Skulduggery Pleasant: Books 7 – 9: The Darquesse Trilogy. Derek Landy
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God, teach me now!”
Doran laughed, stood behind her, used one hand to guide her arm while the other hand was on her hip. He spoke softly, into her ear, and she nodded as she listened. Elsie looked at Sean. He wasn’t looking impressed any more. Now he just looked jealous. Elsie couldn’t help it – she was disappointed. Doran was just a thug and an idiot who followed Kitana around like almost every other seventeen-year-old boy in their school. But Elsie had thought Sean was different. She walked over.
Light flared in Kitana’s hand and the chimney blew apart. She screamed in delight, hugged Doran.
“That was cool,” Elsie said to Sean. He murmured. She smiled. “Maybe we should try it.”
“Knock yourself out,” he said, and walked away from her.
Her heart did that sinking thing again. Sometimes it seemed like the only reason it ever rose up was just so it could sink back down. She followed Sean over to them, half-listened to the instructions they were given. Doran lost his temper, started calling her names, and Kitana laughed and egged him on. Sean was too preoccupied with figuring out how to do the new trick – she doubted he even noticed they were picking on her again. Maybe that was for the best. If he did notice and he didn’t do anything to stop it, wouldn’t that be worse?
Finally, after many curses and insults, Elsie began to feel the power in her hand, felt how hot it was getting. Beside her, Sean’s arm was trembling.
“Feel that heat?” Doran asked. “Make it even hotter. Make it so that it almost hurts.”
They stood in a circle, all four of them, with their arms held up towards the sky. Kitana had already done it twice.
“Feel it?” Doran asked.
“Yeah,” said Sean impatiently. “Now what?”
“Now you just push it out of you,” Doran said. “All the energy, just push it straight out. Like this.”
A beam of crackling energy shot out of his hand. A moment later, Kitana’s beam joined it, a slightly deeper colour that mingled with his.
“This is so cool,” she whispered.
Sean gritted his teeth. Sweat rolled off his forehead. But then the light in his hand flashed even brighter, and his own beam of energy raced towards the clouds and he laughed shakily.
Elsie became aware of Kitana’s eyes on her.
“Last one, Elsie. You can do it.”
Elsie licked her lips. “I’m trying.”
“Try harder.” Kitana’s voice had lost the playful lilt she used with the boys. When she spoke to Elsie, there was always a harder edge to it. “You can’t be the only one of us not able to do this stuff. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, have you ever heard that?”
Of course Elsie had heard that. Who hadn’t heard that? But that was part of Kitana’s way, to treat her like an idiot. Elsie didn’t respond. Instead, she took that frustration and added it to the heat in her hand. It was really burning now. It was like her hand was about to explode.
“Hurry up,” said Doran, straining slightly. “Can’t keep this going for ever.”
Elsie felt that heat and pushed it, tensing every muscle in her body, pushing it up, out of her skin, away from her, and then it burst through, a beam of orange energy, flashing to the sky, joining the others. Elsie couldn’t help it, she laughed. It was all so pretty. So beautiful.
Doran was the first to cut off his beam. He lowered his hand with a gasp. Kitana followed soon after, and then Sean, and finally Elsie. She was tired, like she’d poured all of her strength into that beam, but every part of her was tingling. Sean and Doran were both smiling, too. Only Kitana’s eyes were narrowed, like she hadn’t really wanted Elsie to be able to do it.
A car pulled up on the road below, and a man got out. He looked furious. “Get down from there!” he shouted.
“We’re allowed up here,” Kitana called out. “We have the owner’s permission. Unless you are the owner, in which case get lost or we’ll kill you.”
“Let’s use him for target practice,” Doran whispered.
Before Elsie could object, the man swung his arms. A strong wind suddenly blew and he rose upwards like he was flying. Sean cursed and they all jumped back, and the man landed in front of them.
“Do you have any idea how risky this is?” he raged. “You’re out in the open, for God’s sake. How stupid are you kids?”
“You’re... you’re like us?” Kitana asked.
“I could see your damn lightshow from miles away. What were you trying to do? Were you trying to get noticed?”
“We didn’t think there was anyone else,” Kitana said.
The man stared. “Anyone else? What? What do you mean?”
“I mean other people like us, people with super-powers.”
“What? What are you talking about? Listen to me, all right? You’re not superheroes, you’re sorcerers, and sorcerers don’t use their powers where normal people can see. You’ve got to be very careful. Secrecy has got to be the number-one rule for you from this moment on.”
“We’re very sorry, mister,” said Kitana.
He sighed. “My name is Patrick Xebec.”
“That’s a stupid name,” said Doran.
“Doran,” Kitana said, her tone scolding.
“We don’t have time to get into this now,” said Xebec, “but you need to take on a new name, otherwise other sorcerers will be able to control you.”
“Seriously?”
“I’m always serious. I’ve never had a very good sense of humour, and I’ve never been particularly good with children.”
“We’re not children,” said Doran, flipping up his hoodie. “We’re seventeen.”
“Anyone below the age of ninety is a child to me,” Xebec said. “Sorcerers live longer than mortal people.”
“Cool,” said Sean.
“So your name wasn’t always Xebec, then?” Kitana asked.
“This is a name I took. It felt right, so I took it, and it’s been my name ever since.”
“And if I changed my name from Kitana Kellaway to, like, Kitana Killherway, that would stop me from being controlled?”
“If you want that as your taken name, sure.”
Doran grinned. “I’ll be Doran Kickass.”
“That’s the stupidest name ever,” Kitana said, giggling. “Sean, what about you?”
“I don’t know,” Sean said. “How about Sean Chill? Or Sean Destiny, or something? Sean the King.” He laughed. “Yeah, I’ll be Sean the King.”
All three of them laughed. Kitana didn’t ask Elsie what her name would be.
“Look,” said Xebec, “pick whatever names you want, I don’t care. I’m not qualified to take you through this. I don’t get involved in any of that Sanctuary stuff. I just live my life and get on with it.”
“What’s the Sanctuary?”
“It’s like our own private government. It has cops and soldiers and they’re always saving the world or getting themselves killed. You need to go to them, they’ll tell you everything you need to know. But if you want my advice, the moment that’s done with, walk away. Don’t become part of it. You’ll just wind up dead.”
“Magic cops,” Kitana said. “I don’t like the sound of that. Can they do what we do?”