Skulduggery Pleasant (21 page)

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"You should hear her, Dad, the way she talks about him, and she doesn't even know him. She probably thinks I'm part of a cult or something.. .."

"And are you?"

She looked at him, appalled. "What?"

Her father sighed. "Beryl has good reason to think that."

"But it's insane!"

"Well, insanity runs in the family."

She could see something in his eyes, a reluctance, but also a resignation.

"My grandfather," he said, "your great-grandfather, was a wonderful man; we kids loved him. Me, Fergus, Gordon, we'd sit around and he'd tell us all these fantastic stories. My father, however, didn't have a lot of time for him. All the stories he was telling us were ones he'd told my father when he was a kid. And when my dad grew up, he realized it was all nonsense, but my granddad refused to see it. My grandfather believed ... he believed that we were magic."

Stephanie stared at him. "What?"

"He said it'd been passed down, this magic, generation to generation. He said we were descendants of a great sorcerer called the Last of the Ancients."

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The sound of the sea faded to nothing, the sun dimmed, and the beach vanished, and the only thing that existed in the world was her father, and the only sounds were the words he was speaking.

"These stories, this belief, has followed the family for centuries. I don't know how it began, or when, but it seems like it's always been a part of us. And, now and then, there have been members of our family who have chosen to believe it.

"Gordon believed. A rational man, an intelligent man, and yet he believed in magic and sorcery and people who never age. All the stuff he wrote about--he probably believed in most, if not all, of it.

"And because of this, he got involved in things that were . . . unhealthy. The people he mixed with were people who fed into his delusions, who shared his madness. Dangerous people. It's a sickness, Steph. My granddad had it, Gordon had it . . . and I don't want you to get it."

"I'm not crazy."

"And I'm not saying you are. But I know how easy it is to be swept away by stories, by things that you wish were real. When I was younger, I believed. I believed even more than Gordon did.

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But I stopped. I made a decision to live in the real world, to stop indulging this--this curse that has plagued us. Gordon introduced me to your mother, I fell in love, and I put it all behind me."

"So you think Gordon was part of a cult?"

"For want of a better word, yes."

She remembered the look on her father's face the first time he had encountered Skulduggery, in Mr. Fedgewick's office. It had been a look she had never seen before--suspicion, mistrust, hostility-- and it had passed as quick as it had appeared. Now she understood why.

"And you think, what, that I'm part of the cult now?"

He gave a gentle laugh. "No, I suppose I don't. Not really. But what Beryl was saying--it got me thinking. In the last few days, sometimes there's a distance in your eyes I haven't seen before. I don't know what it is. I look at you now, and you're my little girl. But I've been getting the feeling that. . . I don't know. Recently, it seems like you're somewhere else."

Stephanie didn't dare respond.

"I just wish you'd talk to someone. You don't have to talk to me, because you know how

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much I babble, but your mother . . . You could tell her, you could tell us, anything. And as long as you're honest with us, you know we'd help you in whatever way we can."

"I know, Dad."

He looked at her, and for a moment she thought he was going to shed a tear, but then he wrapped an arm around her and kissed her forehead. "You're my little sweetheart, you know that?"

"I know."

"Good girl." He got off the boulder. "I'd better get back to work."

"See you later."

He looked at her, gave her a smile, and walked back off the beach.

She stayed where she was. If it was true, if the family legend was true, then this was, this was . . . Actually, she didn't know what this was. It felt important, though. It felt big. She left the beach and waited by the road, and when Skulduggery arrived in the hideous Canary Car, she told him everything her father had said.

Mr. Bliss turned the brooch over in his hands. "Are you sure this is it?"

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Mr. Bliss was in black, and Skulduggery was wearing a dark-blue pin-striped suit that Ghastly had finished working on that very morning, along with a crisp white shirt and a blue tie. They were standing in the shade of the Martello Tower, a centuries-old ruin that stood atop the grassy cliffs along Haggard's coast. Far below them, the sea whipped at the jagged rocks.

"I'm sure," Skulduggery said. "See how the pin folds back, actually becomes a makeshift handle? That's our key."

