A/N: I don't own Skulduggery, Valkyrie, Wreath or Ghastly. Val is still 24, still her point of view.

The ride to the Sanctuary was fairly quiet. Then Skulduggery started speaking. "Penny for your thoughts."

"I wish I'd thought to put the armour back on. I wouldn't be this tired."

He gave a snort of amusement. "Although it is useful, Valkyrie, you should look at it as you do your ring. Something useful to draw on, yes, but what would you have done if it had suddenly failed?"

"Oh." I hadn't thought of that.

"Oh indeed. I'm training you because I'm thinking I need you as my double to fight this sorcerer, but maybe that is a mistake. We can do Elemental training if you prefer. Or," he said, glancing sideways at me, "we can dig up Wreath to continue your Necromancy training."

"Shut up. I hate you."

"Now, now my loyal partner. You get to choose which it is. Elemental or we train again with the armour."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I need to talk to Madam Lovegate about it first." Skulduggery fell silent then for the rest of the drive. It was heavenly.

We arrived, Skulduggery agreeing to meet with Ghastly first. I had requested to meet Madam Lovegate with a quick call to Ghastly, so she was waiting in her office for me. She smiled as I entered, a steaming pot of tea waiting. She did her pouring ritual, we played hostess and guest for a bit, chatting about nothing in general at first. But she wasn't over a thousand years old by default or stupidity. She put her cup down primly, I hurried to match her, knowing her body language by now.

"It's about the armour, isn't it, my dear?" She asked. "You aren't doing as well as the first time you wore it. In fact, you were weaker, I take it?" I nodded and she continued. "I tried to warn you, my dear, I am on your side. The curse of the armour is the weakness built into it. It takes on the true love's form, but if there is ever a moment when true love falters, the armour is almost useless."

I closed my eyes. So not what I wanted to hear. "But Elder Lovegate-"

"Nonsense child, just call me Madam Lovegate. We are friends."

"Madam Lovegate. It was a mistake. The form the armour took. I don't love Skulduggery, not in that way, and he doesn't love me."

Her laughter was high and tinkling. "Of course you love him, and he loves you. I've studied love magic for over a thousand years, my dear. I've seen couples do all sorts of things, like avoiding the truth. You weren't faithful with Fletcher or Caelan because they weren't the ones for you and you weren't in love with them. How anyone ever called them your boyfriends is a mystery to me. You knew from the moment you saw Skulduggery Pleasant he was the one for you. You didn't know in a romantic way of course, you were twelve. But even so, you knew."

"He was dressed like the Invisible Man when we first met." I protested and frowned. Had I known? I'd found him interesting sure, much better to look at than anyone else in the room considering how hot his clothes must have been. "Maybe I fell in love with the mystery, with magic, but not with him. I could be confusing the two."

She shook her head. I knew she was right. I also knew there wasn't much chance of getting the armour to work right unless a miracle happened. Skulduggery and I had agreed not to be together, in that way at least. I took my leave and headed for Ghastly's office.

The door was open, Skulduggery was seated. I had the feeling you get when you've been the topic of a conversation that just stopped right before you entered the room. I didn't like it much. But I sat quietly in the empty chair, all ideas of the armour and all the swagger it gave me, gone. Both men were silent. Ghastly raised his eyebrows at me.

"Elder Bespoke-"

He winced. "Don't do that, it's creepy."

"Sorry. Madam Lovegate and I had a talk." I hoped that would content them, but it didn't. I sighed. "There's a flaw built into the armour. It is just about useless, or it would take years of training to work around the flaw if it were even possible."

"You found this out after I made you new clothes? You're as bad as Skulduggery. You plan to continue your Elemental training then?" Ghastly asked and I nodded.

Skulduggery swiveled his head to look at me. This was news to him. "Are you sure you want her advice? All she ever does, that I can tell, is fiddle with spellbooks and potions. I'd rather you have Ghastly look at it, but if you are sure-"

"We don't have time, Skulduggery."

"Yet it is right outside in the boot of my car."

I sighed and nodded. He made a sound of approval for himself. "Good, be right back. Be nice to Elder Bespoke."

Ghastly growled at Skulduggery as he left, then turned to me. "You don't want me approving this armour, do you? Madam Lovegate told me about it. I'm sorry it didn't work out, but the word cursed is there for a reason."

I smiled shakily. "I don't know what to do Ghastly. I'm afraid for Skulduggery, not myself. If this sorcerer was a god, or treated as a god, what chance do I have in malfunctioning armour?" I asked and he shrugged.

"How did you get it to work the first time we saw you?"

"As long as I wasn't looking at Skulduggery, I was doing great. I ran for hours. The armour stopped vampire claws and bites. But when I got on the ground and saw him, my confidence dipped."

"So that's why you bled when the vampire hit you, and why you were so slow in practice?" He asked and I nodded.

Ghastly was about to reply when Skulduggery strode back in with the armour. "Here it is." He sounded cheerful. I had figured out how to touch it and make it expand but not wear it. Ghastly poked at it. He examined the clothing for damage.

"Exactly what am I looking for, Skulduggery? A tailor's shop isn't exactly an armoury."

Skulduggery shrugged. "Something's wrong with it. You fix things, so fix it."

Ghastly looked at me, seeking my input.

"Maybe it isn't defective, maybe I need to fight like I did the first time I put it on." I said.

