Despite work from sorcerers such as Coal Atar, total concealment is not possible. Those within Cloaking Spheres can be detected by a skilled Elemental. Atar has hypothesized that shunting rapidly between realities can

"Who is Coal Atar?" Valkyrie grumbled, shutting the book. "He's mentioned in most of these books."

"I arrested him once. His clothes turned invisible."

"Seriously?"

"I haven't told you that story? He took great inspiration from The Invisible Man. But he killed a couple of people, as one does, and I ended up arresting him. He gave up when his clothes turned invisible." Skulduggery thumbed through his book. "Very few people are interested in disappearing completely. People hardly trust teleporters, let alone one who studies disappearing right in front them."

Valkyrie threw her book back onto the coffee table. They had camped out in Gordon's living room. They had attempted to remain in the study, but the stuffiness of the late-afternoon air had forced Valkyrie to grab an armful of books and move downstairs. Skulduggery had followed a few minutes later.

Now, Valkyrie was sprawled on the sofa, books covering her lower half, while Skulduggery was steadily working through his piles of encyclopedias surrounding his armchair.

"Can we recap?" Valkyrie asked, yawning.

"You can go ahead and talk," Skulduggery mumbled, grabbing another volume. "No guarantees I'll listen."

"Okay, so not a teleporter because you would have picked up on the rush of air. Not a Cloaking Sphere, as you probably also would have picked up on that. Not a secret tunnel. Maybe he wasn't real."

"You've cracked the case."

"I'm serious. We're working off of the opinion that I saw that paper on the desk, but what if you were the one who wasn't hallucinating. Maybe Timothy is just a really powerful projection, and so was the paper, but you didn't see that because your not-eyes are more powerful than mine."

Skulduggery tilted his head. "I felt the air currents. There was someone there."

Valkyrie moved slightly under the pile of books, sending one thumping to the ground. "Maybe it was George and—and Basil."

"You named the bald one Barney."

"George and Barney, then."

Skulduggery shut his book. "Convivial called, and she said—"

"Who?"

Skulduggery looked at her. "We literally saw her a few hours ago. The Sensitive."

"Oh."

"You forgot her name, didn't you?"

"No."

"You did."

"Janet and Convivial sound really similar if you hear it under the right conditions. What did she say?"

"From what she and a few other Sensitives can pick up, they have no innate magical ability. However, they do have some form of magical presence in the world around them, but no one at the Sanctuary is quite sure how. It's all very interesting."

"Wait." Valkyrie sat up, reaching out to stop books from showering to the floor. "I shot a bolt of electricity at the bald one, and he didn't go down. I just figured he diverted it, but now that doesn't make sense. Were they wearing magical clothes?"

"Nothing that would divert your magic like that." Skulduggery tapped his fingers against the cover of the book he was holding. "Did you see their magic?"

Valkyrie frowned. "I guess I didn't. I didn't notice at the time. Which makes sense if they weren't magical to begin with. We should go back so I can get another good look at them."

Valkyrie stacked the books on the coffee table, stood, and stretched. Skulduggery watched her, and she raised an eyebrow.

"What did I forget?"

"It's Thursday."

"What? No, it's not. It's Tuesday." Valkyrie pulled out her phone. "It's Thursday. Wow, okay. Tomorrow, then? Or after dinner?"

Skulduggery shook his head, standing up, encyclopedia under his arm. "I'm going to make some calls, ask around. We can meet up tomorrow at the Sanctuary."

"I left the bike at your house."

"We can go together to the Sanctuary together, then."

Even this late in the afternoon, Valkyrie didn't want to leave the relative coolness of Gordon's house. Valkyrie grumbled and pulled Ghastly's clothes closer to her, hoping they would provide some relief. They did not; they only seemed to make her sweat more when she got into the sauna that was the Bentley.

Valkyrie started the engine and fiddled with the air conditioner. Skulduggery followed after her, carrying an armful of books. He placed them in the back of the Bentley and slid into the driver's side.

Valkyrie watched Gordon's green estate get caught in the fence surrounding the property, leaving only heat haze and pavement.

