Valkyrie's insides grew cold at the prospect of anyone going after her parents. Not even Guild did that. Even Crux, as twisted and insane as he was, only came after her. He vanished the moment her parents might have encountered him. No matter how evil sorcerers got, they tended to leave mortals alone - or at least uninvolved. She'd always assumed that keeping her parents out of things would protect them indefinitely.
She should have known someone would eventually come along to blow all that up. Someone who wouldn't think twice about involving innocent and ignorant people to achieve a goal. Hell, he probably wouldn't even think once. Gabe was an Archangel, hands-down the most powerful person Valkyrie had ever met, and even he hesitated when he talked about his brother.
But what was she supposed to tell her parents? Even assuming they knew about magic, even assuming they knew all about her life, they'd just get even more terrified when she couldn't even tell them what the danger was. They'd want her home, safe, with them. And they wouldn't understand that home wouldn't be safe, not anymore. The only place that could conceivably be safe was right here, with Gabe and Skulduggery. She just hoped she could get her parents to see that.
She made a noise halfway between a laugh and something a little more dark. "So I warn them about a charming guy showing up on their doorstep, probably in a nice suit, and telling them insane things that sound like good ideas? Skulduggery, maybe you shouldn't be there with me when I do."
Skulduggery shook his head. "No, I'll be there. This isn't entirely your responsibility, and Gordon would have wanted it that way." His head tilted again. "Besides, living skeletons have a way of calming people down, if you remember."
Valkyrie scowled. "My parents aren't going to faint." She hesitated. "And if we can avoid telling them about the whole skeleton thing, that would be great too."
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She should have known someone would eventually come along to blow all that up. Someone who wouldn't think twice about involving innocent and ignorant people to achieve a goal. Hell, he probably wouldn't even think once. Gabe was an Archangel, hands-down the most powerful person Valkyrie had ever met, and even he hesitated when he talked about his brother.
But what was she supposed to tell her parents? Even assuming they knew about magic, even assuming they knew all about her life, they'd just get even more terrified when she couldn't even tell them what the danger was. They'd want her home, safe, with them. And they wouldn't understand that home wouldn't be safe, not anymore. The only place that could conceivably be safe was right here, with Gabe and Skulduggery. She just hoped she could get her parents to see that.
She made a noise halfway between a laugh and something a little more dark. "So I warn them about a charming guy showing up on their doorstep, probably in a nice suit, and telling them insane things that sound like good ideas? Skulduggery, maybe you shouldn't be there with me when I do."
Skulduggery shook his head. "No, I'll be there. This isn't entirely your responsibility, and Gordon would have wanted it that way." His head tilted again. "Besides, living skeletons have a way of calming people down, if you remember."
Valkyrie scowled. "My parents aren't going to faint." She hesitated. "And if we can avoid telling them about the whole skeleton thing, that would be great too."