Playing with Fire (Skulduggery Pleasant, Book 2) by Derek Landy Read Free Book Online

have merit, however, is running water."
    Valkyrie frowned. "Okay, and that seems to be the one legend I've never heard of."
    Skulduggery spoke up. "There's an old myth that vampires can't pass over running water, so they couldn't cross a bridge that spans a river, for instance. Now, while crossing bridges doesn't faze them in the slightest, the truth of the myth stems from salt water."
    "Vampires have an extreme allergic reaction to
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    the stuff," Kenspeckle said. "If ingested, it would swell a vampire's throat, blocking its air passage. Which is why I carry some with me at all times."
    "But-- wouldn't they have to swallow it?" Valkyrie asked.
    "Well, yes..."
    "And how would you get a vampire to swallow the water before it killed you?"
    Kenspeckle blinked and didn't say anything.
    "Never mind," Valkyrie said quickly. "I'm sure, you know, you'd find a way. Like, you could throw the water into its mouth when it's, uh, about to bite you."
    Kenspeckle's shoulders slumped, and Valkyrie felt incredibly guilty that she had poked a hole in his plan.
    "Leave me," he said, a little mournfully.
    "I'm sorry . . .," Valkyrie began, but he held up his hand.
    "No need to apologize. I am a medical genius, a scientific genius, but obviously not a tactical genius. And to think, for the last hundred and eighty years I was unafraid of vampires because I had a vial of salt water tied around my neck. What an idiot."
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    Kenspeckle shuffled off, and Skulduggery patted Valkyrie on the shoulder.
    "Congratulations," he said. "You've just reinstated a three-hundred-year-old neurosis. Our work here is done."
    Feeling absolutely terrible, Valkyrie followed him back the way they had come. They passed the two assistants in white lab coats, Stentor and Civet, wrestling in an empty room. Valkyrie had been here more times than she could count, and sights like this were not uncommon. The assistants waved, then got back to wrestling.
    Valkyrie was the first one down the stairs, and she walked to the back of the screen and stepped through. She jumped from the stage, turned, and waited for Skulduggery. She watched him pass through the image of the door, and a moment later the film flickered, the screen went blank, and the gloom closed in. He left the stage, and the curtains began to drift together behind him.
    "Who was that on the phone?" she asked, trying to forget about what she had done to Kenspeckle.
    "The Grand Mage," Skulduggery said, "checking in on us once again. His eagerness to recover
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    the Baron is making him quite . . . irritable."
    "He's always irritable."
    "Obviously, he's decided to take it to new heights."
    "I wish Meritorious was still alive. He was a good Grand Mage. Guild is. . . He's like a politician, like he's got people to please."
    They left the cinema and walked into the bright sunshine, and Skulduggery didn't say anything until they got to the Bentley.
    "We're supposed to meet Tanith at the library, so I'm going to drop you off there and meet up with you later; is that okay with you?"
    "Where are you going?"
    "Nowhere special. I just have some ... things to do."
    "Why did you pause?"
    "I'm sorry?"
    "You paused. You have 'some . . . things to do.' Why did you pause?"
    "No reason, I just-- "
    "You're up to something."
    "No-- "
    "Then why'd you pause?"
    "Get in the car."
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    She got in. He got in.
    "Seat belt," he said.
    "Why'd you pause?"
    His head drooped. "Because I'm up to something."
    "And why can't I come with you?"
    "Because it's something sneaky."
    "Do you promise to tell me later?"
    "I do."
    "Well all right then." She clicked her seat belt into place. "Let's go."
    Valkyrie went into the tenement building and climbed the stairs, passing a man who didn't have a shadow. She got to the third floor just as China Sorrows crossed from the library to her apartment.
    "Valkyrie," China said. "How nice to see you again so soon." The skirt she wore was a light green, and the jacket was of a green deeper than a thousand crushed emeralds.