Scepter of the Ancients by Derek Landy Read Free Book Online Page A

how much you might want to, do not tell her your name.”
    The door opened before she could ask questions, and a thin man with large round spectacles peered out. His nose was hooked and his wiry hair was receding. He wore a checked suit with a bow tie. He glanced at Stephanie, then nodded to Skulduggery and opened the door wide for them to come through.
    Stephanie realized why none of the doors were numbered—it was because they all led into the same room. The walls between apartments had been taken away in order to accommodate the vast number of books that had to be shelved. Stacks and stacks of books, a labyrinth of bookshelves stretched from one side of the building to the other. As they followed the bespectacled man through the maze, she saw more people, their attention focused on their reading, people half hidden in shadow, people who didn’t look exactly
right
. …
    In the middle of the library was an open space, like a clearing in a forest, and in this open space stood the most beautiful woman Stephanie hadever seen. Her hair was black as raven wings, and her eyes were the palest blue. Her features were so delicate, Stephanie feared they might break if she smiled, and then the lady smiled and Stephanie felt such warmth that for an instant she never wanted to be anywhere else but at this lady’s side.
    “Quit it,” said Skulduggery.
    The lady let her eyes move to him, and her smile turned playful. Stephanie stared, enraptured. Her body felt so heavy, so clumsy, all she wanted to do with her life was just stand here, in this spot, and gaze at pure and true beauty.
    “Quit it,” Skulduggery said again, and the lady laughed and shrugged and looked back at Stephanie.
    “Sorry about that,” she said, and Stephanie felt a fog lift from her mind. She felt dizzy and staggered, but Skulduggery was there, a hand on the small of her back, supporting her.
    “My apologies,” the lady said, giving her a small bow. “I do forget the effect I have on people. First impressions, and all that.”
    “Seems like every time you meet someone new, you forget that little fact,” Skulduggery said.
    “I’m a scatterbrain, what can I say?”
    Skulduggery grunted and turned to Stephanie. “Don’t feel self-conscious. The first time anyone sets eyes on China, they fall in love. Believe me, the effect lessens the more you get to know her.”
    “Lessens,” the woman named China said, “but never entirely goes away, does it, Skulduggery?”
    The detective took off his hat and looked at China but ignored her question. China smiled at Stephanie and handed her a business card. It was eggshell white and bore a single telephone number, etched with delicate elegance.
    “Feel free to call me if you ever stumble across a book or an item you think I might be interested in. Skulduggery used to. He doesn’t anymore. Too much water has flowed under that proverbial bridge, I’m afraid. Oh, where are my manners? My name is China Sorrows, my dear. And you are …?”
    Stephanie was about to tell China her name when Skulduggery turned his head to her, sharply, and she remembered what he had said. She frowned. The urge to tell this woman everything was almost overwhelming.
    “You don’t need to know her name,” Skulduggery said. “All you need to know is that she witnessed someone breaking into Gordon Edgley’shouse. He was looking for something. What would Gordon have that someone might want?”
    “You don’t know who he was?”
    “He wasn’t anyone. His master, that’s who I’m after.”
    “So who do you think his master is?”
    Skulduggery didn’t answer, and China laughed. “Serpine
again
? My darling, you think Serpine is the culprit behind practically every crime.”
    “That’s because he is.”
    “So why come to me?”
    “You hear things.”
    “Do I?”
    “People talk to you.”
    “I
am
very approachable.”
    “I was wondering if you’d heard anything: rumors, whispers, anything.”
    “Nothing that would help