A/N: I don't own Anton, Valkyrie, Skulduggery, Ghastly, Saracen, Donegan, Gracious, Corrival, Hopeless, Larrikin, Erskine, Dex, Gists or Darquesse. WARNING: This chapter tends to get a tad violent.
"Tell me I just didn't hear that?" Ghastly asked hopefully then sighed. "How many of them, twelve as well?" He asked. I exchanged glances with Saracen, leaving him to deliver the news.
"Not quite. Our newest members aren't monster hunters there. The Donegan and Gracious of their world, well, they protected monsters and were killed by the actual monster hunters of their world."
"Lovely, that is." Gracious muttered sadly. I knew it hurt him to think that the evil version of him could do anything like that. We were all in store for a lot of hurt. Saracen turned to me helplessly and I sighed. We had to start with Ghastly, as much as it hurt.
"Your double, if he catches me, if he catches me I'll be better off dead." I said softly and he went pale. "Sorry, Ghastly. It's the same for the rest of you. Saracen can fill you in." I said and went to move away but Anton stopped me.
"No, Valkyrie. Please. We need to hear this from you. What about me?"
"There is no you, not really, that Anton let his Gist take over a long time ago. He is the Gist. The only good news we have is that they hate each other so much that they have no Corrival, Hopeless or Larrikin. They died fighting the forces of good and nobody cared to bring them back. Their Saracen is, well, he and Erskine are a pair of hunters. They hunt humans and they're good at it."
"And me?" Skulduggery asked dully, afraid I'd be revealing his secret.
"Not you, him. He hates his Valkyrie and she hates him. He only has her because he thought she'd become a powerful mage. She hasn't as of yet and she hates him with a passion. Since their world is evil she has not evolved into Darquesse. She was born into hate and anger. Her only way to become more powerful would be to become good. To love him and then of course he'd kill her." Skulduggery shivered and looked miserable and I knew his heart was breaking like mine was.
Dex looked at me hopefully. "You didn't mention me, tell me I did something decent like die in a war and won't show up here." I shook my head and Saracen spoke.
"Sorry Dex, he's there as well. But that's what we all have to remember, they are them, not us. Don't make the mistake of thinking you can reason with them. They're terrorists at best. They'd love nothing more than to kill us off one by one." Saracen said shakily and I nodded agreement.
He looked at Skulduggery. "Don't mistake their Val for yours. Your Val loves you and would die protecting you." He turned to me. "Same goes for you. He plans to kill you, then her. They're all insane."
"And I'm still not allowed to go Darquesse?" I joked and was met with weak laughter.
"No, you're not." Skulduggery said firmly, coming over to hold me tight. Because we'd been there so often ourselves over stupid arguments. The moments when best friends could have become sworn enemies. We parted and both looked away, embarrassed the other Dead Men had seem us. We normally acted self-assured and as if we took one another for granted. It was scary, letting the others in that close.
Anton came to me as I worked in the kitchen with Ghastly to make lunch. "Thank you, Valkyrie. For being the one to tell me, to tell all of us. We trust you, we love you. You were as gentle as possible. Thank you." He murmured. He leaned down slightly and kissed my cheek then ruffled my hair fondly and went back to join the others. Ghastly looked at me.
"You're good for him, for all of us. At least there is only seven of them, there is that. I'm sorry, so sorry for what he'd do to you. You know I'd never dream of hurting you." I hugged him tightly.
"I know. But he's disturbed and he is not you. Don't you dare apologize for him."
Anton returned looking at me. I hadn't mentioned the relationship between their Valkyrie and Anton and I knew he was waiting to hear about it.
"The Gist they have is incapable of love, Anton. That doesn't mean of course that they aren't arguing even now which one of their Dead Men gets her. To her, she will be with the last one standing." He nodded absorbing the information. I knew he was wondering the same thing I was. If they weren't in love, was our love real? Would it last under the strain of a siege?
"Incoming!" Saracen roared, running into the room. There was a shift in a wall and a tall figure appeared dressed all in black. It took me a minute to realize it was the Anton of their world I was facing, or rather the Gist. It was heavier built than Anton and had the claws and savage teeth of a Gist. Its black eyes locked onto Anton with pure hate and it launched itself at Anton with a snarl of pure rage.
Anton of course had recovered more quickly and he moved in fast, driving a punch into its throat that should have killed it while he avoided the claws. The Gist just gagged and stumbled backwards and he delivered a series of spinning kicks to the head that should have broken its neck. But the Gist just shook its head to clear it.
The other Dead Men were running to the rescue but Anton shot them a look of pure malevolence. "He's mine." He growled and they stopped not wanting to interfere. The Gist took advantage of the distraction and rushed forward, and I blasted it full in the face with my shadows to no effect other than to make it shake its head and snarl.
I blasted it back with a wall of shadows, trying to buy Anton precious seconds, but it shook them off and started forward again, batting Ghastly out of the way with enough force to knock him against the wall. Ghastly slumped down and didn't move. I was going to hit the Gist with my shadows again when Anton's own Gist emerged, snarling in hatred.
He looked over at me and gave a curt nod then locked his black eyes onto his target and streamed forth, the light and dark lines of energy that kept him attached to Anton streaming behind him. Their Gist laughed, swiping a clawed hand through the air at him, but he twisted to avoid the claws and dove, raking his claws along the Gist's side, leaving gaping wounds. He came up behind, going for a killing bite, but the Gist from their side reached back trying to claw his eyes out and he sqaulled in pain. Nothing had ever fought back before, ever.
