Set Book 9 Dying of the Light. The moment after Valkyrie returns for real.
"She's not dead yet," Skulduggery snarled without raising his head from the CPR, but of course she was. They all knew it. The group stood in silence as Skulduggery continued to perform CPR. In vain, many felt, and Gracious continued to fiddle with the Sunburst.
Gracious closed the back of the Sunburst, screwed it shut with his penknife, and tossed it over to Skulduggery. "Try it now."
Skulduggery pressed it into Valkyrie's chest. It lit up. The symbols flashed red.
The Sunburst beeped.
And Valkyrie sucked in a deep breath, opened her eyes, and screamed. The occupants of the room jumped at the sound. Valkyrie continued to scream as she scrambled away from Skulduggery, her dark eyes glassy and trapped in past memories. Stephanie and Fletcher stared in shock as Valkyrie lodged herself in the corner of the room, gasping sobs escaping her as she wrapped her arms around herself, her body trembling uncontrollably. Everyone seemed unable to move, staring in shock and worry at the previously dead girl now falling to pieces right before their eyes. Skulduggery stood slowly, his eyeless gaze locked onto Valkyrie's trembling figure.
"Out," the skeleton detective said quietly, his voice low, almost soft, but Fletcher could hear the underlying edge beneath it. By the way that everyone else in the room slowly filed out they had heard it too. Soon only Fletcher and Stephanie remained while Skulduggery made his way to Valkyrie, her sobs becoming keening cries that reminded Fletcher of a wounded animal. His heart clenched at the sound. Skulduggery turned his head slightly in their direction and Fletcher knew it was time to leave. Silently, he grasped Stephanie's hand in his own and teleported away, the last thing he saw was Valkyrie's hands rising to tangle in her hair, tears streaming down her cheeks as she shuddered and cried.
The only two left in the room, Skulduggery approached Valkyrie slowly, not wishing to startle her. He was about a foot away from her when she released an anguished cry and started rocking back and forth.
"Valkyrie," he said softly and Valkyrie cried harder, curling into herself as if by doing so she could disappear. Very slowly he crouched before her, taking note of how much she was shaking, the tears falling continuously down her flushed cheeks, the clawed hands digging into her skull, as she trembled with all the memories of what Darquesse had done while in possession of Valkyrie's body.
"Valkyrie," Skulduggery repeated. "Valkyrie, look at me." He waited for a long moment, those gut wrenching cries still escaping her, and then she looked up at him through the dark tangle of her hair, her dark eyes huge and wet, filled with unbearable anguish and pain. He didn't tell her that it would be alright. He knew the horror she had seen, felt. He knew the despair and frustration of not being in control of your body, of being a bystander as the evil thing within you destroyed and obliterated everything and everyone in its path, just for the sheer enjoyment of it. She wouldn't appreciate being coddled and placated. All she needed right now was someone who understood and would not judge her for it.
"I'm here," Skulduggery said tenderly, his velvety voice soft and smooth. Valkyrie stared up at him with her large, dark eyes, her cheeks wet with tears, a broken sob escaping her as she lifted her arms to him. Skulduggery wasted no time in gathering her into his arms, wrapping them tightly around her as he switched positions with her, resting his back against the wall and cradling Valkyrie's trembling form in his lap. Keening cries sounded deep in her chest and Valkyrie held on to Skulduggery for dear life as he rocked her back forth, cooing softly in her ear that he was here, that he wouldn't leave her, that they would be together until the end.
A long time passed. Skulduggery continued to hold Valkyrie as her cries ceased and her trembling subsided. Skulduggery ducked his head to see Valkyrie's face, gently tucking an errant strand of dark hair behind the curve of her ear. Valkyrie curled into his chest, one of her hands playing with his tie nervously.
"I-I...there was so much pain and...and Darquesse was there, in the back of my mind, telling me that if I let her take over the pain would go away." Valkyrie murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. She sniffed and a shuddering breath left her. Skulduggery was silent, one of his gloved hands absently playing with her hair. "I tried...t-tried to overcome the pain, to fight against the Brides of Blood Tears, but there were too many. They surrounded me, they...they p-pulled my leg – " without realising it her voice had started to rise in hysteria as the memories of being pulled apart filled her mind.
"Hush," Skulduggery murmured softly, pressing her head into his chest.
"I'm sorry," Valkyrie whispered brokenly into his chest, utterly humiliated and mortified that she had fallen apart so completely in front of her best friend and partner. She hated herself; for giving into Darquesse, for being so weak willed that she couldn't fight on her own, for disappointing her friends in becoming the evil thing she was destined to be. She must have said that last bit out loud because Skulduggery suddenly grabbed her chin and lifted her face to his.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, Valkyrie," Skulduggery said firmly. "What you have been through would have destroyed a lesser person. But you came back to us, you came back to me and I told you before; there will be many times in our lifetime where I will disappoint you, but you have never and will never disappoint me." They stared at each other for a long moment, dark eyes searching the dark depths of Skulduggery's skull. Valkyrie nodded silently and a tear slipped down her cheek. Skulduggery lifted a hand to his collarbones, pressing the sigils that resided there and a face flowed up to cover his skull. There was nothing remarkable about this face but when Skulduggery lifted her chin and pressed the facade's lips against her forehead Valkyrie felt all the pain, despair and anguish drain away, leaving her feeling exhausted yet calm. She closed her eyes at the touch of his lips and sighed softly, leaning into him. He pulled back after a moment and wrapped his arms around her again after he had removed the facade, his chin resting atop her head.
"Sleep," he murmured softly, his velvety voice soothing her and Valkyrie sighed again, curling against him, appreciating the firmness of his body as she rested her head against his chest.
"Thank you," Valkyrie whispered, "for not giving up on me." Skulduggery's arms tightened around her, a gloved hand stroking her hair as she started to drift off to sleep, completely drained and exhausted.
"The world would not be worth living in without you in it," he replied quietly. "Until the end." He promised and Valkyrie fell asleep to the sound of Skulduggery singing softly, his smooth voice resonating beneath her ear.