"You know I have wanted to catch up, wait no that's a lie, honestly I never wanted to see your face again, unless I'm putting a bullet in your head, especially after past certain events…and can you stop growling at me for ten minutes so we can have a decent conversation or is that just too hard for you? Oh don't look at me as though I hurt your feelings, we both know you don't have any," Skulduggery said then with a deep sigh he continued what he was saying, "I've never liked you, I liked your brother and your sisters but never you. I looked at you and I would feel sick with the knowledge of what you are-"

My sister is the same as me the beast told Skulduggery telepathically.

"Don't interrupt, and you're wrong, none of your siblings are like you, they don't take innocent lives-"

Everyone has their time

"Yes, so you keep saying. Is that how you sleep at night? Do you hear the cries of the mother who lost her family in the fire that your little pets started? Your bloody sister did. And do you know whose cries she had to put up with for years? Your boy's. Do you remember him? The son you left on the street because he reminded you of your mother."

You don't know what you are talking about skeleton. I DON'T have to justify my actions to you, what I did, I did for a reason. That woman you spoke of should be grateful she didn't die in the fire, she should realise that if her family didn't die their soul would have eaten, tortured them and destroyed them. You only skimmed through the story, only paying attention when it suited you. Now I don't exactly like you either but what you fail to realise is that us two, we are not that different.

"No, we are completely different. We are different in every way possible."

You keep telling yourself that. The beast said with a crooked grin.

"You have sunk so low, I mean you have always been low, but this. You take the form of this hideous creature, abduct innocent people and, now don't growl or anything like that at me if I get this wrong, I am just judging you on who you are and your history, and you kill them. Is that what you do now? Because all of those names, that's what they are to you aren't they? Just names, names in a book with a date next to them, well at least most of them are. Where all of those people, all of those lives, were they in your book? Did your book say that every singe person you took in the past month need to die?"

"What book? Skulduggery what are you talking about?"

Skulduggery sighed, "Valkyrie do you remember the book of names?"

"Yeah"

"Well there are also two other books, the book of life, that has a record of when everyone is born, and the other book is the book of death, it has a record of when everyone dies."

"Charming, I guess this fella has the book of death."

"Yep."

"Oh, OK. So what are you going to do about him?"

"Not much we can do Valkyrie, trust me when I say this but you don't want to get on this guy's bad side."

"Yeah I kinda got the feeling that you know him and don't like him, but China said we had to get rid of him."

As soon as Valkyrie stopped talking the beast transformed into a man, he wore a black leather jacket with a pair of jeans, his hair was jet black and down to his shoulders and he had a huge scar going from the top of his right eyebrow all the way down to under the left corner of his mouth, but the thing Valkyrie could not draw her gaze from was his eyes, they were the same piercing black when he was the beast, but they had a certain look about them, the way he looked at her made her want to curl up and die. Then he looked at Skulduggery with a look that can only be described as pure hatred.

Finally Valkyrie found her voice, "How did you get that scar?"

"A dragon, she didn't exactly like me," the man said with an Australian accent

"We saw a dragon once, it lives under my uncles house," Valkyrie said with pride

"They are extinct now Valkyrie, died out a long time ago,"

"They are still alive, I saw one and ... how do you know my name?"

"I just do, are you not going to ask my name? After all you don't know it."

"Do I need to know it?"

Before the man could reply Skulduggery asked, "Why are you on the surface, let alone in Ireland Lucifer?"

"I really don't think it's any of your business, Pleasant. You know for someone with the name Pleasant you aren't very pleasant."

"I really don't like you"

"Ok so if you two don't mind but I don't really like this house so could we maybe get the hell out of here?" Valkyrie asked

"What, don't you like my home?" Lucifer asked

"No sorry, it gives me the creeps."

"Fine let's go."

"Who said you're coming with us?" Skulduggery said

"I'll make you a deal Skulduggery, I'll burn this house down, no more people from the town will be killed, you go to your Supreme Mage and tell her that you killed the beast and I will go back home."

"What's in it for you Lucifer?"

"Absolutely nothing, call it an act of good faith if you will."

"You don't do acts of good faith."

"Take it or leave it skeleton, you have nothing to lose."

"So you will just go back to hell where you belong? OK then deal."

And with that he disappeared with a puff of black smoke. When they got back to the Bentley Valkyrie asked Skulduggery "So how do you know that guy?" Skulduggery looked at Valkyrie and told her "He's my brother-in-law," and got into the car.