Satya Eka woke up to the sound of Hopeless by Dionne Farris.
"Turn it off," She heard a voice mumble in her ear groggily.
Satya sighed, sitting up, holding the sheet to her body as she grabbed her phone, "Hopeless, this better be good."
"Baron Vengeous has been broken out of prison."
Satya blinked, straightening up. She shifted so the arm that was wrapped around her waist was pushed off, "I'll be there soon," She promised.
She hung up, grabbing her underwear that had shifted to under the bed.
"And where are you going?" China Sorrows asked, running a hand through her hair as she sat up, yawning.
"Sanctuary business," Satya said shortly.
"Care to elaborate?"
Satya buttoned her shirt, shooting her a wicked grin, "I'm sure you'll hear about it soon enough." As soon as she spoke, China's phone rang.
She reached for it and answered it, "Speak." She was silent for a moment before she tilted her head, "That is very interesting, thank you." She hung up.
"I suspect we both got very similar calls," Satya said, tucking in her shirt to her skirt.
"Baron Vengeous is out and has recovered the final ingredient he needs to raise the Grotesquery to bring back the Faceless Ones," China said.
Satya tilted her head, "I still find it weird how free you are with your information these days," She said, leaning over the bed to kiss her.
"Well, continue doing whatever it is you did last night then I'll continue to be free with my tongue," China said, once she pulled away.
Satya grinned, "Sounds like a deal.
00000000000
"Why is he crying?" Melissa Edgley asked her daughter as she tapped away at her keyboard.
"Because I punched him in the nose," Valkyrie said bluntly.
Melissa raised her head in alarm, looking at the sniffling Vaurien Scapegrace, "And why did you do that for?!"
"Because he was trying to kill me," Valkyrie answered and raised his cuffed hands with one sharp movement.
"Ah," Melissa nodded, "Go on then. The Grand Mage wants to see you after."
Behind Valkyrie and Scapegrace, Dexter Vex snorted, "Grand mage," He repeated with a grin, "Never gets old."
"Behave, Vex," Skulduggery Pleasant said, his skull emotionless and blank, "Afterall, he could fire us."
Valkyrie snorted, earning a glare from her mother, "Sorry, Administrator," She apologised.
Her mother threw a pen at her as she walked off. Dexter pushed the now openly sobbing Scapegrace towards the cells, "I'll handle this idiot," He said, "Go see Hopeless."
Valkyrie followed Skulduggery who waited for her to match his stride before asking, "Are you alright? You took quite the fall."
She shrugged, "Scapegrace managed to break most of it," She said, "Might need to grab more healing stones, though. I think I'll have some wicked bruises on my side tomorrow morning."
"We can stop by Grouse after," Skulduggery told her, opening the door to the Grand Mage's office, "No doubt he'll be excited to have the chance to tell me off again."
Valkyrie laughed at that but immediately stopped when she saw the grim faces of the office's occupants.
"About damn time," Satya muttered, shaking her head. She sat on the sofa, her right leg crossed over the other with a glass of wine in hand. Next to her sat Erskine Ravel, looking somber and tired.
Grand Mage Hopeless was leaning against his desk, dressed in the compulsory black robes of the Elders of the Sanctuary. He, unlike the man next to him, managed to wear the robes with a type of grace that was only available to good-looking people. The man who stood next to him was Thurid Guild. He looked to be in his sixties, with thinning gray hair and a lined face and cold eyes. And was thoroughly unlikable, in Valkyrie's opinion. On Hopeless' other side stood Mr Bliss- Or Elder Bliss, as he had been selected by Hopeless to advise him in running the Sanctuary. He was bald, tall, and broad-shouldered, with eyes a piercing blue- Eyes that were similar to his beautiful sister's, China Sorrows.
"This isn't a conversation for children," Guild sniffed, looking like someone had tracked mud onto his million dollar carpet.
"Valkyrie is an apprentice and therefore needs to be briefed on what she will be working on alongside us," Satya said boredly. Valkyrie hid a grin, knowing that the woman wanted to do nothing more than swear at the Elder, but unlike Hopeless and Elder Bliss, Guild wasn't one to take insults likely.
"I have received some disturbing news," Bliss said, getting straight to the point as usual. "It seems that Baron Vengeous has been freed from the confinement facility in Russia."
Skulduggery stiffened before speaking, "And how did he get out?"
"Violently, from the reports we've been getting," Guild said. "Nine Cleavers were killed, along with approximately one third of the prisoners. His cell, like all the cells, was securely bound. Nobody should have been able to use magic in any of them."
"Who is he?" Valkyrie asked, ignoring Guild's scathing glare.
"If Scapegrace was a one and Serpine a ten," Skulduggery started, "Vengeous is an eleven."
Valkyrie blinked then nodded, "Bad guy, right."