"Do you not want to go? I'm sure everyone would understand if you called and told them you were busy."

Valkyrie sighed. "No, I want to go. I do. Sometimes, I feel like Mum and Dad are the only people who keep me sane."

"And Alice?"

The Bentley rolled to a smooth stop at a red light. Valkyrie didn't answer until the intersection was far behind them.

"I love her. I really, really do, but she just makes things difficult. I love hanging out with her, but put her and Mum together and it's…" Valkyrie looked at him. "Do you want to come to dinner? You haven't been over in a while."

Skulduggery laughed.

Valkyrie grinned. "I'm serious."

"Last time, your mother nearly threw me out of the house."

"You told everyone we fought bears. You said a bear tried to eat my head."

"Yes, but at least I didn't say the bears were yetis, because that's what they actually were. I don't think tales of our adventures will exactly smooth things over between Alice and your mother." Skulduggery tilted his head, thinking. "I'll come over soon. I promise."

Valkyrie grunted. "You just don't want to be that awkward one who isn't eating."

"I don't want to be the only one with fabulously interesting stories." Skulduggery splayed his hands on the steering wheel. "I've fought in a secret war. And I'm funny. Do you know how hard it is being so witty only you laugh at your own jokes?"

"Maybe it's because you're the only one who understands your jokes." Valkyrie reached for the radio, but Skulduggery swatted her hand. "Oh, come on."

He harrumphed. "My conversation isn't good enough for you?"

...

They rolled up to the pier—out of habit more than anything else—and Valkyrie insulted Skulduggery's taste in music one last time before heading toward her house.

Haggard was beginning on the long and winding path to becoming a seedy neighborhood. More closed storefronts greeted Valkyrie, and the road had more potholes than she remembered. The poverty lurked under the surface, and Valkyrie wondered if her parents would still be living here when it finally surfaced.

Valkyrie cleared her mind. This was her home. The houses were still well-kept and the lawns groomed, and the further she got away from the town, the further the thoughts of boarded up pizza shops got. In the gold of the sunset, the town still looked pretty.

Valkyrie caught sight of Alice floating around the pool, and Valkyrie walked around the house and watched her.

While Valkyrie had been strong and solid at sixteen, Alice was thin and lean. She did track during the school year, but she didn't share Valkyrie's love of swimming. Dark hair tied in a bun, Alice lounged on a pool float, sunglasses in place.

Valkyrie's eyes were drawn to the dark birthmark on Alice's chest. Valkyrie's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"Steph!"

Valkyrie's eyes snapped back to Alice's face, and she smiled. "Dinner ready?"

Alice pulled the headphones out of her ears and sat up on the float. "I don't know. Get a bathing suit, come swim with me!" Alice perked. "Did you bring your bike? Can we go for a ride?"

"No, Skulduggery dropped me off. And Mom doesn't like me taking you for rides."

"She doesn't have to know. Come on." Alice slid into the water, bouncing across until she reached the ladder. "We can be gone and back before Mom even knows."

Valkyrie laughed, handing her the towel she had found on the patio table. "I don't—oh my God, what is that?"

Alice grinned, standing with her back to Valkyrie. "Like it?" Alice reached up, running a ginger hand over her shoulder blade. "It's an owl."

"It's also a tattoo."

"Yeah?"

"Does… Does Mom know about it?"

"What doesn't she know about?" Alice rolled her eyes and grabbed the towel from Valkyrie's hands. "She fucking lost it. I mean, like, lost it. I got it Saturday, when I said I was going over to Caite's, and she went on and on about how it was a breach of her trust in me, bla bla bla. It's tribal, like yours."

Valkyrie reached up and touched her left arm through her jacket. "It's pretty."

"Isn't it?" Alice grinned. "Tell Mom that. She hid the keys to the car, but I found them."

Valkyrie felt herself smiling along. "Don't let her know that."

"Steph!" Desmond greeted, opening the back door. "I was worried Alice's long-lost twin had finally reared her ugly head."

