Skulduggery Pleasant: Books 7 - 9

“Maybe the corridor isn’t there?”

“Maybe it’s an optical illusion. Or it’s like Schrödinger’s cat. Until you look at it, it’s both there and not there.”

“But we’re looking at it now, Erskine, and I’m pretty sure it’s there. It just isn’t on the map.”

Ravel shrugged. “It’s an old building. There are tunnels and secret passageways all over the place.”

“But the first thing we did when we moved the Sanctuary was send a team of mages down here to check for things like this. I’m holding the map they made.”

Ravel looked at him. “We sent a team of Roarhaven mages.”

“They left out this corridor on purpose,” Ghastly said, putting the map away. “Skulduggery was right. We can’t trust them. So what’s down here that they wanted to keep secret?”

“Hopefully, it’s the Accelerator, and not just some bathroom they wanted to keep private. We should probably get a squad of Cleavers to go down first, make sure it’s safe and clear of booby traps.”

“Yeah,” said Ghastly. “We probably should. We could go back up and sit on our thrones and drink tea while we wait.”

“Good idea. Safe, too. Tipstaff would approve.”

“He really would,” said Ghastly, and they both started down the corridor.

They found a series of rooms without doors. Those that weren’t empty were stacked with building materials and supplies, and a thick layer of dust covered everything. The power down there hadn’t been connected, so they each held fire in their hands to light their way. Rats scuttled in corners and water dripped into large, cold puddles, and the shadows played as they walked. Ravel stopped.

“I think I’ve found it,” he said.

They stepped into a large room. Most of it was empty space, as dark and as damp as the corridor outside. The Accelerator stood in the exact centre like a giant vase that had burst open from within. Its curved wall bent gently back, the jagged tips almost scraping the ceiling. The front section was open, allowing access into the thing itself, where a white disc rested on its base, forming a slightly raised platform. Circuitry ran like dull veins through the skin of the machine, which seemed almost translucent under the flickering firelight.

Ravel knocked his fist against it. The sound suggested a strange mixture of metal and rubber. Ghastly stepped through the opening, on to the white dais. Hemmed in on three sides, he got an odd feeling of claustrophobia.

“Can’t see how to turn it on,” Ravel said.

Ghastly stepped out before Ravel hit something he wasn’t supposed to. “Let’s leave that to the scientists, OK? We’d probably break it if we tried.”

“I’m sure we could figure it out,” Ravel said, peering at it. “We’re intelligent enough. We may not be scientist-smart, but we’re smart in other ways. We’re street-smart, is what we are.”

“And what street is that, exactly?”

Ravel shrugged. “Probably one of the dumber ones, to be honest. Maybe you’re right. We’ll tell Skulduggery we found it, and Lament can come over and get it working.”

“That’s a really good idea, Grand Mage.”

“I sometimes have them.”

They left the Accelerator and retraced their steps, eventually finding their way back to a corridor they recognised. It was cold and damp and the lights flickered overhead. They passed a corner that should have been guarded by a Cleaver. There was no Cleaver there now. Ghastly checked his watch. Early shift-change, maybe – although he wasn’t aware of any Cleaver who’d ever left his post unguarded in their entire history.

Three mages hurried their way. Ghastly didn’t know any of them particularly well. Brennock was the big one, and the woman was Paloma. Tevhan, the third, was the strong, silent type that liked to glower at everyone.

“Grand Mage,” said Brennock, “Elder Bespoke. I’m sorry to interrupt, but there is an emergency call from Detective Pleasant.”

Ravel quickened his pace. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know, Grand Mage. He will only talk to you.”

Brennock and Paloma fell in on either side of Ravel, and Tevhan waited on Ghastly to catch up. All three of them Roarhaven mages. Ghastly took out the map as he walked, scanning the fine print until he found the names of the sorcerers who’d been assigned to draw it up. He found them, and nodded to Tevhan as he passed. Three names. Brennock, Paloma and Tevhan.

“Grand Mage,” Ghastly said, as he put the map away, “did you know that the sparrow flies south for winter?”

“What an odd thing to say,” Ravel said, and as he turned, he snapped his palm against the air and Paloma slammed into the wall.

Ghastly spun, catching Tevhan with a right cross that buckled his knees, making him drop the knife he was sliding from his sleeve. Ghastly hit him again, and again, never giving him a chance to get his bearings. Tevhan was an Adept, but Ghastly didn’t know what discipline he’d trained in. He wasn’t going to take any chances.

When Tevhan went down, Ghastly turned back to Ravel in time to see him sweep Brennock’s legs from under him. Brennock’s head smacked into the ground and Ravel gave him an extra kick to make him stay there.

“What do you know,” Ravel said, breathing a little faster, “Skulduggery’s silly little code actually works.”

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ament showed them to a small room with four large sigils engraved on the walls. He left them and Valkyrie stood beside Skulduggery in the centre of the room. After a moment, the sigils started to glow, and hazy images of Ravel and Ghastly appeared before them.

“Sorry for the extra trouble,” Ghastly said, “but we needed to talk to you over a secure line, as it were.” His image was transparent but he sounded like he was actually standing right there in front of them.

“I should get this for my phone,” Valkyrie said.

“Trouble with the Supreme Council?” Skulduggery asked.

“No, actually,” said Ravel. “Well, yes, but this isn’t because of them. We found the Accelerator. It’s in good condition but it doesn’t work.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Skulduggery said. “Lament is confident he can get it running. What’s the other problem?”

“We were attacked,” Ghastly said. “Roarhaven mages. People who have been working beside us for the last year. We’ve managed to keep it quiet so far. Our own people trying to kill us is not something we want to explain to Strom and the others right now.”

“So far, our would-be assassins haven’t given us any answers,” Ravel said. “Our Sensitives have tried breaking through but they know how to block psychic probes.”

“Do you think they attacked because of the Accelerator?” Skulduggery asked. “How did they even find out you were looking for it?”

Ghastly glanced at Ravel, who chewed his lip. Eventually he said, “We think our phones have been tapped. And that’s not the only problem. It seems that every Cleaver in that area had been reassigned minutes before, to give our attackers a clear chance. We’ve talked to a few people and no one can explain to us how this happened.”

“I can,” said Valkyrie. “It was Madame Mist.”

“We don’t know that,” Ravel said quickly. “And even if she had wanted to kill us, this is much too clumsy for someone like her.”

“She might be getting desperate,” said Skulduggery. “If she already knew about the Accelerator’s existence, then she wouldn’t have wanted you stumbling upon it.”

“And if she didn’t know of its existence?”

“If she just found out about it by listening in to our conversation, then she may have simply seen her chance and latched on to it, however clumsily.”

“Maybe,” Ravel said. “But I’m still not convinced.”