I looked at Ghastly who was trying to rise and shook my head. This was between them. It was personal now. Anton's Gist snarled in rage and began attacking savagely with his claws, tearing out chunks of flesh, weakening their Gist despite what must have been protective clothing. Their Gist caught Anton's Gist by the throat and started punching, a look of pure hatred on his face and Anton's Gist looked to me in desperation, clearly puzzled that the fight wasn't going his way. "Hungry?" It was all I had to say and a look of pure demonic glee spread across his features.
He let the next punch come, biting off several fingers and swallowing, reveling in the fresh blood. He was on the attack then, devouring their Gist alive, roaring in triumph. Soon all that could be heard were wet gulping noises as he swallowed down his grisly meal. Sated, he withdrew from the corpse, allowing it to drop to the floor with a meaty thud and sickening squelching sound. Content, he was allowing himself to be drawn backwards without a protest. He winked at me and blew me a kiss and I giggled following, kissing him on his bloodied lips briefly before he disappeared completely.
The assembled Dead Men made gagging noises, but Anton looked happy as he opened his eyes. He was strong, stronger than usual and he hefted the dead body easily, taking it to the front door and dumping it outside. We retreated back inside, Anton chuckling to himself as he made adjustments so another one of them couldn't use the hotel defense system to get in. "That was fun." He said happily and I laughed at the dismay on the faces of the other Dead Men.
Saracen confirmed that the enemy had retreated as we bedded down for the night, all of us in the common room. Their Gist, knowing his own hotel so well was supposed to have killed all of us. Finding the mangled corpse left behind when we'd instantly moved on had put a good scare into them. Anton looked rather pleased with himself and I decided to reassure the other Dead Men.
"If his Gist eats raw meat when he's out Anton isn't drained. All he needed was an invitation from me. He's in love with me in case you're wondering about the kiss and of course I'm in love with him too." Several of the men winced but said nothing. They laid down and soon we heard their steady breathing.
Anton was sharing first watch with me, along with Skulduggery. He was happy to settle in with hot tea and a light snack for us and Skulduggery joined us. "I don't remember many snacks during the war, Anton. Being in love has made you soft." He grunted. Anton snorted.
"Don't listen to him, Valkyrie. The man remembers none of that because he was in a royal snit over not having any. We Dead Men take care of one another. As it is, you bought us some time." He said gently and I nodded. His Gist loved me so much that my encouragement had been what turned the tide in his favour. Knowing I loved him, even if he was literally eating the enemy alive had given him courage.
I suppose that would have sent some women screaming, but not me. I'd heard of mortals getting high on bath salts and developing Gist-like rage and cannibalistic tendencies. At least there was reasoning behind his anger. His. I smiled remembering when we'd shifted from 'it' to 'he' and was glad we did. Because his Gist was Anton. Just like Darquesse was me.
Anton smiled over at me, sensing my thoughts. "My, how you have him spoiled. He'll be wanting to eat everyone now, you watch." He teased and Skulduggery looked dismayed. I laughed.
"That was personal, Skulduggery. They hated each other so much because they saw their polar opposite. I'm in love with Anton's Gist side and he is in love with me. That thing we saw today literally could not feel love. Hence the bitter hatred of Anton's Gist side." He nodded.
Anton chuckled softly. "Just what the Dead Men need, a smitten Gist. I haven't lost my edge, Skulduggery. But if it hadn't been for Valkyrie I would have lost the fight. My Gist was never hurt before, ever. He needed Valkyrie there, he needed her to encourage him to fight. If she hadn't he'd have been defeated."
"That's disturbing on so many levels." Skulduggery muttered then looked at us seriously. "You two are to remain as close as possible. You clearly fight as a team now. Anton needs your skills Valkyrie and you need his, and I mean skills other than having a Gist." He said dryly.
Anton smiled. "We're all a team, Skulduggery, we're Dead Men." He said gently. "It was foolish of me to face him alone, but it was personal. I wasn't about to let anyone else have him because Valkyrie was involved. But speaking of foolish decisions what are your plans after this? Are you honestly returning to the Sanctuary?" He asked and Skulduggery sighed and shook his head.
"No. I've seen too many problems rise out of Sanctuaries. As much as I loved the backing they did precious little else. I'll find something to do I'm a clever man." Skulduggery said, clearly not wanting to admit he had nowhere to go.
"Or you could stay here." Anton offered. "Guests would be off limits to you of course, but a home base that moves every twelve hours might be ideal for the right kind of detectives. I've already told Valkyrie I want you two to be partners again. If Ghastly and Erskine stay as well you'd have enough manpower for your own agency and I could beguile Valkyrie into staying here when I chose." He said and smiled at me drawing a blush.
Skulduggery hesitated only for a fraction of a second then nodded and he and Anton fell to discussing plans of the rooms he'd need to add. Anton didn't care if this would hurt business, he cared about his friends more. I also knew there was some self indulgence involved. If he could sway the key men away from the Irish Sanctuary there wouldn't be one.
Soon enough our shifts were changing and I was laying down between Anton who wrapped his arms protectively around me and Skulduggery, who nodded, satisfied I was secure. We already had Ghastly and Erskine on board as well and I was happy. Also amused since it meant having four of the Dead Men together in an instant if need be and I knew that was also why Anton was doing it. Because with no Sanctuary the world could indeed become a much more dangerous place and we needed to plan accordingly
This is getting fun! Dead Men one, bad guys zero and now there are only six bad guys left. Will each battle be a face off between dark and light? Only time will tell.