“One bite’ll do it. These people you recruit do not need to be sorcerers – in fact, it would be best if they weren’t. The thing is, you’re the only one who can bite, you get me? None of the others, and I mean none, can even taste human flesh.”

“Why can’t they?”

“Because I’m telling you they can’t. You are the only one who’ll be immune to its effects. They’ll be sustained by trace amounts of magic, though they’ll decompose faster than you will. The thing is they’ll want human flesh. They’ll need human flesh. You’ve got to make sure they don’t get any.”

“You can count on me, Master!”

Scarab sighed then looked at him. “You’re going to be killing folk, Mr Scapegrace. You’re finally going to be the killer you always dreamed of being. Do not mess this up.”

18 DARQUESSE

18
DARQUESSE

They drove away from the graveyard.

“Have you heard anything about Sanguine?”

Skulduggery asked. “Has he been spotted at all since I’ve been away?”

“He vanished,” Valkyrie said. “We didn’t know if he was dead or alive. I got him pretty good with Tanith’s sword, right across the belly. I suppose a bit of me actually thought I’d killed him.”

“Well, you didn’t.”

“I don’t know whether to be disappointed or glad.”

“Pick glad. You’ve got plenty of time to regret the things you haven’t done yet.”

“I’m…not sure what that means.”

“Take it home with you and think about it.”

“I will, thanks. So, anyway, we have no way of knowing when Sanguine stole the Soul Catcher.”

“That is annoying,” Skulduggery murmured. “Still, it’s not our concern.”

She frowned. “What?”

“It’s not our case. Why should we worry about what someone like Sanguine does? I’m bored with all of them. I need something new. I need a new mystery, with new people.”

“And so where are we going?”

“That snivelling boy said the Sanctuary Detectives are worried about a vision one of their Sensitives had. That sounds intriguing, doesn’t it?”

“Does it?”

“It does. It sounds new and exciting. I wonder if they’ve seen the end of the world. I love end-of-the-world visions. They’re always so graphic.”

“I don’t like visions at all.”

“Really?”

“I don’t like things being inevitable.”

“Ah, but visions of the future are not inevitable. The very fact that someone sees a vision of what will happen automatically changes what will happen. Granted, sometimes these changes are too infinitesimal to notice, but they are still changes. I find the whole thing quite fascinating to be honest. After all, you’re working against the natural course of events. You are working against your own destiny every time.”

“That’s one way of looking at it.”