Playing With Fire
Chapters (0)
Playing with Fire (Skulduggery Pleasant #2)
Derek Landy
This book is dedicated to my family -- because otherwise I'd never hear the end of it. . .
Nadine -- Warm, kind, and considerate, I am all of these
things.
Audrey -- The greatest thrill of your life is probably the fact that I'm your brother.
Ivan -- Meaningless words such as "brilliant," "amazing," and "inspirational" have been used to describe me, but not
nearly enough.
If any of you thought that there'd be something sincere or heartfelt in your dedications, allow me a moment to quietly
laugh at you. ...
Because the heartfelt sincerity is reserved for my nana.
Chic, this book is also dedicated to you, for all the love and support you've shown me over the years. I love you much
more than any of your other grandchildren do, I swear.
iv
CONTENTS
v
Twenty-two Blood and Shadows 211
Twenty-three Elephants and Bunnies 225
Twenty-four Argus 232
Twenty-five A Smattering of Slaughtering 238
Twenty-six Murder in the New Morgue 245
Twenty-seven Rise of the Grotesquery 250
Twenty-eight Good Guys Convene 263
Twenty-nine Picking Up a Tail 265
Thirty Fight 282
Thirty-one The Edgley Family Reunion
Thing 286
Thirty-two Shadow Shards 298
Thirty-three The Calm Before the Storm 305
Thirty-four Unfinished Business 314
Thirty-five Attack of the Vampires 320
Thirty-six Giant Spider Madness 326
Thirty-seven Tooth and Claw 331
Thirty-eight Those About to Die ... 340
Thirty-nine Facing Vengeous 353
Forty Fight to the Death 363
Forty-one Billy-Ray Sanguine's Erstwhile
Employer 382
Forty-two Bad Things 385
vi
[Page Blank]
1
Chapter One
Hanging Around
VALKYRIE CAIN hit the parapet and tumbled, unable to stop herself, and with a panicked gasp she disappeared off the edge. The church tower stood high and proud, looking out over Dublin City. The night breeze was brisk and carried snatches of laughter from the street below. It was a long way down. A man in a tattered coat walked up to the edge and peered over. He smirked.
"This is insulting," he said. "Don't they know how dangerous I am? I am very, very dangerous. I'm a killer. I'm a trained killing machine. And still, they send you. A child."
2
Valkyrie felt her grip on the ledge loosen. She ignored the goading of the man standing above her and looked around for something else to grab on to. She looked everywhere but down. Down was where the street was, where the long drop and the sudden stop was. She didn't want to look down. She didn't want anything to do with down right now.