A/N: I don't own Skulduggery, Valkyrie, Erskine, Tesseract or Lord Vile. Sorry to take so long to update, but this long, bitter winter has taken the stuffing right out of me.
I woke up next to Skulduggery and snuggled in close. We'd decided to sleep in, a rare treat but one we liked to enjoy after big events. And seeing Cain and Val getting settled into the mansion with Tesseract and Melody had been our every wish come true and a big event for both of us. I was happy for our children and relieved they had found someone at a young age like I had. The soft brush of skeletal fingers distracted me and I smiled at Skulduggery. "Morning, handsome." I purred.
"Wicked female, snuggled in so close to me." He responded and I giggled, then snuggled in closer, enjoying his gasp of delight. I touched his ribs ever so gently and he sighed happily and looked at me fondly. "Did I mention how happy I am that the kids are out of the house? Because I really am." He grinned and I laughed, the he continued in a softer voice. "I worried about them both, you know. I was so afraid they'd end up with people who didn't love them the right way. I remember how terrified I was when I realized I'd fallen in love with my best friend." The gaze in his hollow eye sockets was sorrowful so I pulled him into a lingering kiss.
He smiled when we parted and cradled me into his chest, his ribs warm from our embrace. "That's what I adore about you, Valkyrie Cain. You never let me or our children feel anything less than human just because we are skeletons. What say you to us going camping? We don't have a case and the children are squared away." He tilted his skull to look at me eagerly and I nodded, grinning.
Skulduggery always had good ideas, and we'd agreed not to just sit around the house and go stagnant now that the kids were grown up and cases had slowed down. Of course I knew Skulduggery far too well not to sense a hidden agenda. The man could lie like a rug when he needed to, though he would point out he hadn't exactly lied, just not told me what we were really doing.
It was a couple days after Halloween, after all, hardly a time to go camping, especially in the mountains unless he had a cabin I didn't know about. True we'd camped out before, but in front of a fire under the stars. I'd never seen the man near a tent, come to think of it. "Are we getting supplies on the way?" I asked as I rose for my shower.
"Uh, we will be camping in a cabin. Get a shower, I'll dress and make coffee." He said and I nodded, then smiled to myself during my shower. This was no camping trip. Skulduggery was up to something and he trusted only me to know about it. I grinned to myself, knowing this meant he intended to get us both into trouble.
He met me in the kitchen, and the sight of him in his sharp suit and fedora almost left me as breathless as the fiery kiss he swept me into. I couldn't never get enough of the feeling of his sturdy ribcage, or how his teeth seemed to match my lips perfectly. I caressed his skull and was rewarded with a growl of desire. I pulled back, laughing and he smiled at me, tilting his head happily.
Skulduggery got our coffee mugs and jackets and soon we were on the road. As he drove he glanced over at me. "You know we aren't really going camping, don't you?" He asked and I nodded. "This isn't official, in fact the Sanctuary told us to leave it alone, but something is happening in the mountains to mortals and mages alike." He broke off to pull into a fast food eatery for take away, then resumed as we drove on. "People are just vanishing, or if they do come back, well, they've gone cannibal."
I frowned at my breakfast sandwich and hashbrown. "If we have an outbreak of cannibalism why forbid us from investigating?" I asked, determined to not let it ruin my appetite. Skulduggery of course had no such problems and happily ate his breakfast as I fed him.
"That's what I wondered as well. This is where I tell you the Sanctuary sometimes does horrible things for the greater good. This could be an magical or scientific experiment gone awry." He admitted.
"And we aren't letting the right people handle this because?"
"Because we are the right people. Erskine just doesn't know that yet. Oh, we're officially fired since we're going and we can't count on the Sanctuary for help." He gave me a hopeful smile and I laughed.
"You know, in theory if the Grand Mage wanted to stop us he could have us arrested."
"He threatened as much. But mortals are involved and of course they are drawn to danger. Soon film crews will show up to investigate, then where will we be? I don't see the harm in us helping."
"Skulduggery, that is exactly why. If you were exposed-" I trailed off. He didn't need reminded of my fears. That somehow mortals would capture him or the children. He wouldn't be the wonderful Skeleton Detective to them. He'd be something to experiment on.
"I know." He said and patted my shoulder gently. "But we both know I take the same risk every time I interact with mortals. Many have seen me, but so far our luck has held. I can't let this happen, not if my brother is involved."
"I'm sorry, your what? You told me your whole family was dead." I said, narrowing my eyes and gearing up to punch him.
