~With Freya~

"Freya!"

The brunette's body went rigid when she hears her name being called. In her position, if she makes one bad move, he would surely notice.

"Freya, come out! I need to talk to you!"

She bites her lower lip and digs her nails against a wooden surface. She can hear him behind the object she's hiding in.

"Freya!"

She presses her forehead against a solid feeling. Of all the things she would do, a werewolf wouldn't do this. Hell, this is pretty much something their feral side wouldn't do. It's out of their nature!

"Damn it…"

Her throat tightens and her eyes are focus on the form walking around the tree.

He's standing there, turning his head left and right. Freya prays hard in hope that he wouldn't look up.

Yes. You can imagine. A werewolf climbing up a tree. Something a feline would do.

But that isn't important. Not to Freya at this moment.

"Freya, we need to talk! If you're listening, then come out!"

Freya hides deeper behind the branch she's lying on, only one of her eyes peeking at the side of it. Thanks to the brownish leaves of the tree and it's aromatic scent, her scent was covered from the silver werewolf. Plus, a lot of the leaves manage to cover a large portion of her body.

Howler sighs and sits under the tree, pressing his back against the trunk. He tilts head up with his eyes close. Freya peeks at the self-tormented face, her own eyes saddening.

"Freya, where the hell are you…?"

Howler looks at his lap and rummages through one of his pants. He pulls out a light tan paper and his eyes soften with his hands gripping on it. Freya turns into a wolf, letting the leaves blend in with her brown fur better. She tilts her head, resting on one of her front legs and keeps her eyes on the silver male.

The two didn't move their place for the rest of the afternoon…

~With Tanith and Ghastly~

"Ghastly, you feeling okay?"

Ghastly sighs. "I don't know. Ask me that in five minutes and I might tell you I have a headache. This situation is out of our field. Our best agents are out of commission, unless they kidnap Valkyrie, which is a deadly move with Skulduggery in this state; the agent who was supposed to help with this problem is busy chasing our transfer agent and worse of…" Ghastly groans and rubs both his temples. "Skulduggery has been calling me about how amazing Valkyrie. All. Night."

Tanith gives a small, comforting smile and moves her hands to Ghastly's shoulders, rubbing his tense limbs. "I guess you've been pretty tired."

"You have no idea. Being one of the Elders is just tiring." Ghastly closes his eyes and leans into the British touch. He lets out a small voice, slowly falling into relaxation. "I miss tailoring…"

"I know…How about you take a few shut eyes? I'll wake you up when someone needs you."

"Meaning, I'll only have 5 minutes of sleep."

"I'll make it 15 if I have your permission to scare the people who comes to disturb you."

Ghastly lets out a small laugh. "Vicious, aren't you?" He mutters and slowly, his head tilting forward. Noticing this, Tanith allows him to fold his arms on the table and lets his head lay on them. Tanith stands at Ghastly's side and places a nearby blanket around him, placing a small kiss on his bald but scarred head.

"Only for your well-being, love…" She mutters and sits next to Ghastly, watching him smile in his peaceful sleep.

~Valkyrie and Skulduggery~

"Skulduggery, where are we going?"

"Ah, that, my loyal combat accessory, is a surprise."

Valkyrie squirms in her seat to readjust the comfort level. The moment Skulduggery woke up, Ghastly told him to take it easy and, when he feels better, he should head home and get some rest. And Skulduggery, being the egotistic detective he is, replies with an answer along the lines 'I, Ghastly, am perfectly fine. However, it seems my dear partner was neglected during my meditation state. And being neglected from a devilishly handsome skeleton like myself is purely torture to the poor girl. So if you don't mind, I will take my leave with her.'

He got a stomp on his foot for that from the blushing Valkyrie.

Therefore, here she is, practically kidnapped by her own partner and crush to a place she doesn't even know. On the plus side though, he has been keeping his hands off her to the limit of a gentlemen…for now.

"Here we are!"

Valkyrie gawks at their destination.

A building with a large but fancy sign Family Delight hanging above the double oak brown doors stands proudly on the street of Dublin. Valkyrie looks at the yellow gold walls, the brownish gold roof and the beautiful plants outside the door of the restaurant before turning to ask Skulduggery.

When she comes face to face with the sexiest man on Earth.

His black hair is well-cut and almost swept back with his skin light tan in color and his eyes a beautiful shade of emeralds. His noticeably high cheekbones and dazzling smile matches the features of his well-sculptured face. His nose is slightly pointy but otherwise, beautifully shaped. His suit clings to his body and Valkyrie, for sure, can see that this man is perfectly shaped: Not too muscular, not too skinny. The god-like man dusts the top of his fedora before placing it back to his head. When he turns to Valkyrie, his smile widens, showing familiar teeth that Valkyrie had only dreamt of kissing.

