As usual you know me, sorry for any mistakes but before we begin I want to express another paragraph of appreciation for you all.

I'm sure many of you who write and receive reviews or PM's from your readers will understand this. To all of you take the time to review or PM in response to my stories or questions I'd like to say thanks. It's because of you that I get that spark of excitement to continue writing because I know that you, as well, are excited for more. It's a truly special feeling and I'm not just saying it to seem like a "suck-up" or anything of the sort because I truly love coming on here and seeing your wonderful responses!

Enjoy:

Skulduggery snatched the phone out of Valkyrie's shaky hand and held it to where his ear would have been. "Alistair?!" He grunted angrily but received only silence.

He slammed the phone down onto the kitchen bench and paced to the other side of the room.

Valkyrie, as shaken up as she was, didn't realise the eerie silence that now enveloped the room. Out the corner of her eye, however, she saw Skulduggery pause with a hand at his jaw thoughtfully and staring at her. His shoes clicked on the tiled floor and the noise became louder as they got closer. She felt his gloved hands on her shoulders again but this time it felt too distant, like she was watching from another body.

"Valkyrie?" His voice echoed in her head. "What did he say to you? Why are you so frightened?" He asked.

She could understand his confusion. Rarely did she ever get frightened of the enemy but more of herself and her own dark side. Now someone knew that dark side belonged to her.

She heard herself speak but didn't remember thinking of the words to say. "He knows I'm Darquesse," her monotonous voice whispered.

The pressure from Skulduggery's hands tightened slightly and then relaxed again. "Of course he does," he muttered.

"What?" She replied although she was barely listening in the first place. She felt as if her mind had gone to sleep but her body was wide awake.

"He knows you're Darquesse because otherwise he wouldn't have known where to get the power from. We should have seen this from the beginning. He has been so confident and sure of himself that he had to know where Darquesse was," Skulduggery voice was a trail empty words as he launched into a thoughtful theory.

Valkyrie's eyes snapped up suddenly kicking into gear. "Does that mean he knows you're Lord Vile?" Valkyrie whispered.

She was aware of Tanith and Ghastly in the other room and although they seemed tired she didn't want to assume they were asleep. Skulduggery realised the difficulty to discuss this aloud inside the house so he motioned her outside. It was still night, heading into early morning, and rain was beginning to fall.

The glow from the light inside reflected off Valkyrie's face in such a way that seemed to refine the dark shadows under her eyes.

Skulduggery picked up the conversation where they'd left off. "I don't think he knows I'm Lord Vile simply because I think he'd have mentioned it to you on the phone but we can't be sure," he said.

"What's our plan?" Valkyrie asked feeling ridiculously vulnerable all of a sudden.

"We keep doing what we are doing. We don't do anything different or unusual," he replied.

"Unusual is our thing though, it's what we do," Valkyrie replied with a hint of humour.

Skulduggery tilted his skull. "Ah, precisely. So we mustn't be usual."

Valkyrie smiled slightly and stared out at the rain. She held her hand out and the rain was warm but the air was cold.

"What are you thinking?" Skulduggery asked. This time his head was tilted to the other side.

"I'm actually frightened Skulduggery. I know how that makes me sound but I am. Somehow Alistair has managed to figure out I'm Darquesse so what does that mean for me? She will come out and I'll be alone, helpless," she shrugged and rubbed her arms to try and retain warmth.

Skulduggery draped his bony arm around her shoulders and looked out at the rain as well. "You won't be alone. You and I will stay together especially in these next few days. I, personally, don't want you out of my sight but it's ultimately up to you. I just need you to know that even if Darquesse takes over I'll never leave you alone," Skulduggery's voice, while gentle, took on that irresistible velvet tone.

"I want you to stay with me," she shrugged. "I'm sorry but no one else cuts it really. You're the only one fit for the job," she grinned.

"Yes and this job sure does come with its challenges," he said, his voice mocking.

They laughed together and heard the door behind them slide open.

"Are you two crazy?" Tanith croaked with an I-just-woke-up-don't-mess-with-me voice and a blanket draped over head and wrapped around her body. "Get back inside before I find a ridiculously over-sized handbag to whack you with like the old woman I feel like right now."

With that little rant she shuffled back inside and into the lounge room but not before shooting a glare back at the two and wiggling her fingers to direct them inside.

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