"Because Prolix Loquacious is my younger twin brother. He's- The only thing he is good at is healing magic. I've stayed away on purpose to try and keep him out of harm's way, but he tracked me down anyhow. He's "helping"." Skulduggery said, hunching forward over the steering wheel in utter misery.
"You're worried about him, aren't you?"
"Indeed." He straightened up. "We are identical twins, or were. At least now you'll know what I looked like before I was burnt to a crisp." He added dryly. I had nothing to say to that that wouldn't start a fight so I just held his hand for the remainder of the drive.
It turned out that the only way Loquacious was involved was that his snug little cabin was twenty miles from the epicenter. Far too close for older and overly-protective Skulduggery's liking. He met us at the door and all I could do was stare. This is what Skulduggery would look like if things had turned out differently. I thought.
The same high cheekbones were in the face of the man greeting me profusely. I couldn't hear what he was saying as he pumped my hand then drew me into a hug, I was too distracted by the curly black hair that flowed slightly past his shoulders and the startling jade green eyes. And the voice, exactly the same. Loquacious peered at me, worried. "Are you all right, my dear? Was it something I said?"
"It's everything you say." Skulduggery grumbled. "If you ever learned to shut up it would be a miracle. Mom should have sewn your mouth shut." Loquacious, instead of being hurt, just laughed, clearly delighted as he ushered us inside to matching chairs.
"I've missed your sense of humour, brother." He turned to me, smiling. "So this is the lovely partner at long last. Your his wife now, correct? And children?" I tried to answer but Loquacious was already forging on ahead to a new topic. "I would have attended the wedding but Skulduggery misplaced my invitation, of course he never invited me to your house, either, but that's because he's my brother and loves me. I'm quite the homebody." I just nodded.
I was considering fleeing the cabin screaming when Loquacious leaned forward and said something to Skulduggery that melted my heart. "Brother, please don't go. You're my big brother and if I loose you who will I have left?" He pleaded and Skulduggery looked touched.
"I'm already dead, little brother. I'll be all right, besides, I have Valkyrie to protect me." He said dryly and Loquacious turned to gaze at me worshipfully. He waved to me rather shyly and I waved back. I realized he'd need me to be far more gentle than I was with Skulduggery that he was being very brave just having two people in the same room with him and I felt a stab of pity for him.
"Help me in the kitchen, Val? Can I call you Val or is that too informal? Do you like Valkyrie better or Detective Cain? Valkyrie is simply a lovely name of course, but Val feels more friendly." He crinkled his eyes at me and I smiled.
"Val would be fine." I managed to say and he beamed delightedly at me. I follow him into a snug kitchen where he started coffee then looked at me, suddenly serious.
"Please don't let him go, Val. I lied and said I might get involved, hoping it would keep him away. Please, something is very wrong here, I can feel it."
"I thought you lied." We both jumped guiltily at Skulduggery voice. "You always were a rotten little brother." He said fondly. "Loquacious, you're in danger here, and we both know you aren't a fighter."
He said it kindly enough but Loquacious looked stricken. "I want to be. I do want to be brave, I do." He looked at me.
"Loquacious, you're very brave to have us here." I began gently and he nodded, smiling tentatively. Something terrible had happened to the man, something that shattered his feelings of self worth. "And we're worried you might wander too close, trying to help. We aren't even supposed to be here." I admitted.
"Oh, intrigue." Loquacious sighed happily. "Do I get to help, please? I won't wander close to danger, I promise. But please?"
I looked at Skulduggery who shrugged. "Help me with the bags, dear?" He asked and I nodded. Outside he turned to me as the boot lid hid us from view. "He'll wander right into the thick of it. He means well, but he doesn't realize his curiosity will get him killed some day. Of course if we mention cannibalism he'll stay far enough away." He grinned cheerfully.
Inside Loquacious indeed looked horrified. "They eat meat? How terrible!" He covered his mouth instantly. "Not that I judge either of you, but that's repulsive. I just don't see how you can eat it. Ew." I laughed.
"You're vegan?" I asked.
"No, Val, just vegetarian, mortals get all fussy about it, making labels. I'd eat meat if I had to to survive, but I just don't like it. I can make you a lovely grilled cheese sandwich and some tomato soup, trust me, you won't starve here. Skulduggery was nice enough to tell me all the things you both like best and I can manage most of them." I nodded and murmured my thanks, then he was shooing us out of his kitchen, his need for my help, if he had needed it, forgotten.
He brought us coffee, humming to himself, then went back to the kitchen. I raised a brow at Skulduggery. "He either talks or hums. Not always of course, though he does talk in his sleep, thank you for not-" He mouthed 'judging him' and I nodded.
