deep bruises. Her neck was stiff.
She turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, dried herself off, and pulled on fresh jeans and a T-shirt. Barefoot, she took her old clothes downstairs and threw them into the washingmachine, added the powder, and turned it on. It was only after she’d had something to eat that she allowed herself to think about the previous night.
Well
, she said to herself,
so that happened
.
She tied her shoes and went out, the sunshine warm on her face. At the end of her road, she passed the old pier and started toward Main Street. Normality. Kids playing football, riding bikes, and laughing; dogs running about, tails wagging; neighbors talking to neighbors and the world being as she’d always thought it was. No living skeletons. No magic. No men trying to kill her.
A crazy laugh escaped her lips when she reflected on how much her life had changed in the space of a day. She had gone from being a perfectly ordinary girl in a perfectly ordinary world to being a target for water-soluble weirdos and a partner with a skeleton detective out to solve her uncle’s murder.
Stephanie faltered. Her uncle’s
murder
? Where had she got that from? Gordon had died of natural causes; the doctors had said so. She frowned. But these were doctors who lived in a world without walking, talking skeletons. But still, why assume he’d been murdered? What on Earth had made her think that?
There are items that cannot be taken
, China had said,
possessions that cannot be stolen. In the case of such an item, the owner must be dead before anyone else can take advantage
you out of your retirement.”
“They turned up yesterday.”
“Oh?”
“Dead.”
“How terrible for them.”
“Not a mark on their bodies. No indication at all as to how they died. Sound familiar?”
Serpine thought for a moment, then arched an eyebrow and held up his gloved right hand. “You think this did it? You think
I
killed those men? I haven’t used this power in years. When I first learned it, I thought it was a wonderful thing, but now I look on it as a curse, and a reminder to me of my many mistakes and transgressions in my servitude to Mevolent. I don’t mind telling you, Mr. Bliss, that I am deeply ashamed of what I have done with my life.”
Bliss stood there and Serpine almost spoiled it all by laughing, but he managed to retain his look of mocking innocence.
“Thank you for your cooperation,” Bliss said, turning to leave. “I shall be in touch if I need to ask you more questions.”
Serpine waited until Bliss was at the door before speaking again.
“They must be scared.”
Bliss stopped. “What makes you say that?”
“They sent you, didn’t they? Why didn’t they send the detective, I wonder?”
“Skulduggery Pleasant is busy with another investigation.”
“Is that so? Or maybe they thought I would be intimidated by you.”
“They thought you’d listen to me. This Truce will hold only for as long as both sides want it to. The Elders want it to hold.”
“That must be nice for them.”
Mr. Bliss looked at him as if he was trying to read his thoughts. “Be careful, Nefarian. You might not like what’s at the end of this road you’re on.”
Serpine smiled. “You’re sure you won’t join me for a drink?”
“I have a plane to catch.”
“Going somewhere nice?”
“I have a meeting in London.”
“I hope that goes well for you. We’ll have a drink some other time, then.”
“Perhaps.”
Mr. Bliss inclined his head in a small bow, and left.
Eight
G HASTLY
S TEPHANIE WENT TO bed as soon as she got home, and woke at a few minutes past two in the afternoon. She padded to the bathroom and showered, her body aching as she stood under the spray. Her knees were scraped and cut from when she’d been dragged along the road. Her skin was mottled with deep bruises. Her neck was stiff.
She turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, dried herself off, and pulled on fresh jeans and a T-shirt. Barefoot, she took her old clothes downstairs and threw them into the washingmachine, added the powder, and turned it on. It was only after she’d had something to eat that she allowed herself to think about the previous night.
Well
, she said to herself,
so that happened
.
She tied her shoes and went out, the sunshine warm on her face. At the end of her road, she passed the old pier and started toward Main Street. Normality. Kids playing football, riding bikes, and laughing; dogs running about, tails wagging; neighbors talking to neighbors and the world being as she’d always thought it was. No living skeletons. No magic. No men trying to kill her.
A crazy laugh escaped her lips when she reflected on how much her life had changed in the space of a day. She had gone from being a perfectly ordinary girl in a perfectly ordinary world to being a target for water-soluble weirdos and a partner with a skeleton detective out to solve her uncle’s murder.
Stephanie faltered. Her uncle’s
murder
? Where had she got that from? Gordon had died of natural causes; the doctors had said so. She frowned. But these were doctors who lived in a world without walking, talking skeletons. But still, why assume he’d been murdered? What on Earth had made her think that?
There are items that cannot be taken
, China had said,
possessions that cannot be stolen. In the case of such an item, the owner must be dead before anyone else can take advantage
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