Diamond took a shower in one of the full bathrooms that Skulduggery had installed at his house for Valkyrie. It was a nice room; brighter and more modern than a lot of the other spaces. But Diamond wasn't here to admire the sharp interior design, but to wash off the past battles.

She still felt a bit woozy from her recent flight via magical skeleton. A brand new experience, which she had enjoyed in its entirety by hiding her frightened face in Skulduggery's tattered suit and never looking down once.

As she had always been a fan of shadow-walking, Diamond found that hanging in the rushing wind for almost an hour was not a good replacement. In light of this, she had decided that literal flying was by far not her favorite means of travel.

Once her wounds were clean, Diamond sourced a first-aid kit and sowed up the crack on her arm. It wasn't an easy or remotely painless task, as the splintered-off chunks hadn't left a lot of skin to work with.

Around the patched-up wound and the other scrapes, she wrapped bandages that were soaked in healing mud. Around those, she wrapped dry bandages. It took another ten minutes to clean up the mess of blood, mud, and wrappers.

Diamond put her own pants back on but borrowed a t-shirt from Valkyrie's room, which was obviously too large for her. She tucked it into her waistband, gave up on the endless task of drying her hair with her aching arms, and tossed her towel into a hamper.

Outside, the next day had already begun, yet Diamond felt as though the previous one had never even ended. The inconsistent daytime added to the faintly eerie feeling that persisted in her gut.

It was an adjustment, walking freely through the dark villa, where every other door led to a study or a living room. There were even entire rooms that were nothing but giant walk-in closets. All alone on the upper floor, staring at the collection of suits through a gap in a door, Diamond felt like she was intruding somehow.

She stopped on a random spot in the hallway and pulled her phone from her pocket. The screen had a crack, from when Lord Vile had used her to mow the lawn of McDermott's Castle.

She sighed and reminded herself to get it fixed. Then, she selected Nuce's contact and dialed.

He picked up after three bleeps. "Hi, I'm alive."

"Hey, me too," Diamond replied.

"Cool, so are the others, I think," Nuce said. "I saw Ninja and Arrephoros back at the hospital. Ninja said she wanted to stick around for a while, so I didn't push it."

"Alright. How about Valkyrie?"

"Valkyrie had a fun roller coaster ride in the car trunk, but I think she's fine."

"The girls?"

Nuce hesitated for a second. "Fifteen made it out. Sixteen, if you count Ninja."

Diamond tried not to think too closely about it. And yet, the number twenty popped into her head. They had lost four of them. This equation didn't even include the girls that had been murdered at the parking lot in Dublin, or the ones at Geoffrey Perock's party. The list seemed to be a bottomless pit.

"Dye?" Nuce carefully asked at her silence.

"Have you heard from Nobody?" Diamond asked. "I didn't see them at the warehouse."

"Nope, but that's nothing new. My hope is; they're just lying low, with their cover being blown and all."

Diamond nodded along to the logic. "All this didn't work out quite as well as we'd hoped, did it..."

Nuce's voice was tense with frustration and a rare air of hatred. "Hench obviously set us up. How else could he have tracked us all the way there?"

"We knew that he was probably planning this, and we accepted that risk."

"Still, I'm going to rip that Mafia arse a new hole. And it'll be so large, he'll never have to worry about using the toilet again."

Diamond snickered. "I do admit, I wouldn't mind seeing Hench wear a diaper."

The hatred faded from his voice, as Nuce mischievously chuckled at the idea.

"Are you home?" She asked.

"Yep, Fletcher took me to Brighton. Where are you?"

Now, it was Diamond's turn to hesitate for a moment.

"I'm at Skulduggery's," she then said.

There was a similar pause on the other side of the line.

"Right," Nuce blankly said. "So, umm... That's happening, yeah?"

She made an uncomfortable face and tensely sighed. "Yeah... It's happening. I'm sorry for making things awkward. I don't expect you to understand."

"Nyeh," Nuce vaguely said. He sounded more indifferent than she had expected. "I sort of do."

She frowned surprisedly. "You do?"

"I mean, not really. Its extremely weird and totally messed up."

