The Maleficent Seven. Derek Landy

      

Copyright

      First published in hardback in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books 2013

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      Derek Landy blogs under duress at

      www.dereklandy.blogspot.com

      Copyright © Derek Landy 2013

       All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

      Derek Landy asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

      Illuminated letters © Tom Percival 2012

      Skulduggery Pleasant™ Derek Landy

      SP Logo™ HarperCollinsPublishers

      Source ISBN: 9780007500925

       Ebook Edition © FEBRUARY 2013 ISBN: 9780007512393

       Version: 2014-11-04

      This book is dedicated to Brendan Bourke.

      I am brash, arrogant, egotistical and incredibly narcissistic. Brendan was none of these things. Brendan was nice, and modest, and friendly, and he didn’t have one bitter bone in his body.

      He was so completely weird.

      He gave me my start as a writer and for that alone the world owes him an enormous debt of gratitude.

      I may be the Greatest Writer Who Ever Lived™, I may be the Golden God, but Brendan? Brendan was the Golden God’s uncle.

      Contents

       Title Page

Copyright

       Dedication

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

       8

       9

       10

       11

       12

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      About the Publisher

      t had seemed like a good idea at the time, hiding out at her old place in London. Only an idiot would return to a known residence, she figured, and since she wasn’t an idiot, it would naturally follow that they’d never think to look for her there. The fact that they’d been lying in wait offended her more than anything else.

      Tanith sprinted across the rooftop, boots splashing through a puddle as big as a lake, and leaped off the edge. The lane whipped beneath her and the night air stung her eyes. She collided with the building on the other side and clung there for a moment, then got her feet against the bricks and ran on, sideways. She jumped a string of windows one at a time, got round the corner and crouched there to catch her breath.

      She hadn’t seen Sanguine escape, but he’d probably just slipped through the floor and burrowed away. Of course, there was the distinct possibility that they’d got to him before he could do that. If that had happened, he’d be dead by now. You didn’t arrest someone like Billy-Ray Sanguine, she knew, someone who could escape from any cell and slip out of any restraint. You killed him when you had the chance. Tanith hoped he wasn’t dead. He was useful to her.

      She edged closer to the corner, had a peek round. The rooftops were clear. She’d lost them. Her hand, which had been gripping the hilt of her sword, relaxed, and she felt the reassuring