LITMIR.BIZ

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      There was a brief flicker of annoyance on China’s perfect face, and then it evaporated. She turned, and resumed climbing to the third floor.

      “Here is what I know about Tesseract. Born and raised in Russia, somewhere between three and four hundred years ago. He is an Adept, nobody knows who trained him, and nobody knows how many people he’s killed. He wears a mask – again, nobody knows why. He lives in a truck of some description. He’s self-sufficient, doesn’t need to resupply for weeks at a time. His method of communication is a mystery to me – how those who require his services get in touch with him, I confess, I do not know.

      “What all this means is that he could be living across the street from me and I’d never know it. It means that I have not heard one single rumour about him in twenty years, and the fact that he is here and I didn’t know about it causes me no small amount of alarm and drives me to unimaginable fury. I am, however, hiding it well. You are sure he is here?”

      “We saw him,” said Skulduggery.

      They reached the third floor and stopped talking as a man and a woman passed. The man stared at China, entranced by her beauty. The woman stared at Skulduggery, repulsed by the face that was slowly sliding down his head. China led them into her apartment – to Valkyrie it was as beautiful and elegant as China herself – and shut the door after them.

      “He went after Davina Marr,” Skulduggery said.

      China’s eyebrow raised. “Did he kill her?”

      “He came close.”

      “Do you have her?”

      “She’s somewhere safe and secure – you don’t have to worry about her. This can’t be repeated to anyone, of course.”

      “Who do you think I am, some cheap and tawdry gossip-monger? Sit. Loosen your tie.”

      Skulduggery did as he was told, and China took a small black case from her desk. From the case she withdrew a calligraphy pen that reminded Valkyrie of a scalpel. She dipped it in black ink before taking a monocle from a side pocket. She crossed to Skulduggery, undid a few shirt buttons to expose the symbols carved into his collarbones, and examined them using the monocle. “Have you questioned Marr yet?” she asked.

      “She remains stubbornly unconscious,” he answered. “However, the very fact that someone sent an assassin after her has told us an awful lot. Up until now I was almost prepared to believe that Marr acted alone. She could have enslaved Myron Stray of her own volition, put the Desolation Engine into his hands, and arranged for Valkyrie and myself to get caught in the blast. I was close to putting her actions down to pure anger and a petty need for revenge that escalated into something terrible. But that doesn’t hold up. Not any more.”

      “Because of Tesseract?” Valkyrie asked.

      “Tesseract was put on her trail, which leads me to believe that she had co-conspirators who have since abandoned her, and now want her silenced.”

      China put down the monocle, pressed the pen against the symbol on Skulduggery’s left collarbone, and applied pressure. “If there is a conspiracy, who would gain from the destruction of the Sanctuary? There has been a five-month period where there has been no Sanctuary, no Grand Mage, and yet from what I can see, there has been no dramatic upsurge in antisocial activity. Whoever organised this seems to have missed their opportunity.”

      “Unless the scale is far grander than we imagine,” Skulduggery said.

      “Now you just sound paranoid.” Whatever China was doing to the symbol was having an effect on Skulduggery’s face. It tightened until it almost split, then loosened again. “If you’re right about this grand conspiracy, by the way, you might want to consider the possibility that Marr never really stopped working for the American Sanctuary.”

      “We’ve thought about that,” Skulduggery said. “Valkyrie?”

      “OK,” Valkyrie said, “so two years ago, Marr is working for the American Sanctuary. Thurid Guild offers her a job in Ireland, thinking she won’t be able to resist the chance to work at a Cradle of Magic because, let’s face it, every day here is an adventure. She tells her bosses, they tell her to accept the job, but to work undercover for them. Any Sanctuary around the world would want to gain a foothold in a country with this much raw magic at its core, and America is no different.

      “She starts work, proves to be as good at her job as everyone expects, but all the time she’s looking for a way to bring down the Sanctuary. The Americans need a crisis so they can swoop in. Marr eventually gives them that crisis.”

      “The problem with that theory,” Skulduggery continued, “is that once the Sanctuary is destroyed, the Americans do nothing, and then Corrival Deuce gets elected as Grand Mage, with Ravel and myself as possible Elders. I really can’t see how that would benefit the Americans, or anyone else, in the slightest.”

      “That should do it,” China said, stepping back. Skulduggery looked up at her, his face staying put. “It was off by a millimetre in depth,” she explained. “An unforgivable mistake on my part, and yet I think I shall manage to forgive myself. Could you deactivate the façade now?”

      Skulduggery tapped the symbols, and the face slid away. “You want me to use it only when I have to?” he asked.

      “Not at all,” China said. “It’s just that talking to you when you have a face is quite disconcerting. I much prefer you as a skeleton.”

      “Me too,” Valkyrie agreed.

      As Skulduggery stood up and buttoned his shirt, China began to pack away her equipment. “Then maybe it isn’t the Americans,” she said. “Maybe Marr was working undercover for somebody else.”

      “It could be someone who just doesn’t like us,” said Valkyrie. “We’ve already had Dreylan Scarab and Billy-Ray Sanguine come after us for revenge, so what about other bad guys we’ve beaten? What about Jaron Gallow? No one’s heard from him since he chopped off his own arm and ran away from the Faceless Ones. And Remus Crux. If there’s anyone crazy enough to want to kill that many people, it’s that lunatic.”

      “It’s not Remus Crux,” China said.

      “How do you know?”

      “Because Davina Marr would never work with someone so unstable.”

      “Then what about the Torment? Roarhaven stands to benefit a lot from this. They get the Sanctuary right in the middle of their creepy little town.”

      “But that still doesn’t grant them any great degree of power,” Skulduggery argued, fixing his tie. “There will still be a Council of Elders, and an entire staff of non-Roarhaven sorcerers. All they gain is the proximity of location.”

      “Which is not a good enough reason to set off the Desolation Engine,” China said. “The Children of the Spider are known for their cunning, but the fact is, this may have nothing to do with Roarhaven.”

      “I still think the Torment is behind this,” Valkyrie muttered.

      Skulduggery’s smile was in his voice. “Is that because he tried to get me to kill you?”

      “I think he’s behind this because he’s a horrible old man who turns into a giant spider. But mostly because he tried to get you to kill me. There are still plenty of others to choose from, though. And don’t forget, we only have Scarab’s word that he wasn’t behind it. This might be his last bid for revenge before he dies in prison, to make us think there’s someone else out there.”

      “So,” Skulduggery said, “to sum up: Davina Marr’s co-conspirators could either be the Roarhaven mages, the Americans, or anyone else who just doesn’t like us.”

      China smiled. “I’m just glad we could narrow it down.” She walked from the room, Valkyrie and Skulduggery following her into the library. “And may I say what a privilege it is to be involved in

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