The quote was... "Do not jump out at me! I hate it when people jump out at me!" from Saracen. Well done to Guest, Squishy and LionsandTrolls for spotting it! :)

So, on with chapter 37, 'Hugs and Kisses'. Guess who gets the hugs and who gets the kisses...

Valkyrie raised her eyes as Sanguine entered the small, bare, cold room she had been thrown into. She was handcuffed, with her hands shackled to two long metal chains above her head, which connected to two strong iron rings on the low ceiling. Her feet were also loosely chained down to the floor. She had tried escaping, tried every trick she'd ever been taught, but had come to the realisation that she was stuck there.

Sanguine walked up to her. "Well, darlin'," he sneered, "isn't this funny? Normally, the situation is reversed somewhat, and it's you and your bony friend kickin' my arse."

Valkyrie remained silent. She knew not to goad or provoke Sanguine, especially when he was armed with his razor.

Sanguine came closer, and leaned in. He whispered in her ear, "You know, I recently realised somethin'. I like ya, princess."

Valkyrie's blood ran cold.

Sanguine kissed her neck. "I like ya," kiss, "so very," kiss, "much."

"Stop," Valkyrie said, her voice shaking with fear. What the hell was he going to do to her?

"Stop what?" Sanguine asked. "Lovin' ya? Sorry, darlin', but I'm afraid I can't."

"I don't love you. I hate you. I hate you! Get away from me!" she panicked.

"Oh, sweetheart, I know you don't love me. I know you love the skeleton instead."

Valkyrie blushed. How the hell did he know?

"Honestly, it's mighty disgustin'. He's a skeleton. No flesh. No nothin'. And look at me. I'm handsome, I'm human, and I'm pretty damn good in bed."

Valkyrie wondered where the hell he was going with this. Kissing her neck was bad enough, but... did he want to go further? Valkyrie felt the fear course through her veins.

He placed his hands on her waist, and leaned in to kiss her softly on the lips, but at the last moment, Valkyrie brought her knees up and pushed, kicking him and forcing him back. He snarled at her.

"Let's try that again, shall we?" He stalked forward, less calmly this time, and brought his head in and attempted to kiss her once more. Valkyrie spat in his face. He recoiled in disgust, wiping his face.

"Oh, you shouldn't have done that, Cain," he growled. He came forward and harshly grabbed her chin, and forced his lips upon hers, kissing her roughly and passionately. Valkyrie kept her lips tightly clamped together, and tried to move away, but his grip was strong and painful.

He released her after a few moments. Her cheeks were red and sweat had formed on her forehead. He grinned at her, and came closer again.

"You're so beautiful, Valkyrie," he murmured seductively in her ear. But Valkyrie didn't fall for his charm, and leaned away from him.

He encircled one arm around her waist tightly, so she was held in place, and brought his lips to hers again, and kissed her with more passion than before. He prised her lips open and his tongue entered her mouth, while, with his other hand, he touched her up, feeling every curve, leaving no inch of skin untouched. Both of his strong hands felt all over her body, running along her back, tracing her spine, squeezing her rear, caressing her breasts, stroking her inner thighs. Valkyrie screamed inside her head with frustration, and cursed herself for being too weak to fight back.

Finally, after he had felt her so much he could probably sculpt her body from touch alone, he released her. He smirked at her, and pulled at his collar. His face was flushed.

"I hope y'all enjoyed that as much as I did, darlin'," he said, and blew her a kiss. He left the room, and Valkyrie heard the door lock behind him.

She leaned against the wall, and a tear rolled down her face.

Anton blinked. The world slowly came into focus, and he just about recognised the living room around him. He gathered his senses, and realised that he was sitting up on a sofa. He had a skull-splitting headache, and a sharp stabbing pain in his side, but it was bearable. It was good pain. It was pulling him out of the darkness that he had slumbered in for god knows how long.

He was aware of a bitter taste in his mouth. He looked up and saw Skulduggery, Ghastly, Dexter, Saracen, Erskine and Fletcher standing around him. Without warning, Erskine pushed his way to the front of the others, and hugged Anton tightly.

"Oh my god, you're alive!" he cried. Anton frowned.

"Erskine, I do not like hugs," Anton reminded him. His voice, surprisingly, was clear, and not as hoarse as he would have thought.

"I don't care," Erskine whispered. "We thought you were going to die. We were certain of it."

Anton sighed. "Please, show your gratitude from the other side of the room."

Erskine reluctantly let go, but stayed close by. Dexter came forward.

"Anton," he said, and also wrapped him in a hug. Not as tightly as Erskine, but it was a hug nonetheless.

"Dexter Vex, I thought you knew better," Anton said. After what seemed like an eternity, Dexter released him, and Ghastly came forward.

