Chapter 130

Valkyrie's frustrations at her work didn't end that day. She was able to spend some time talking with Nadia on the phone, hearing about how well getting her things from her parents' house had been as well as her brother's approval of redoing the house. The house ideas were exciting to Valkyrie, the concept of big change that she and her girlfriend got to dictate and make exactly to their tastes. The dead-end work was not.

In the end, Valkyrie stayed at work and slept on the sofa in Corrival's office. When she woke up six hours later at about five in the morning, Corrival was still in his office, passed out in his chair with his chin on his chest and snoring up a storm. Valkyrie felt immediately guilty for taking his sofa and decided she'd somehow get one for herself so she wouldn't steal his next time. She made herself and Corrival a pot of tea in the corner of the room and when the kettle clicked, he rubbed his eyes.

"Time," he demanded groggily.

"It's five thirteen in the morning. No one's come with an emergency. And here's your tea," Valkyrie recited as she put the pot on the desk and sat across from him. "Sorry I took your sofa."

"It's fine," he said quietly, beadily pouring tea into his cup and holding the warmth. "This war-brewing needs to stop. These damn Spiders are making my life miserable. I was meant to be brought tea and deal with the boring missions and crime, not prepare for a war."

"You can retire again afterwards," Valkyrie said comfortingly, sending a quick text to Nadia that she knew wouldn't be seen for a few more hours. "Once Skulduggery's dealt with and the Sanctuary's finished we can work on the Spiders directly. The Sanctuary is partially done, and I'm on the Pleasant investigation, so it isn't long now."

"You said last night," Corrival started, closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair. He reminded Valkyrie of her grandad, "that you removed half your team."

"I did. I looked through their paperwork and spoke with them and only five of the group wasn't letting their anger and hatred get in the way of their work. I had one report that claimed the interviewee was, and I quote, 'an idiot'. I've filed why I got rid of them, don't worry."

"What did you do with them?"

"Put them on review and they're on normal work. The ringleader is stuck here on unknown observation and review, but I told the staff to make it obvious. I want him to regret being so stupid, but ultimately, I know there isn't much we can do about firing anyone right now. I've told the remaining team that I'm not on Skulduggery's side, but they don't entirely trust me."

"And how close are you now you've seen their work?"

"Not particularly," Valkyrie muttered bitterly. "I'll be working from scratch. But I have a few ideas on drawing him out. He hasn't visited or contacted us at all, his car hasn't been seen. I think he stored the Bentley. He knows we'll recognise it."

"Yes," Corrival stated.

"To be honest, the only one of our plans that I think will work is waiting him out. He'll show himself when he feels like it, or rather when he gets bored of hiding. As soon as a big, loud bang goes off, he'll be straight there."

"I'd rather it didn't," he told her blandly. "But you are right. There are criminals getting in at every point of the country. We don't have enough staff to deal with those getting in. And we're getting pushed more by the Americans, and the English are kicking off because a lot of criminals are jumping between here and there to keep out of getting caught. I wouldn't be surprised if we get an unexpected visit from other countries soon. I wouldn't be shocked if we have spies all over this Sanctuary."

"You just let me get Skulduggery."

"I am, dear," he smiled. "What are you planning to do with him?"

"Talk, first. I – I need to know why he did it. But legally? I don't know. Technically he's only required to come for an interview since he was let off for the bombing stuff. But what he did to Nadia needs punishing. I just don't know if it's going to do anything."

"Yes, they were my thoughts also," he agreed quietly. "I'm trusting you to find the right way of dealing with this. A lot of people want him to burn."

"Let's hope so," Valkyrie said, gulping down her still hot tea. "I'm going to get to work. I'm going to be going along to all big sounding cases, so if people get angry, it's because I'm waiting for Skulduggery. Just tell them to fuck off or something."

"You have incredible abilities to deal with colleagues."

"They're my underlings, it's fine."

"Get out," he chuckled gruffly.

.*****.

She wanted to go home and snuggle in bed with Nadia. She'd never snuggled in bed properly but over the hours she had travelled, searched and written reports, she had decided it was a must and that just made her want to give up more. Not only that, but Nadia had told her she had fallen asleep twice sunning herself on their bed with the last of the late August sun soothing her. Valkyrie probably wouldn't get to do that until next year now.

She'd gone along on thirteen cases over the last six days, going home only once to sleep downstairs – she'd fallen asleep with her shoes on she'd been so tired. Saracen had made her breakfast and she'd been called off to a suspected bomb site before she got to see Nadia. There hadn't been a bomb in the end, nor a skeleton, and she'd been very upset. In fact, she hadn't seen a single part of Skulduggery for the entire time she'd been on the case. All she'd done is help catch a few up starters and got herself punched a few times. Not useful.

