A/N: I don't own Skulduggery, Anton, Valkyrie or Ghastly. Mr. Weems is my OC though. Oh, pretty much nothing Valkyrie mentions in this chapter happened in the books except the Sanctuary war. Landy being against a lot of things, like pretty young ladies, well, you'll see.
We were putting supplies into the hotel vending machines when Anton paused and looked at me. "Valkyrie, now that I know how you feel I'm thrilled beyond words to have you here. But I do have one request." Anton said and I nodded.
"Anything Anton, what is it?" I asked as I managed to load cans of soda into a machine.
"You start keeping the same hours as me." He said, his voice warm as he held out his arms for a hug. It was all I could do not to give a ridiculous happy squeak and I went to him, melting into his embrace. Anton stroked my hair, then tilted my head up to kiss me softly. I gave my full attention to the kiss, sighing happily when we at last parted.
The rest of the day passed quickly enough and I was relaxing in my room before dinner when my mobile rang. Ghastly. "Yes, Elder Bespoke, to what do I owe the pleasure?" I asked and heard a laugh on the other end.
"You would learn manners when you no longer answer to me. I'd ask if anything momentous has happened but the Dead Men are worse than a group of teenage girls when it comes to things like this. I swear half of them were squealing and giggling. Lord." He grumbled good naturedly. "But I'm proud of you, Val. You saw the person you loved and went after him. You didn't wait too long like I did. Whatever made you brave enough?"
"I overheard him on the phone with Skulduggery." I admitted and Ghastly chuckled.
"That would do it. You know as far as he is concerned your his helpmate now. I'm not trying to scare you, Valkyrie. But Anton is serious about you, or you wouldn't be there. Please tell me I didn't just frighten you away."
"You didn't, if anything I want to stay even more now. I know he's serious, Ghastly. He hasn't said as much, but the room alone that he built for me tells me everything he feels for me. I just wonder how long he felt this way before he told me anything."
"A few years. We didn't say anything because he begged us not to. He went the world over to decorate that room, Valkyrie. Anton adores you. Make sure to start giving him more attention, all right? He's counting on you to lead the way, even though he won't say as much. He knows the way he looks frightens people, so he assumes if he stays away from you unless you ask him to be there- Just, you know, let him know you want time together."
"I will." I promised, than rang off. Anton and I hadn't planned on sharing dinner, but after a quick shower I found him in the office.
"Hey." I said gently, touching his shoulders and he smiled up at me. "Let it go for tonight. It will be there in the morning. Come on, I'll make you dinner." I said and Anton rose and escorted me to the kitchen. I was getting the terrible feeling I'd met him after the one time in the Midnight Hotel and it hit me as I saw to dinner.
"Lord, we fought together in the Sanctuary war, didn't we? I'm so sorry, Anton. I didn't remember until now. I had my memories blocked several years after and everything was gone, just like that."
Anton smiled gently. "Skulduggery told me, but yes, you were one of the Dead Men, do you remember?" I nodded vaguely and he continued. "You and I were together most of the war, we even did several missions together. Then- Well, then I went away for a while, but not willingly, not from you."
I nodded. "I seem to remember that, you just disappeared after the war. I don't blame you, Anton. I had my memory erased. But things are coming back, battles, I can't tell if they are real or something my mind made up. No offense but I'm recalling you being a lot more sarcastic and hostile towards people now that I think of it."
"Oh that. I dislike a lot of people and sarcasm is just one more service I offer. Lord, you're right, I am sarcastic." He said as I set his plate in front of him.
"No worries, now I remembered why I liked you. You're the bigger more sarcastic version of Skulduggery. I seem to be recalling something, something about complaining or whining being for little girls." Anton's face went ash white and I laughed.
"You're fun to tease. I'm not offended. I was at the time, but I didn't retaliate for two good reasons." Anton raised his eyebrows. "You're bigger and stronger than me." I teased and he snorted. I smiled then looked at him fondly. "Don't worry, I meant it about being in love with you, Anton. You're not Skulduggery the second. I'm not going to treat you the way I treated him."
Anton didn't bother to disguise his relief. "I feel the same way, Valkyrie. We're both sarcastic people, you and I, but I don't like doing it to you. Well, maybe sometimes." He admitted. Honeymoon's over. I thought, but said nothing.
Anton retired to his room after and I was surprised. More was coming back to be from the war and if I remembered correctly we'd been so close as to annoy Skulduggery. But then Skulduggery had been being aloof to toughen me up or teach one of his stupid life lessons about him not being around forever and Anton had taken pity on me even if he could deliver sarcastic barbs that hurt me deeply.
I had an uneasy feeling that I was missing something important, that there was something about Anton and the secret missions we'd been on I should have known and then it hit me. We'd kissed before, on a mission and I hadn't even remembered. Oh lord, the man had to hate me. I checked my phone which I kept set on Dublin time and rang Skulduggery. He answered and listened, grunting slightly.
"Well, we'd been told your memory would come back. It was obvious to the Dead Men how he felt for you, Valkyrie. Well, obvious to everyone except me. I thought he felt sorry for you, being in a war at your age. But yes, he kissed you on a mission, he did a lot more than that, you two were engaged."
"We were what?" I asked, floored.
"Are you going deaf? I distinctly said you were engaged. To be blunt, you were lovers. You took a sizable head injury and didn't even remember the man let alone anything else. On the plus side it short-circuited the threat of Darquesse. On the bad side the man went to pieces and buried himself in the Midnight Hotel for years."
"Oh God, I feel terrible. What can I do to make it up to him?" I asked.
