A/N: I don't own Valkyrie or anyone else you might recognize. Warning, violence ahead.
By the time he was ten, Larrikin was an intelligent, mischievous, fun-loving boy. Who made friends easily. Sometimes too easily. When he came banging in the front door one day to tell me to come meet his neat new friend and raced back out, I though nothing of it. Until it dawned on me that the Midnight Hotel always set down in the middle of nowhere.
I raced out the door, slapping the silent alarm under the front desk along the way and stopped cold on the front porch. I put both hands in the air, and walked down the steps slowly, facing the elegant yet scarred man who held my son. "Dusk." I said carefully. "Please let him go." Dusk just smiled and put one hand under Larrikin's face and turned him to face him. The other hand went casually to the back of his neck and my blood froze.
"But we are good friends, and we are going on a little trip together. You should pick your friends more carefully, Detective." There was a burst of shadows and Solomon Wreath appeared. I looked at him in shock.
"The first one of you who moves..." He addressed the porch and I knew all the Dead Men were behind me.
This had gone far enough. "Wreath. Let my son go." I said, my voice draining of emotion.
"Why, we're taking him on vacation, isn't that right, Larrikin?" Wreath asked. Larrikin having realized the danger he was in, went wide-eyed.
"I'll give you no final warning." I said, and it was already too late for Wreath, really. And for Dusk too as my shadows exploded out around me. I launched multiple spears and tendrils at once, snatching Larrikin to me as I rose into the sky, striking faster that even Wreath could raise his own shadows.
I impaled both men, coldly reveling in their screams, then, to be sure, decapitated them both. Larrikin was terrified, and I didn't blame him. As I set down I faced the Midnight Hotel. Larrikin started to sob in relief, but the men were still frozen in shock. A breeze played with my black hair and I knew the eyes that gazed on them were black. I couldn't help the smile that played on my lips. "Nobody touches my son. Ever." I said.
"Go to your father, Larrikin." I ordered, giving him a gentle push. Frightened of me, he didn't have to be asked twice. My shadows writhed gently as I considered the men.
"Darquesse." Ghastly said, and I could hear the sound of betrayal in his voice. Anton for his part, just kept staring at me.
"At your service. My advice to you is to aim for the head. I'll even give you a free shot. So, which of the legendary Dead Men is going to kill Darquesse?"
OMG, this could totally be the end!