"Right..."

"But I also kinda get it, you know...? You two vibe."

Diamond found herself snorting and smiling at the same time. "We vibe?"

"Yeah, I thought that was pretty obvious from the start," Nuce replied. She could hear the shoulder shrugs in the way he spoke. "While the Haugert Wells stuff was going on, I'd assumed you'd already known each other for a while."

"Huh," Diamond said.

"Anyway, just..." Now, there was the awkwardness in his voice that she had been waiting for. "Just spare me the details, yeah?"

She softly snorted. "Not a problem."

"Alright, so... I'll see you in about a month, then?" Nuce teased.

"I'll see you soon," she smiled.

They ended the call, and she took a deep breath to shake off the tension of the past conversation. Finally, she turned and walked the remainder of the hallway to the staircase.

Skulduggery was waiting for her by the bottom of the stairs. He had changed into a fresh suit; a classic three piece in navy blue with a white shirt, no hat. Diamond judged him to look much more alert and relaxed than earlier.

"Word from Nuce?" Skulduggery asked. His voice was even smoother than usual, and it sent a new wave of goosebumps down her back.

Diamond nodded as she walked down the steps. "He's back home. Seems alright."

"That's good to hear."

She arrived in front of Skulduggery but stayed on the lowest step, in order to somewhat equalize their significant height difference. Once there, she approvingly tugged at the folds of his sharp blazer. "He's fuming, of course..."

"Understandable."

"Apparently, he's made it his life goal to start a fireworks show inside Bax Hench's butt."

Skulduggery nodded in approval. "Just let me know where to bring the Champagne."

Diamond snorted ridiculously, and he pushed his large hands past her wet curls, onto her jaw and neck. He tilted her head back, so that she was looking straight up at him, and took a good look at her.

"Are you alright?" He asked her again.

"I'm fine," she said again.

Skulduggery took hold of an uninjured part of her scraped-up arm and gently tilted it, so that he could take a better look at the bandage. "Does that hurt?"

Diamond's first instinct was to simply shrug it off. But then, she smiled in bitter memory as she decided to do some sharing of her own.

"You know what...? When I was just starting to learn my discipline, I couldn't quite figure out the proper composition yet. So, I'd shapeshift into an impure state, and when I came out of it... I'd have bruises and cracks like this everywhere."

His skull nudged backwards, visibly appalled at the concept.

"They weren't as large as this," she emphasized, "but I'm saying; absolutely everywhere. On my face, my body, inside my organs... There were entire weeks when Dexter would pull all-nighters, just to make sure I wouldn't choke on my own blood."

"That sounds horrifying," Skulduggery sincerely said.

"Yeah, it wasn't fun..." Diamond sighed but soon snapped herself out of the memory. "But every magic has its pros and cons. Now I'm almost indistructable so, I'm not trying to fish for sympathy. All I'm saying is; this...?" She gestured at the bandaged wound, then unconcernedly threw her hand back over her shoulder. "Pfft."

"Although that's not very uplifting," Skulduggery said and let go of her arm, "touché."

She mustered him. "And you?"

"I'm fine, too," he warmly replied, automatically this time.

She smiled but gave him a questioning sniff. "Aren't you exhausted?"

"Naturally."

"And what do you normally do, in that case?"

He thoughtfully weighed his skull side-to-side. "I retreat, I suppose... Try to be alone with my thoughts."

Diamond humorously shrugged and pretended to move towards the door. "I gather I can make myself obsolete, then..."

"Ah, no," Skulduggery protested immediately, caught her by the uninjured shoulder, and moved her back to her spot on the step in front of him. "You aren't going anywhere."

She allowed him to make her stumble back and feigned a surprised look. "Is that so?"

Instead of answering directly, he curiously tilted his skull at her. "Has anyone ever told you that you have a very... Comforting aura about you?"

Diamond's smile distorted with a bemused frown. "I guess...?"

"Now, just to be clear: People mean input, input means processing, and processing means using energy. It really doesn't matter which people we're speaking of. For example, Valkyrie doesn't like silence. She likes to fill it, mostly by talking, which defeats the point of silence entirely. You, on the other hand... Your presence is almost... Neutral at times."

