She paced the room. 8.47. Why was time going so slowly? Her old boots were sat next to the door, still as pristine as they'd ever been, her feet not having grown since she'd last worn them. Her daughters were gone. Her husband was gone. It was just her. It was almost how she'd thought it would be, when she'd first quit being a detective. Just her, all alone. But of course, her parents wouldn't have allowed that. She'd gone to University, not just to please them, but to give her something else to do, a distraction of sorts. That was where she'd met John. She'd been on a Creative Writing Course. He'd been doing Maths and Business. Not a likely match. She hadn't even noticed him until she learned his name, and she didn't really do much then, just laughed at how normal it was. After all the people she'd been around, Skulduggery, Fletcher, Ghastly, Tanith, even some guy named Frightening, such a normal name seemed to send her into hysterics, and after a bit more noticing, she noticed he wasn't that bad looking. He'd apparently noticed her a bit more though, as no more than a week later, he had asked her out, and it had gone from there really. She hadn't been alone much after that. She'd made a few new friends (lost contact with most of them by now), and if she wasn't at home with her family, she was at meetings with her agent, discussing boring deadlines and the slightly more interesting pay-cheques. No business offers though. She never accepted them. Gordon was a free spirit. She intended to be the same. She wouldn't have a 'big boss' telling her what to do.
8. 52. 8 minutes until Ghastly was due to arrive. Damn that clock. She thought she might be able to take one of the kitchen knives and stab it, but that probably wouldn't change anything, save for the fact she wouldn't be able to tell the time any more. She was missing a class at the centre today too. Her 'defence training', one of the only things she'd thought might be worth keeping up with. If anything had happened, she'd figured still being able to defend herself might be a positive. Besides, she still had plenty of enemies out there. Sanguine being at the top of that list. After all the stuff that had happened in England, well, she did impale him on a tree. That might not have helped ease his grudge.
For the first few months after she'd quit, she was worried Billy-ray Sanguine would find her and her family. She couldn't sleep at night. Gordon had her move his echo-stone cradle into her room so he could form right there if she needed him to. Not that he could do much, but a guy suddenly in the room might scare Sanguine off just a little bit for Stephanie to gather her wits and kick his ass. She'd worried about the same thing when she and John had first decided to start a family. She'd debated it night and day, what kind of life her son or daughter might have, whether they would have magic too, what kind of risk they would be under just by having her as their mother. She still worried about it, with her daughters being so young and John being so mortal and naïve.
5 minutes left. She clicked her fingers and a flame appeared. Of course, she hadn't let herself get rusty. She guessed there had always been a part of her that just needed magic to live – unfortunately that part was probably influenced by her. Still, it was a good thing, now at least, that she hadn't just abandoned magic altogether, otherwise she'd really be in trouble, having to learn it all over again. Was it possible that, without practise, after the level she'd been at, she could have lost her magic? Maybe. She didn't know.
She sighed, frustrated, and paced some more, just clicking her fingers over and over again, summoning a flame and dousing it, summoning it and dowsing it. She was over the age of the surge, yet had never experienced it – she'd quit before she had the chance to. She wondered if that would have any implications if she tried Necromancy again. It would be amazing if she could still use the two branched of magic, but she wasn't planning on staying long. She hoped she wouldn't need to find out. Plus it probably wouldn't help if she turned up again to face Skulduggery and was using Necromancy – the real Skulduggery had never liked it. Lord Vile, of course… But no, Lord Vile wasn't Skulduggery. Just like she wasn't her.
2 minutes. What was that? Was that the sound of tyres on gravel? Was a car pulling onto the drive? Was it them? She half-expected light footsteps to approach her from behind, and a velvety voice to say she was being stupid, worrying so much, that they had a job to do, and standing around glaring at the clock wouldn't do anything. That was the sound of tyres on the drive. It was them!
She strode to the door, barely restraining herself from jogging, and rested her hand on the doorknob. Just wait, you're not eager. You're fine. Everything's fine.
Knock-knock-knock. She opened the door immediately. Ghastly raised an eyebrow.
"That was fast." He said bluntly.
"I heard you pull up. Are you coming in?"
"I expect so." He stepped inside, and Stephanie noticed the brown package under his arm. She closed the door behind him, and he handed it to her.
"Protective clothing. I recommend you get changed before we leave. We're throwing you in at the deep end I'm afraid."
