Read The Faceless Ones (Skulduggery Pleasant - Book 3) Online
Authors: Landy Derek
Tags: #General, #Juvenile Fiction, #Fantasy & Magic, #Horror & Ghost Stories
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investigation. It was common courtesy that ... Tanith, what is the matter?"
"There's a spy in the Irish Sanctuary," she said, whispering. "If
they
know, the Diablerie know."
She hung up. That wasn't the TV she had heard--it had been Peregrine, talking to someone. And he hadn't been in his bedroom, either. He had been at the apartment door.
Tanith lunged out of the kitchen in time to see the shadow of Peregrine's killer in the corridor outside the apartment.
In an instant, she was at Peregrine's side. He was already dead. His warm blood was soaking through the back of his shirt.
She ran to the open door, managing to catch a glimpse of the killer on the stairs, heading up. She gave chase, fearing that she was already too late. She reached the stairs and jumped, running up the wall, closing the gap between them. A door slammed shut overhead.
Tanith grabbed the stairwell railing and vaulted over. Her boot met the door and it sprang open, and she ran out onto the roof of the building. A fist hit her like a wrecking ball. She went down and rolled, dimly aware that the sword was no longer in her
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grip. She got to her feet and fought the dizziness, backing away from the huge man with silver hair tied in a ponytail.
His fist came at her again and she ducked, responding with a punch of her own that got him in the ribs, but it was like hitting a brick wall. It was like hitting Mr. Bliss. Tanith dodged back. This wasn't the person who had killed Peregrine. He was much too big. Which meant that there was someone else on the roof.
She tried to turn, but it was no use. A black boot came at her and she went spinning. She fell to one knee, and a dark-haired woman grabbed her and hauled her backward. Tanith saw a pretty face contorted with savagery and ruby-red lips that twisted in a sneer. She struck out with her elbow and the woman grunted, but when Tanith tried to follow it up with another strike, she was flipped over the woman's hip.
This woman wasn't the killer either. Tanith cursed. She was being distracted while her quarry got away. She somersaulted backward and got up. The big man wore trousers with old-fashioned suspenders, and his shirtsleeves were rolled up on his muscular forearms. The red-lipped woman wore an
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outfit made up of an assortment of black straps that wrapped tightly around her body. Most of those straps held knives of varying sizes.
Tanith waited for them to say something, to boast or threaten or tell her how they were going to take over the world, but neither of them spoke.
Her sword was behind them. There was no way she could get to it, and she didn't fancy the idea of taking them on unarmed, not without knowing who they were or what they could do. They moved with a violent confidence she found unsettling.
She backed up to the edge of the building and they followed her. There was a man standing by the door she had come through. He must have been there all along and she hadn't noticed him. He was slender, with dark hair, and he watched her with indifference.
A thought came into her head and she didn't like it. She was outclassed. Whoever these people were, she didn't stand a chance against them.
"This isn't over," she said, and blew them a kiss.
The woman moved like nothing Tanith had ever seen. There was a flash of steel, and suddenly a knife was sticking through the hand she had used
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to blow the kiss. Tanith roared in pain and stepped back into nothing; then she was falling down the side of the building.
Her hair whipping in her face, she reached out and felt brickwork. The friction peeled the skin from her fingertips. Her good hand snagged a window ledge, and her body swung in and smashed against the wall, and she was falling again. She tried bracing her feet against the bricks, to use her skills and shift her center of gravity, but her own momentum was working against her, and still she fell.
She stuck both arms out and grabbed another window ledge. Now her knees slammed against the wall, and she screamed as the knife shifted in her hand. But she didn't let go.
Muscles straining, sweat coating her entire body, Tanith hauled herself up and through the window, into an empty apartment. She had failed her assignment and lost her sword, and her hand was bleeding profusely, but she didn't have time to feel sorry for herself. They'd be after her.
Her face burning with anger, Tanith ran.
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Ten
***
F
inbar's Little Trip
It was raining again by the time they got to Temple Bar, and dark. People hurried through the narrow pedestrian streets, collars turned up. Valkyrie nearly had her eye taken out by a spoke from a wayward umbrella, and she glared, but the woman was already moving on.
"Skul-man!" Finbar Wrong said when he opened the door to greet them. His face, adorned as it was by piercings, split into a slow and happy grin. He was wearing a Stiff Little Fingers T-shirt that showed off the tattoos on his skinny arms. "Valkyrie!" he exclaimed with equal delight when
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he saw her. "C'mon in, the pair of you!"
They stepped into his tattoo parlor, the walls of which were layered with designs and pictures and photographs. The
whir
of the needle drifted down from upstairs. Music was playing somewhere.
"How's it going?" Finbar asked, nodding his head as if they had already answered.
"We're on a case," Skulduggery said. "We're hoping you might be able to help us."
"That's awesome, man, yeah. Hey, Skul-man, did you hear? Sharon's pregnant! I'm gonna be a dad!"
"That's ... great news, Finbar."
"It is, isn't it? I know, I mean, I know it's a lot of responsibility and all, and I know I haven't been, like, the most responsible of cats. I know what you're thinking--you're thinking,
Now that's an understatement,
isn't that right?"
Finbar laughed, and Skulduggery shook his head.
"Not really."
"You know me too well, man! You remember how I used to be? Remember all the crazy stuff I used to get up to?"
"No."
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"Man, those were the days, huh? But hey, I've calmed down. Sharon's been, like, this beacon of light, yeah? I have mended my ways, I can tell you that much. I'm ready for a kid. I'm ready for that responsibility."