She frowned uncertainly. "Okay...?"

"I suppose, what I'm saying is, as much as I like spending every possible minute with Valkyrie... if I was forced to pick one person to spend, specifically, my alone-time with...? It would be you."

Diamond blinked at him, stunned.

Skulduggery faltered at the reaction. "That... Was meant to be a compliment."

She shook herself from the surprise and agreeably nodded, "yeah. It was a good one."

"Oh," he caught up, "excellent."

"Sorry, I just didn't expect that to be the conclusion of your rant."

"You didn't?" He echoed surprisedly. "Well. It seems that I haven't been maintaining an acceptable level of flattery."

Diamond snorted amusedly. "I quite enjoy your company as well; no flattery necessary."

"It couldn't hurt," he shrugged.

"Either way," she seguyed back to the compliment with a shrug, "if not-alone time is what you're after... I don't have anywhere else to be, today."

Skulduggery made a discontented noise and fixed her hair over her shoulders before he took his hands back. "Unfortunately, I do. Doctor Synecdoche called; I need to pick up Valkyrie."

"Is she all patched-up?"

"Still needs a day of observation. She sustained some head trauma and presumably has a mean concussion."

"Yeah, Nuce told me she went on a bumpy ride earlier?"

He nodded. "I believe I should keep an eye on her for the day."

"You could take her back here, then," Diamond smirked, "I happen to make a mean chicken noodle soup."

Skulduggery snorted, but the amusement seemed to fade quickly, as he tilted his skull at her again. "Well, if you're sticking around... I was thinking, tomorrow I take you on an actual date?"

She put on an impressed expression. "An actual date, huh?"

"Don't you sound so surprised."

She shot him a jaunty look. "You're going to have to sell it a bit better than that."

"How about dinner?" He suggested.

Diamond feigned thoughtfulness, then she shrugged unimpressively, "meh."

"...Movie and dinner?"

She pouted, still unimpressed, "mhhh..."

He paused. "I have a feeling, I'm going about this the wrong way."

Diamond decided to help him out. "Might be a matter of presentation."

Skulduggery nodded agreeably, even approvingly. "The level of expectations for actual courting are higher than gas station coffee, I see."

She pertily smiled. "Much higher."

"Very well. As flattery wasn't a requirement, which approach would you prefer?" He asked with a hint of cheek.

Diamond shrugged. "Well, so far I've only ever heard you give me reasons, not, to go out with you."

"I suppose that's fair," Skulduggery bemusedly accepted. He then struck an overly courteous note. "Well, Miss Irie, you might have, potentially, noticed the enormous crush I have on you..."

She giggled. "Potentially."

He softened his tone again, for the sake of honesty. "I'm also assuming, you're aware that, sometimes, it's difficult for me to tell what's real and what's not."

"It might have occurred to me."

"What you mightn't have noticed, however, is that I feel connected to you somehow..."

Diamond didn't know how to react to this particular statement. Her focus was mostly taken in by the fingers of his gloved hand, as they weaved in between hers. She wondered if he could pick up on the sound of her pounding heartbeat.

"I don't know why but, ever since we've met, I always seem to know how much distance there is between us." Skulduggery quietly continued. "When you're away, I can be certain that you're not around me. When you're here, I can be certain that I'm not imagining you. So, as unbelievable as you might be sometimes, I always know that you are indeed real."

Diamond found herself feeling oddly flattered, as she wondered if this sense of connection was the same as the one she had been sensing. Ever since her first, nearly fatal encounter with Bax Hench. Something beyond affection, a continuous awareness, a lifeline of sorts...

Or, maybe, he was just laying it on thick.

"That's quite handy," she only knew to respond.

"Quite," Skulduggery agreed. "Consequently, whatever you react to, is likely real as well. This fact gives me a sense of assurance, it..." He detangled their fingers and closed his hand around her fist. It was large enough to cover her hand entirely. "You make me feel secure. Which, as you can probably imagine, isn't exactly commonplace for me."

