Skulduggery Pleasant: Raising Cain

Chapter 92 - Valida, together again

Skulduggery – Crow

Anton – Bear

Ghastly – Panda

Dexter – Wolf

Saracen – Weasel

Erskine – Snake

Solomon – Raven

Corrival – Pa

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Chapter 92

And it started. It was good to dance at all, but with Nadia it was wonderful. They twirled and grinned and Nadia laughed when Valkyrie picked her up. They didn't stop for four songs, leading the room in sync as more couples joined the dance floor and they turned it into the dance room and the talking went to the other.

She saw several times people try to get into the dancers to interject their dance, but someone would always sweep up to stop them or engage them in conversation.

It didn't seem Nadia was able to go a full night of just dancing, though, and although it was not what she wanted, she carefully weaved them onto the outskirts of the room and at the end of the song they stopped and she held her arm out.

Nadia took it with a flushed grin, holding her arm in both hands and almost hanging on her in giddy happiness. She smiled and took Nadia quickly through the crowd and out to the hallway. She had to be quick on her feet and picked Nadia up for a bit of it where Nadia laughed far too much and Valkyrie joined in, and she was able to sneak them under the stairs and through the door of the downstairs snug.

It was set up already, of course, with drinks and snacks and a million cushions. It was a pretty place, perfect for reading or talking. Nadia smiled as Valkyrie shut the door. "Now that was sneaky," Nadia grinned. "So sneaky I didn't realise you doing it until just now."

She grinned back and sat on the loveseat. "I know. I'm just really clever. And I also really, really want to talk about us."

Nadia nodded and brushed her hair out her eyes again. She sat with Valkyrie but left a little space between them. "I think that might be a good idea."

There was a small, awkward silence in which they both thought of what they wanted to say but didn't dare. Valkyrie breathed in and took the lead.

"Maybe we should do it in order? Talk about why you broke up with me," she said somewhat calmly.

Nadia nodded. "Okay. To be honest, I had been thinking it for a little while before I said anything," she said quietly, a little tremor in her voice. "I was just really struggling at home. Mum and Dad wouldn't stop telling me to do it and they were saying about how bad it made me look to be with you, but it wasn't too bad until Daadii came. It was like a wall hit me, emotionally. I keep on thinking of when I started to tip in their favour, and I can't work it out. I just started to think they were right. Daadii would talk about how her friends spoke about you, and that everyone knew about you and all the fights you get in, and that they all think I was throwing myself away by being with you. She just made me feel so small and naive and stupid."

Valkyrie held her hand out and Nadia took it with a small smile.

"It was just difficult hearing it and feeling so stupid all the time. I thought if I broke up with you then I would be smarter for it, and that I'd be told I was being good, and my parents would be glad. But when I told them what I'd done, they just nodded and told me to study for school and I just completely broke down. I knew immediately that I'd made a mistake, but I thought at least I wasn't making you wait around for me in India."