Secrets

43. I'll Kill Him If You Scream...

Dedicated to TheFanGirlAlways
Caitlyn you're amazing and it's so amusing at school when you beg me to update. So this one's for you Hun xx

Valkyrie awoke at midnight, and groaned. Skulduggery was asleep. She really had to pee now. Great.

She got up as carefully as she could, trying not to disturb Skulduggery too much. She stretched and slowly stood up. The TV was still on, and it gave off a glow that lit up the lounge room. Valkyrie ran her fingers through her dark hair and started walking up the stairs.

***

The girl watched from the window as Valkyrie Cain opened the bathroom door and stepped inside. She was in for a big surprise. The girl waited in silence until she heard a man's voice. A smile found its way to her lips.

The plan was going perfectly.

***

When Valkyrie stepped into the bathroom she almost had a heart attack on the spot. Standing in the shower, was Billy Ray Sanguine.

"Don't scream," he warned, stepping out of the shower. "I'll kill him if you scream."

Valkyrie froze and didn't make a sound.

"Close the door," Sanguine told her.

Valkyrie backed away and gently shut the bathroom door, not taking her eyes off of Sanguine.

"What do you want?" She asked.

"I came to have a little chat with you."

"About?"

Sanguine shuffled his feet.
"The boss has asked me to come and tell you that you're due to give birth in the next month."

"So? You're not getting Sophie. Remember our deal? Second child only."

"We understand the conditions of the deal Miss Cain. But we have strict orders to keep a close watch on you, to make sure you and Funny Bones don't run away."

"Why would we do that? You'd kill everyone we love."

Sanguine smirked.
"Smart girl."

"Sanguine, it's midnight. Can you leave? I understand your warning and I'm not going anywhere. Now can you leave me alone?"

"No can do I'm afraid. The boss wants me to check in on you from time to time."

Valkyrie sighed.
"Well it's late, and you've been drumming the same shit into my head for months. I get it okay? Now get out."

Sanguine smiled, but it was forced.
"Of course," he said through gritted teeth. "But just remember that I'll be back."

"Yeah yeah, I know. Get out."

Sanguine glared at her one last time and disappeared into the ground. Valkyrie rolled her eyes and opened the door again.

***

"Well?!" Ravel yelled.

Sanguine and the girl stood side by side, not moving. They didn't even raise their eyebrows at the angry Grand Mage.

"She understands perfectly Sir," Sanguine answered.

"I bloody well hope so!"

"She does Sir, said it herself."

"I was watching them," the girl spoke up. "It's true what he says."

Ravel took a moment to calm down. The girl couldn't resist this chance.

"Maybe anger management issues might do you some good," she told him.

Ravel turned to her, his eyes blazing with fury.

"What did you say?" He snarled.

"I said you should think about taking anger management classes. You need them."

The girl swore she could see the steam coming out of Ravel's ears. It satisfied her immensely.

"How dare you?" He growled, stepping towards her as three Cleavers came into the room. The girl only raised her eyebrows.

"Get her out of here," Ravel told them.

The Cleavers started forward and the girl whirled, attacking them with her shadows. They sliced through the armoured clothes and decapitated the first one. He dropped to the floor and the head rolled away with the helmet still attached.

The second one rolled and came up in front of her, and the girl ducked as his scythe swung to take off her own head. She went low, using the shadows to distract him before they tore him apart.

The third one backed away, not wanting to take her on after seeing what she had done to his companions. But the girl had no mercy. The Cleaver didn't have time to move out of the way before her shadows found a space in his armour and speared him straight through. He stood for a moment before the girl retracted the shadows and he fell to the ground. Dead. Just like the other two.

The girl turned, her blonde hair falling over her shoulder as she pulled her shadows back into the ring she wore on her finger, that was now ice cold with all the death in the room. Ravel stood behind his desk in shock, his gaze drifting from the girl, to the dead Cleavers.

"You were saying?" The girl smirked.

***

Valkyrie was uneasy when she awoke the next morning. Even after all these years, Sanguine still gave her the creeps. She didn't say anything to Skulduggery though, she still couldn't tell him about the horrible secret. But the guilt was eating her alive.

She rubbed her temples as a headache started to form behind her eyes. Perfect, just what she needed right now. A bloody headache.

She walked into the kitchen to find Skulduggery sitting at the table waiting for her. She smiled and he stood, walked over to her and hugged her. She let herself sag into his embrace and they stayed like that for what seemed like forever, until there was a knock on the door. They pulled apart much to Valkyrie's disappointment, and Skulduggery gave her an apologetic look, before brushing past her.

She turned to watch as he opened the door, and smiled when she saw who it was. Gabrielle and Tyrell were back. Skulduggery stepped to the side to let them in, and Valkyrie went to greet them. Gabrielle wrapped her in a hug, and Valkyrie could see the blonde girl beaming. She knew why.

Soon they were all sitting at the kitchen table, talking and laughing. Valkyrie was glad to see Skulduggery and Tyrell finally getting along after four hundred years. She chatted with Gabrielle about the baby and about her parents.

Wait, her parents? She hadn't told them about Sophie yet!

Valkyrie immediately looked up and at Skulduggery.
"Skul! We haven't told my parents about the baby yet!"

Skulduggery looked up, his eyes growing wide.
"Shit, we haven't," he replied. "We're doing that today."

Valkyrie was unsure, but she nodded anyway. They would understand, surely. They already knew about sorcerers and magic and monsters. So they could handle the news of their daughter being pregnant...
Hopefully.