Stephanie tried her best not to be intimidated by Bliss's presence, but whenever he glanced at her, she looked away. She hadn't objected when Skulduggery told her that Mr. Bliss would be accompanying them into the caves, but she hadn't exactly jumped for joy either.

"Thank you for calling me," Mr. Bliss said, handing the brooch back to Stephanie.

"We need all the help we can get," Skulduggery admitted, "although I was surprised when you made yourself available."

"Serpine has become extremely powerful, much more so then anyone realizes."

"You almost sound afraid of him."

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Mr. Bliss paused for a moment. "I don't feel fear," he said eventually. "When you no longer have hope, the fear evaporates. But I do respect his power. I respect what he can do."

"If he gets to the Scepter before us, we're all going to see what he can do firsthand."

"I still don't get it," Stephanie said. "If he gets the Scepter, okay, he's unstoppable, but how can he use it to bring back the Faceless Ones?"

"I don't know," Skulduggery replied. "In theory, the ritual could be known to no more than two people in the world--if I were Serpine, I wouldn't even know who to start threatening."

Mr. Bliss shook his head. "He doesn't plan to threaten anyone. From what he has said, I think the Scepter of the Ancients is merely a stepping-stone, a toy that he needs to get what he wants."

"And what is that?"

Mr. Bliss looked out over the sea but didn't answer.

"I don't understand," Skulduggery continued. "Were you talking to him?"

"This morning," Mr. Bliss said. He had a resigned tone to his voice, and Stephanie

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narrowed her eyes. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. She stepped back, but Skulduggery was too caught up in the conversation to notice.

"Did you see him?" Skulduggery said, moving closer to Bliss. "You saw him and you didn't take him down?"

"The reaches of his power were unknown to me, and I do not start battles I cannot win. It was too dangerous."

"Where is he? The Elders are looking for him!"

"They don't need to. He will go to them when the time is right."

"Why did you meet with him?"

"Serpine had something to say. I listened."

"What are you talking about?"

"He already knows about the caves. The only thing that has delayed him is the search for the key."

Skulduggery looked at Mr. Bliss. Mr. Bliss looked at Skulduggery. Stephanie realized that he was standing right on the edge of the cliff.

Bliss put a hand on Skulduggery's chest, and before Stephanie could even shout, he shoved, and Skulduggery shot backward over the edge and disappeared from view. And then Mr. Bliss turned to her.

Chapter Twenty-one

The Cave

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Stephanie turned and ran.

She glanced back, but Bliss wasn't there, and then a shadow fell across her and he dropped from the sky. She ran straight into him and stumbled back. His hand moved like an attacking snake, snatching the brooch from her grasp. She landed on the seat of her jeans.

She glanced to the edge of the cliff, expecting to see Skulduggery swoop up to save her. He didn't.

Mr. Bliss slipped the brooch into his jacket.

"You're going to give it to him," Stephanie said.

"I am."

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"Why?"

"He's too powerful to fight."

"But you're stronger than anyone! If you all go after him--"

"I do not gamble, Miss Cain. If we went after him, we might beat him, or he might elude us and strike at us when we least expect it. It is far too unpredictable for my liking. War should be a delicate thing. It requires precision."

Stephanie frowned. Those words. Those eyes, the palest blue . . .

"China betrayed us too," she said, understanding. "It must run in the family."

"My sister's affairs, and her motivations, are her own."

"Is she siding with Serpine as well?"

"Not to my knowledge," Mr. Bliss answered. "But then, I could be lying. That's the thing about allies and enemies--you're never quite sure which is which until the final move is made."

As he walked toward his car, she got to her feet, powerless to get the brooch back.

"We're going to stop him," she called out.

"Do what you must," Mr. Bliss said. He got into his car, and without another glance at

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her, he drove off down the dirt road away from the Martello Tower, heading out of town. She watched the dust kick up in his wake, then hurried down the narrow path to the bottom of the cliffs.

Please be all right, she repeated in her head. Please be all right, please be all right.