She blushes further from him staring back at her eyes with those green gems and clears her throat, trying to other the first word popping out of her mouth. "S-Skulduggery?"

"Yes, my dear?"

Good God, now the velvet voice is making her weak in the knees!

"W-Wha…Wha…" She swallows the nervous lump in her throat before forcing her eyes away from the beautiful art sitting on the driver's seat. "Um…How-"

"-did I manage a full body façade? For the record, Valkyrie, this isn't a façade. At least, not the usual ones I wear as a disguise. No, this full body façade is solely for you."

"H-Huh?" Valkyrie blinks at the former skeleton and Skulduggery grabs one of her hands in a comforting touch.

"I had China make some alterations. Of course, I'll need that other disguise or else all the villains will know who I am when I'm undercover. But, when we're alone and free from a case such as this, I shall put on my full body façade because…well, this is what I once look like. When I was originally human."

Oh.

Oh.

"Oh…Wow." She blushes and tries (yet failed) to avoid the urge to stare at his chest, imagining how it would look. The thought of scars from his war bring Valkyrie a tingle of ecstasy. "You're right."

"Hm?"

"You're a devilishly handsome skeleton."

The detective lets out a chuckle that sent her heart beating to an alarming rate. "Why, thank you. I am devilishly handsome. Come, you must be starving."

Valkyrie looks at the restaurant and frowns a tad bit. "Are you sure? I'm not wearing anything…proper for that place."

"Nonsense. You are, and always will be, a beautiful woman. And having me as your accessory is all you need to be dazzling for a place such as this."

"Gee, thanks for the egotistic comment, Skul." But she smiles a grateful smile towards the detective and opens the door with Skulduggery, exiting the Bentley.

The inside of the restaurant is something she didn't expect. She thought, with a restaurant as richly looking as this, there would be a lot of snobby, rich people talking about politics and such.

But instead, all she sees is a well-decorated restaurant with a feeling of family and home. The walls are as yellow gold as the exterior walls but with a beautiful chandelier hanging on the ceiling, glittering amazingly, and children laughing and giggling with excitement with their family, it is truly a place she will love.

"Good evening, Sir and Madame. To what can I do for you?"

"A table for two, please." Skulduggery answers, wrapping an arm around Valkyrie's waist in a romantic manner. The waiter nods and gestures to the dining room.

"Right this way." The trio enters the room and once the waiter stops, he allows the two detectives to take a seat in a table with a white table cloth, two expensive-looking plates, knives, spoons and forks at the side of said plates and a candelabra in the center of it, creating a romantic atmosphere when the waiter lights up the three candles. He passes the menus to the two but Skulduggery raises a hand.

"No need. I have made the orders in advance during the afternoon."

"Ah, yes. A Mr. Pleasant." The waiter smiles at Valkyrie. "And you must be the Mrs."

"W-What?" Valkyrie stares at Skulduggery but he only clear his throat and give the waiter a slightly flustered gaze.

"Yes. And a shy missus she is. Please bring two glass of red wine and our orders. My wife-" Valkyrie notices the corners of his lips moving upward a bit. "-has been hungry for some time."

"No I haven't." Valkyrie shoots a glare at the smirking detective across her.

"Now, now, dearest, I have heard your stomach growling since we came here."

"Excellent choice, sir. And I don't mean just the food." The waiter smiles and bows halfway before turning back to the kitchen doors. Valkyrie crosses her arms and raises a brow.

"Mrs. Pleasant?"

"I must admit, it does have a lovely ring to it. Valkyrie Pleasant, hm?"

Valkyrie's glare softens considerably. "Yeah but then, I wouldn't be a Cain and I plan to live up my name."

"Quite right, quite right." Skulduggery replies merrily. "Valkyrie C. Pleasant?"

Valkyrie opens her mouth to reply but the waiter returns with a tray. First, he places the wines behind the plates. Then, he puts the delicacies onto the table, a plate of Irish Boxty. Valkyrie lets out a small laugh and Skulduggery raises a curious brow.

"What is it?"

"Nothing. There was a funny rhyme about it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It was from someone call Brooke Elizabeth. It goes something like…'Boxty on the griddle, boxty on the pan; if you can't make boxty, you'll never get a man'"

"Then it's a good thing I'm not entirely a man. You can't possibly make a boxty for the life of you."

"I'm sure I can!" Skulduggery gives a look. Valkyrie falters. "…once I learn how to stop burning the food."

"That's my girl." Skulduggery chuckles and the two begin eating in a comfortable silence. But once Valkyrie finish her food and take a sip of her wine, she notices the little boy tugging on his mother's dress, earning himself a wipe of the cheek to clear the chocolate off of his boyish smile.