"You have nothing to make up, Valkyrie, because the injury and memory loss were not your fault. We all told you you'd had your memories of the war wiped clean. It seemed kinder and poor Anton couldn't bear to tell you otherwise. I strongly suspect any daydreams you've been having were actual memories. Now that you know, that you remember more, proceed accordingly."
I agreed and rang off, stunned. I went over and knocked on Anton's door, my heart thudding wildly. I was so scared. What did I say to him? Sorry I completely forgot about being engaged? Or: I feel really bad about forgetting we were lovers? Anton came to the door and bundled me into him tightly. "Oh God, the doctors said you might remember. The look on you face tell me everything. Come inside, it's all right, sweetheart. You didn't loose your memory on purpose."
I allowed him to bundle me inside to the couch, accepting the hot tea he brought me. I looked at him when he bundled me into a blanket. "You're going into shock. You've just gotten a huge part of you life back." He said gently. "It will take some time for you to feel like yourself again. In the meantime I'm sure you figured out the job was a ruse to get you here. You're off until further notice. I need you to heal, to be strong for me." He whispered gently, tears glimmering in his eyes.
I nodded, cuddling into him when he sat down beside me. "I'm so sorry, Anton. No, don't shake your head. I'd never willingly hurt you. We were engaged, we were lovers. I've had memories come back, I thought they were daydreams to be honest."
"Well you said daydreams and not nightmares so you've given me hope. Ah, just remembered about the Gist did you? I can't believe you used to pat him on the head and he used to let you. I also remember him kissing you and may I remind you he is me, so don't say lie and he didn't." Anton said and winked and I blushed mightily.
"And to think I avoided you because I was in love with you and thought you'd be repulsed by the idea." I said faintly setting my empty mug down on the coffee table.
"Never." Anton said, taking me into his arms, his kiss deeper and much more like I remembered it from years before. He was more confident now, but still respectful, still gentle as he always had been. I remembered liking that about him. Despite his size and strength Anton had always been tender. I was also beginning to separate fantasy from reality. As much as I'd wanted to go further this was as far as we'd ever gotten and as far as we'd ever get until Anton was more at ease with our age gap.
He pulled back reluctantly and looked at me wistfully. "Take this the right way, but why weren't you born a century earlier? You're so young, Valkyrie. I don't know if I'll ever be comfortable with the difference. But I feel in love with you during the war. Maybe that's why we fell in love." He said getting up to go stand near the fireplace. He looked down into the flames and sighed. "Maybe I really am a monster, Valkyrie. What kind of man my age falls in love with-"
"A legal adult? You're acting like I was twelve, Anton. I was eighteen. Nobody would have blinked if I'd had gotten married and started a family with you and you know that. Do you think for one second we'd have been able to get engaged if any of the Dead Men had a problem with it? They're my brothers, Anton. They would of killed you." He smiled faintly in response.
"My apologizes, you are indeed correct. They kept me apprised of how you were doing. They knew when something was changing, around the time you stole a photograph of me, I believe." He looked up, amusement dancing in his eyes and I blushed.
"You knew about that?" I managed to squeak out and he laughed and nodded.
"The doctors advised us to tell you nothing. That if things were to come back they would in their own time. I was so lonely without you, but I wouldn't dream of trying to rekindle our relationship, Valkyrie. I loved you too much and I didn't want to see horror instead of love in your eyes. Until you came here I had myself half convinced it was an ill-advised wartime romance." He sighed and I went to him, burrowing into his neck, drinking in the comforting scent that set of a million memories.
"I want to stay, Anton. I'm in love with you and I don't care what other people think. Of course most folks will assume I'm after your untold wealth and the Midnight Hotel." I teased, tickling him without mercy and he laughed and wriggled free.
"Mmm. I had more than one mage tell me I was only after your untold wealth and the mansion. We're quite a pair, aren't we?" He asked gently and I nodded. There was a sudden sound far off in the hotel and Anton stood up straighter, listening. Then he took off running, not bothering to tell me to stay behind as we tracked the sound, something like a women screaming while she threw heavy objects, to the source.
The door to the room where I'd been sorting old ledgers and other paperwork for the hotel was being hit so hard it shook in its frame. Anton sighed and leaned in, knocking. "Mr Weems? Mr. Weems can you hear me? You've gotten yourself locked in the Midnight Hotel again. If you will just calm down Valkyrie will open the door." A heavy silence andwered and I unlocked the door to stare at pure chaos.
All the hard work I'd put in to sorting had been undone, scraps of papers still floating down to the floor, and in the midst if it all sat a black cat, managing to look rather contrite. He meowed mournfully and hung his head in shame. "You're always a welcome guest of the Midnight Hotel, Mr. Weems, no need to apologize. Valkyrie is the guardian of the key now, you see? She'll take good care of you on your visits."
The black cat came froward, prancing around on his hind legs prettily and I picked him up speaking nonsense., and cuddling him into me. He purred mightily. Anton looked amused. "Mr. Weems was a scholar, gentleman and mage of the old school, Valkyrie, and by old school I mean 1400s. He loved to read and desired more than anything to be able to enter any library, any source of written material, no matter how secure it was. He didn't intend to steal, just read. He found a spell in an old scroll, cast it without thinking and can now indeed go anywhere he chooses so long as the written word is present. Obviously he didn't intend on becoming a cat to do it, but that's why we just don't speak anything magical text we find out loud. He's still a man, just trapped in a cat's body."
I hurriedly set Mr. Weems down and he looked crestfallen. "She's spoken for." Anton said gently and Mr. Weems resumed purring his golden eyes looking at me approvingly.
I think someone may have asked for a new story, but well, this wouldn't make much sense as a stand alone. Just finished Last Stand of the Dead Men, so yeah...