Going Underground
Valkyrie was woken by the insistent 'melody' of the ringtone of her work mobile.
"Ullo?" she muttered groggily.
"Val, you need to get to Tara ASAP" Tanith's voice sounded very loud in the sleepy teenager's ear. "Only's agreed to help us and told me she wants to rendezvous just outside Tara"
"Alright" Valkyrie mumbled, pushing her dark hair out of her face. "Gimme ten minutes- I've got to get dressed and I'll be right with you"
She ended the call, dressed, and finally she dialled Fletcher's number.
"Hey babe" Fletcher greeted her as standard- she hated this particular greeting; it had come about a week after Skulduggery's disappearance and she loathed it.
"Fletcher" she returned, wearily. "I need a favour"
"Anything for you baby" said Fletcher's voice from right behind her. "What do you need?"
Valkyrie only narrowly avoided attempting to break the teleporter's nose. "I need you to take me to Tara"
"Tara?"
"Yeah- small place; we were there looking for the Skull two weeks back- remember it?" Valkyrie deadpanned. "I need to get there in the next… ooh- five seconds"
"What's in it for me?"
"I won't throw fire at you if you take me?" Valkyrie offered
"Won't do it for less than a kiss" Fletcher smirked at her, cocking an eyebrow suggestively.
Valkyrie repressed a shudder. 'This is for Skulduggery' she reminded herself. 'This is for Skulduggery'
"You'd better be in trouble, Skeleton" she mumbled, starting forwards to press her lips against Fletcher's; she pulled back just milliseconds before the boy could deepen the kiss and crossed her arms. "Now Wrenn, you owe me one trip to Tara"
Only Forever rolled a crystal ball artfully across her hand- it was still hard after thirteen years not to look in on the family she'd left behind; but harder still was not caving into the desire to visit her friends- no, she'd made the choice that night to make a clean break especially since she wasn't entirely convinced of her own humanity anymore.
"Are you ok?" Tanith's voice pulled her away from the dangerous mental images of what might have been if she'd made a different choice when she was fifteen.
"I'm fine" she nodded. "Just thinking about my brother"
Tanith frowned and opened her mouth to speak, fortunately the conveniently timed appearance of Valkyrie and a tall boy who with messy hair.
"What took you so long?" Only asked, ignoring the stare of the boy- she had a strange effect on human men; had since she'd completed the Labyrinth
"My means of transport was being difficult" Valkyrie replied, elbowing the boy. "Are we going then?"
"One thing first" Only held out her hand. "Never liked Necromancers, leave the ring with pretty boy over there, and we'll be on our way"
She could see the girl's reluctance to part with the ring.
"Tanith told me you were an Elemental; that will suffice for where we're going" with a wave of her hand Only had the ring encased in a crystal which she then dissipated. "I'll give it back when our business is concluded; now, I've never done this with passengers before so be patient with me, give me your hand."
Once the three women were connected Only dropped the crystal she'd been juggling and they vanished, leaving a somewhat dazed and confused Fletcher Wrenn to wonder what had just happened.