"I'm ugly?" Valkyrie asked.

"No, I think he was calling me ugly," Alice said, wrapping the towel around herself.

Dinner was uncomfortable. Desmond and Valkyrie fought through it, telling ridiculous stories and laughing too loudly. Melissa didn't seem interested, and any time Valkyrie brushed on the topic of work, she would glance at Alice. Alice had decided the silent treatment was the best, though if she had asked Valkyrie, silence and secrets weren't going to fix anything.

"Do you and Skulduggery have a case?" Alice asked.

"We don't talk about work at the dinner table, Alison," Melissa cut it.

Mother and daughter fell into sullen silences.

Desmond smiled uneasily. "Would it hurt to let Steph talk? She only comes over once a week."

"I need a ride home," Valkyrie cut in. "Skulduggery dropped me off."

"I'll take her," Alice said quickly.

Melissa looked between them. "I'm not sure I trust—"

"I'll be fine," Alice interrupted. "I'll come straight home, please, I promise."

"No, Alison," Melissa said firmly.

"Oh, come on! What's the worst that could happen?"

"You could lie to me again."

Valkyrie stood. "No, it's okay. I can just grab a cab."

"It's my body; I can decide what's best for myself. Steph was already apprenticed to Skulduggery, I don't see—"

"Alice, we'll talk about this later." Melissa turned to Valkyrie. "You sure you'll be fine, Steph? I can give you a ride back."

"It's fine, really. Alice, call, yeah?"

It wasn't particularly fair of Valkyrie to just drop in, cause a fight, and then head off, but there wasn't much she could do. It was between Alice and her mother, and Valkyrie had promised to leave any decisions regarding Alice up to Melissa. Alice was her sister, but she was Melissa's daughter.

Hypocrite.

Valkyrie frowned. Alice was her little sister, but she was also different than Valkyrie had been. She was quite content in school, with her friends, with the job at the Froyo place. Besides their mother, Alice seemed perfectly happy with her life.

Not that she knows anything else.

Valkyrie pulled a face, and the cab driver asked if she was all right.

The lights were off at Skulduggery's house, and Valkyrie fumbled with the keys and let herself in. There were various books scattered around, and Valkyrie briefly skimmed over those opened to pages, squinting in the dark. Nothing new, at least to her.

Valkyrie threw her jacket on the table, started to unbuckle her pants—

"How was—"

"Fuck!" Valkyrie whirled around. "Jesus, Skulduggery! Why don't you just give me a heart attack? God damn!"

"Are you done?" Smile in his voice.

Valkyrie scowled and rebuckled her pants. "Yes."

"Why were you taking your pants off?"

"Well, I was heading toward the laundry room to get pajamas."

"You can still take them off." Skulduggery turned the hall light on. "How was dinner?"

"Awful. I don't want to talk about it." Valkyrie walked by him, into the laundry room. She pulled off her shirt. "Alice got a tattoo, though."

"Oh?" The hall light shut off.

"Oh, yeah. Mum is seething. It's awful. Dad and I were just trying to keep everyone from freaking out." Valkyrie tugged off her sports bra, opened the dryer. "And then I had to run away."

"Very brave of you."

"Where did all the jerseys go? And if I stayed, Alice would have just kept dragging me into the argument. I was facilitating things by being there, really. I'll talk to Mom eventually, let her know I'm not dragging Alice into anything, and I'll buy Alice another pool or something."

Valkyrie kicked off her pants. She found a jersey and tugged it on, and found a pair of shorts. She would strip once she got to her room—she hated sleeping in clothes when she was hot.

"Did Alice ask about me?"

Valkyrie laughed and stepped back into the hallway. "Wow. Yes, she did. She wanted to know how the case was going, but I bailed after that."

Skulduggery was leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets. "Bright and early?"

Valkyrie gave a vague grunt of acknowledgement. She was already pulling off the shirt on the stairs, heard Skulduggery settling back into his armchair. She collapsed onto her bed, curled into the covers, and fell into sleep easily.

Comments/theories welcome.