She gave him a warm smile. "In that case, you're always welcome to ask me too, whether things are real or not."

"I might take you up on that, thank you... Now, I cannot give you a reason to be with me. As for me, however, I'd like to explore this phenomenon further. Ideally, on a more frequent basis."

She felt the smile slowly return to her face. "Oh, yeah?"

"Oh, yes, I don't know how the kids go about this nowadays, but... Would you like to go out? First, to... Whatever creative location I can come up with, in the car?"

Although she remained bemused, Diamond leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his cheekbone. Her lips grew colder at the contact, but it only made her smile wider. "I'd love to."

Skulduggery straightened with renewed pride. "Fantastic. In that case, I should probably head to the hospital, right about now."

Valkyrie sat up slowly, as Skulduggery brought in a steaming bowl of soup. He carefully set it down on the bedside table. She tried not to make a face, as her aching head pounded and complained, at the blood flowing down into the rest of her sore body.

She leaned over to see what was in the bowl and found it to be filled with broth, noodles, cubes of root vegetable, and chicken strips. She hadn't realized how hungry she was, until just now.

"Let it cool for a moment," Skulduggery cautioned as he sat down on the edge of her bed and mustered her tired face. "How are you?"

"Headache. Otherwise fine."

"Have you had a pain leaf yet?"

"Yep, but those barely work on me, anymore." Valkyrie said and swiftly moved on to a more important topic. "So, we sort of successfully finished the raid, yes?"

"Yes. All of the girls escaped, except for two."

"What about Ninja? Have you seen her?"

"No, Ninja is... Still deciding where to go from here, I believe."

"Makes sense... Do we have any idea what Bax Hench wants? Did he plan for us to take down Carry?"

Skulduggery shook his head. "We don't know, but it seems likely."

"We don't know what Hench is planning at all yet? I really don't appreciate being his pawn."

"We will find out. We just haven't made it deep enough into the organization yet. The men we are arresting, they're all mere..." His skull tilted with discontentment, "...Henchmen."

"Wow," Valkyrie exasperatedly groaned, "that's beyond cheesy..."

"I wish I could take it back," Skulduggery agreed. "It's as if I've just played into his hand again."

"Anyway, the point?" She demanded to know.

"We know who the head is, and we've caught some foot soldiers. We're working our way up through the ranks to catch the big fish... So far, this is a good-ol'fashioned mafia investigation."

"Aren't we lucky ducks..." Valkyrie grumbled.

"A couple of years ago, you would have been thrilled about this," Skulduggery noted.

She glared. "A couple of years ago, child slaves weren't dropping around me like flies."

Skulduggery mustered her again, but before either of them could delve into the topic any further, Valkyrie was distracted by a whiff of good scent. She looked over at the hot bowl of soup. She moved closer, let the steam puff in her face, and shot Skulduggery a wide-eyed meaningful look.

"Holy macaroni, that smells amazing!" Valkyrie proclaimed. "Where did you get this from?"

"From the kitchen," Skulduggery smugly replied.

She raised a brow. "You're going to tell me, you made this?"

He looked offended. "Are you implying, I wouldn't make you chicken noodle soup?"

She looked closer at the finely cut chives and parsley that swam on the surface of the lightly foggy broth. "I'm implying you wouldn't make me this chicken noodle soup. The height of soup serving I have received from you was a cup of plain broth, with alphabet pasta."

"I see that I need to improve my soup game..." Skulduggery mumbled.

Suddenly, Valkyrie heard a familiar but expected sound coming from downstairs. It was the ringing noise of metal cooking pots that were clanking against each other. She blinked and looked at Skulduggery. "Umm... Who is in the kitchen?"

"It would certainly seem; the same person who made the soup."

Valkyrie raised her voice to call out of the open door of her bedroom. "Hello?!"

"Hey, Valkyrie!" A familiar voice called in response.

She raised her brow at Skulduggery. "Is that Diamond?"

"It is indeed," Skulduggery confirmed and sounded somehow pleased with himself.

Valkyrie stiffly shook her head as she waited for an actual explanation. "And she's still here because...?"

