The Faceless Ones

Chapter Seventeen. The Dark Little Secret

China was sitting at her desk, cataloging new arrivals to her library, when Remus Crux came storming into the apartment. His entrance was so dramatic that she almost arched an eyebrow. If he had had a chin, it would probably be thrusting.

"Remus," she said. "What a lovely surprise."

"Your charms won't work on me," Crux sneered. "Unlike every other simpleton who falls in love with you, I have a will of iron. You won't be able to cloud my thoughts."

"I doubt I'd even be able to find them.»She smiled graciously and his face slackened for a moment, but then he closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Stop what you're doing, or I will arrest you."

China stood up from the desk. She was wearing blue today. "Remus, despite what you've heard, I can't control what other people feel. I'm just standing here. Any emotion you're feeling is coming all by itself."

His hand moved into his jacket, and she didn't try to stop him as he pulled out his gun and aimed at her.

"Stop it," he snarled.

"I can't."

"You are influencing the mind of an agent of the Sanctuary. That is a criminal offense."

"It is?"

"You are impeding an investigation!"

"You came to see me, Remus, and you still haven't told me why. Would you like some tea?"

Without waiting for his response, she crossed to the sideboard. The symbols she had carved into the wood glowed with heat as she lifted the teapot to the delicate cup and poured.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him gripping the gun so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain," he said. "They are fugitives from justice, and you will deliver them to me."

"I don't know where they are."

"But you can find them. You can use your network of informants and spies to track them down."

She laughed. "Informants and spies? You make it all sound so glamorous."

Holding the saucer in her left hand, she raised the cup to her lips and took a delicate sip.

Realizing that the gun was having no effect on her, Crux holstered it. "You will do what I say, or I will make your life uncomfortable."

"I don't mean to upset you, Remus, but there is nothing about you that scares me in the slightest. When I look at you, all I see is an insecure little man trying to step out of the shadow of his predecessor. But Skulduggery casts a long shadow, doesn't he?"

"You think it's jealousy?" Crux smiled. "That's why I'm so keen to bring him in? It's not jealousy, Miss Sorrows. I know who he is. I've heard the stories about him. I've even heard a story that very few people have heard. I think you know it."

"I'm sure I do. Are you sure you won't have some tea?"

"You're not grasping the seriousness of the situation. I heard this one particular story from a dying man, who wanted to pass on his biggest secret before he left us. He was a Necromancer, actually. I've never had much time for death magicians, but he was different. Do I have your attention yet? "

China sighed and took her tea over to the desk. "Say what you have to say, Remus. I have a business to attend to."

He leaned in. "I know how Skulduggery Pleasant came back from the dead, Miss Sorrows, and I know what happened after. And I know what you did."

She observed him with cold eyes and said nothing.

"I've known for the last two years," Crux continued. "I went looking for evidence to support this claim, but I had neither the resources nor the authority available to me. But since the Grand Mage brought me in, I've been working at it, behind the scenes, bit by bit, piecing it together.»"I genuinely don't know what you're talking about."

"Do you think he knows what you did? What am I talking about? Of course he doesn't. If he knew, you'd be dead, am I right?"

"You do not want to upset me," China said, pushing her cup to one side. "You wouldn't like me when I'm upset."

"Bring them to me," said Crux. "Arrange a meeting, spring a trap. Pleasant and Cain. I want them gift wrapped and handed over."

"No."

"If you don't, I go public with my suspicions, and you know what would happen then. He has a thing for revenge, doesn't he?"

China's blue eyes narrowed. "He's trying to save us."

"He's working with the Diablerie."

"Don't be absurd."

"He aided the enemy, Miss Sorrows. He will be arrested, tried, and imprisoned. The only thing I care about, the only result I'm interested in, is that he is taken off the streets, and I can do that with or without your help. For your own well-being, I think you should cooperate."

"We need him."

"No," he said, "we don't. He's an unpredictable quantity. We need someone with rules, with ethics, with a moral sense of duty. Someone like me. Good day, Miss Sorrows. I will be expecting your call.»