I don't think that icing sugar was very good for me *greenface*

Keep reviewin'!

TheSquirrelLordess Xx

Back at Gordon's Valkyrie rang Tanith.

"Val! Apparently you'd been kidnapped!"

"I was. Get over here"

"I'll be right there"

There was a soft beeping sound as Tanith hung up and Valkyrie paced the floor until the roar of a motorbike stopped her in her tracks.

"Val! Who kidnapped you this time?"

"Sanguine" That made Tanith stop and stare at her.

"He kidnapped you?"

"Because I asked him to"

Tanith's smile turned to grimace and she paced the floor where Valkyrie had been walking moments before.

"He's going to stab you in the back, I just know it"

"You know he's been paid to kill me. He won't do it"

"He's building your trust"

"He's building my trust but not because he wants to kill me"

"I'll believe it when I see it"

Valkyrie whipped out her mobile. Sanguine answered on the first ring.

"Hey there Ray. How'd you feel about meeting up with your ex?"

"Tanith?"

"That's the one!"

"No"

"Please?"

"No way. She ditched me! I don't want to see her ever again"

"I'll pay you"

There was silence as Sanguine thought for a moment.

"Visit the jail with me to see my pa and I'll do it"

"Go see Scarab? Why?"

"I wanna see his face when I kiss ya"

"Deal. See you in a mo"

"Right back at ya babe"

Valkyrie sat and waited until Sanguine popped up, dusting himself off.

"Howdy"

"Sanguine" Tanith growled and gave his a harsh glare.

"Hey Ray!"

"'Sup Val?" Sanguine grinned and picked her up. He gave her a quick kiss and she blushed. Tanith clenched her teeth.

"I thought I'd seen the last of you a while back" Sanguine said, turning to Tanith.

"Same here"

"I'll bet it was a bit of a shocker when you figured about us, huh?" Sanguine said and wrapped his arm around Valkyrie's waist.

"I know you're just trying to hurt her" Tanith hissed.

Sanguine looked genuinely surprised.

"I'm a murderer sure, but I've got morals. If I was goin' to kill the lil' lady I'd take her. I don't sink that low, figuratively speakin' of course."

"You should run before Skulduggery finds out"

"I should but I aint goin' to"

"Why not?"

"Because I love my Valkyrie here" Sanguine said and pulled her closer.

"That's disgusting"

"I know you think so, but Valkyrie doesn't and I sure don't"

"What do you see in this creep?" Tanith asked Valkyrie.

"Well he's sweet and strong and really hot and he likes me back" Sanguine chuckled as she said that.

"Really hot? He had no eyes!"

"Eyes aren't everything"

"I still want you to tell Skulduggery"

"He'd kill Ray for sure"

"For sure? You're even going to start speaking like him!"

"What's wrong with speakin' like me?"

"I actually like the accent" Valkyrie said and poked her tongue out at Tanith who looked close to tears.

"Valkyrie, this is going to end in disaster"

"I know. Everything I do ends in disaster, but I can't just do nothing"

Tanith gave an exasperated sigh as she realised Valkyrie wasn't giving in. She turned away and let a single tear hit the floor.

"I'll take good care of her"

Tanith heard that dreaded voice ring out cockily behind her as she hopped through the window and ran all the way to her apartment. She burst into her own room and pulled things off the shelves, smashing them around. She cried and pounded the walls with her fists, screaming. How could she? Her sister and that… that freak who'd made her murder all those innocent people. She pictured the image off them hugging and changed her gravity so she could jump on the walls. She turned round with tears pouring down her face and a very surprised Ghastly stood there. She wished with all her heart she could tell him what was really bothering her.

"T- Tanith what's wrong? Skulduggery said you had a fight with Valkyrie but-"

"It d-doesn't matter. Just a fight"

"Just a fight? You're jumping on the walls!"

"It's a girl thing" was Tanith's only excuse. She took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really. I just- I just feel like she's getting so distant? You know?"

"Yeah. Skulduggery came and said exactly the same thing yesterday. He feels like she's drifting away. He thinks it's him"

"Of course it's not him. Val adores Skulduggery"

"He thinks he's overworking her. I told him it's got nothing to do with him and it's probably just a phase but he gave her the day off anyway"

"I know. She spent most of the morning arguing with me"

"Do you want me to talk to her?"

"Thanks for the offer, but I don't think she wants to talk to anyone right now"

"Oh. Ok then" Ghastly but his arm around Tanith and they sat there for a while, gazing out of the window. Ghastly's phone rand and he picked up.