He happily shrugged. "Presumably, because she wants to be."

For another moment Valkyrie was still confused. Her banged-up brain tried to find good reasons as to why Diamond would stick around to cook. But then, it didn't take any more clever deduction or skilled analysis. The correct memories appeared entirely on their own behest, and clicked together like puzzle pieces.

Diamond's little jabs that he never seemed to mind. This odd new tendency that Skulduggery had, to always know where she was. The way they always seemed to be engrossed in a casual conversation. The sulky car ride and squabbles with Fletcher. The hugs. The dance.

"Wait... No, wait." She stared. "Are you guys... A couple?!"

Skulduggery hesitated for a second. "We hadn't put a label on it..."

Valkyrie shook her head to get rid of her frozen position. "But you barely know her! I mean, sure, we've worked together, and you seem to get along, and she hasn't ratted us out yet but-" She faltered unsurely. "Hold on... Do you know her?"

"I don't know about knowing her..." He wavered.

"Have you been seeing each other?"

"Yes."

She raised a brow in surprise. "Since when? How often?"

"About once or twice per week. Since the Requiem Ball."

Her other brow rose to join the first. "But that was... That was months ago!"

"It was indeed."

Valkyrie's face lit up, as she cheerfully snorted, followed by an equally bewildered and approving expression. "Well, I mean... Congrats, I guess? Quite the catch you made there."

The tone of his voice now clearly indicated a cocky smirk. "I'd say so."

She shot him a teasing and disbelieving smirk in return. "When did you decide to... Go for it?"

"I didn't 'go for it'," Skulduggery immediately denied. "I didn't have any specific goals, in fact, concerning this particular matter, I rarely did anything with a specific intention, as much as I just sort of... Did... Things..." He faltered at his own words.

Valkyrie blinked. Then, she burst out laughing.

Skulduggery glared. "Stop that."

She shook her head and, even though it hurt, kept on giggling.

He kept up his attempts at staring her down. When that turned up unsuccessful, he opted for a grumpy grumble. "I'm glad this is amusing to you."

"Hey, I'm just glad that you're... Finally over the whole... Grace Kelly thing!" She hickuped between chuckles.

"I don't know why I ever tell you anything..."

"No, no... That was a good one... Honestly, thanks..." Valkyrie wiped an eye and did her best to calm down. "I guess I did kind of notice that you had a crush on her. Only, it didn't really occur to me, you know? When did it occur to you?"

"Well..." Skulduggery uncomfortably admitted, "at first, I did believe myself to be more... Obsessed, than anything else..."

"Is that why you were being grumpy for weeks?"

He shifted in his position with more unease. "Potentially. I also wondered if I might be... Grasping at straws..."

"Right..." Valkyrie followed along, and then shrugged. "Well, if it's any consolation; I can tell when you're obsessed with something...? And she isn't it."

"That is... Indeed reassuring."

"It's just that..." Valkyrie hesitated. She made a vaguely contrite face as she asked the next question, "have you even had a girlfriend, ever since...?" She did not feel the need to finish the sentence.

"I have..." Skulduggery slowly admitted after yet another hesitation.

"Really?" Valkyrie curiously pressed. "What happened to her?"

"How about we leave that story for another day, or another century?" Skulduggery dodged.

"Is she still alive?"

"No," he said, "I killed her."

"Oh." Valkyrie blinked again, now with significantly less humor. "It didn't end well, then?"

"Evidently."

"So... How do you know this will end better?"

He thought about it. "I suppose, I don't," he then said. "I figured that maybe, this time around, I might not overthink it and just... Go with the flow, as they say."

She didn't find this to be a convincing argument. "And then maybe, instead of improving your soup game, you should focus on improving your relationship game?"

He didn't seem bothered by this particular tease. "Working on it."

Valkyrie breathed out heavily, hollowing her cheeks, and leaned back against the head of the bed. "I gotta process this..."

Now, Skulduggery was starting to sound a bit irked. "You might be making a bigger deal out of this than necessary."