Of course, as soon as she sat on the motorbike to finally go home to see her girlfriend, she should have known she'd get another call. At first, she thought to ignore it or pass up looking, but she had that feeling. That gut feeling. So, she got the place and went straight over.

The location wasn't far from her home, which did caution her because she didn't know if that meant she was wrong or if Skulduggery had some strange insane plan she wasn't predicting and maybe this was his doing. Then she cursed herself and left the bike in a hidden alleyway. She turned the corner to see what all the shouting was about hoping to see her detectives on top of Skulduggery, but instead, she saw way down the street a building on fire.

Damnit.

Valkyrie sprinted down the street, hearing the mortals running away. Swearing aloud, she saw two men and a woman in an upstairs room of the large office building running around shooting fireballs left and right. They disappeared into the flames again and Valkyrie's priority became taking those mages down and slapping them into the smallest cells she could find.

A man tried to stop her from going into the raging fire, but she pushed the mortal off and barged the door right off its hinges. The flames ripped out the door immediately, the heat making Valkyrie cry out even as she pushed into the building. There was a staircase next to her and she knew she was being stupid to run in without any useful magic but it wasn't a choice. The smoke was thick and burned Valkyrie's eyes, getting even worse on the second floor. She threw open the doors into the blazing office area and caught sight of the idiots who were laughing and jeering at some mortals who were screaming and crying on the floor.

Valkyrie jumped out the way of the flames and debris, hoping they wouldn't look over because there was very little cover and the extreme heat just in the floor was keeping her moving. She knew there would be Fire Brigade units on the way, if they weren't already there, which meant she had to at the very least secure the three criminals before firefighters came running in. She also had no magic to help and had to save those mortals. Hopefully the other detective that had called her to the scene had alerted the Sanctuary to the extreme situation.

Breathing shallowly and sticking close to the ground away from the smoke, Valkyrie got close to the group, using the overturned tables, the sound of screams and general smogginess of the room to stay hidden. The criminals were so interested in their victims they probably wouldn't have noticed anyway. In fact, they weren't even throwing fireballs anymore.

There was an overturned table next to the criminals, right behind them, and Valkyrie hid behind it. She concentrated, focusing on her magic like she'd had to when she began training, drawing deep from inside, and when she felt ready, she stood and pushed.

A beam of light, as white and pure as it had been the first time, shot from her hands and smacked one of them in the chest. The man, a grin still on his face, turned to ash immediately–

She hadn't expected it to do that.

The mortals screamed more as the two others turned to her in shock.

"Who are you?" One of them asked. The other was looking around in confusion for her friend.

"Detective Valkyrie Cain. Dead Man. You're under arrest. Get on your knees now, or I'll be forced to punch you really hard."

"You're just that kid," he scoffed but did click his fingers. He was an Elemental then. "Carrie, kill the mortals."

"Simon – Geoff's gone!" She screeched, turning in circles and looking frantic. "Where's Geoff?!"

"Did you – what did you do to my cousin, you bitch?!" Simon screeched and hurled over the table onto Valkyrie.

Immediately they were fighting, pushing, pulling, punching and rolling all over the floor. Valkyrie was the weaker opponent, that much was obvious, but she had more training and was able to twist her way out of almost every hold he tried to get her into, backed out of every punch and dodged the kick he sent her way. But she was forced back into the flames and only became aware of how close she was when she felt pain in the back of her head and had to run from Simon while patting the back of her head frantically to get the flames out.

Meanwhile, Carrie was making a racket trying to find the now disintegrated Geoff and the mortals were making a run for it while the floor was falling through to the levels below. Taking a chance, Valkyrie jumped over a section of fallen floor and turned back, shooting out a beam of light at Simon which he only missed because he fell on his arse. Grinding her teeth in frustration and feeling tears drip down her face from the pain of the smoke, she shouted at Simon to give up, to which he swore at her, so she leapt back over the hole on top of him and punched him square in the face. He grunted and then punched her back, making her fly across the room. Simon pulled out a gun.

That was when the window smashed and Skulduggery flew in.

He still had perfect timing.

Skulduggery's back, yay! That's a sarcastic yay, I suppose, because he's on the shit list but he's here regardless. Also, I've been watching Brooklyn 99' so now I can't use uni as an excuse for my lack of chapters at times. Now I am just watching Netflix instead. Sorry, not sorry!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter anyway, and suggestions on how you want Skulduggery maimed are welcomed below, I will likely agree with them all! :)