Skulduggery – Crow
Anton – Bear
Ghastly – Panda
Dexter – Wolf
Saracen – Weasel
Erskine – Snake
....................................................................
Chapter 30
They pulled up at a dingy, burnt, falling apart house at the end of a street filled with graffiti. No one had yet graffitied the inside of this one despite being abandoned. Not brave enough apparently.
It was a large house, and only Valkyrie and Crow went in, leaving Panda and Tanith to mind Fletcher. They split up in the house, moving around to find the apparently illusive man. Valkyrie had gone to the large living room, looking around at the burnt sofa, wondering what had caused the fire when she felt someone behind her and turned.
A thin man stood there, gaunt almost, and pale from lack of sunlight. His hair was darker than hers, but his eyes were tiger brown, so bright they almost gleamed. He didn't seem to be a sad man, or malicious, or angry, or mean like she had expected a sick man that hid Serpine to be.
Instead, he looked put together in a black, finely tailored suit. He didn't seem like a warm man, not like her brothers. He seemed to lack companionship, she was sure. She'd seen it before, knew too many of the Dead Men's soldier friends. He carried a slender cane.
"Solomon Wreath," she said, certain it was him.
He bowed his head at her. "Valkyrie Cain. I've heard about you. You were involved in taking down Nefarian Serpine, Baron Vengeous, and Dusk. You stopped the Grotesquery from being reanimated. Such talent. Such potential. But has he corrupted you yet?"
"If you mean, turned me against you, he did tell me you hid Serpine, yes," she said immediately.
"That's not quite what I meant. They say Skulduggery Pleasant changes every person he meets, turns them darker, angrier, more cynical. Haven't you noticed?"
"I've noticed both of you are picking up only on the worst parts of each other," she said, rolling her eyes. "Don't worry, I take a positive hate-everyone-until-they-give-me-cake approach. You got cake?"
"I could get you cake," he said, smiling.
"You have none now though, so you remain the same," she smiled back. "Bring cake next time."
"I apologise. I should have chosen a more civilised spot for our first meeting. First impressions are important of course."
"Don't feel too bad, Valkyrie is my partner," Crow said from the doorway. "You can treat her like you'd treat me."
"That's a shame, I actually liked her. She had a sharp mind. Perhaps a little too smart," he smirked.
"What do you want Wreath?" Crow asked. "Our time is precious."
"All time is precious, but you'll what to hear what I have to say. Unless you'd rather I went to Remus Crux with this information. I've heard he's running all over town looking for anything to give to the Elders before you can. As one detective to another, Crux is a man who values a progress report over actual progress."
Valkyrie snorted and tucked her hands in her pockets, but Crow was unimpressed. "If you're hoping for us to bond over our hate of the man, you will be disappointed."
YOU ARE READING
Skulduggery Pleasant: Raising Cain
Fanfiction(This story is written as a fanfiction, but can be read as a story without having read any of the books.) Valkyrie Cain, the adoptive daughter of the Dead Men, has had a life full of love and magic. But as she gets older, times become scarier and sh...