When she finally reached the bottom of the path, she looked over at the rocks, terrified that she might see him there. A fall like that would have smashed his bones to pieces. He wasn't on the rocks, however, so she turned her attention to the sea, just as Skulduggery's head broke the surface of the water.

"Skulduggery?" she called out, relief sweeping through her. "Are you all right?"

He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he kept rising, rising straight up out of the sea until he was standing on the waves.

"I'm fine," he said curtly, walking to her. Stephanie had seen such peculiarities over the past few days that she was mildly surprised when anything struck her as odd anymore, but Skulduggery walking on water definitely struck her as odd. He bobbed up and down

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with the waves but kept his balance perfectly, and when he stepped off the water onto the path, the vapor rose from his suit and dropped back into the sea. His clothes, she noticed, were undamaged by the fall.

"So that's why Serpine didn't send anyone after us," he said sourly. "He let us go so that we'd get the key, knowing he had someone on the inside to get the key from us. That's just . . . that's just cheating."

"Do you know anyone who wouldn't betray you?" Stephanie asked as they started walking back up the path.

"Hush now."

"And thanks for letting me know that Bliss and China were brother and sister, by the. way."

"You're welcome."

"If I'd known that, I might have been able to warn you not to trust him."

"I must admit, China's treachery didn't corneas a surprise, but Mr. Bliss ... he never does anything without due consideration."

"I suppose he thinks Serpine is the winning side."

"Maybe."

"So what do we do now? We can't let Serpine find the Scepter. He'll be unstoppable."

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"What do you suggest?"

"I suggest I go get my work clothes and let my reflection out of the mirror, and we follow him into the caves and get the Scepter before he does."

"That's a very good plan. We'll do that, then."

They arrived at Gordon's estate to find a gleaming silver car parked outside, and the front door once again lying in the hallway. Skulduggery led the way into the house, revolver in his hand. Stephanie followed close behind, clad all in black. They gave the ground floor a cursory examination before moving downstairs into the cellar.

The key was in the lock and a section of the floor was open, revealing stone steps descending into the Earth. They followed these steps, sinking deeper into the gloom. They walked in near darkness for a few minutes until they came to the bottom, then walked through a narrow tunnel carved out of the rock. It was brighter down here, their way lit by dozens of small holes designed to catch the sunlight from above and cast it down into the depths.

They stepped out of the tunnel into a cave that split in two directions.

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"Which way?" Stephanie whispered.

Skulduggery extended his arm and opened his hand. After a moment, he nodded. "A group of them, headed north."

"Are you reading the air?" Stephanie asked, frowning.

"Reading disturbances in the air, yes."

"So do we go after them?"

Skulduggery thought about this. "They don't know the exact location of the Scepter any more then we do. They simply chose that path as the place to start their search."

"So we should go the other way, hope we find it first?"

"If we can get it without Serpine even knowing we're here, we can seal the tunnel behind us and trap him while we alert the Elders."

"Then why are we standing around looking pretty?"

They took the path to their left, moving quickly but quietly. The cave system soon proved itself to be enormous, but Skulduggery assured her he could find the way back without a problem. Here and there, the pinpricks of sunlight opened up to larger streams, which

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reflected off the rock walls and stabbed through the darkness. Strange plants and mushrooms were growing, but Skulduggery warned her to stay away from them. Even the fungus was dangerous down here.

They had been walking for ten minutes when Stephanie saw something move ahead of them. She touched Skulduggery's arm and pointed, and they stepped back into the shadows to watch.

The thing that lumbered into view was magnificent in its awfulness. Standing well over nine feet tall, its chest was broad and its arms were long, the forearms hugely distorted by bulging muscles. Its hands were the size of dinner plates, tipped with claws built for ripping. Its face was doglike in appearance, like a Doberman's, and it had a dirty brown mane that ran from the back of its skull and joined the long matted hair on its shoulders.

"What is it?" Stephanie whispered.

"That, my dear Valkyrie, is what we call a monster."

She looked at Skulduggery. "You don't know what it is, do you?"

"I told you what it is, it's a horrible monster. Now shut up before it comes over here and eats us."

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