Skulduggery Pleasant: Raising Cain

Chapter 157 - Myra put the gun to Laila's head

Chapter 157

Dexter's POV

The panic coming from his friend was almost physical – that is, Dexter was sure it was some parasite that had latched onto Ghastly's entire body making his hands shake, sweat all over, either talk very fast or not at all. All his movements were barely visible, although that might have been the boxer in him.

How could anyone blame him though? His baby girl had been kidnapped by a sex-trafficking drug lord. They were all panicking a bit.

The house they had been given the address of seemed to be the one. Saracen was talking a lot and being quiet a lot too. Not having Erskine, Anton and Valkyrie was really throwing him off. He could work alone and in small groups, even with people other than the Dead Men, but the longer he lived and worked with his brothers the harder it was to be away. That was just how he was.

Dexter shook his head of the thoughts. He couldn't keep distracting himself. He was the driver after all. Just a few streets away and he'd have brought them to their destination.

"Are we sneaking in or being direct?" Fletcher asked in a lull in the conversation.

"Being direct," Ghastly said firmly, commandingly. "If we keep Griever's distracted Tanith might get free. At the least, we need information from him."

Fletcher hesitated. "Don't you usually just punch the bad guys and make them talk? Why aren't we doing that?"

Ghastly hesitated this time.

"I like Fletcher's plan better," Saracen seconded.

"Let's compromise," Dexter said, revving the engine and driving straight through the iron gates, sending the dog running away from the car. He didn't stop there though, even as his friends shouted at him to stop, he smashed into the side of the house, causing a scraping boom!

There was a split second of shock from them all and then there was the big scramble to go. They all had guns, although Dexter didn't trust Fletcher to use his, and Ghastly gave a good kick on the door and it burst open. There were two people in the front entrance, one with a gun and one without. Dexter jumped on the one without a gun and started punching, twisting and choking the guy out. Ghastly flicked his wrist and the other one crumpled as his neck was snapped by the speed of the air.

His friends moved through the house and he took up the back, keeping it clear. Saracen led them directly to a living area that Ghastly opened using his magic to snap the lock.

Nadia was balled up on a sofa in a fancy looking living room, tears on her face.

"Nadia!" He whispered loudly.

She practically shot into the air. "Oh my god!"

"Fletcher, get her out of here," Ghastly told him.

"Wait!" She almost shouted, then slapped hands over her mouth. Fletcher popped beside her but didn't take her away. "Where's Val?"

"Looking for Laila and Myra," Dexter told her as Ghastly and Saracen left to move onto more enemies. "Do you know anything?"

"You know who kidnapped us, right? Tanith is here, but I think in a more secure place. I don't know where Laila is, but Myra's bringing her here," Nadia told him quickly.

"Good to know. You need to get out of here," Dexter told her and barely a second later, she was gone and Fletcher was back.

They caught up to the other two in the kitchen and the fight started to become more of a battle for the second time that day. The house – or mansion rather – was crawling with armed mages. Dexter was almost surprised because he realised they, the enemy, had planned for this eventuality, and they still hadn't found Tanith. Fletcher was picking people off and sending them god-knows-where which helped massively, but for everyone they shot down or got teleported away, another rounded the corner. Dexter gritted his teeth.