Secrets

23. Someone Kidnapped Me...

Valkyrie ran as fast as she could. There were so many hallways. Damn, she should've asked Sanguine to show her out. Maybe then she wouldn't have gotten lost in the endless corridors. Where in the world was she? She'd been knocked out so she had no idea where they'd taken her, or how far away the Sanctuary was. She was just hoping that Skulduggery would find her soon before she starved to death down here. But she knew that thirst would come before starvation.

She cursed as she came to another dead end.

"Fuck," she said, and turned and ran back the other way.

***

Valkyrie didn't know how long she spent running around with no sense of direction whatsoever. She was beginning to get tired, and she felt sick again. No, now was not the time to throw up again. Not when she was still trying to find a way out. And that's when she saw it. A light at the end of the corridor. She breathed a sigh of relief, and forgot her tiredness. Valkyrie sprinted as fast as she could, and launched herself out the door.

She was hit by the blinding light of the sun, and staggered a little bit before her eyes finally adjusted. She blinked a couple of times and finally saw where she was. The place didn't look familiar at all. It was a wood, with a single house in the middle of bloody nowhere! Trees surrounded her from every angle, and she didn't know how to get back. She sighed and rubbed her temples. Bloody hell, she was toast. And wandering around aimlessly in the woods for hours didn't seem like the best idea to Valkyrie.

She ran her fingers through her dark hair and tried to calm herself, thinking of what to do. She turned and froze. Hang on, maybe she could look for tire tracks? Shit, Sanguine wouldn't have taken her in a car, he would've just burrowed under the ground. She almost screamed in frustration.

"Need some help?" A voice from behind her asked. She spun and saw Sanguine standing there smiling at her.

"Yes," she said approaching him.

"Fine. I'll give you a ride back to the Sanctuary. But I'll have to blindfold you."

She frowned. "Why?"

"So you don't know where we've come from."

"Sanguine, you could just burrow under the ground and I wouldn't have a clue where we were going."

"Oh, yeah. Right."

She sighed and shook her head. She winced as she had to cling to Sanguine, and the ground rumbled beneath them. Valkyrie didn't let go. Even now she still got scared of him leaving her down here to suffocate.

She could feel the dirt and rocks shifting around them, and then they broke the surface and Valkyrie gasped for fresh air. She looked around. She recognised this place. It was the pier, in Haggard. She turned to Sanguine.

"I thought you said you were taking me to the Sanctuary," she said.

"And risk getting caught? Hell no. You can walk from here."

Then he disappeared back into the ground and Valkyrie was left standing there, staring at the spot where he'd once been.

She didn't know how long she'd been standing there for, until a familiar voice snapped her out of her trance.

"Valkyrie?" It was Tanith.

Valkyrie turned and flung herself into the blonde swordswoman's arms.

"Oh thank god," Tanith breathed, hugging her back. "We've all been so worried about you! Where did you go?"

Valkyrie pulled away to face Tanith and tried her hardest not to cry.

"Someone kidnapped me," she answered.

"Oh god who?"

"I don't know," she lied. "They had masks on."

God she hated lying, especially to her friends. But it was for the best, otherwise they would all die.

"Skulduggery has been fretting ever since this morning," Tanith explained.

"Skulduggery? Where is he?"

"Looking for you. We all are."

"Oh god! I need to call him!"

"Yeah, I'll call the others and tell them that I found you."

"Okay thanks," Valkyrie replied and took out her phone.

She dialled the familiar number and it was answered on the second ring.

"Valkyrie?!" A velvet voice exclaimed.

"Yes it's me," she answered.

"Oh thank god. Are you alright? Where are you?"

"Skul, I'm fine I promise. I'm at the pier with Tanith."

"Stay there. I'm coming to get you."

She hung up and put her phone back in her pocket. Well, he did sound relieved. She sighed and ran her fingers through her dark hair, and looked out over the water. Tanith was still talking on the phone and Valkyrie waited, and stared at the sun, which had begun to set. It looked so beautiful with the orange sky over the blue water.

***

Her and Tanith waited until they heard the sound of the Bentley's engine. Valkyrie turned to see Skulduggery switching it off and climbing out. He walked over to them and embraced her in a hug.

"Thank god you're okay," he whispered into her hair. She snuggled closer and let herself sag into his arms. "Where have you been?"

She reluctantly pulled away and looked him in the eye. God, this was so hard.

"I don't know," she lied. "Someone knocked me out..."

He growled.

"And kidnapped me."

"Who are they?" His voice was low, menacing and scary.

"I don't know," she replied, having a hard time keeping eye contact with him. "They had their faces covered."

She watched as Skulduggery took a deep breath and stepped away from her.

"Skul?" She asked tenderly, and he turned from her, so that his back was facing her. She watched him trying to control the anger that had been building up, and then he turned back around.

"I'm going to kill them," he said. "Whoever they are."

Valkyrie swallowed thickly. She just wanted to tell him everything, tell him the awful secret. But she couldn't, and that made her angry and she wanted to break down and cry.

"Did they hurt you?" He asked.

"No," she replied. And that was true, they hadn't laid a finger on her.

"Good," he said, approaching her again. She could see that he'd calmed down a lot now, and for that she was grateful. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.
"Let's go home," he said.