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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 don’t want to go back to being ordinary,” Omen said. “I want to do this. I want to help you. I want to help people. I know I’m just fourteen, and I’m not like Valkyrie was, I’m not a warrior or whatever, but you wanted me to start valuing myself, so … so I was not useless.”

“Of course you weren’t,” Skulduggery said. A woman walked by, gawking at him, and Skulduggery ignored her. “The fact is, we couldn’t have done this without you. You identified Parthenios Lilt, you rescued Temper Fray, you brought us Lethe’s true identity.”

“Really?” said Omen. “I did all that?”

Skulduggery straightened his tie just a fraction. “You still have a lot to learn, you have classes to attend, and I’m not going to throw you head-first into danger like I did Valkyrie. But you’re one of us now, Omen, and we’ll call you when we need you.”

Omen stood there and blinked, a big dumb smile growing across his face as he watched Skulduggery walk to his car. A City Guard was there, pointing at the car and then pointing at the sign that said NO PARKING. Omen heard Skulduggery laugh as he got behind the wheel.

You’re one of us.

He was one of them. He was part of it all. He was part of the group. The gang. The team. He wasn’t useless or pointless. He wasn’t a waste of space or a waste of skin or a waste of perfectly good air. He may have been the Chosen One’s brother, but he wasn’t the Chosen One’s Brother. Not any more.

He was Omen Darkly. He was whoever the hell he wanted to be.

71

Skulduggery pulled up outside Grimwood House. Valkyrie opened the front door, let Xena bound out into the cold night to greet him while she headed upstairs. Her phone buzzed when she reached the landing.

She stood still as she read the message, feeling the love and the warmth in every one of her mother’s words. She thought carefully about her reply, started writing, then deleted it and started again.

She deleted that, then hesitated, fingers hovering over the keys.

Finally, she just wrote Looking forward to it! and pressed SEND.

Skulduggery stumbled in, Xena doing figures of eight round his legs.

“Good God, dog,” Valkyrie heard him say as he closed the door behind him. “Calm down. Calm down, I said. How can you expect us to have a cordial relationship if you can’t stay still for one second? Sit. Xena, sit.”

Xena cocked her head at him, and sat.

Skulduggery brushed dog hair from his suit. Another glorious three-piece. “Good girl.”

“I’m impressed,” Valkyrie said, and both Skulduggery and Xena looked up. “She only ever obeys my instructions. She must have accepted you as some sort of authority figure.”

“In much the same way that you have.”