"Sharing secrets?" Loquacious called cheerily from the kitchen. "I like secrets too, you know."
"We're fired, how does that grab you?" Skulduggery said snarkily and I elbowed him one in the ribs. "And all over you, little brother." He added, then crossed his arms to smirk at me.
Loquacious popped his head into the room. "Good, then you can stay away from those horrible people." He said, then popped back out of view and I laughed.
"Are we staying away from it?" I asked Skulduggery much later as we clambered into bed in the tiny guest room Loquacious had prepared for us. He sighed.
"I'd like to. I'd like nothing better than to trust everything won't blown out of control and magic won't be exposed, but the mortals are too close. You saw how many tourists are here in the off season, and tour goups, and amateur videographers. Any one of them could see things that shouldn't be seen and slip away unnoticed."
"We need the men in black." I said and he grinned at me.
"Don't they work with aliens? And they're American, remember?" He asked, sitting up interested.
"But Skulduggery, didn't you see the people with tinfoil hats handing out flyers?" The detective in me had made me grab a flyer and ask all sorts of questions, though Skulduggery had managed to look bored and not pay attention.
I showed him mine and he read it now with interest. "According to this there have been four more outbreaks like this, all in wooded areas and all government cover-ups. Well, well, look at that. They claim MIBs did show up to threaten witnesses, interesting."
"And there have been strange lights in the sky. Excluding government testing which they will deny, and magical citizens or monsters, where does it leave us?" I asked.
"A hoax. We don't know that anyone has actually been eaten, Valkyrie. I hate to point out the obvious, but it could be a sick and twisted prank, faked corpses and videos, or a very human serial killer who no doubt has now gone into hiding."
"You love pointing out the obvious, and if you thought there was no real outbreak we wouldn't be here." I countered and he sagged in defeat.
"I forgot how driven you are on a case. But we can't get near the crime scenes not without help. I suggest we withdraw tomorrow and take Loquacious with us to the Sanctuary. Twenty minutes of his motor mouth and Erskine will begging us to investigate." So we did.
Erskine sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. He waved the pamphlet at me. "This is exactly why we told you two to stay away. You could have mortal stalkers now. That's all we need." He sighed again. "It isn't like we don't care, we do. But they are far too involved, let them fight their own wars, Val, please." I nodded. I was disappointed and I could feel a great case just out of reach, but he was right. We'd all end up as government tools or worse if magic was exposed and we all knew it.
Some mages felt mortal governments were well aware of us, but let us be as we didn't interfere in their own wars and goings on for ill or good. But now, of course, we had Loquacious to entertain, who'd gone suddenly quiet. Until of course, right at that moment. "So, we take the chance of magic being exposed if the killer is magical to avoid some fools with cameras. Pity, I thought mages could handle mortals. Sad to see how far the mighty Sanctuary has fallen." I stared at him with my mouth open, so did Skulduggery, the apparently wasn't the Loquacious he was used to.
"We have people." Erskine said tensely.
"Of course you do. I've seen them traipsing in and out for weeks. Those trenchcoats and rather blatant disguises are so very chic and several have gone native already. Saw one wandering around with a tinfoil hat on just the other day. But I'm sure of course, he's just undercover and hasn't been brainwashed by some cult into exposing magic." He said slyly.
"You three get back there now and handle this!" Erskine barked and we left his office with his backing and in high spirits. Loquacious was able to keep mum all the way to the car where Skulduggery promised take away, then he burst out excitedly, and somehow it didn't bother me. Skulduggery had explained that Loquacious just wasn't interested in people romantically, he was more cerebral, and I liked him sharing his comfort zone with us.
"I did well, didn't I, brother?" He asked and Skulduggery nodded. "Just like old times. Oh, you'd have loved us, Valkyrie. We were quite poor despite the family crest, and we had to be wily to survive. I remember the rather nasty farmer we convinced to pay us to take his chickens. They laid wonderful eggs, those chickens."
"Mmm." Skulduggery said, and chuckled. "Loquacious can talk to animals, I think that's why he doesn't eat them. He convinced them to act sickly after he promised they wouldn't be eaten and we honoured that promise. The man thought they were all dying of some deadly and highly contagious disease."
"Animals can talk?" I asked turning around to see Loquacious better.
"Not so much with words, but feelings. And yes, that's why I don't eat them. They've been warning me something is wrong because they know I'm their friend, oh, you two don't have to eat vegetarian, I truly don't judge. Truly, many of my animal friends eat one another, it's natural."