"That's wonderful to hear," Skulduggery said.
"Hey, you know, I was thinking ... Skul-man, would you do us the honor of being godfather to our child?"
"No," Skulduggery said immediately.
Finbar shrugged. "That's cool, that's cool. Sharon might be disappointed though."
"Sharon doesn't know me."
"And hopefully that'll ease the blow, but ... I'm sorry, man, you wanted my help with something? "
Skulduggery explained that they needed him to go into a trance and find the location of the gateway, and Finbar nodded, eyes half closed. Once or twice, Valkyrie was sure he was already
in
the trance, but when Skulduggery had finished explaining, he nodded again.
"No problemo, el Skulduggo," he said. "I'm gonna need absolute peace and quiet though. Being a Sensitive isn't like any other kind of magic. I
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need total and utter seclusion, you know? Most Sensitives are hermits, like, living in caves and monasteries, somewhere in the mountains...." He looked around, eyes settling on the small kitchen at the back of the shop. "I'll do it in there."
They followed him in. He flicked on the light, and Valkyrie closed the door while Skulduggery drew the tattered curtains across the window. Finbar took a map from a cupboard and laid it on the table.
He sat and closed his eyes, and began to mutter in a language Valkyrie didn't understand. Then he started to hum. At first she thought he was humming an ancient chant, something to elevate his consciousness to the higher plane. Then she recognized the first few bars of "Eat the Rich" by Aerosmith, and she stopped trying to guess what he was doing.
"Okay," he said in a dreamy voice, "I'm floating, man. I'm up here. Floating up through the ceiling ... into the open ... floating through the sky ... Dublin looks so pretty, even when it's raining...."
"Finbar," Skulduggery said. "Can you hear me?"
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Finbar murmured happily. "Can you hear me, Finbar?" Skulduggery said louder.
"Skul-man." Finbar smiled. "Hey, how are you? Coming in loud and clear...."
"Do you remember what you're looking for? "
Finbar nodded, his eyes still shut. "Oh yeah. The gate. For the Faceless Ones. Creepy critters, man."
"Yes, they are."
Valkyrie watched Finbar frown slightly.
"I think," he said slowly, "I think I can
feel
them, man...."
Skulduggery tilted his head. "Stay away, Finbar. Stay away from them."
"That's a ... that's a good idea...."
"You're looking for the lines of magic, remember?"
"Yep ... I remember...." His hands drifted across the map. "I'm flying now. Ooh, this is nice. I can feel the clouds between my fingers. I can see the lines all around me. They're glowing, like gold, like glitter. So pretty ..."
His smile faded a little. "Wait. These ... these lines aren't glowing. They're dull. Getting duller."
"Where are you?"
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"Hold on, man, just going a bit closer ..."
"Keep your distance, Finbar."
"I'll be okay ..."
Valkyrie glanced at Skulduggery. They waited a few moments.
"It's rotten," Finbar said. Something in his voice had changed. He was no longer dreamy. "The lines, they've turned black. They're rotting away."
"Where are you?"
"I can hear them. I can ... I can hear their whispers...."
"Who can you hear?"
"The Faceless Ones."
"Don't. Can you hear me? Stay away from them."
"Oh God."
"Finbar, stay away--"
"Oh God, they know where we are.
They know where we are.
They've found us and they're waiting to be let in.
They're at the gate and they're waiting to he let in!"
"Finbar," Skulduggery said urgently. "Where are you? Tell us where you are right
now."
Finbar extended his arm toward the sink, and
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Valkyrie jerked her head back to avoid the knife that flew into his hand. He stabbed downward into the map, and then his arms dropped by his sides and his head dipped.
"Finbar?" Skulduggery said softly. "Finbar, can you hear me? "
A low chuckle escaped his lips. He flew into the air, knocking both Valkyrie and Skulduggery off their feet. The table collapsed, and Finbar turned to face them. His limbs were twitching and his eyes were still closed.
He opened his mouth, and a voice that was not his, a voice that was a hundred thousand
other
voices, said,
"Cannot stop us."
Skulduggery scrambled up, and something hit him and sent him crashing back against the wall.
"World will fall,"
the voices said.
"World will crumble. We are coming."
Finbar fell to the floor, crumpling like a puppet with its strings cut. Valkyrie stood. Behind her, Skulduggery groaned and got up.
Finbar raised his head and looked around drowsily.
"Whoa," he said.
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Valkyrie helped him into the only upright chair in the kitchen.
"I hate being possessed," he said. "Happens all the time when you're a Sensitive. Usually, it's pretty easy to spot, because you've got red eyes or a deep voice or you're hovering in midair or something, but sometimes it isn't. I was possessed by the spirit of Napoleon for a week before Sharon noticed anything strange about me. I think it was the accent."
"Can you tell us anything about whatever that was?" Skulduggery asked.
"I'm sorry," Finbar said, and Valkyrie noticed how pale he was. "That was freaky, man. That was some powerful mojo. Like, insanely powerful, y'know? My mind just got touched by a god's mucky fingers, and it didn't feel too good."
Skulduggery lifted the map, examining the spot where the knife had plunged. "This is it, is it?"
Finbar shrugged. "If that's where I pointed to, that's where the walls of reality are at their weakest. That's where the gateway is."
"Batu probably already knows the location," Valkyrie said. "He's had fifty years to find it."
"But without the Isthmus Anchor and a Teleporter, that information has been useless to