"I thought... I was so sure that you weren't going to make it," Ghastly said. "Thank god I was wrong." He patted Anton's shoulder, and Anton smiled at him, partly because of the emotion of the moment, and partly because Ghastly hadn't tried to hug him.

He stepped away, and then Skulduggery was there. "Anton."

"Skulduggery. You're looking well."

"You've looked better." Skulduggery tilted his head in what Anton recognised as a smile, and also patted his shoulder. "I'm glad you're alive," he said simply.

Fletcher stepped forward. "Hi, Anton," he said. He had always been intimidated by him.

"Hello, Fletcher. Welcome to the hideout of the Dead Men," Anton said warmly. "How long have I been out of it?"

"About three days," Fletcher replied.

"So, what have I missed?" Anton asked them all. They glanced at each other nervously.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Well, let's start right at the beginning," Dexter said. "So, we teleported out of the cell, and then Erskine patched you up, and-"

"Erskine?" Anton interrupted. "You let Erskine Ravel work on my vulnerable and unconscious body?"

"Well, I helped as well," Ghastly hastily added, before Anton became too worried, "but believe it or not, Erskine is very skilled as a... physician."

"I prefer the term 'vet'," Erskine helpfully inputted. Anton made a mental note to check himself over as soon as possible, in case Erskine had... done something silly.

"So," Dexter continued, "you were unconscious from that point onwards. Meanwhile, Saracen was working on me-"

"I bet he was," Anton muttered, amused.

"And Skulduggery was healing Val," Dexter continued, cheeks red. "You were slowly dying, except you weren't because you're alive now. Meanwhile, Erskine and Fletcher found out some important stuff from the papers we stole from the Sanctuary."

"Oh yeah," Erskine began, picking up the explanation. "Firstly, the Sanctuary broke Sanguine out of prison, and they've hired his help to kill us. Also, the Black Cleaver is being used by the Sanctuary against us as well. And, to top it all off, China's got her own agenda to kill us, because, to cut a long story short, she was arrested because of us, and some of her stuff was blown up. So she's very angry with us."

Anton nodded slowly, and was about to speak, when Fletcher opened his mouth. "And, we found a way to stop you from dying. There was this crystal in Bavaria called a Hei... it was a Hei... Heilender, yeah, Heilender crystal, which basically means 'healing crystal'. So, Saracen, Erskine and me trekked across Mount Jenner, and searched for the crystal. It took ages, and it was me who eventually found it."

"When you fell off the side of the mountain," Saracen added.

Fletcher scowled. "Trivial details, Rue."

"So we got the crystal," Erskine resumed, " and we heated it, dissolved it, then crushed it-"

"Actually, we crushed it, dissolved it, then heated it," Fletcher amended.

"Trivial details, Renn," Erskine imitated.

"So we did all that," Saracen took over, "and fed it to you. And you opened your eyes. And you can probably figure the rest out from there."

Anton sat back. "Okay. I think I actually managed to understand that. How are you, Dexter? Did you heal well after your... beating? And how's Valkyrie doing, she..." he hesitated, "she was hurt a lot from what I can recall. Where is she, anyway?"

Ghastly was the one to answer. "Dexter's doing fine, he healed quickly- we all know how tough he is. Valkyrie took a little longer to heal, but she did get better in the end. And then..." he trailed off.

"Then Sanguine came and kidnapped her," Skulduggery finished with a growl.

Anton raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Sanguine snuck in here," Skulduggery said, "and he kidnapped her, and he's taken her to Texas."

"Do you know the address?" Anton asked quickly. Ghastly nodded.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Anton swung his legs round and went to get up, but daggers of pain shot through his side. He clutched his wound and groaned in agony. Dexter gently pushed him back onto the sofa.

"Anton, you've got a deep stab wound," he said, "so you're staying right here."

"But Valkyrie's in danger," Anton protested weakly. Dexter nodded.

"Yes, so that's why we're going to rescue her. But we'll have to leave you behind."

"I think someone will need to stay with him," Skulduggery said. "In case something happens, there should be at least two people here at all times. Plus, he's not in the best shape right now."

"I'll be fine alone," Anton insisted. "You should all go, to maximise the chance of bringing her back safely."

"No, Skulduggery's right," Ghastly said. "Who's staying?"

"You and I are definitely going," Skulduggery said to Ghastly. "Dexter, there's no question about you, either- you're coming. You too, Fletcher; we need you for transportation and a quick escape route. Saracen, you're needed once again for navigation. So, Erskine..."

"I'm staying?" Erskine asked hopefully. There was no way he wanted to go up against Sanguine. He'd had his fair share of fighting already. Which wasn't much, but it still counted for something. And it was still annoying.

Dexter nodded. "Erskine, you're staying and looking after Anton."

"Yes!" Erskine cheered.

"Bloody hell," Anton said faintly.