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Back Resurrection Save as PDF
Chapters (81)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. Contents
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. 50
  56. 51
  57. 52
  58. 53
  59. 54
  60. 55
  61. 56
  62. 57
  63. 58
  64. 59
  65. 60
  66. 61
  67. 62
  68. 63
  69. 64
  70. 65
  71. 66
  72. 67
  73. 68
  74. 69
  75. 70
  76. 71
  77. Glossary
  78. Dramatis Personae
  79. Keep Reading …
  80. The Skulduggery Pleasant series
  81. About the Publisher

“I mentioned this to Cadaverous. He didn’t seem to care. Some people like revenge too much. It is a potent source of strength.”

“Fair enough. Thanks for protecting me, though.”

“Smoke told me to do it, in case you think my attitude towards you may be softening. I still very much want to kill you.”

“You’re not going to kill me.”

“Is that so?”

“You’re fighting back.”

His head tilted, shifting the shadow slightly. “You can’t see my aura.”

“I don’t need to. I can tell. You’re fighting Smoke’s influence.”

“I’m not sure you’re right, to be honest. You may be in for a disappointment. If you like, I could punch you to keep your expectations low. That way, if I do end up killing you, it won’t come as too much of a surprise.”

She smiled, but the smile made her lips hurt so she stopped, waited for the pain to pass. When they had returned to their former throb, she spoke again. “Do you think I’ve wasted my time?”

“On what?”

“On feeling sorry for myself. I’ve been back in Ireland for half a year and now it looks like I’m going to die, and I had all this time to spend with my family and I didn’t. I didn’t spend it with you, either.”

“And you think you’ve been feeling sorry for yourself?”

“Haven’t I?”

“I don’t think so. Even if you were, so what? You do what is right for you, Valkyrie.”

“I just think I’ve wasted so many opportunities to let the people I love know that I love them. And my folks have been so patient with me. They’ve given me all the space I needed without even knowing why I needed it. Every few days, Mum or Dad would send me a new message. Never to pressure me, just to … include me, I suppose. To keep me involved. If I die now, they’ll never know how much I appreciate them.” She looked away. “I’ve got something in my head. A recurring thought, or a … a belief. It resurfaces every once in a while. Sometimes I feel that I’m already dead, you know? Like I’m an actual corpse. That’s weird, isn’t it?”

“For anyone apart from me, that would be considered unusual, yes.”

“I thought, maybe, because I have this belief, that I’d be used to it by now. The idea of death, I mean. But the prospect of real death, of actual death … It’s still terrifying. I don’t want to die, Skulduggery.”

“You’re probably not going to have a choice.”

“I want to see my family.”

“I’m going to kill you.”

“Stop saying that.”