It was like watching a train wreck. You know you should look away but you just…can't.

Valkyrie stared, a glass of orange juice hovering near her mouth.

Across the kitchen, like a dark specter of doom, stood Lord Vile, his armor fluttering as small tendrils of shadows appraised his new surroundings.

xXx

2 weeks ago

Valkyrie liked to think she had excellent hearing. Her partner's last statement, however, made her think a check-up was in order.

"Sorry, could you repeat that?"

"I've been thinking about letting Vile out," Skulduggery said once more, flipping to the next page of his newspaper.

Valkyrie nodded.

"Okay, just wanted to be sure. Next question. Are you insane?"

"No more so than usual," the Detective replied.

"I don't know," Valkyrie said. "Usually you're not suggesting releasing your evil alter-ego on the world."

Skulduggery looked at her.

"I've gotten a fair amount of control over him, actually. He won't even leave the house."

"So I'll be the only one that dies. Terrific."

xXx

present

"So…" Valkyrie began, pausing when she realized she didn't know what to say, and continued staring instead.

Vile looked at her, head tilting to the side in a way that was so reminiscent of Skulduggery she wondered how no one that knew him had ever put two and two together. Probably because Vile killed them, a not so helpful part of her brain supplied. She shushed Darquesse and focused on the necromancer.

For the past few days, for increasingly longer intervals, Skulduggery had donned his armor and given control to Vile. He never attacked her, or tried to leave, just as Skulduggery had assured her he wouldn't.

I kind of wish he would make a move. It's been ages since we had a good fight.

Valkyrie ignored her own darker half's laments. Every time Vile was out Darquesse would ask to switch too. In case he tries to kill us, she claimed. As if Valkyrie wasn't aware of her alter-ego's …interest in the former general. Her only saving grace was the fact that Vile didn't appear overly concerned with drawing Darquesse out. Thank god for small miracles.

The necromancer was still looking at her. Or at least, she thought he was looking at her. It was harder to see where his eye sockets were angled towards with that helmet in the way.

Vile took a step in her direction.

Valkyrie kept her body lax but in her head even Darquesse seemed to still. For all her teasing comments and remarks she really did put Valkyrie's wellbeing before anything else. Before, with the threat of war looming and the constant visions of destruction the psychics had, she and Darquesse had never been able to see eye to eye. Valkyrie's mistrust of the person who'd kill everyone in the world, her family and Skulduggery included, had made their interactions understandably difficult. It had only been after Argeddion's defeat and the power struggle between the sanctuaries had been averted that the visions had suddenly stopped.

Ravel and Ghastly had been beyond relieved, as had practically every other mage. They thought Darquesse had died or that she would no longer discover her true name. Skulduggery had done his best to subtly ensure that everyone continued to think that. Valkyrie didn't think she'd ever tell the others who Darquesse actually was, much like Lord Vile would remain her and Skulduggery's secret.

Without the guilt of killing the world weighing on her, driving Valkyrie to find ways to remove the other being that lived in her head, Darquesse showed little desire to force her way out. At Skulduggery's insistence Valkyrie had asked her what changed. Darquesse had given her the mental equivalence of a shrug.

You were going to do something stupid. I couldn't let you. We deserve to live.

Their relationship improved after that, to the point where Valkyrie gained more and more access to her magic. She was careful to only use ordinary amounts when other people were around, but when it was just her and Skulduggery all bets were off.

All things considered, Valkyrie's life had improved leaps and bounds. Her family was safe and happy, her friends weren't about to be killed, and she and Skulduggery did what they did best. Saving the world, one disaster at a time.

Vile was almost at the table when it happened.

Her toast leapt out of the toaster.

Spikes, long and thin and sharp, shot out of the armor.

The machine was flung across the room and it crashed into a wall, scattering crumbs and bits of metal everywhere.

Valkyrie turned, wide eyed, to where Vile had reappeared, having vanished in a swirl of darkness.

Tiny bumps formed across his body, rapidly melting back into the shadows only to appear elsewhere.

Inside her head Darquesse was howling with laughter.

Valkyrie couldn't help but join her when she realized he'd positioned them in a such way that she stood between him and what was left of the toaster.