"Baron Vengeous was one of Mevolent's infamous Three Generals. Dangerously fanatical, extremely intelligent, and very, very powerful," Satya said, "He has the power to simply look at someone and cause them to rupture."
"Do we know who's freed them?" Skulduggery asked.
"Reports are still coming in," Hopeless said with a sigh, "But according to the Russians, one wall of his cell was cracked like someone had hit it."
"The prison's location is a closely guarded secret," Bliss said. "It is well hidden and well protected. Whoever is behind this had inside knowledge."
Guild made a face. "That's the Russians' problem, not ours. The only thing we have to concern ourselves with is stopping Vengeous."
"You think he'll come here, then?" Valkyrie asked.
Guild chose to ignore her question.
"Vengeous is unfortunately not fans of any of us," Erskine said with a wry smile, "Skulduggery, especially."
"I think we can assume," Guild said, "That if Baron Vengeous is not already here, then he will be arriving shortly. You arrested him eighty years ago. We're relying on you to do it again."
"We'll get it done," Skulduggery said solemnly. Valkyrie wanted to look at him to see if he was mocking the old man.
"Good," and with that- and another glare at Valkyrie- he left the office.
"Grand Mage," Bliss nodded respectively, about to take his leave too, "Detectives."
They all nodded back. As soon as the door shut, Satya said, "What do we do?"
"Go see China," Skulduggery ordered, "Find out what she knows."
"Way ahead of you," Satya told him, "She says that Vengeous has found the final key ingredient to waking the Grotesquery."
Skulduggery shook his head, "Impossible- He'll need Vile's armor."
"Time out, please," Valkyrie held out her hands to cease the conversation, "Someone explain to me what this Gross thing is."
"Before he was caught, Baron Vengeous was given the task of resurrecting a Faceless One from the remains found in a long-forgotten tomb," Hopeless began, choosing to sit down at his seat behind his desk.
Valkyrie frowned. "Is that even possible? Bringing one of them back to life after all this time?"
It was Skulduggery who answered her. "Bringing the Faceless One back whole proved to be beyond his abilities, so Vengeous combined the remains with parts and organs from other creatures, forming a hybrid—what he called a Grotesquery. But even then, an ingredient was missing."
"Two ingredients, apparently. First, he needed a Necromancer's power to revive it, and then, once it was alive, he needed something to keep it that way. When Lord Vile died, Vengeous thought he could harness Vile's power. Vile was a Necromancer, a practitioner of death magic—shadow magic. It is the Necromancer way to place most of their power in an object, or a weapon, or, in this case, his armor," Satya explained.
"So if Vengeous wore that armor," Valkyrie said, "he'd have all Vile's power. …"
"But he couldn't find the armor," Skulduggery said. "Lord Vile died alone, and his armor was lost." Was it just Valkyrie or was Skulduggery glaring at Satya?
"What about the other missing ingredient? Did he find out what that was?" Erskine asked.
"If he did, China doesn't know," Satya said with a sigh, "But he has recovered it and now he can raise the Grotesquery if he had the armor."
"But if he did, and he revived this thing, what would it do? Would we be able to stop it?"
Skulduggery hesitated for a split second. "The threat the Grotesquery would pose is a little bigger than that. Theoretically, it would be able to summon the Faceless Ones back to this world, by opening a portal through realities."
"A portal?" Valkyrie said, a little doubtfully.
"Yes, but the Grotesquery would have to be at full strength to do it, and that's not going to happen."
"Why not?"
"A heart had to be provided for it, but the only one suitable was the heart of a Cú Gealach."
"I'm sorry?"
"Cú na Gealaí Duibhe," Erskine repeated for her, "It means Hound of the Black Moon. They're a race of vicious beasts that were the only beings strong enough to hold the power of the half god."
"Regardless," Skulduggery said, his tone cautiously optimistic, "He wouldn't be able to revive it unless the stars, sun and moon were aligned."
"Which is in two days," Hopeless said quietly.
The skeleton's shoulders slumped, "Of course it is."
"Well," Satya stood, "I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about in preparation to find the bastard but darling Valkyrie has training to get to-" Valkyrie sighed in defeat. "I'll fill Dexter in with what he missed."
Hopeless nodded, "Good. I'll call Saracen, maybe he can go to the prison if he is still in Russia."
"I'll drag Robin out of the hotel," Erskine grumbled.
Valkyrie grinned, "Good luck with that."
Erskine narrowed his eyes, "Have fun getting beaten up by Tanith and Dexter."
Valkyrie winced at that, already feeling the bruises she would wake up with.
00000000000
Valkyrie woke up the next morning to the sounds of conversation downstairs. She sat up carefully, glad to find she wasn't wincing it pain. Good, the healing rocks had done their job.
