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131.

She looked up from her desk as Skulduggery knocked. She opened the window.

"I thought girls were supposed to be tidy," he said as he peered in.

Stephanie kicked some underwear under her bed and ignored the comment. "You okay out there?"

"I've been perched on worse roofs, believe me."

"My parents have gone to work, you know. You could have used the door."

"Doors are for people with no imagination."

"Are you sure no one saw you? The last thing I need is for a neighbor to be pa.s.sing and see you climbing up the side of the house."

"I was careful, don't you worry. And I have something for you."

He gave her a short piece of chalk.

"Uh, thank you," she said slowly.

"Go to your mirror."

"I'm sorry?"

"Go to your mirror and draw this symbol on it."

He handed her a small card that showed an eye in a circle with a wavy line through it.

"What's this for?"

"It's to help you. Go on."

132.

She frowned, then went to the mirror.

"No," Skulduggery said, "a full-length mirror. Do you have one?"

"Yeah," Stephanie said. Still with no clue why she was doing this, she opened her wardrobe and used the chalk to copy the symbol onto the mirror on the other side of the door. When she was done, she handed the card and the chalk back to Skulduggery. He thanked her, put them away, and then looked at the mirror.

"Surface speak, surface feel, surface think, surface real." He looked at her again. "Could you wipe the symbol off now, please?"

"What is going on? What are you doing? Did you just cast a spell on my mirror?"

"Yes. Could you wipe the symbol off?"

"Well, what does the spell do?" she asked as she used her sleeve to erase the chalk.

"You'll see," he answered. "Are you wearing a watch?"

"My watch broke. I wore it swimming. I thought it was waterproof."

"Was it?"

"As it turned out, no. Why do you need to know the time?"

133.

"Oh, I don't. Touch the mirror."

She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"Touch it."

Stephanie hesitated, then did as he said and reached out, touching her fingers lightly against the mirror. But when she pulled back, her reflection did not. She watched in amazement as her reflection blinked, as if awakening from a trance, then dropped its arm to its side and looked around. Then, very slowly, it stepped out through the mirror.

"Oh my G.o.d . . .," Stephanie said, moving back as the reflection joined her in the room. "Oh my G.o.d," she said again, because she couldn't think of anything else to say.

Skulduggery looked on from the window. "It will carry on with your life while you're away, so you won't be missed."

Stephanie stared. "She's me."

"Not she, it. And it isn't you, it's a surface copy. It walks like you, talks like you, behaves like you, and it should be enough to fool your parents and anyone else it comes into contact with. When you return, it will go back into the mirror, and the experiences and 134.

the memories it has made transfer to you."

"So ... so I can be in two places at once?"

"Precisely. It can't spend too long in other people's company or they'll start to notice that things aren't quite right, and it would never fool a mage, but it is ideal for your needs."

"Wow." Stephanie peered more closely at the reflection. "Say something."

The reflection looked back at her. "What do you want me to say?"

Stephanie laughed suddenly, then clapped a hand over her mouth. "You sound just like me," she said through her fingers.

"I know."

"Do you have a name?"

"My name is Stephanie."

"No, a name of your own."

Skulduggery shook his head. "Remember, it's not a real person. It has no thoughts or feelings of its own; they're all imitations of yours. It's your reflection, that's all it is. Operating instructions are as follows: It cannot change out of the clothes you're wearing when you cast it, so make sure you're not wearing anything with a logo or insignia.

135.

They'll come out backward. Make sure you're not wearing a watch or a ring--they'll appear on the opposite hand. Apart from that, it's pretty simple."

"Wow."

"We should go."

She turned to him, frowning. "Are you sure they won't realize it's not me?"

"It'll stay out of other people's way for most of the time, and try to avoid any long conversations. Even if your parents corner it and bombard it with questions, they'll just think you're acting strange."

Stephanie chewed her lip, then shrugged. "I suppose jumping to the conclusion that it's my reflection come to life is a bit unlikely."

"You'd be surprised by how many things we get away with that fall into the category of 'unlikely.' You ready to go?"

"I suppose I am."

"Do you want to leave by door or window?"

"Doors are for people with no imagination." She grinned.

She joined Skulduggery on the sill and took one look back. The reflection was standing in the middle of the room, perfectly still.

136.

'"Bye," Stephanie said.

'"Bye," the reflection responded, and tried a smile for the first time. It looked kind of eerie.

Stephanie climbed out and hung on to Skulduggery as he jumped, displacing the air beneath them to act as a cushion. They landed gently and made it to the end of the road without any neighbors seeing them, but when they reached the pier, Stephanie's face fell. She stared in horror as Skulduggery marched onward.

"What the h.e.l.l is that!" she demanded.

"It's my car," he answered, leaning against it with his arms folded. The sea breeze ruffled his wig beneath his hat.

She stared at him, at the car, and then at him again.

"What happened to the Bentley?" she asked.

His head tilted. "I don't know if you noticed, but it was ever so slightly dinged."

"And where is it now?"

"It's getting fixed."

"Right. That's a good answer. 'Fixed' is a good answer. But I don't know, I'm kind of drawn back to my original question. What the h.e.l.l is that?"

137.

Skulduggery was leaning against a canary-yellow hatchback with lime-green seat covers.

"It's my replacement car," he said proudly.

"It's hideous!"

"I don't mind it, actually."

"Well, you're wearing a disguise, so no one will recognize you anyway!"

"That may have something to do with it. ..."

"When will the Bentley be fixed?"

"That's the nice thing about living in a world of magic and wonder: Even our most extreme car repairs happen in less than a week."

She glared at him. "A week?"

"Not a week," he said quickly. "Six days. Sometimes five. Definitely four. I'll call him, tell him I'll pay the extra ..."

She was still glaring.

"Day after tomorrow," he said quietly.

Her shoulders sagged. "Do we really have to ride around in this?"

"Think of it as an adventure," he said brightly.

"Why should I do that?"

"Because if you don't, you'll just become really, really depressed. Trust me. Now hop in!"

Skulduggery hopped in. Stephanie dragged her feet around to the other side and more 138.

kind of fell in. She squirmed down in the lime-green seat as much as she could as they drove through Haggard. There was a parcel in the backseat, wrapped in brown paper and tied with a string. Beside that was a black bag.

"Is that the gear for breaking into the Vault?" she asked. "Is that where we're going?"

"Well, to answer your first question first, yes. That bag contains all the equipment needed for a beautifully executed break-in. To answer your second question, no, that is not where we're going. Before I get to introduce you to a life of crime, I get to introduce you to the Elder Mages."

"Crime sounds more fun."

"As indeed it is, though I would never condone crime in any of its forms. Except when I do it, naturally."

"Naturally. So why are we delaying the fun? What do these Elder Mages want?"

"They've heard that I've been dragging a perfectly nice young lady into all manner of trouble, and they want to admonish me for it."

"Tell them it's none of their business."