"Got it." Stephanie nodded "Thanks." Ghastly said nothing as she hurried upstairs to get changed. The feel of the new soft clothes on her skin made her feel good, like the old days. She'd almost forgotten how comfortable clothes tailored by Ghastly were – although she had never forgotten what a good tailor Ghastly was. Even when he was Grand Mage, he was still known as a great tailor. The trousers were black, tinged grey at the ankles. The jacket was the same, black but tinged grey from the elbows to the wrists, which she zipped up hastily. She paused and crouched, reaching under the bed. Her fingers closed around the handle of a briefcase. She lifted it up from under the bed and put it on top of the covers. She unclipped the hinges and opened the lid, her breath hitching slightly. Her hat lay inside, slightly dusty, but still looking brand-new. The hat Skulduggery had given her, with the dark red ribbon. Her hands gripped the brim and she removed it from the case. She went downstairs and slipped on her boots quickly, hat in hand.
"A good fit?" Ghastly asked, and she nodded with a slight smile.
"As good as ever."
"Good. Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
"Let's go then." He opened the door, and she locked it behind them. A grey van was parked on the drive, and Ghastly got in the driving seat. 'Not nearly as comfortable as the Bentley' Stephanie thought with a pang. Ghastly started the ignition and it rumbled to life, pulling out of the drive and onto the road.
"Tanith sends her congratulations about the children, by the way." Stephanie smiled gently. Tanith had been her maid of honour at her wedding (Alice was the head bridesmaid) – to the surprise of everyone else. After all, her parents thought Tanith was a teacher and no one else knew her, but how could Stephanie have her wedding without Tanith? She had invited Skulduggery and Ghastly as well, but Skulduggery hadn't shown up. And if he had, well, she hadn't seen him. Ghastly had been sat in one of the back rows, smiling the entire time. But she hadn't seen either of them since.
"So, you and Tanith didn't get married?"
"No, not yet." Ghastly said with a sad chuckle "After she came back, I had planned on asking her straight away, but, it wouldn't have been fair on her. She needed to get her head together a little bit – after an experience like that, who wouldn't?" Stephanie nodded slowly "So, we decided to wait a little. I guess I chickened out a bit after that." He chuckled nervously "The right moment just hasn't arrived. Do you know what I mean?"
"I know what you mean." Stephanie said, nodding.
"Mmm." Ghastly said in agreement. "How did your husband propose to you?" He asked. Stephanie paused.
"We had just graduated from University, and we went for, well I guess it was a 'romantic' dinner, on the evening. And when we'd finished the meal he got down on one knee in front of the whole restaurant and asked me to marry him." She smiled at the memory "It was a good day."
"I remember Tanith being ecstatic once you'd called her. More so when you asked her to be the Maid of Honour. She was practically running around the house on the ceilings."
"Well, it wouldn't have been 'the big day' without you guys there." She said, and Ghastly smiled at her. There was silence for a few moments until they stopped at a red traffic light.
"Ghastly, what have I missed, since I left?" Stephanie asked quietly. Ghastly's comforting smile turned into a grim line.
"It hasn't been good, I'm afraid. Shortly after you resigned, the other Sanctuaries were threatening war against us. It was a close call, but after a series of very long negotiations, war was avoided."
"That's good."
"Yes, but we lost quite a few mages before it got to that point. Assassination attempts, raids, full on fights, quite a few never made it out alive. I'm afraid Ravel was one of them."
"Erskine's dead?" Stephanie said, shocked. Ghastly nodded grimly as the light turned green, and he resumed driving towards the Sanctuary.
"He took a team into what looked like the first stages of a battle-field. Only one of the men came back, and he died shortly afterwards from his injuries."
"And the ones they were fighting against?"
"They backed off. Most of them were dead too." Stephanie said nothing, but felt guilt tug at her stomach. What if she had stayed? Would Ravel still be alive?
"Fletcher's back, too."
"Fletcher? I thought he was in Australia."
"He was. He moved over again a few years ago. Seems Myra wasn't the right girl for him."
"What's he doing now then?"
"From what I've heard he's living with his fiancé and son somewhere north of Dublin."
"He's got a kid?" Stephanie said with wide eyes.
"It shocked me too, when I heard. His fiancé's an adept, goes by the name of Jade Blossom or something like that. She's training to be part of the medical team, so I've heard. His son will be about…4, now, I think. Maybe 5."
"What's he called?"