"No, we could do with the change." Skulduggery said, and it turned out the vegetarian version of our breakfast just meant putting veggie slices with the egg and cheese biscuits and it was quite good. I'd already checked and the particular items were vegetarian approved on a website so Loquacious was happy to try it.
My motherly intuition kicked in and I had Skulduggery order an extra sack of food and more coffee which he did, although he grumbled loudly over it. We hadn't driven far when my mobile rang. I knew without checking that it was Val. "Val, sweetheart, what is it?" I asked when I answered, my heart icing over and at her high-pitched wail I knew exactly what it was.
The reality that she was no longer a little girl now that she'd gotten engaged to Tesseract had just hit and my daughter was terrified. Skulduggery looked alarmed since he could hear her perfectly and pulled over at my motion. I got out and turned my back to him so he couldn't read my lips or hear Val's answer. "Mom! I just- I just- Dad had another family first and he doesn't love me." It broke my heart to hear her say this, but we all felt it. Skulduggery loved and adored us, but our knowledge that we weren't his first family sometimes frightened all of us.
I was making soothing motherly sounds and reassuring her that Skulduggery did love her very much when the mobile was yanked out of my hand. I turned to see a frantic Skulduggery. "Sweetheart, how can you think daddy doesn't love you? I miss my princess so much right now, but she's all grown up and doesn't need me anymore." They were both on the verge of tears so I took my mobile back gently and cradled Skulduggery into me.
"Grab your brother, sweetheart. We're coming for you." I ordered when Val confirmed they were at the mansion. I shadow-walked us both there, then we both took one of our offspring and shadow-walked back to an astonished Loquacious. He got out of the Bentley wanting to help and I intercepted him.
"Just give them a minute. They have a unique bond being skeletons, but, well, sometimes they think nobody wants them because they are skeletons." I explained and he nodded gravely. Once introduced he held both of them in turn, soothing them with his calming voice.
"Hush now, little ones. You'll come be with us and stay in my cabin, it will be an adventure, that's what it will be. Come on then and cuddle up in the back with your uncle and have some lovely food and drink and all will be well with the world." I had no idea how all three fit back there other than the fact that Val was more lightly built, but fit they did and their indulgent uncle held them and soothed them for the remainder of the trip.
The children were amazed at the cabin, and overly indulgent uncle that he was Loquacious decided to camp out with them in the living room of course inviting us to join them on this grand adventure. I looked at Skulduggery who shrugged and we agreed. We would have both rather had a bed to sleep in, but Loquacious was charming and clearly trying to make up for lost time. I wondered if it was his instincts as a healer that made him take to the children, then he revealed something that shocked even Skulduggery.
"Did you know that sometimes, just sometimes twins can be connected so strongly that whatever happens to one is felt by the other?" He asked and Cain nodded.
"It happens for us too, sometimes." He said, looping a protective arm around Val.
"Well, with magic it can also mean that very rarely an attack on one works on the other. There's really no way to explain it, so-" He tapped his collarbones and what had been a facade so good that it had fooled all of us melted away revealing the skeleton beneath. He smiled benevolently at the children, clearly trying to show he meant no harm.
"Brother?" Skulduggery asked, clearly stunned. Loquacious smiled at him.
"Sorry I never told you, brother, but I died when you did and the very same way. It would seem what they did to you worked on my body as well and when they burned my cottage down as they had found me- Rather glad I was dead when that happened. But as you chose to stay, so did I. I couldn't leave my older brother entirely alone at it really was a simple as choosing to stay."
Skulduggery looked stunned. "I'm so sorry. I would have never-" He faltered helplessly. "You told me you survived the fire." His voice sounded hollow.
"No, if you recall I told you I got out of the cottage. I just didn't tell you that it was in ashes at the time. Don't looked so shocked, brother. Would you have told me if everyone didn't already know you were a skeleton?" Skulduggery sighed.
"I suppose not." He admitted. "But that was rather sneaky of you all the same. I've taught you well." He said proudly. "Then what did you manage to steal when you innocently 'wandered off' at the Sanctuary, hmm?"
Loquacious smiled and produced several magical goodies that had clearly come from the vaults. He looked at me and smiled. "When I collapse the facade I can get into all sorts of nooks and crannies, that and being dead has allowed me to pick up all sorts of interesting abilities. Locks, for example, really don't work on me. I wonder if I've become an Adept of some sort." For a moment he sounded so much like Skulduggery, even down to the mannerisms it was scary, but then he blinked what served as his eyes and seemed to remember he was Skulduggery's younger, helpless brother.
