"Remind me again, Skulduggery. Where exactly are we going?"

"Didn't you listen to what I told you yesterday, Valkyrie? I want to remember that I gave a really detailed and exact description of what I found and in what way I found it."

"I fell asleep halfway in." Skulduggery turned his head towards her and Valkyrie shrugged. "It's not my problem that you have such a sleepy voice. Also, it was pretty boring to hear you describe how you sat and flipped through a lot of books for hours."

Skulduggery sighed heavily and shook his head. "Sometimes you really get on my nerves, Valkyrie."

"I know", Valkyrie replied, smiling. "But you still love me."

"I do", Skulduggery admitted. "You may have your shortcomings and you can make me really worried sometimes, but you are good at compensating for these shortcomings through your humor, wit and courage."

"And here I thought I had no shortcomings. I want to remember that you have said on several occasions that I am perfect."

"It can happen, but it was just to make you happy. Now that I think about it, I think you have more shortcomings than good qualities."

"Oh, thank you so much, Skulduggery! I don't know if I have ever said this to you, but you can be really annoying sometimes."

"Ah, one of my better qualities."

"How can that be a good quality?"

"If you only knew how many people that is willing to tell you what you want to know just to shut you up if you manage to press the right buttons. One way to do this is to get on a person's nerves so much that the only thing they want is to make you shut up, and because they know that the only way to silence you is to share the information you are looking for, they are more than happy to do just that."

"That must be one of the dumbest things you've ever said to me", Valkyrie said, shaking her head. "Sometimes I wonder if you're not just pretending to be smart to fool everyone."

"Ah, but there you are wrong, my dear Valkyrie. If I could pretend to be as smart as you all think I am, I must also be as smart. You can't pretend to be smart without being it."

"You must be able to do that! People pretend to be things they aren't all the time."

"Yes, but there is only one of me, isn't there? So it is very difficult to pretend to be as smart as I am."

Valkyrie sighed heavily and put her forehead into one of her hands. "Your logic is like no one else's."

"I know. That is one of the reasons to why I am so unique."

"God how annoying you are! Can we please let go of this now and concentrate on the task ahead of us instead?"

"It was you who mentioned it, so don't blame me, Valkyrie."

"That may be true and that's why I choose to change the subject."

"Confess. It's just because you do not want to admit that I am smarter than you and you do not want to make a fool of yourself in front of me."

"You can always dream, Skulduggery, but I never make a fool of myself. It's just what people think."

Skulduggery looked at Valkyrie with a gaze that told Valkyrie he didn't believe her. She just shrugged her shoulders and gave him a smile. "So, do you want to tell me where we are going now?"

Skulduggery sighed but decided not to continue the discussion. "We are on our way to Roarhaven to meet one of my contacts who claims to know what we are looking for is being located. We will simply interrogate him about what he claims to know and based on what he says, we will see what we will do next."

"So... in other words, you do not trust this person 100%?"

"As you know very well, there are not many people I trust except myself and you. I have experienced too many times that it is safest to just trust yourself and to always look over your shoulder. You never know who might sneak up on you and try to stab you in the back."

"Do you know what I think, Skulduggery? I think you should take a long vacation far away from Roarhaven. Somewhere where you can be for yourself, where you can meditate in peace and quiet, alone with just your own thoughts as company and just be in the present."

"And as you very well know, Valkyrie, I find such a thought... disturbing. I like to be on the go, to be in the middle of the heat of battle. I have always been surrounded by wars, battles and fights. That's what I know best. That's when I'm in my element."

Valkyrie did not answer this. She did not have to, because Skulduggery knew she understood what he was talking about. They had both shared their fair share of fighting over the years they had known each other. Both physical and mental and some even against themselves.

They continued in silence for the rest of the drive to Roarhaven. Once there, Skulduggery parked in the Sanctuary's parking garage and from there they walked the rest of the way to the meeting place where Skulduggery's contact would be. On the way there, Valkyrie had her hands in the pockets of her jacket and glanced at the people around them. There were not quite as many people staring at her as they passed, which made her feel relieved. It had not been long since she had been able to be in Roarhaven without its inhabitants wanting to kill her because of all the family members, friends and acquaintances whom her dark side, Darquesse, had killed.

She did not blame them, on the contrary. She had felt an incredible guilt over it all since it happened and had spent countless days blaming herself for not being strong enough and stopping Darquesse when she had the chance. During her really dark days, she had even wished that someone would come and put an end to her just to avoid all the dark thoughts and voices spinning around in her head.

"We have arrived", Skulduggery's voice interrupted her thoughts, and Valkyrie discovered that they were in front of a fountain in the middle of the city center. "This is where my contact told us that we would meet. I hope he shows up soon. I hate to wait..."

Valkyrie sat down on the edge of the fountain, crossed her legs, and looked around to see if she could see anyone approaching them. "And what do we do if your contact does not show up? Do you have a backup plan?"

"I always have", replied Skulduggery. "If he doesn't show up, I simply call him and threaten him a little. If he does not show up then, then we simply have to look for him ourselves and force the information out of him."

Valkyrie smiled. "My favorite method."

Skulduggery chuckled before he too looked around to try to catch a glimpse of the man they were waiting for.

Five minutes passed... then five more... When they had waited for 20 minutes, Valkyrie stood up and stretched before turning to Skulduggery. "Is it okay if I take a walk? Just sitting here and waiting is pretty boring and I'm starting to get stiff."

Skulduggery nodded and put a hand on her shoulder. "Be careful."

Valkyrie smiled and hugged his hand. She said, "I'm always, aren't I?" before she turned and walked away from the fountain.