"Fletcher."
"No, his son."
"Oh." There was a pause "You know, I can not remember. There haven't really been many family related conversations lately. And he's not in much anyway, only when we need him. He's sort of treated as a… freelance, agent."
"Agent? Really?"
"I didn't give him the title." Ghastly muttered. Stephanie went silent. It seemed to strange to her that someone could balance family and magic. For her, it was either her family or magic. There could only be a singular choice. But, Fletcher didn't have any parents, and, according to Ghastly, his new family was magic. Stephanie's on the other hand, was completely mortal. Except for her. Still, she didn't picture Fletcher as the 'fatherly' type. Still, she wondered if any of her old friends pictured her as the 'motherly' type.
The van pulled up at the side of a kerb.
"Here we are." Ghastly said, turning off the ignition. Stephanie opened the door and stepped outside. The air was surprisingly chilly. Stephanie watched Ghastly get out of the van and begin to walk down the street. She followed him, and they walked into a building that looked like a house on the outside, and a really really decrepit house on the inside.
"New headquarters?" She asked. He nodded.
"After the last incident, we changed bases… again. Although really it's the same place just with a new entry point and the old one blocked off. No major changes save for this."
"Why an old house?" She asked as he tapped a sequence out on the wall, and then opened the door to what looked like it led to a basement, that actually went much further down.
"We tried to make it as inconspicuous as possible, somewhere no one would look. We made it look occupied on the outside so no one would try to come in, and abandoned on the inside, but too dilapidated for anyone to sleep in if a homeless person wandered in by mistake. You'll need the code to be able to open the door. We'll give it to you in the briefing."
"When's the briefing?" She asked.
"5 minutes ago."
"Ah." Just like good old times. She followed him down the staircase, overhead lights illuminating the way, the door closed firmly behind them. It seemed to go on forever, until Ghastly paused where there was a small blue symbol on the side of the wall. There seemed to be still miles of staircase to go, but Ghastly tapped the symbol twice and a door formed on his left. He turned to her.
"China's been… back in touch, since you left, you might say. She had the idea of planting a symbol on the side of the wall to allow people access to the Sanctuary. If they're an intruder, and don't know about the symbol, then they'll just keep walking the staircase."
"Forever?"
"It would seem like forever. Really they'd just be on a loop, and until someone came to get them, preferable one of us so we could ask them what they're doing trying to sneak into the Sanctuary, they'd stay stuck like that."
"How often do you check it?" She asked as she followed him through the door.
"About every other hour." He replied. Stephanie shuddered. She would hate to be continually walking that staircase even for more than five minutes, never mind a few hours. This door lead them into a brightly lit corridor, with the anonymous cleavers (who remained unchanged, Stephanie noticed) posted at either side of each door.
"You've upped security." She noticed.
"We've had to, now that we think a certain someone's back." Ghastly said darkly. Stephanie nodded. With Lord Vile, ever precaution had to be taken. She just hoped she could get him to turn back into Skulduggery while there was still time. If there was still time, that was.
He lead her through more corridors, and then Stephanie began to recognise parts of it, the layout of doors, the main directions of movements. Hell, even their own direction was beginning to feel familiar. They were back in the old part of the Sanctuary. And the doors to the council room were just up ahead.
"So, what's this about China coming back?" She asked. Ghastly smiled a knowing smile at her.
"You'll see." He said mysteriously, and she raised an eyebrow. He opened the doors dramatically, and the few quiet voices that had previously been talking, stopped. Ghastly walked in, and Stephanie followed him. He stepped aside to reveal her dramatically, and she gripped her hat tighter in her hands.
A large table had been placed in the middle of the council room, with a map or Ireland laid out on it. Around this table were Tanith Low, Fletcher Renn, China Sorrows, Dexter Vex, Donegan Bane and Gracious O'Callen.
"Valkyrie," Tanith breathed, and she didn't bother to correct her. Valkyrie smiled nervously before Tanith strode over and wrapped her in a bear-crushing hug.
"It's good to see you too." She managed to choke and Tanith released her, holding her by the shoulders.
"You're sure about this?" She asked, looking into her eyes.
"As I'll ever be." She replied honestly, and Tanith nodded, a broad smile stretching across her face.
"Good to have you back Cain!" Donegan called.
"It's like you never left!" Gracious agreed. Valkyrie smiled slightly.
"I wouldn't say that."