"Ghastly? Are you with Tanith? Is she ok?"

"No! What the hell did you say? She's in pieces!"

"I'm sorry. She said she wanted to see it with her own eyes!"

"See what?"

"Put me on to Tanith. She left her mobile at my house"

Ghastly handed the phone to Tanith who frowned at the sound of Valkyrie's voice.

"Tanith calm down. I can look after myself!"

"But him Val. Why him?"

"Tanith don't make me say it"

"Say what?"

"Say I love him"

"Don't say that! Stop! Stop! Stop! You don't. You hear me Valkyrie?"

"I'm not changing my mind"

"That's why I'm worried. You have to understand what he did to me. Don't you hate him for that?"

"I hate him for that but I can't help liking him too. Do you think I chose this? Do you think I thought 'Hey. I know! Let's fall in love with Sanguine!'?"

"Valkyrie, please" Tanith's voice was tired and weak.

"You could even help me with all this. We can solve this problem together"

"You are the problem"

"You're just going to have to get over that little fact" Valkyrie said and frowned as she remembered Tanith saying something similar when the remnant was in her. Ghastly snatched the phone back from Tanith who was in tears again.

"Valkyrie what's this about? You're really upsetting her!"

"It's a girl thing" Valkyrie said and hung up.

It's a girl thing? Ghastly was fed up of these women. He called Skulduggery for a man to man talk while Tanith sniffed from beside him.

"Hello there, magic genie speaking. I will grant you one wish" Skulduggery was obviously in a good mood and Ghastly couldn't help feeling a bit worried that he was making jokes, but he played along anyway.

"I'd like two million pounds"

"Ghastly, you know I can't give you that"

"Alright then, I want to know the secret of understanding women"

There was silence for a few moments.

"How much money did you want again?"

Ghastly laughed.

"This fight between Tanith and Valkyrie is crazy. Tanith's in tears and they keep yelling at each other. Whenever I ask them what's going on they tell me it's a girl thing and I can't get any more information out of them"

"I'm actually arriving at Valkyrie's now. She's really down in the dumps too so I'm off to cheer her up"

"See if you can figure out what all this is about"

"See you soon my friend"

"I'll call you later. Oh- also why were you so happy?"

"Fletcher came crawling back swearing revenge on Valkyrie so I punched him"

"That explains it"

Ghastly hung up and turned to Tanith who had fallen asleep. He tucked her under the covers and kissed her forehead before shuffling out of her apartment. Tanith smiled in her sleep.

Valkyrie hugged Skulduggery as he came in.

"Now what's this all about? Ghastly says Tanith's really upset"

"We had a fight. She's not being supportive of my decisions and she doesn't trust me to look after myself!" Valkyrie sounded more angry than sad.

"What decisions would this be?"

"Who I date mostly" Valkyrie mumbled but Skulduggery caught what she was saying.

"Your boyfriend? Why would Tanith disagree?"

"Never mind. I invited you over so I didn't have to think about this anymore, so let's watch a movie or something."

"Another movie?"

"Can you think of anything better to do?"

Skulduggery thought.

"Have you ever been ice-skating?"

"I can barely stand up straight without being on ice"

"It's a lot more fun with magic"

"Let's go then" Valkyrie said and wasted no time in hurrying outside. At the ice rink (which was empty as it was the middle of summer and still quite early in the morning) Skulduggery had his façade on (just in case someone walked in) and took Valkyrie's hand. He dragged her around the ice and she glided after him, laughing. As they picked up speed, Skulduggery spun Valkyrie around and she squealed as she slid round in a circle. She let go of Skulduggery's hand and glided towards the middle of the ice-rink where she fell over and sat on the ice. Skulduggery laughed and picked her up.

"So what's this about using magic?"

Skulduggery smiled and used air to propel Valkyrie away from him and around the ice-rink at full speed. She waved her arms around and yelled at first but after a few minutes she was laughing and managed to grab Skulduggery so he was pulled with her. He stumbled but managed to keep uprights as they spun faster and faster. Suddenly, the spinning stopped and Valkyrie wobbled a bit before Skulduggery caught her.

"I'm a bit dizzy" she admitted.

"Better than a movie?"

"You bet! We should do this more often"

"Agreed. So then, do you want to head back soon?"

"I suppose we should" Valkyrie grumbled and Skulduggery pulled her to the edge where she took off her ice skates and put on her boots. They walked (or in Valkyrie's case- stumbled a bit) to the Bentley and drove to Gordons.