Valkyrie smiles sadly at the sight of the mother picking up her son to let him sit on her lap. She wouldn't admit it but having a child and becoming a mother…It was something Valkyrie had thought of. Having a cute little daughter or a handsome son calling her 'Mama' and giving a cute, little, kiddy smile to brighten her life into knowing that life isn't always about fighting crime or facing the imminent death of her comrades. She loves Skulduggery, unconditionally. But every time she sees a family with a child of their own, it just brought a twinge of pain to the motherly side of her. It broke her heart.

"You're brooding."

Valkyrie snaps out of her thoughts and turns to Skulduggery, who's wearing an expressionless face. She laughs a little.

"Come on, Skul. You know me. I'm just thinking how far apart the secretive realm and the mortal realm is. It's a bit sad." She gives him a smile she hope wasn't a fake. Skulduggery continues to stare at her with his eyes and Valkyrie can see them scanning through her lies.

He leans back against his chair and tips his hat low, covering his eyes.

"I'm sorry."

That took Valkyrie by surprise. "What?"

"…I'm sorry. For not being able to help you produce a child." He mutters lowly, his lips frowning. "It's my fault. If I'm a man instead of a skeleton, I would be able to give you a true man. Not a skeleton who can only be a man by wearing a very well-equipped façade." Valkyrie knows that look. She imagined it when Skulduggery was in his skeleton form when he feels that same feeling. It was the feeling of self-loathing. A very rare thing to see from the egotistic detective himself. He then looks at her in the eye and said with as much confidence as he could muster. "But with this façade, I can do so."

"What?"

"It's true." Skulduggery confesses. His cheeks flush for a bit. "I gotten Nyx, as much as hate him, to help me with the façade. With the organs working properly, I can be fertile and I can…give you what you always wish for. A child. A family."

"But…Skulduggery, you hate Nyx. You never trusted him. And you never liked China ever since…she…" Valkyrie quickly change her words. "The point is, you never trust them and you wouldn't let them touch a single millimeter of you. Why would you do something like this?"

Skulduggery lowers his head, his fedora covering his eyes. "…I…want to be the person you would truly love. Someone who you can live happily with without making you regret your choices. I don't know why you would love me and it boggles my mind but…I want to be both the man and skeleton you would forever love with no regrets."

"Skulduggery…" Valkyrie grabs the hand on the table, making Skulduggery look up a bit. "I don't love you because you're a man. I don't love you because you're a skeleton. I don't even love you because you're some amazing detective with a dangerous reputation. I love you for you. Skeleton or man, you will always be my Skulduggery. The Skulduggery who I will never regret choosing. The Skulduggery who I will always love. The Skulduggery who-" She stops herself and her hand stills on top of his. Her hand trembles and Skulduggery's eyes widen with shock and slight horror.

Valkyrie is crying. Not out of pain, not out of a wound.

But a heartbreak. A wound that doesn't bleed. A pain much worse than the word can describe. And yet, Skulduggery wouldn't know. Because he's not the real Skulduggery right now.

He's only like this because of the arrow.

Valkyrie realizes just how deep she's getting into. Just how far gone she's about to go with this love spell. And for what? To receive a love she can't have from the same guy who only change a different view of her?

"The Skulduggery who would never love a girl like me."

He will never love her. She knows that. And yet, she doesn't want a love that feels real when, in actuality, is fake. This dinner, this romance. Everything. This should be done when they truly love each other. A love that exists in reality. A love that's just as true as the Faceless Ones and The Ancients.

A love isn't conjured up by a stupid arrow!

Is this a sick joke? Does reality love torturing her heart to pieces?

"Valkyrie. Valkyrie, sweetheart, what's wrong? Have I upset you?"

"Ugh…Ngh…Agh…" Valkyrie bites her lower lip, her tears falling down her cheeks. Her vision is a watery blur, her body is trembling and her nose is getting stuffy but right now, she doesn't care. She buries her face into her hands and says something incoherent to Skulduggery. He gets up from his seat and quickly kneels to her side, pulling her into a deep hug. Valkyrie doesn't care about the stares she's receiving. She doesn't care about how she's getting too emotional. She doesn't even care about how warm and comforting Skulduggery's hug is. She can only muffle what she said before against the well-tailored suit before Skulduggery hushes her with gentle strokes on her hair. He would never hear the words Valkyrie had uttered.

I want my Skulduggery back.

Even if he'll never love me.


Next time! On the next chapter:

"You plan to what?!"

"I won't regret it. It's my choice."

"Freya Dreamer…We meet again."

"You were never there for me! You're always on her side! I thought I could trust you!"

"Valkyrie Cain…I will make this the best night of your life."

"I know you do…"

What is the history between Freya and Howler? Will Tanith ever confess to Ghastly? What will be the result of this spell-bounded love? Keep reading and find out!