Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire

Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing With Fire (sometimes known simply as Skulduggery Pleasant 2) is the second novel in the Skulduggery Pleasant novels written by Derek Landy.

The story continues three years after the events of the first book, which deals with the undead sorcerer detective, Skulduggery Pleasant and his thirteen-year-old assistant Valkyrie Cain as they try to prevent the evil Baron Vengeous from finding the armour of Lord Vile and resurrecting the Faceless Ones.

Plot summary

A year after the events of the first novel, Stephanie Edgley (now known as Valkyrie Cain) continues to work with Skulduggery Pleasant, an undead skeleton detective, capturing villains for The Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is now ruled by Thurid Guild in a new location after the massacre in the previous Sanctuary.

Soon Baron Vengeous (one of the original three generals of Mevolent) is mysteriously broken out from prison and begins searching for the armor of Lord Vile, another one of Mevolent's Generals, with which he will be able to resurrect The Grotesquery, a hybrid monster made from a Faceless One's remains with the power to bring back the Faceless Ones. Arriving in Ireland, he meets an accomplice, a vampire named Dusk. He orders Dusk to kidnap Valkyrie Cain. Dusk bites and enslaves two humans to help him but is unsuccessful.

Baron Vengeous goes after China Sorrows who was once part of a cult that worshiped the Faceless Ones and also included Serpine and Vengous himself. The Baron confronts China Sorrows in her apartment whilst Valkyrie is visiting. Valkyrie hides whilst China and Vengous talk. Vengeous reveals that he was released from prison by an assassin named Billy-Ray Sanguine who promptly arrives along with Dusk. A battle ensues during which Valkyrie reveals herself and defends China. Valkyrie is then chased by Billy-Ray Sanguine who can travel through the earth and structures. After a struggle, Valkyrie is saved by Tanith Low. In the progress Valkyrie steals Billy-Ray Sanguine's razor, his primary weapon, leaving the psychopathic assassin with a grudge against her.

Valkyrie and Skulduggery along with a convict called Vaurien Scapegrace go to the Sorcerer's village of Roarhaven to find a mysterious man called the Torment who has information they need. After a battle in a seedy pub previously owned by Scapegrace with some thugs and a fight with massive spiders controlled by the Torment (who is a member of the mysterious Children of the Spider) they find the Torment and ask for his help. The Torment only says he will help them find the Grotesquery if Skulduggery kills Valkyrie who is descended from the Ancients of whom the Torment despises only slightly less than the Faceless Ones, as he thinks their power will corrupt civilization. Skulduggery takes Valkyrie around a corner and they summon her Reflection, a living mirror image of Valkyrie who she uses as a decoy, enabling her to live a double life. Skulduggery takes Valkyrie's reflection before the Torment and shoots it. The Torment is satisfied and tells Skulduggery the whereabouts of the Grotesquery. He and Valkyrie return Scapegrace to prison and go to find the Grotesquery. They arrive just in time to see Vengeous discover the Grotesquery and Skulduggery attempts to stop them. He is unsuccessful and Valkyrie is forced to reveal herself as a distraction. After a chase in which Valkyrie cuts Dusk with Sanguin's blade, the wounds of which never heal, she manages to regroup with Skulduggery. However, before they can leave Sanguine bursts from the ground and kidnaps her.

Sanguine takes Valkyrie to an abandoned church where Vengeous cuts Valkyrie's finger and spills some of her Ancient-descended blood onto the Grotesquery's body before harnessing Vile's necromantic power with his armor, using it to perform a ritual to revive the Grotesquery. Skulduggery subsequently arrives, interrupts the ritual and rescues Valkyrie. After stealing the Grotesquery, Valkyrie is incapacitated and wakes up in hospital. Skulduggery turns the lifeless Grotesquery over to Kenspeckle Grouse to take apart, however, the Grotesquery has already absorbed a lot of power from Vile's armour and Valkyrie's blood, and so wakes up in the middle of the night whilst being operated on. It kills Grouse's assistants and goes after Valkyrie. Skulduggery and Tanith arrive and the three of them attack the becoming-invincible Grotesquery before escaping.

Skulduggery works out that Vengeous is actually a pawn in someone else's plan and accuses Thurid Guild of being in league with this mystery benefactor. In a rage, Guild fires Skulduggery who decides to go after Vengeous anyway.

Valkyrie begrudgingly goes to her family reunion to bait Dusk who holds a vendetta against her for cutting him, in the hopes of finding the Grotesquery's location. The Torment, meanwhile, has discovered that Valkyrie is alive and goes after her only to be confronted by Skulduggery and Tanith. The Torment transforms into a giant spider - one of his abilities as a Child of the Spider - but Skulduggery and Tanith defeat him nevertheless.

Valkyrie is subsequently attacked by vampires and forced to flee. Dusk corners her and vows that when he has transformed her into a vampire he's going to set her loose on her parents while in her bloodlust. Valkyrie stabs Dusk in the leg with the syringe he uses to curb his vampiric side whilst he is transforming, and as a result, he is caught between vampire and human and put in intense pain. Springheeled Jack comes and rescues her and defeats Dusk so as to frustrate Vengeous's plans because he doesn't want the Faceless Ones to return. He then reveals the Grotesquery is located in the now defunct Clearwater Hospital.

Meanwhile, China is attacked by Vengous in Vile's armour in an underground carpark. He brutally murders China's bodyguards and viciously beats her unconscious before taking her to Clearwater Hospital, his headquarters.

Accompanied by Tanith, Mr Bliss and some Cleavers, Skulduggery and Valkyrie go to Clearwater Hospital to fight the Grotesquery. Mr Bliss and Tanith are incapacitated but the Cleavers mercilessly attack the Grotesquery and almost overpower it when Vengous arrives along with China whom he has taken captive and together with the Grotesquery, kills the Cleavers and beats Skulduggery and Valkyrie into submission. Valkyrie tricks Vengous into releasing her, saying that she will join him but she releases China who attacks Vengous and the Grotesquery, giving Valkyrie time to free Skulduggery who joins in the assault against Vengous, tearing off his helmet and his breastplate before shooting him in the stomach. In a swoon, Vengous crawls toward the Grotesquery, begging it to tell the Faceless Ones that he failed them but his 'god' callously breaks the Baron's neck and crushes his skull. The Torment subsequently arrives and attacks the Grotesquery but he is defeated and almost killed. In the ensuing battle Valkyrie stabs the Grotesquery through the heart, killing it but before it dies it utters a terrible scream.

Sanguine is then seen meeting his mysterious master who reveals that he had never expected the Grotesquery to succeed but he knew that when it was vanquished, the beast's dying scream would alert the Faceless Ones as to the whereabouts of the Earth's dimension, meaning that all he has to do now is open the door. The mysterious man then pays Sanguine and takes his leave.

Valkyrie is later seen talking to Skulduggery on a pier. They reason that they must find out who Vengous and Sanguine were really working for and if Thurid Guild is in league with him. Skulduggery ominously tells Valkyrie "Bad things are coming." They are subsequently attacked by a vampire, left from the vampires jumping into the sea and the book ends with them going into battle once again.