If things weren't so flatly serious, Valkyrie might have laughed. She would have felt terrible about it, but she'd have laughed. It was amazing, once you got over Skulduggery being a living skeleton, how quickly you grew accustomed to it. She never even considered, once Gabe gave him his skin back, that things other than Skulduggery's face and body might become an issue for him.
She'd also never considered her mother actually becoming physically violent. And to a virtual stranger, no less. Valkyrie had a hand over her mouth as she watched, dislodged only by her mother pulling her back into a tight embrace the moment the seat belt was buckled.
She wanted to say that it wasn't Skulduggery's fault. She wanted to say that if it weren't for Skulduggery, she'd have been gone a lot more than she was. She wanted to say that Skulduggery was only respecting her decision, and in the meantime doing what he could to help her keep both lives in perspective. But she didn't. Because she knew it would only take one wrong word to turn her mother's wrath on her, and Valkyrie was shallow enough to admit that she'd rather Skulduggery face the brunt of that.
Still, the only thing that kept her from trying to break the uncomfortable silence that followed was the feel of her mother's arms around her. It was a full minute before Skulduggery got back into the car, and almost another full minute before he put the Bentley in gear and started driving again - all without a word.
Centuries of control, Valkyrie remembered him saying. It was probably harder when he wasn't expecting the trigger. Or when he was feeling pain he hadn't felt in centuries, let alone anger. Valkyrie was glad for those centuries of control just then. The very last thing she wanted her parents to find out about was Vile.
Des was actually the first person to break the silence. He twisted around in his seat to look at Gabe over the headrest, one eyebrow raised. "He could feel that?"
no subject
She'd also never considered her mother actually becoming physically violent. And to a virtual stranger, no less. Valkyrie had a hand over her mouth as she watched, dislodged only by her mother pulling her back into a tight embrace the moment the seat belt was buckled.
She wanted to say that it wasn't Skulduggery's fault. She wanted to say that if it weren't for Skulduggery, she'd have been gone a lot more than she was. She wanted to say that Skulduggery was only respecting her decision, and in the meantime doing what he could to help her keep both lives in perspective. But she didn't. Because she knew it would only take one wrong word to turn her mother's wrath on her, and Valkyrie was shallow enough to admit that she'd rather Skulduggery face the brunt of that.
Still, the only thing that kept her from trying to break the uncomfortable silence that followed was the feel of her mother's arms around her. It was a full minute before Skulduggery got back into the car, and almost another full minute before he put the Bentley in gear and started driving again - all without a word.
Centuries of control, Valkyrie remembered him saying. It was probably harder when he wasn't expecting the trigger. Or when he was feeling pain he hadn't felt in centuries, let alone anger. Valkyrie was glad for those centuries of control just then. The very last thing she wanted her parents to find out about was Vile.
Des was actually the first person to break the silence. He twisted around in his seat to look at Gabe over the headrest, one eyebrow raised. "He could feel that?"
Valkyrie couldn't help it. She giggled.