"There you go! That's it, problem solved." Skulduggery nodded happily. "Well, collect your armour, Valkyrie, I'll go start the car. We have dinner and a crime scene ahead of us." He strolled out, very pleased with himself.

I gave Ghastly a helpless shrug and followed, armour in tow.

We stopped at the same inn as before, the corner booth waiting for us. Skulduggery sighed happily as we sat down. "At least that is over. I knew it was something simple. I trained you after all. Just remember how you fought in it the first time in our next training session. In fact-"

"You want me to wear it at the crime scene?"

"Right you are! I'm proud of you, Valkyrie, you're becoming a proper detective. I'll teach you about the senses there."

"You mean you'll let me flounder along blindly, laugh at my mistakes, and then point them out."

"That's what I said." He agreed happily. "I'll teach you."

At the crime scene I put on the armour then looked over at Skulduggery. I was almost used to seeing him as he really was, at least it didn't hurt my eyes as much. "Well?" I tilted my head.

"Deep subject, that."

"Ha ha. You said you missed something. What was it?"

"How should I know if I missed it?"

"Skulduggery, if you drug me out here on a snipe hunt, I'll kill you." The deep growl of my voice did nothing to impress him.

"You find it." He stared straight into my eyes, challenging me. I looked away first. I let the rest of my senses slowly expand, tested the air.

There was something off. I walked slowly. It wasn't in the trees, or on the ground. It wasn't in the air, but it was there all the same. A taste of some kind. I could taste the kill. I winced, glad that I couldn't be ill as a skeleton. "The kill, I can taste it... He enjoyed doing it. He sees it as his right. Skulduggery he was thinking of you as he did it." I turned to look at him. "You know him, don't you?"

I stopped as another flood of memories had come unbidden. Skulduggery gone and Lord Vile, the god-killer, stalking a nameless man across Ireland. I felt for a moment as Lord Vile had, the need to kill so I could prove to myself once more that I could kill a god. It almost overwhelmed me. I shook my head to clear it and looked over at Skulduggery.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Valkyrie." He was leaning back against a tree. His head was down, the hat tipped low over his face. "I've never met this man before in my life. Do you read anything else?"

I let it go. I couldn't press him without telling him how I knew. "Yes. I need to tap into the armour more efficiently. I know his weakness now. There is something that he fears. He never thought he was a god, but he's gone insane and thinks this ritual will make him one."

"And what, pray tell does he fear?" There was an edge to Skulduggery's voice.

"He fears he'll loose this fight with you."

"Ah, then perhaps my combat accessory," He nearly spat out the words, "need not attend."

"Oh no, Skulduggery, it will take both of us to kill him." I could hear the delight in my raspy voice. I didn't mind.

He looked up, startled. "You mean arrest, don't you?"

"Yes, that's what I said."

"No, you said it would take both of us to kill him. Are you sure you're fit to be on this case? Because if you aren't I can face him alone. He only wants me dead."

"Do you seriously think he would stop, Skulduggery?"

Skulduggery looked at me, hard. "This isn't like you Valkyrie. Armour off. Now."

I held up my hands in protest. "I apologize, I did mean arrest. But I tend to kill more gods than I arrest. I just didn't see it ending any other way. I'm sorry, Skulduggery, really. I'm just, worried about you. He could kill you, he could kill both of us, he's that strong." He said nothing, so I continued. "I'd rather kill him and have you arrest me than to have him kill you." I smiled, felt the armour respond graciously enough.

Skulduggery still stared at me. "Is this about something I've done?" He asked at last.

I went with the truth. "No, I have an almost overwhelming desire to kill him, that's what it's about. I can imagine, well, I can imagine all the ways in which I would kill him."

"Like ripping out his spine? Putting his head on a spike?" I nodded. He sighed and rubbed his face. "You would have to take after Lord Vile, wouldn't you? Yes, I remember him, and I remember never catching up to him. At one point there was no more point in being Lord Vile, so I stopped. I'm not two people, Valkyrie, no matter what anyone's ever said. I remember full well what I did as Lord Vile. Now apparently you do as well." He sounded bitter.

"I don't judge you, Skulduggery. You lost your family, you saw them killed in front of you. You still have that rage, you still miss them. As Lord Vile you put that rage to good use, albeit for the wrong side."

"Because the good little boys and girls of the world don't want a Lord Vile fighting alongside them." He said, dully.

"I would. Anyone with common sense would. Necromancy isn't evil, or it wasn't at one time. Drawing on the power of the dead may seem distasteful to you now, to me as well, but the shadows Lord Vile threw were the same ones I throw. Is there really that much difference between that and using the elements to kill an opponent?"

He looked up, I could sense him blinking. "You think all magic is unethical?"

"I think all killing is unethical. The good guys get badges and do it legally, that's all."

"But if good men do nothing, that is evil enough, isn't it? Would you stand idly by while innocents were slaughtered?" He sounded angry, that was good, I needed him angry.

"Of course not. I'd kill the bad guy, same as any decent person would. But does that make killing right? Doesn't the man I kill have a family who would see me as evil and want revenge?" I asked. I was getting angry too.

"You realize war is hell then? You aren't going to go on a mindless bender and slaughter everyone in sight at full strength?" He asked doubtfully.

"Good Lord, no."

"All right then, we begin training in earnest tomorrow then. Now that we both know who he is, and who you take after, I can teach you to channel that anger." I nodded. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.