Skulduggery Pleasant: Kingdom of the Wicked Read Online Free Page B

of bubonic plague, and I healed him.”
    Valkyrie looked at her. “He really had bubonic plague?”
    “Oh, yes. Well, Doctor Nye looked at him and said he just had a splinter, but I was the one who removed it, so... That still counts. Wait until you meet Doctor Nye, Ed. You’ll love him, if you love big tall scary things.”
    Ed whimpered, and turned his head to Valkyrie. “What... what’s happening to me?”
    “What do you remember?”
    “I remember you. I remember... Oh, God, I remember wanting to eat you...”
    “Yes,” Valkyrie said. “Well, the less said about that, the better.”
    “I’m going mad, aren’t I?”
    Clarabelle laughed. She had such a pretty laugh. “Oh, we’re all mad around here, Ed!” And then she skipped away.
    Skulduggery walked in, wearing a grey trench coat over his shredded suit and a new face over his skull. He didn’t want Ed to freak out any more than absolutely necessary. “Hello, Ed,” he said. “Feeling better? You’re certainly looking better.”
    “Who are you people?”
    “We’re experts in this field,” said Skulduggery. “We want to help you.”
    “Help me? I’m a werewolf. ”
    “I noticed. Hopefully, however, it’s just a phase you’re going through. Think of it as a sickness, if you like. A disease. Your dormant werewolf gene suddenly awakening is merely a symptom of the real problem, and while your situation is somewhat unusual, you’re not the only person to be afflicted. There are others, normal people like you, suddenly exhibiting unusual levels of power. But you’re one of the few cogent ones. Most of the others have been driven beyond sense. You can help us, I think. You just need to answer a few questions. Can you do that?”
    “Y-yes.”
    “Good man,” said Skulduggery. “Have you had anything unusual happen to you recently?”
    “Yes.”
    “And that was?”
    “I turned into a werewolf.”
    “Anything apart from that? Have you met anyone new? Have you been abroad, or visited somewhere for the first time...?”
    Ed shook his head. “Everything’s been normal. It’s just been my life, the same as it’s always been. Well, apart from breaking up with my girlfriend a few months ago. Do you... do you think she put a curse on me?”
    “She’s the one who ended it, wasn’t she?”
    “No,” said Ed immediately. “It was a mutual thing. We both... it was decided that... we mutually agreed that she could do better, so...”
    “In that case,” said Skulduggery, “I doubt she put a curse on you. Has anything else happened out of the ordinary? No matter how trivial it may seem?”
    “No. Everything’s been normal. Apart from the dreams.”
    Skulduggery’s head tilted. “Go on.”
    “I was just... I started dreaming about a man, dressed in white. Argeddion, his name was. It’s unusual because I never remember my dreams, but Argeddion is as clear as day in my mind.”
    “What did he want?”
    “He had a gift for me. That’s what he said. He was so gentle, and warm, and he said he had a wonderful gift to give me. He appeared in my dreams for weeks, telling me to prepare for the Summer of Light, and then the last time I dreamed about him he held up his hand, and he was holding this bright, glowing energy , and he put it into my chest. Then he smiled, and said he’d be back for it later. I haven’t dreamed about him since then. Do you think that has anything to do with what’s happened?”
    “Strange men giving you gifts of energy, and soon thereafter you transform into an extinct supernatural creature? I’d say it’s a distinct possibility, Ed.”
    They left him in Clarabelle’s dubiously capable hands and made their way out of the Medical Bay. As soon as they were in the corridor, Skulduggery retracted his façade. His skull was still a little dirty from being thrown through the rubbish of Dublin City.
    “How are the mortals in the observation ward?” Valkyrie asked.
    “No change,” he answered. “Every conceivable test