LITMIR.BIZ

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dragged him to one side. Kitana and Doran let loose streams of energy that came dangerously close.

      “Thank you for that,” Skulduggery said.

      “No problem.”

      They circled them, keeping low, as Kitana and Doran spun and fired at random, their eyes wide.

      “Where are they?” Doran cried. “Where are they?”

      “How am I supposed to know?” Kitana snapped.

      Skulduggery took out his gun. “I didn’t want to have to do this,” he said as he took aim.

      Valkyrie looked away, and Skulduggery fired twice.

      ammit,” Skulduggery said.

      Valkyrie looked back. Kitana and Doran were still standing. Hovering in the air next to each of their heads was a bullet, gently rotating.

      “Hello, children,” Argeddion said from where he floated above them all.

      He waved his hand and the cloaking sphere stopped working. The bubble retracted but Kitana and Doran weren’t interested in a skeleton and a teenage girl any more. They gazed upwards like they were seeing their own personal god.

      “It’s you,” Doran whispered.

      “Hello, Doran,” Argeddion said. “Hello, Kitana. I’m sorry it took so long for me to meet you, face to face. I took some time to experience what it means to be a free man once again. Hello, Skulduggery. Hello, Valkyrie.”

      Skulduggery holstered his gun. “Are you proud of them?” he asked. “They came here, to this school, to kill everyone they found. If you’re hoping you showed them enlightenment, I’m afraid I have some bad news.”

      “They’re young,” Argeddion said. “They’ll learn.”

      “And in the meantime, they’ll kill and destroy. You’re meant to be a pacifist. You’re meant to value every human life. How can you let this continue?”

      Argeddion smiled. “Because I can see the difference between one life and many. Between a few lives and all. The children are learning and exploring and pushing their boundaries. They don’t know who they are yet.”

      “They’re through pushing boundaries. Now they need rules.”

      “I have no wish to limit them with the restricted view of western morality.”

      Skulduggery shook his head. “You’ve got to take responsibility for this.”

      “I’m taking ultimate responsibility,” said Argeddion. “Spiritual responsibility. These few missteps don’t matter. Can’t you understand? Look at them standing there. They’re beautiful and flawed and a work in progress.”

      “Dammit, Argeddion, your plan isn’t working. Why can’t you just accept that? You wanted to elevate mankind by giving them magic, so take a look at what you’ve created so far. They’re killers.”

      “And so are both of you.”

      “We’ve made mistakes, but we try to do what’s right.”

      “You mean you’ve learned your lessons. You made your mistakes, killed and destroyed, and now you’re fighting the good fight. So what makes you think that these children will not follow your example?”

      “Because they’re psychopaths.”

      “And Lord Vile wasn’t? And Darquesse is a well-adjusted personality?” Argeddion laughed. “It seems to me that there is one rule for you two, and another rule for everyone else.”

      “You can’t let them learn their lessons at the expense of innocent lives.”

      “Every life lost is sad, but also necessary. These children are the future. They need the freedom to make mistakes and grow from them.”

      “Yeah,” said Doran, wearing that smirk again, “let us grow, Mr Skeleton.”

      “If you want them to learn,” Skulduggery said, “turn them over to the Sanctuary. We’ll train them, teach them how to control their powers.”

      “You’ll imprison them,” Argeddion said, “like I was imprisoned, because you’re scared. Because you don’t understand them and you can’t control them. I’m sorry, Skulduggery. None of you can be trusted.”

      “For God’s sake, you cannot let them walk away.”

      Argeddion looked down at Kitana and Doran. “Go,” he said. “I’ll see you again.”

      It took them a few seconds before they moved, but when they did, they were laughing like kids. Kitana blew them a kiss as they left.

      Skulduggery didn’t move. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

      “When this is over,” Argeddion said, “you will understand.” And then he vanished.

      The Cleavers arrived, sealed off the school. Skulduggery dumped Sean Mackin in the back of their van and slammed the door on his head. They waited for Geoffrey Scrutinous and Philomena Random to get there, told them the situation. This was bad. A signal block was now in effect, jamming all communication, but a few hundred teenagers had just had half an hour to get the word out of crazy goings-on at their school, and the news was spreading.

      They drove back to the Sanctuary and found Ghastly outside the interview room where Sean Mackin was being held.

      “This is bad,” Ghastly said.

      “We know,” Skulduggery answered.

      “Bernard Sult is running around, snapping out questions like he expects them to be answered. I’ve managed to avoid Strom all morning, but I don’t think Ravel has been so lucky. What are we looking to get out of Mackin here?”

      “Just where they’re staying. We can’t afford delays. They know we’ll be questioning him, so they won’t stay around for long.”

      Ghastly nodded. “I’m going to send Elsie in first. Maybe she’ll be able to appeal to his better nature before we have to scare him.”

      Valkyrie and Skulduggery stepped into the room adjacent, nodding to the mage who sat at the monitor. She saw Sean on screen, sitting at the table and looking scared. The door opened, and Elsie O’Brien walked in. She was a heavyset girl in black, with thick eyeliner and a pierced lip. She had a nice face, but she was worried. Nervous.

      Sean glared at her. “I should have known you’d be here.”

      “It’s OK,” Elsie said. “Everything’s going to be OK now.”

      He slouched in his chair. “Really? Are you going to force them to let me go?”

      “They only want to help you.”

      He laughed. It was a nasty laugh. “Does it look like I’m being helped? I’m in a jail cell. I was put in handcuffs.”

      “Sean, you have to know that what you were doing was wrong.”

      “You’re such a coward.”

      “Please just—”

      “Please just,” he mimicked. “Do you have any idea how annoying your voice sounds, you ignorant cow? You look like a cow as well, did I ever tell you that? You’re fat and ugly like a cow. I couldn’t stand it when you smiled at me. I wanted to vomit.”

      The door opened and Sean shut up. Ghastly walked in.

      Sean gathered his feet under him and looked at his hands as Ghastly pulled a

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