Skulduggery Pleasant_ Death Bringer - Derek Landy [60]
“We know it’s not with the Necromancers,” Gallow said. “That’s something, at least.”
“China,” Scorn said, “what do you think?”
“I think approaching Lord Vile is a wonderful idea,” China answered, smiling. “I think the pair of you should go and talk to him. I’m sure he’d love that.”
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear you were trying to get me killed before I have a chance to upstage you at the Requiem Ball.”
“You’re attending?”
“Why, yes. And why shouldn’t I? We’re celebrating the end of the war, aren’t we?”
“Indeed we are,” said China. “But I doubt there will be many guests there who fought on the losing side.”
Scorn shrugged. “Winning side, losing side, it’s all a matter of degree. And then there’s you, of course. You don’t have a side, do you? You abandoned your side. Turned your back on your—”
“If you’re going to describe what a traitor I am, I feel I have to tell you that I’ve heard it all before, and if you’re finished with me, I have a library to get back to.”
“Finished with you?” Scorn laughed. “China, my darling, I haven’t even started.”
She met Gallow later that night, under the moon and the stars.
“That list of twelve people,” she said, “the important and influential sorcerers Eliza was talking about. They’re going to be at the Requiem Ball.”
Gallow frowned. “You’re sure? She’d meet with them right under everyone’s noses? It’s far too dangerous.”
“Not for Eliza. It’s the perfect excuse to talk to them. We’re going to need that list if we want to shut this down before it starts.”
Gallow smiled. “You want to assassinate them, don’t you?”
She shrugged her left shoulder. “It is one option.”
“The first person we’ll have to take care of is Scorn herself. Once we have the list, we won’t need her any more.”
“No,” said China. “We take them all out at the same time.”
“That may not be possible.”
“Let me worry about that. Once they’re dead, the Church will crumble, once and for all.” She looked at Gallow. “Do you think you can retrieve it without her knowing?”
“It shouldn’t be a problem. You think you can organise the assassination of Scorn and twelve others?”
China smiled. “It shouldn’t be a problem.”
Chapter 23
The Homecoming
hey’d been on the road for a little under twenty-four hours when the Penguin-Mobile stopped, and Clarabelle tapped on the glass. “We’re here,” she said.
Scapegrace slid open the freezer and got out. He watched Clarabelle stretch, envying the yawn that accompanied the movement. He was dead. He didn’t get tired any more. He missed it.
It was another gorgeous day outside. Grumbling, he put on a coat and pulled up the hood to hide his head. Clarabelle left the van first, and Scapegrace pushed Thrasher aside so he could go next. He stepped on to a pavement. It was awfully familiar. He looked around.
“We’re in Roarhaven,” he said.
Clarabelle nodded. “This is where the new Sanctuary is.”
He stared at her. “But I know Roarhaven. I lived here for years. I know how to get to Roarhaven. We didn’t have to spend twenty-four hours driving around waiting for you to remember where the Sanctuary was. You could have just said Roarhaven and I’d have known. We could have been here in an hour.”
“It’s not about the destination. It’s about the journey.”
“It’s a little about the destination,” Thrasher said quietly.
“And besides,” Clarabelle said, “we got to see the sights, didn’t we?”
“I was stuck in a freezer,” Scapegrace reminded her.
“This is my home now,” Clarabelle said, ignoring them. “Or it will be, if I get the job. It’s a lovely town, isn’t it?”
Scapegrace hesitated. “Do you really think so?”
“No, I don’t,” she admitted. “I liked where I was living in Dublin more. I had a nice flat, and I had a gerbil. His name was Theodore.”
“That’s a nice name,” said Thrasher.
“I don’t think he liked it. Roarhaven, though, it isn’t a gerbil kind of place.”
“I don’t suppose it is,” Scapegrace said.
“The people aren’t very nice.”
“They don’t trust outsiders.”
“I don’t think Theodore would have fitted