And then that voice, drifting up the stairs like shrill parrots screeching broke the peace. Muttering to herself in annoyance, Valkyrie stood up and walked into the bathroom. She took a shower, then pulled on her school uniform before heading down to the kitchen.
Her mother was there, and sitting beside her was Valkyrie's shrill, sharp-featured aunt, Beryl.
"Morning," Valkyrie said as she passed them, going straight for the cupboard.
"Hi, love," her mother said.
"Good morning, Stephanie," Beryl said primly.
"Beryl," Valkyrie said in greeting.
"How is school going for you?"
Valkyrie poured some cereal into her bowl, and added milk. She didn't bother sitting. "It's okay."
"Are you studying hard? My girls are always studying. They get it from my side of the family, I have to say. It's a valuable work ethic I've instilled in them."
Valkyrie murmured and scooped a spoonful of cereal into her mouth, doubting the validity of just about everything Beryl had just said. Her aunt didn't like her, and Valkyrie didn't like her aunt. She was bitter about the fact that Valkyrie's uncle had left her his estate and fortune, while she had been left with a boat, a car and an ugly brooch- Which had eventually been stolen by the Dead Men.
"And she's getting so muscly," Beryl remarked in disdain, "No boy wants a girl bigger than them."
"And who says I want a boy?" Valkyrie shot back before turning red. She had definitely not meant to say that. Luckily, her mother came to the rescue, "Steph's always been independent," She said with a laugh, "She's doing lots of sports and learning martial arts."
Beryl wrinkled her nose, about to burst into a lecture when Valkyrie's father came in, dressed in smart trousers, undershirt, and a tie around his bare neck. He winked at Valkyrie, then noticed his sister-in-law.
"Beryl," he said, utterly failing to hide his dismay.
"Desmond, good morning."
"Beryl, what are you doing here? It's not even eight o'clock. You know I don't like seeing you before I've had my first cup of coffee."
Beryl laughed that hideous fake laugh of hers. "Oh Desmond, you're such a messer! I'm just here to talk to Melissa, that's all. We've got a lot to organize for tomorrow night."
"Oh dear God, the family reunion thing." Valkyrie pulled a face, managing to hide her expression from her aunt as she spooned cereal into her mouth hurriedly.
"It'll be wonderful!"
"But you'll be there," her dad said, puzzled, and Valkyrie nearly choked on her cereal.
Her mum looked up at him. "You forgot your shirt."
"Oh yes, the reason I'm here. I don't have a clean one."
"Behind the door."
He turned, saw the crisp white shirt hanging on the coat hook, and rubbed his hands together. He took it off the hook and put it on, sliding the collar up beneath the tie as he buttoned it. He didn't like wearing ties—he owned a construction company, so he'd always thought he'd be in work boots and jeans. But every now and then he had to dress up and pretend—as he put it—to be civilized.
"So Steph," he said, "looking forward to a great day in school?"
"Oh yes," she said with mock enthusiasm.
"What do you think you'll learn today?"
"I can't begin to guess. Maybe how to subtract."
He waved his hand dismissively. "Subtraction's overrated. It's like adding, only backward. You're not ever going to need it."
"Desmond!" Beryl said sternly. "You shouldn't take that attitude. Stephanie is at an easily influenced age, and she needs to be taught that everything she learns in school is valuable. Joking around is all well and good, but some things just have to be taken seriously. How can you ever expect Stephanie to be responsible when all you ever do is set a bad example?"
"I don't know," he answered. "Luck, I suppose."
Beryl sighed in exasperation and looked like she was about to try to give a lecture. Valkyrie and her father both pounced on the same opportunity before Beryl could utter another word.
"I'm going to school," Valkyrie said quickly, shoveling the last spoonful of cereal into her mouth.
"I'm going to work," her dad said, only a millisecond behind.
Valkyrie slipped her bowl into the dishwasher and walked for the door.
"But Desmond, you haven't had any breakfast," Valkyrie's mother said with a frown.
"I'll get something on the way," her father said, following Valkyrie out.
They got to the hallway.
"Want a ride?" Desmond offered.
"Oh god, yes," Valkyrie replied, "My legs are killing me."
Desmond grinned, "I think that's supposed to be my line," He said, "You're acting too old for your age, I'm supposed to be complaining about my legs and back."
Valkyrie snorted, "If you want to go to training in my place, be my guest," She told him.
"I think I'll leave the magic stuff to you, thanks."
Despite all her complaining, Valkyrie genuinely enjoyed training. Sure, she preferred Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays more - When either Skulduggery or Robin would teach her the ways of Elementals - but she didn't mind the days where Dexter and Tanith would push, make her warm up and spar. She loved the feeling of bouncing on her heels, kicking and punching and flipping.
Desmond dropped Valkyrie off outside the school. The Edgleys' had moved closer to the Sanctuary, taking the Dead Men's advice. She had moved schools as well.
