path. They eat the souls of their enemies to absorb their strength. I havenât gone up against them in⦠a long time. I didnât think there were any left.â Skulduggery picked up his hat and put it on. âDuring the war, Mevolent tried to form an alliance with them. He sent a squad of his best people to open negotiations, and they were never heard from again.â
âAnd yet we just took down one of them,â Valkyrie said. âThey donât seem to be that tough. Apart from the nearly killing us bit. Do you think thereâll be more?â
âEventually. Not for a while. If weâre lucky. This is the second time Dragonclaw has got away from us, though. First the Jitter Girls, now a Warlock. He really is breaking all the rules.â Skulduggery looked up. âStill, maybe this will convince the Elders to take the Necromancer threat seriously.â
Valkyrie frowned. âYou donât think they do already?â
âNot really, no. Neither does anyone else. All the Sanctuaries around the world are either too busy with their own problems or theyâre preparing to battle this oh-so-mysterious Darquesse. If the Death Bringer was seen as a threat, weâd have teams from twenty different Sanctuaries storming the Temple as we speak.â
âMaybe that means the Passage wonât be a bad thing, then. Maybe it will save the world.â
Skulduggery shook his head. âPaul Lynch had a vision of something that got him killed. This ridiculous Dragonclaw person isnât covering up that trail for the fun of it.â
âThen maybe the other Sanctuaries are just hoping that Lord Vile carries out his threat and kills the Death Bringer.â
âVery likely,â Skulduggery said.
Valkyrie hesitated. âDo you think heâll come after me, like he told you he would?â
âThat was before,â Skulduggery said. âThat was when everyone thought that you were going to be the Death Bringer. Now that we actually have one confirmed, all his attention will be focused on her.â
âLucky, lucky Melancholia. Youâre sure about this, though?â
âIâm sure. Killing you wonât help Lord Vile achieve his aim.â
âDo you have any idea why heâs so keen to stop the Passage from happening?â
âI donât,â Skulduggery murmured. âIt must be important, though, to bring him back like this. I thought he was gone for good.â
âGuess he just doesnât want to live in a perfect world.â
A van pulled up at the mouth of the lane. Sanctuary sorcerers got out, nodded to them as they began cordoning off the area.
âYou donât think the problem here is us, do you?â Valkyrie asked. âI mean, maybe weâre so used to being the ones who save the world that we canât see it when someone else is about to do the same. Solomon keeps saying that the Passage is going to help people.â
âTrue,â Skulduggery said. âBut if you asked Serpine why he wanted to bring the Faceless Ones back, heâd have told you the same thing. It all depends on what people youâre talking about helping. Thatâs the wonderful thing about just about every religion on the planet â theyâre all so incredibly selfish.â
âYou are a cynical man, Mr Pleasant.â
âWe live in cynical times, Miss Cain.â
He dropped her off at the pier, and she watched him drive away before turning to the shadows. âI know youâre there,â she said.
He emerged, his footsteps silent. He was tall and slender, his hair black and his skin pale. He had died as a nineteen-year-old, and it was in this form that he was frozen. He would never grow old. He would never fade. His face would never lose its beauty.
âIâve been waiting for you,â Caelan said, his voice barely audible over the gentle lapping of the waves.
âCouldnât you have found a
Karen Kelley
Lindsay Hatton
Lisa Tuttle
Dahlia Lu
Debra Holland
Marie Sexton
Janet Fitch
Donna Morrissey
Heather Blake
Frank Herbert