Desolation
Page 37
Nobody said anything until Ronnie walked in. “You try to have a normal life,” he said.
Austin’s mouth twisted, but Ronnie kept talking.
“You do your best to be happy. You go to school and you make friends and you get educated. And then, when you’re done with school and you’re done with this town, you call us, and we’ll come back for you.”
Austin’s eyes widened. “I can … I can come with you?”
“Always room for one more in the van,” Warrick said, walking in. “If that’s still what you want.”
“It will be.”
“What about you?” Kelly asked, and Amber turned. Kelly stood there, arms folded across a Dark Places T-shirt. “Don’t know where we’re headed next, but if you want to tag along …”
Amber hesitated. “I can’t,” she said at last. “I’d love to, really I would, but I can’t. Not yet, anyway.”
“We could help you,” Kelly said. “I know we’re not exactly a match for whoever the Shining Demon sends after you next, but there’s safety in numbers, Amber. If you and Milo hook up with us, we’d be able to watch your backs.”
Linda nodded. “It’s what we do.”
“And first order of business,” said Warrick, “is using that fancy key of yours to go kill us an uppercase-d Demon. Let us cleanse this town of his stanky, stanky evil so Hell Night shall never happen again, what say you, fine warrior?”
“I … I appreciate that,” Amber said. “I appreciate the offer. But things have … they’ve changed. My circumstances, I mean.”
“Changed how?” Ronnie asked.
“I can’t … I’m really sorry, but I can’t allow you to kill Naberius.”
Kelly frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Astaroth wants him to suffer.”
“So? Who gives a crap?”
“Astaroth was going to hand Milo over to be killed,” Amber explained. “I couldn’t just stand by and watch. I couldn’t let it happen. It’s my fault he got hurt in the first place. If I hadn’t come here, Virgil would probably still be alive. All of this, all of it, is my fault.”
“Amber, slow down. What are you talking about?”
“Astaroth,” Amber said. “He’s made me his new representative.”
Kelly paled, and stepped back.
“Bullshit,” said Ronnie. “That’s just pure bullshit. Amber, come on, that’s … You can’t seriously have …”
Warrick shook his head. “But then that’d mean you’re … you’re working for him. You’re working for the Shining Demon.”
“He didn’t give me a choice.”
The slap came hard enough to bring tears to her eyes, and the stinging that followed burned her cheek. Kelly dropped her hand back to her side.
“You’re the enemy now,” she said. “You’re his lackey. His henchman. You’re the one he sends to collect his offerings. You’re the one who drags people back to him.”
“No,” said Amber. “Kelly, no, that’s not what this is.”
“Then what is it? Come on, explain to me, explain to us all, how this isn’t you joining the other side.”
“I … Kelly, I didn’t have a choice.”
“Jesus Christ …”
“I didn’t. He was going to hand over Milo to be killed. He was going to torture me for a hundred thousand years. That’s what he said – a hundred thousand years. What did you expect me to do?”
“I don’t know,” Kelly said angrily. “Not agree to it, maybe?”
“How would that have made any more sense than what I did?”
“At least you wouldn’t have traded away your goddamn soul.”
“No,” said Amber. “No, I’d still have that, I guess. And I could have watched him flay it in front of me. I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry for disappointing you, but really, what the hell did you expect? I don’t travel the country to help people. I’m not like you. I don’t get into trouble on purpose. I’m doing this, all this, to save my own life. Did you forget that part? I’m not a hero. I’m not going to throw my life away over a principle. Yeah, I’m Astaroth’s representative, but so what? It’s not like I’ll be hurting any of the good people of the world. That’s not who I’ll be sent after. I’ll be sent after the demons, the people who’ve already made their deals, who’ve already killed. I’ll be punishing the guilty.”
“You don’t know who you’ll be punishing.”
Amber looked into Kelly’s eyes, saw the anger in there, the defiance, and she shook her head. “This is exactly what I needed right now, Kelly. This is just perfect. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding.”
“Hey, this was your decision,” Kelly responded. “Don’t you dare try to make out like I’m the one being unreasonable here. There’s a right way to do things and a wrong way and you’ve obviously made your choice.”
“I guess I have,” Amber said, and she shifted. Kelly stepped back at the sight of the horns, and Amber moved past her. She walked out of the house, heading for the Charger. The others followed.
“You running away now, is that it?” Kelly asked. “Well, why the hell not? You’ve got your new job to start, after all, and a boss you wanna impress.”
Milo watched Amber approach, and started the engine. The passenger door clicked, and swung open. He was with her. She knew that, just by the roar of the Charger. She got in, slammed the door.
Kelly walked up to the open window. “If you drive away now, the next time we meet we might be enemies. Have you thought about that? Does that even mean anything to you?”
“Sure,” said Amber. “It means you better watch yourself.”
She met Kelly’s eyes, saw the hurt in them, and willed herself not to cry as Kelly leaned over.
“The more you do it, the more you’ll be prepared to do,” Kelly said, her voice soft. “You’re a good person, Amber, I know you are. I knew it from the first moment we met. But, for all your good intentions, you can’t say for certain who you’ll end up hunting in the future.”
“No, I can’t,” said Amber. “But I can tell you who I’m going to be hunting now.”
Kelly took a moment. “Your parents,” she whispered.
And, despite everything, Amber smiled.
Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: detective, sorcerer, warrior. Oh yes, and dead.
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Four god-killer weapons scattered around the globe. Seven sorcerers hunting them down in a desperate effort to save humanity. Their only obstacle?
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This collection includes fourteen short stories – three of which are AWESOME NEW stories written exclusively for this edition. Two of them delve into the things that our old friend Billy-Ray Sanguine gets up to between books, while the third pits Skulduggery and Valkyrie against a serial killer, a desperate ghost, and a swarm of very nasty insects.
So it’s business as usual, then.
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The Demon Road trilogy:
Demon Road
Desolation
The Skulduggery Pleasant series:
Skulduggery Pleasant
Playing With Fire
The Faceless Ones
Dark Days
Mortal Coil
Death Bringer
Kingdom of the Wicked
Last Stand of Dead Men
The Dying of the Light
The Maleficent Seven
A Skulduggery Pleasant story collection:
Armageddon Outta Here
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
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Also by Derek Landy
About the Publisher