Valkyrie Cain's feet echoed loudly, too loudly, as she rocketed down the corridor. Her footfalls fell flat, but as her legs pumped and her feet pounded, she knew she was going fast.
The only question was if she was going fast enough.
Her throat was dry and burned like fire, and her heart was thumping forcefully in her chest. Adrenaline surged through her veins. And they followed.
She didn't know their magical disciplines, which made them all the more dangerous. Her Necromancy ring was so cold that frost was congealing on her fingers.
That meant death. Lots of death.
Her black hair streamed out behind her, soft and as dark as sin itself, so beautiful. So easy to grab.
A hand closed around it.
Valkyrie Cain was yanked back sharply, her feet flying out in front of her, and a sharp cry tearing her throat. She screamed and tried to keep running, tried to pull away. She couldn't. Whoever was holding her, their grip was like iron.
"Come now, girl," a voice, as grating and rough as crude concrete chuckled. "Running away is no way to leave the party."
"Get…" Valkyrie panted, clawing at his hands, "Get away!"
The man grunted, unimpressed. Her grabbed her wrists with his other hand and let go of her hair. Valkyrie turned to get a look at his face, and a kick at his leg. Her foot flew out and made contact with the side of his knee. A good kick like that should have been enough to break his leg, if it was in the right place. The man grunted again and snapped his fingers.
Valkyrie went rigid. She couldn't move. She was like a stone statue. The man swung her upside down and wrapped a rope around her legs, tying it with a knot Valkyrie had never even seen before, then hoisted the other end over his shoulder and proceeded to drag her across the ground by her ankles.
Valkyrie couldn't even twitch, much less fight back. The most she could do was blink. She tried to growl but couldn't even do that. Her mind was gong crazy in the trap her body had become.
The man was not as large as Valkyrie had thought. Or as young. His hair was snowy white. God, that was embarrassing. He had a slight build, and from the quick glance Valkyrie had gotten of his face, deeply lined, but had the body, speed, and strength of a much younger man. He had on a thick tan jacket, lined with fur for the damp cold of the hall. Valkyrie didn't even have on her coat, only a thin T-shirt and a pair of Nike shorts. Not good for the chill. Now that she wasn't running, she would have been shivering like hell if she was able. Her breath plumed out into white mist.
The man whipped out a walkie-talkie. "Avarice, this is Frost. I'm coming around Four-Square. I have Cain. You got Pleasant?"
The walkie-talkie burbled out something unintelligible while Valkyrie silently freaked out. Pleasant?! As in Skulduggery? But he wasn't supposed to be here! Now he couldn't rescue her!
"Oh, they have the others? Good." He turned his head and winked at her. "The Dead Men, all in one cell together. It'll have been a while, I'm sure."
He was still talking into the radio, but the statement was directed at her. So they had all of them. Not good. So not good.
"Okay, bye." He released the button and started talking to her. "We have your friends, as I'm sure you've derived by now. Avarice has Pleasant, Bellwether has Bespoke, Marrow has Shudder, Jasper has Ravel, Fox has Vex, Swift has Rue, and Frost has you. He snickered.
Anger set Valkyrie's blood on fire. He had beaten her. Easily. That wasn't supposed to happen. Valkyrie Cain didn't go down with a fight. She tried to lash out against the cold that enveloped her rigid body, for she now realized that it wasn't just the hallway, it was what froze her, surrounding her numbing her. Fire flickered in her palms, then flew out of her hands, straight towards the man.
He held out a hand, and ice and snow, cold, powdery blasts, shot out towards the flame, freezing it, snuffing it right out. A chunk of ice fell out of the space where fire had been, but then shot towards him. He held up a hand, catching it like a baseball player.
"Guess I'd better be careful," he laughed. "You might even give me a paper cut." He snapped his fingers again, and the cold enveloped Valkyrie, and she sank down into it, struggling to keep awake before falling into blackness.
