LITMIR.BIZ

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      “You guys killed this Esryn Vanguard bloke,” Fletcher told him. “You didn’t want him weakening your side or stopping the war or whatever it was you were scared he was going to do.”

      “That’s ridiculous.”

      Valkyrie held his gaze. “You had one of your Exigency Mages assassinate Vanguard, and then you framed Scarab for it and locked him away without a proper trial.”

      Guild snarled at Skulduggery. “You’re supposed to be investigating Scarab, not me. You’re wasting valuable—”

      “If we want to anticipate Scarab’s moves,” Skulduggery interrupted, “we need to know the truth. Is he coming after you, or both of us, or everyone? If he did kill Vanguard, then all we have to do is put you in protective custody for a year or so. He’ll get bored, or die, and it’ll all be over.

      “But if he didn’t kill Vanguard, we have bigger problems. And we need to know what they are now.”

      “Well, why don’t you work on the assumption that we have bigger problems and take it from there?” said Guild.

      “Did Scarab kill Vanguard?”

      “This is not—”

      “Did Scarab kill Vanguard?”

      “No,” Guild snapped.

      “Meritorious ordered the assassination,” Valkyrie pressed.

      “It was a necessary move to make,” Guild said.

      “Vanguard was on your own side.”

      “Vanguard was on no one’s side but his own.”

      “That didn’t make him an enemy.”

      “I’m not going to stand here and explain our actions to you. We did what had to be done and if there are ramifications, I’ll deal with them when this particular crisis is over. Are we agreed? Excellent. So now that you know all of Scarab’s grievances, you’re going to catch him, yes?”

      “It brings us a step closer,” Skulduggery said. “But our main concern is that Desolation Engine.”

      “It’s deactivated,” Guild said. “Useless. Why would that be of concern to us?”

      “Because there’s only one man alive who could possibly fix it and Scarab’s just kidnapped him.”

      Guild paled. “Grouse could repair the Engine?”

      “The man’s a scientific genius. He could do anything. The question becomes, of course, will he repair it? And I really don’t think he will. I think he’d rather die than be responsible for hurting people.”

      “You had better be right.”

      “But we don’t want him to die,” Valkyrie said angrily. “If anyone dies, it should be…”

      Guild looked at her and she shut up.

      “Will he be tortured?” Fletcher asked, his voice quiet. “I know you people do a lot of that kind of stuff…But the Professor’s an old man. He won’t be able to take it. It was bad enough he was in a car crash.”

      Valkyrie frowned, the thought suddenly striking her. “Why was he in a car crash? Why were they in a car at all? Sanguine could have just grabbed him and tunnelled away with him. Why did they take a car?”

      “I was wondering that myself,” Skulduggery said. “The only explanation I can think of is that maybe he was trying to lead us somewhere.”

      “A trap?”

      “That’s the only thing that makes sense.”

      “Then it’s a good thing he crashed.”

      “It has been reported on the news,” Guild snapped. “It is in no way a good thing any of this happened. If the worst comes to pass, if Grouse does repair that Engine, what will Scarab use it for? To kill me?”

      “If he just wanted to just kill you, he could have done it when Dusk came in with his vampires. He might see the Sanctuary, as a whole, as being responsible for his imprisonment.”

      “Then that is why he wants the Engine. He wants to destroy this place.”

      “Maybe,” Skulduggery said, then looked up suddenly. “I know why they stole the Soul Catcher.”

      “You do?”

      “I know how they’ll make Professor Grouse help them. I even know where at least one of them will be tonight.”

      “And you figured all that out while we were standing here talking?”

      “I am a detective.”

      “So what do they want with the Desolation Engine?”

      “It’s probably what we think – they want to destroy this place. But I don’t know that for sure.”

      “When you do know something for sure,” Guild sighed, “would you be kind enough to tell me? I’m quite looking forward to the day when you become useful.”

      They walked to the Bentley.

      “Fletcher,” Skulduggery said, “I want you to help Ghastly find the castle we’re looking for.”

      “What are you two going to do?”

      “Never mind that,” Valkyrie said. “Why did Sanguine steal the Soul Catcher?”

      Skulduggery unlocked the car. “Have you ever heard of Remnants?”

      “Are they a band?” Fletcher asked.

      “Remnants are dark spirits, beings infused with absolute evil. They lost their bodies long ago, so when they’re able, they possess the living – sharing their memories, absorbing their personalities and hijacking their bodies. They are a plague. The last time they struck, in 1892, they took over an entire town in Kerry and burned it to the ground. The Sanctuary asked the Necromancers for help in constructing what would basically be a giant Soul Catcher inside a mountain in the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks. The Necromancers didn’t want to help so the Sanctuary did the best they could. The townspeople were led there, the giant Soul Catcher somehow, miraculously, worked and the Remnants were torn out of them.”

      “Where are the Remnants now?”

      “Trapped. Hundreds of them, it’s impossible to say exactly how many, were then transferred to a room they can’t escape from. If they ever got out, they would ravage this world, moving from host body to host body, building up their strength, building up their army.”

      “If Sanguine traps one of them in the Soul Catcher,” Valkyrie said, “could he put it in Kenspeckle, use it to take over his mind?”

      “I think that’s his plan,” Skulduggery said. “The Remnant will have all the Professor’s memories and skills, but it wouldn’t be him– not really. It certainly wouldn’t have his conscience.”

      “Where’s this room then?” Fletcher asked. “I can probably get you there faster.”

      “Not this time, Fletcher. You can only teleport to places you’ve already been, and this room in particular has a tendency to move around a lot.”

      Valkyrie frowned. “What does that mean?”

      Fletcher went off to help Ghastly, and Skulduggery and Valkyrie drove out of the city. As they drove, he told her all about the Midnight Hotel.

      It was run by a sorcerer named Anton Shudder, an old friend of Skulduggery’s who fought alongside him during the war with Mevolent. Dissatisfied with the various Sanctuaries around the world, which he felt had grown too powerful and bureaucratic, he had built the hotel as a refuge for those who operated outside of official boundaries. His guests were often

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