Chapter 5

Skulduggery

Two days after Valkyrie left.

"So are you going to get a new partner now?" Saracen asked as Skulduggery sat with him and Vex in the medical wing. He still hadn't told them what he did to Ravel; he wasn't sure what they would say about it.

"I'm not sure yet" he sat in between their beds, in the two days that they had been here they had been moved into a private room because they needed the space for other patients.

"She might not like it y'know" Vex chirped

"What do you mean?"

"When she comes back, she might not like the fact that you replaced her"

"Oh god, I'll never hear the end of it" Skulduggery chuckled

"Has Tanith come back yet?" Saracen asked shifting into a sitting position

"No, I know where she is so I'll call in later" Skulduggery told him

"Ummmm, Doctor Synecdoche keeps asking about her apparently she didn't come back to have her injuries taken care of"

"When I'll bring her back" Skulduggery assured him, he knew Saracen and Tanith had a thing a while back, he wondered if there was anything there still.

"You better, if Ghastly was here he wouldn't have let her leave" Vex said sadly.

"I'll see you later" Skulduggery told them standing up to leave but Saracens questioned him.

"What became of Ravel?"

"He's dead" Skulduggery said with his back to them and left.

Walking up to Ghastly's shop Skulduggery saw that he could see someone was inside. The lights were on in the shop and someone was walking about. As he got closer he heard music playing. The Beatles 'Here comes the sun' if he wasn't mistaken. He knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked again and this time the music was turned down.

"Hello" a British voice called out

"Hello Tanith" Skulduggery called back. He heard loads of banging and cursing as Tanith fell over on her way to the door.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you" as she opened the door, he noticed that she wasn't wearing her usual attire, but tight brown protective trousers and long sleeve t shirt which was green. The trousers were made of the same thing Valkyrie's cloths were made out of.

"It's okay, new cloths?"

"Yeah, um, Ghastly made them" she looked a bit sheepish "I found them under his desk when I came in the other day"

"Didn't he make a top to go with it?" he questioned

"Yeah but it hurts to much to put it on, Broken ribs and all" she smiled

"I've got to take you back to the sanctuary to see the doctor"

"Yeah" she lost her smile "Okay" she moved away to get her coat, he looked around and saw that Tanith had been cleaning, nothing had been moved but there was no dust anymore.

"I thought I would clean up at bit in here" she said noticing that he was looking around.

Back at in the medical wing, Tanith was put in the same room as Saracen and Vex.

"Now say there and don't move" Doctor Synecdoche said to Tanith. Skulduggery was back in his chair in between the beds.

"For how long?"

"At least a day or two" Doctor Synecdoche replied before leaving the room.

"Urgghhhh"

"Hey you have us three to talk to" Saracen grinned

"Urghhhhhh"

"That was rude" Vex mumbled

"So is kidnapping a baby" Tanith snapped

"Low blow Tanith, Low blow"

"Sorry"

"It's okay"

"Is what Val said true?"

"Yeah"

"Okay" she put her head back on the pillows looking at the ceiling.

"What really happened to Ravel Skulduggery?"

"A soul willingly given" he muttered

"He actually got in the accelerator"

"No, I put him in the accelerator"

"Is it going to blow"

"No, not anymore"

No one said anything.

Thanks :)