She'd been at this new school for six months now, and still hadn't made any close friends. Not that she minded, she'd rather spend her break times catching up with her homework so she could spend all her time after school training.
Valkyrie pulled out her phone as she walked through the school gates, past groups of boys and giggling girls.
Make sure you keep me updated, she texted Skulduggery.
About half a minute later, he texted back Could be nothing but our guys at the docks haven't checked in yet.
She furrowed her eyebrows, You'll bail me out if something important comes up, right?
Of course. That's what a reflection is for.
She headed towards the back of the school, towards a quite area that was surrounded by trees and included a few benches.
Suddenly, she stiffened. There was someone watching her. She discreetly held out her hand, letting the air tell her what she need to know.
Valkyrie unlocked her phone quickly, pushing Skulduggery's contact. She waited for him to answer before putting her phone to her ear, "Someone's watching me," She said quickly.
"Where are you?" His voice was quick, urgent.
"Behind the school- Ah, shit." Valkyrie took a step back as a man in black stepped into view.
He was pale, and oddly beautiful, and way too calm. "There you are," he said, "I was beginning to think my information was bad."
Valkyrie glared. "Who are you? How did you find out where I live?"
"I followed you," he said. "I lost you when you came into town, so I decided to wait around until you showed up again. I even made some new friends."
Now she saw them: a young couple, walking toward her. She knew them. She didn't knowtheir names, but she'd seen them around, holding hands, laughing. They weren't laughing now. They were pale, as pale as the man in black. They looked sick, and there were bloodstains on their clothes. They watched her with dark, dead eyes. She looked at the man in black, remembered the graceful way he had moved.
"You're a vampire," she breathed.
"And you are Valkyrie Cain, and you're coming with us."
She couldn't fight them. There was no way she was even close to being ready.
So she twisted around and ran.
The young couple were after her, sprinting, feet thudding on the grass. She kept ahead of them easily but she knew they were gaining fast- Problem was, she had no idea where the first vampire was.
The man in black was running at her side, moving without effort. She tried to duck away, but he reached out a lazy hand, his fingers closing around her arm, and stopped suddenly. She jerked to a painful halt.
She swung a punch, but he moved slightly and her fist connected with nothing but air. She tried to kick and he took a step, the expression on his face never going beyond bored, and he grabbed Valkyrie's arm and twisted it behind her back, and her knees hit the ground.
"The Baron wants you alive," he said. "Bear in mind, he did not specify unharmed. Do not try to hit me again."
She called him something that she had heard Satya call Robin when he pissed her off, causing the vampire to just laugh.
"How about us?" Skulduggery said as he ran up behind him. "Can we hit you?"
The man in black released Valkyrie and turned, too late to stop Skulduggery's fist from smacking into his jaw. He staggered and Skulduggery splayed his hand. The air rushed into the vampire and sent him backward, head over heels. Instead of sprawling onto the grass, however, his body moved with an inhuman agility, and he twisted sideways and landed on his feet.
"Detective," he murmured.
"Dusk," Skulduggery said. "It's been a while. Still evil?"
The man called Dusk smiled. "When the mood takes me." He gestured to the young couple.
"Allow me to introduce you to my friends. I like to call them Minion One and Minion Two. You can decide between yourselves which one is which."
The couple moved to attack only to get hit with a beams of light.
"That was fun," Dexter said, stepping in from behind Skulduggery.
"Vex," Dusk spat out, his eyes narrowing. Dexter grinned back, "Good seeing you, Dusk," He said cheerfully, "I see you found someone else to hold your leash."
Dusk hissed at him, only to be punched again by Skulduggery. This time, the vampire was unprepared and fell to the ground, earning another hard hit to the head which he managed to dodge with incredible speed.
Now that he could no longer be taken by surprise, Dusk's supernatural grace and athleticism were keeping him away from Skulduggery's strikes. He swept out of range of the punches and kicks, and every hold Skulduggery tried, Dusk eased out of before it was even completed.
He kicked Skulduggery and moved backward, and as he did so, something fell from his pocket. He glanced at it and moved to retrieve it, but Skulduggery held out his hand, and it flew into his grip.
It was a syringe, filled with a colorless liquid.
Dusk shrugged. "You can keep it," he said. "I've got plenty more." Dexter threw his beam of light at Dusk, but the vampire ran off, dodging it easily. Valkyrie watched Dusk and his Minions fade into the cover of the trees.
Dexter swore.
Skulduggery was at Valkyrie's side, holding her arm as he used the toe of his shoes to nudge the unconscious minions, "They've been infected," he said, "but they're not lost. Not yet. We don't want to kill them."
"I'll call Grouse," Dexter said.
"Call your mother," Skulduggery ordered Valkyrie, "You're taking the day off."