She decided to look around among all the shops that had arisen during the few years that Roarhaven had existed. There was everything from clothing stores to cafes and shops where you could buy magical paraphernalia. Valkyrie had no idea what you were supposed to do or could use these things for, but decided pretty quickly that it was in her best interest to continue and ignore these shops.

When she felt how her muscles began to soften, she decided that it was probably best to turn back and see if Skulduggery's contact had appeared. She did not hope so, as the thought of hunting down an unknown magician excited her. It had been a while since she had been able to use her powers for anything other than training and she lacked the feeling that a hunt always gave her. She was filled with adrenaline and excitement which made her feel alive.

She rounded a street corner and was on an open street with cafes on both sides. People sat outside enjoying the warmth with their partners and the sight made Valkyrie's heart ache. She could not help it, her thoughts went to Militsa and how their last conversation ended. Outwardly, she did not seem to care, but inside she was still hurt. She wished, not for the first time, that it would all have ended differently. She hated arguing with her relatives, especially when the quarrel was about her and her choices.

Valkyrie looked up and the sight that met her made her stop. In front of her sat Militsa with a woman unknown to Valkyrie. The woman looked to be in Valkyrie's and Militsa's age with dark brown hair, green eyes and glasses. They held each other's hands across the table and laughed at something funny that Militsa had just said. It seemed that they enjoyed each other's company and that made Valkyrie's heart break.

As if Militsa sensed that someone was looking at them, she turned towards Valkyrie and when she saw Valkyrie she froze. The other woman looked surprised at first, but when she saw who Militsa was looking at, she got an understanding expression on her face. She said something to Militsa that Valkyrie could not hear, but it was not needed either. Valkyrie saw in their body language that they were about to get up and leave.

Without thinking about what she was doing, Valkyrie approached her ex-girlfriend and her new partner. "Won't you introduce me to your new friend, Militsa?"

"Do not make this more difficult than it needs to be, Valkyrie."

"What? I just asked a simple question that I want answered. Who is your new friend? I do not think we have had the pleasure of meeting." Valkyrie held out her hand to the unknown woman. "My name is Valkyrie Cain, but you did already know that didn't you?"

The woman doubtfully shook Valkyrie's outstretched hand. "Hi, Valkyrie. My name is Kiara Engelhart. I've heard a lot nice things about you through Militsa."

"I bet you have. Did she even tell you about all the horrible things I did? Has she told you all my secrets? I can bet she has. You two seem to have gotten very close to each other in an extremely short amount of time." Valkyrie turned to Militsa when she said this and she could see a glimmer of shame flicker past in Militsa's eyes before she turned her gaze away.

"Just like I thought."

"Valkyrie, please. Just... get out of here. We have both done things we regret, but they cannot be taken back no matter how much we wish it could. Can we not just part as... not exactly friends, but as equals? Our time together means a lot to me and is something I will look back on with happiness."

Valkyrie could not stop a humorless laugh that found its way up her throat. "So you say? Will you also think back of me as a happy memory after this?"

Before anyone could react, Valkyrie grabbed Kiara's throat and lifted her up into the air. She conjured a ball of light in her free hand and held it just out of reach of Kiara's face. A few more millimeters and the globe would burn through Kiara's skin as surely as a flame burns through a burning candle.

Militsa screamed in horror and tried to tear Valkyrie from her girlfriend, but Valkyrie was much stronger than her. Just before she was going to ruin Kiara's face forever, a gloved hand appeared out of nowhere and pulled Valkyrie's hand away. The globe disappeared immediately and Kiara took a trembling breath of relief.

"Valkyrie, release her."

"No."

"Do not do anything you will regret later. This woman has not done anything to you and you are only making things worse by telling yourself that. What has happened to you and Militsa only concerns you, no outsiders."

Valkyrie did not answer but kept her grip on Militsa's girlfriend for a few more seconds before she let go. Kiara immediately took a deep breath and coughed while Militsa bent down over her and hugged her. "Are you okay, Kiara?"

Kiara nodded but did not let her gaze wander from Valkyrie. "Can't we just leave now? People stare and I do not like to be stared at. People in this city have a tendency to talk and much of what they have to say is not always so positive... "

"You're right." Militsa helped Kiara up and just before they left, she turned to Valkyrie. "I hope you are happy now, Valkyrie. We could have continued with our lives in peace and quiet, but of course you would try to ruin it. Everything should always be about you. Have you never stopped and thought that the whole world does not revolve around you?"

Valkyrie did not know what to say. This was not how it was supposed to go... She missed Militsa but did not know how to show it. Instead of trying to talk to Militsa, she had just made her angry and now she did not want anything more to do with her. If not...

Without thinking, Valkyrie turned to Skulduggery, grabbed his tie and pulled him down towards herself. Before anyone could understand what she was going to do, she had pressed her lips against Skulduggery's teeth in an aggressive kiss. She pressed her body closer to Skulduggery's by pulling the tie towards herself and letting her tongue explore the inside of his mouth.

After a few seconds, she let go of Skulduggery as abruptly as she had grabbed him and turned to Militsa with a grin on her lips, but it died almost as fast as it had arisen. Militsa did not look angry, jealous or even surprised. Instead, she gave Valkyrie a small smile and stroked her cheek.

"I know what you are trying to do, Valkyrie, and it won't work. I have moved on with my life and so should you." She let go of Valkyrie before taking Kiara by the hand and turning her head to Skulduggery.

"Take good care of her, Skulduggery. She needs a friend now more than ever. You if anyone should know it better than anyone else will ever be able to do. After all, you have known her the longest and can read her better than even her parents can. I wish you both all the best. You fit really well together and something tells me that it was meant for you two to find each other. This is something that I think you both have known for a very long time."

With those words of farewell, Militsa turned her back to the both of them and went with Kiara into the crowd where they both soon blended in.