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 this investigation at its inception. It fills my heart with warmth to know that, finally, you trust me enough to bother me with things at a much earlier stage than I am used to or am, indeed, happy with.”
“They say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit,” Valkyrie said.
China glanced at her. “They’ve obviously never met me.”
“The fact is,” Skulduggery said as they walked through the labyrinth of bookcases, “over the past few years you’ve proven yourself to be someone who can be depended on.”
“And the unfortunate side effect of that,” Valkyrie continued, “is that you get to join our little crime-fighting club, whether you like it or not.”
China stopped, and turned to them, a slight frown on her face. “Does this mean … Please don’t tell me this means we are all now friends. I have done very well without friends up to this point and I have no intention of developing any now.”
Valkyrie frowned. “You make us sound like a rash.”
“An irritation that shows up when you least want it? I think the analogy is quite apt.”
“You do realise that I know what all the big words you’re using mean, right?”
“And there I was, trying to baffle you with my verbiage.”
“Understood that, too.” Valkyrie glimpsed a familiar face in among the stacks. “Be right back,” she said. They walked on and she approached her friend. “This is where we first met,” she said.
Tanith Low looked up, and smiled. “God, that seems like a hundred years ago. You were so small.”
“I was never small.”
“And so narrow. Now look at you. How are the arms?”
“I’m not showing you.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not. We’re in the middle of a library.”
“A library frequented solely by freaks and other assorted weirdos. I haven’t seen the arms in weeks. Come on.”
Valkyrie tried to sigh, but ended up grinning. She unzipped her jacket and took it off.
“Damn,” Tanith said, drawing the word out. “I hope Fletcher appreciates all the work I’ve put in to making his girlfriend rock solid.”
“I’ve
