Skulduggery Pleasant: A Mind Full of Murder by Derek Landy

Author:Derek Landy [Derek Landy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2024-02-20T12:00:00+00:00

“Hey,” Winter responded.

Valkyrie, wearing jeans and a top that showed exactly how much time she spent in the gym, closed the door behind her. Winter had been trying lately to not let those things get to her, but it wasn’t easy. No matter how tall she got, Valkyrie was taller. No matter how strong she got, Valkyrie was stronger. No matter how good she got, Valkyrie was better.

She watched as her sister looked around, probably noticing every little change. This used to be her room. The desk used to be her desk. The bed used to be her bed. When Valkyrie sat on the end of it, there was probably a teeny-tiny thought in the back of her mind, like, This is the bed I slept in after I saved the world that time.

Winter had never saved the world. Winter had never wanted to.

“How are the exams going?”

Winter shrugged. “I’ll know when I get the results.”

“Feeling confident?”

Winter shrugged again.

Valkyrie nodded. She glanced at the wardrobe, the only piece of furniture that hadn’t once been hers. “How’s your reflection working out?” she asked. “Making things easier?”

“Not really,” said Winter. “We’re not allowed to get them to do homework and we still have to take the exams ourselves. The only thing it does is go to all these extra classes so at the end of the day I actually have more work to do, not less.”

“Ah,” said Valkyrie. “Have you talked to China about it?”

“Principal Sorrows is your friend. Not mine.”

A text came in from Mia, and Winter answered. As her fingers danced over the screen, she glanced up. “I can text and talk at the same time, you know.”

“Of course,” said Valkyrie. “So what’s been going on? Anything much? I thought you Corrival students were always getting into adventures, but I haven’t heard one peep from you on that front.”

“No adventures to report, sorry.”

“Maybe next year, right?”

Winter gave another shrug. “Maybe. Or maybe adventures are more your thing.”

She put the phone away, enjoying the look of awkwardness on her big sister’s face.

“Yeah,” Valkyrie said. “I suppose. Hey, you want to get back to some sparring? I could pick you up next week when the exams are over and—”

“No, it’s OK,” said Winter. “Combat class keeps me well practised.”

“But you’ll need to keep your skills up over the summer.”

“I’ll be grand.”

Valkyrie nodded. “Right. How’s everyone? How’s Mia and Brazen?”

“Mia’s good, but I haven’t been friends with Brazen for a while.”

“Oh. Sorry, I should have known that. So, like, term ends in a few days, right? You gonna meet up with Mia over the summer?”

“Probably not.”

Valkyrie pulled her leg in, curled it under herself like they were gal pals settling down for a heart-to-heart. “Winter, is everything OK? I get that you might not want to talk to me about it. I was the same. I didn’t see the point in talking about my feelings or what I was going through. I figured I could deal with it. And I could. I know that you can, too, but I had Skulduggery in my corner, and that meant the world to me.

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