Skulduggery Pleasant: Raising Cain

Chapter 152 - A short fight

Chapter 152

Valkyrie woke up quietly once more in the early morning and got herself ready in relative silence. Nadia felt the difference in bed and got up with her, putting a jacket on over her thin pyjamas. They went downstairs where most of her brothers were halfway ready as well. Fletcher was sitting on the sofa, pale, staring. His breakfast was in front of him, uneaten.

"Morning, Fletcher," Valkyrie said quietly, trying to reassure him. "You should eat something."

"Can't," he croaked, not looking at her.

"You need to. If you don't eat, you might faint if something happens. We need you to be on it today, and you need to be on it for yourself. I don't want you to get hurt," she told him, keeping her voice quiet and gentle. She put a hand on his shoulder and he tensed for a moment. "Don't think about it too much. You'll make yourself anxious, and there's no point in that."

She left him there to get herself some food and Nadia followed like a puppy. If anything, it felt like Nadia needed comfort as opposed to being there for her. She put on some tea and made Nadia breakfast while she got her own.

"Here," she whispered, smiling at her girlfriend.

She smiled weakly. "Thanks."

"Don't be scared," she said, putting her cereal on the table next to Nadia's. "I'll be alright. Okay?"

"I know," she breathed, hugging Valkyrie close. They held each other for a long time before letting each other to go.

By the time she had brushed her teeth, it was time to go.

.*****.

They pulled up to the town they were stopping at in silence. There were four cars. She and the Dead Men were in one. Aurora, Saile and other Americans were in the car behind, and in the two ahead of them were more American's plus Fletcher. They had been given a full arsenal. Valkyrie had never shot a semi-automatic assault rifle, but that's what she had been given alongside her brothers. She had knives and several other guns with her, and shock and smoke grenades. She'd had big missions with a lot of arsenals before, but this was a different level. She had on a bullet-proof vest over her normal safety jacket, as well as a helmet. A radio was built into it.

They filed out and quickly jogged over to the first van group with Fletcher and waited while two women unbolted and pulled up a sewer plate. Fletcher looked down it with a torch, after being checked by the American's, and teleported with the first group. There were a few moments of silence again, and then he was back and took another group, and kept doing that for them all – except for the last group that was on guard, hidden in the bushes around them. Valkyrie was teleported down as the cars were driven away.

A quick hand gesture from the team leader split them up. The American's went East, the Dead Men went West. Silence reigned as the two groups jogged in opposite directions, just their footsteps echoing. Valkyrie's heart raced as she brought up the back of her group, keeping her gun up and ready to keep them safe from the back.

They came up to their station ten minutes of running later. Anton radioed over to the second group.

They were early.

Valkyrie felt a bead of sweat roll down her face. It stank in the tunnel and the darkness was hard to see around. She locked eyes with Dexter. Nothing felt off yet. The other group had longer to go. Two minutes to the arrival date. Saracen said nothing.

A small click in their ears was the cue – Erskine used his magic to snap the metal keeping it in place with efficient skill. Within a second the cover was off and they all trained their guns on the open hole.