Skulduggery for his part was praising him as I beckoned Val into the kitchen she held tightly onto me. "It will be all right, Val. We can never go back, you know. We have to go forward. I'll let you in on a secret. I was terrified when I married your father too because I knew it meant I wasn't a little girl and couldn't hide anymore. We never really grow up, you know, just older." I said and she laughed shakily. We set to making coffee and she smiled shyly at me.
"I knew you'd know the real reason, mom. It's just that Tess is centuries old. He could have children older than me and he won't talk about his past."
"Oh, yes he will." I dialed the big man's number from memory and gently but firmly told him in no uncertain terms he was going to be open with my daughter or I'd turn him inside out while he was alive and keep him that way. He chuckled at the threat then agreed and asked if he and Melody could come as well. I checked with Loquacious who looked overjoyed at the prospect of more family and agreed.
We were just bedding down for the night when a weary Melody and Tess arrived. I shooed Val out to the RV, giving Tess an even look and welcomed Melody with open arms. "Hey, thanks for having us. It isn't like we're family or anything." She said, smiling gently.
"Well, of course you are." Loquacious said, truly shocked at the idea she felt like anything less. He soon had her settled with coffee and brought out food and drink for all of us. "I like to indulge." He said with a happy shrug as he served us.
There was a knock at the door and Tess and Val joined us. She looked serene and I knew their troubles were solved. "This didn't happen by accident, nothing does." Skulduggery said as they settled in. "We're going to need all of us on this case. I don't know how it was found out, but patient zero as the Sanctuary is calling him spent time in the Canadian wilds."
"Not a wendigo. But they're just myth." I protested.
Skulduggery nodded. "That's what we thought as well, but they assure us wendigos are quite real. All the flashing lights were military testing of course and we have to close this case before the military moves in and blow innocent mortals away. A true wendigo is a spirit that either puts on a human form or goads humans into cannibalism. One roaming free in a cradle of magic? We've been lucky so far the mages that were attacked by friends and family recognized the danger, but we can't count on luck."
Tesseract tilted his head thoughtfully. "These creatures, they are skeletal with the flesh barely covering the bones, but the come from areas of great starvation. No offense to any of you, but this is not a country with desolate artic wilderness. If they are not near starvation, how are they turning, and is my sweet Kyrie safe?"
"We don't know." Skulduggery admitted. "We're technically dead, but alive enough to eat and heal, so we don't know. I'm thinking the wendigo adapted. Patient zero was already infected and looked normal when he returned to Ireland, but being turned he had to seek out a wooded area and prey. First they kill off the animals, then the humans. He is, as you say, skeletal or was until he was locked up. Starved of human prey, they die."
Loquacious looked fairly ill, but held up as we plotted out a course of action. Skulduggery had been in touch with Erskine and right now the woods were warded against mortals, but it couldn't be kept that way forever. In the morning we'd enter the woods to seek out our quarry. Being with the others meant we couldn't talk freely and not frighten anyone, but Skulduggery caught my worried look and held my hand as we drifted off to sleep.
Early the next morning we awoke and ate a quick breakfast. We were soon in the woods and Tesseract being the best tracker took the lead. He led us at a steady pace, clearly walking slower than normal for us, casting worried glances at Val who walked at his side on the broad path. He stopped suddenly. "We're close. No birds, no animal sounds? We're close." He led us to a cave, the outside littered with animal and human bones and stopped. "He knows we are here. Let him come to us." He murmured.
There were scraping sounds from inside the cave and sparks flew as if long nails were being drug across the surface. I let my armour flow over me and wished I hadn't. The creature was hideously ugly. Dead skin stretched tight over a wasted frame, worse that any starvation victim I'd ever seen. The eyes shone with a hellish light and the creature had sharpened its teeth into points. It carried a hunting spear made of human bone, but I doubted it really needed it.
It met my gaze and grinned an impossibly wide grin, the whole head seeming ready to split open. Then it laughed and the laugh turned into a scream. The scream grew louder and louder and I could feel the power of the attack rattling the bones of my armour. But Lord Vile had presented a present through Skulduggery on Halloween night and I reached inside my duster, ready to use it.
A metallic banded orb of glass that contained a green pulsing light. I got ready to throw it at the beast, but the Wendigo was gone in a flash, streaking upwards and into the trees, laughing. I turned to check on Melody and Tesseract and found them stunned, but otherwise unharmed. The hunt would continue.
OK I know, bad start, but I rather liked the ending. Wendigos are believed by some to be spirits that inhabit desolate places where humans are apt to starve. Some say they punish evildoers or can only turn wicked people, but others say the wendigos turn all starving humans into cannibals. Either way, this one is of the nasty variety. Reviews help greatly and I hope you liked it!