Valkyrie was sitting on the edge of her bed, tapping her foot on the floor, occasionally glancing at her phone's clock. It was five minutes till midnight. Five minutes until they broke into China's library.
Valkyrie got up and walked over to the window. She didn't care if she was early. She opened her window and slid through it. She closed it and jumped down to the ground, displacing the air to cushion her landing. She sprinted to the end of her driveway. There she got into the waiting, black Bentley.
"Are you ready?" Skulduggery asked as he sped away from the curb. He wasn't wearing his disguise.
"Yeah," Valkyrie said. "Because I'm always ready to break into someone's most prized room."
Skulduggery chuckled. "I'm sensing some tension."
"Skulduggery," Valkyrie said, turning towards the skeleton. "How are we even going to do this? Surely it's protected by God only knows what!"
"I've done my research Val," Skulduggery reassured her. "And, surprisingly, no symbols protect it. It's just an ordinary security system."
"Really?" Valkyrie exclaimed in shock. "But what's the plan? How do we get in?"
Skulduggery glanced over at her. "Do you remember when we first met? That first night we spent together?"
Valkyrie cocked an eyebrow and suppressed a smile that threatened to break across her face.
"Oh, dear God Val! Not like that!"
"I know," she responded, "But of course I do! How could I forget?"
"Remember how we broke into the museum?" Skulduggery prompted.
Valkyrie though back to the night she had first encountered vampires. She nodded.
"But China's library doesn't have any skylights," she argued.
"But it has air vents."
Valkyrie smiled. Of course Skulduggery had a plan! He always did. Her smile faded though when she realized something.
"Skulduggery," she began, "What is so important? Why do you want to go back? Did it have something to do with where in China's library we were in?"
Skulduggery nodded.
"But what is it?"
"What was China tinkering with while she was talking to us?"
"An empty shelf."
"But what if it's not really empty?"
"Skulduggery, I swear, what are you talking about!"
"You'll see soon enough."
The Bentley continued gliding down the road, cutting through the dark streets like a bullet. Skulduggery parked across the street, pulled a bag out of the back seat, and placed it on Valkyrie's lap. Grappling hooks, wire, and ropes were inside.
Valkyrie followed Skulduggery across the street. They ran as fast as they could, gaining momentum, then pushed down on the air. They landed on the roof of the building, and ran towards the air conditioning duct, and slipped in.
This is it, Valkyrie thought, we are really breaking into China's library.