"Are you kidding?" Valkyrie huffed. "When I met you, you were too unavailable for a new friend, let alone a girlfriend! You were virtually a brick wall!"

"I see, it's time for my daily dose of compliments..." He grumbled.

"That one time at Kenspeckle's, I cried," she reminded him, "and you ran off."

"I didn't run off!" Skulduggery offendedly protested, "I took one step, at the very most."

Valkyrie crossed her arms and pouted. "I had to work hard for your love, you know."

"I don't remember mentioning anything about love."

"Still, Diamond better appreciate all the ones before her, who've leveled your plain field."

"I believe she does," he nodded, and his voice softened at his final statement on the matter. "At least, I know that I do."

She smiled and turned towards the hallway. "Hey, Diamond!"

Skulduggery looked ready to jump up and run at the first sign of confrontation. Yet, he didn't move from his spot by Valkyrie's legs and waited with her, until Diamond had made her way up from the kitchen.

Valkyrie smiled at her, as she appeared in the doorframe. An instance later, her smile disappeared again.

The Shapeshifter looked like she had been pulled through the wringer. Bandages were covering more than one part of her body, and bruises and large scrapes were covering entire sections of her face.

By now, Valkyrie had internalized that Diamond could survive walls of fire and buildings collapsing over her. All of it, without a scratch. Thus, Valkyrie had a hard time wrapping her mind around seeing her beat up like this.

"Geez! What happened to you?!"

"Met a match." Diamond shrugged it off. "How are you doing, Valkyrie?"

"Been worse," she said, "thanks for the soup."

"You're welcome."

"Can't wait to try it." Valkyrie's gaze landed on the shirt that Diamond was wearing. It looked like one of her own.

Diamond caught the glance and unsurely tugged at the fabric. "I borrowed this, I hope that's alright."

She mustered her thoughtfully. "Well, we kind of have to be friends now, don't we?"

Diamond made a face. "We don't have to be..."

Valkyrie shrugged, "but then, you could borrow my stuff, and I could borrow yours."

She bemusedly sniffled and meaningfully glanced up and down Valkyrie's tall muscular body. "I think you'd find my clothes a bit snug."

"How about hair brushes?"

"I could offer a comb?"

"Hair ties?"

"I do have those."

"Deal," Valkyrie curtly nodded. She regretted nodding immediately afterwards. She made a face until the ringing of her headache had subsided somewhat.

While their shared bemusement stuck around, their conversation faded out, and both women looked at Skulduggery.

Skulduggery seemed contented with sitting there and simply listening in. When his head moved back-and-forth in utter confusion at their expectant glances, Valkyrie turned her attention back to Diamond.

"Are you sure you want this oldtimer?" She asked; a lame hand tilted in Skulduggery's direction. "He's pretty high-maintenance..."

Diamond smirked and shrugged, "I've always appreciated a good Classic."

Valkyrie grinned. "Well, if class is what you're looking for, you've definitely come to the right crowd."

There was a knock on the door of her trailer home. Harmony skeptically looked up.

This was the second unannounced visit this week. That was quite unusual. Maybe Nobody had come back to ask more questions, despite her explicit instructions not to do so?

Harmony didn't get up to open the door. Instead, she called in its general direction. "Who is it?!"

A familiar voice replied calmly from behind the door, "an old friend."

Harmony stiffened. She stared at the door for a moment. Her hand slowly rose, trembling, as she felt for the air with her magic. She reached for the lock on the door and unlocked it from afar.

"Come in," she then shakily called.

The door opened, and Bax Hench stepped inside.

Harmony almost laughed at the irony of this moment. She had seen it coming, and yet she had played straight into his hands.

This was a special talent that Bax seemed to have. A talent that he had always possessed, Harmony gathered. Even as a teenager, he had always gotten what he wanted. Not because of the wealth or influence of his family. He had never acted like a spoiled brat. Things had gone his way, simply because he had arranged for them to do so.

"Hello, Harmony."

"Hello, Bax."

He smiled at her with something that looked like sincere sadness.

Harmony smiled back. And accepted the fact that she was going to die tonight.

Bax disappointedly sighed. "I had really hoped that it wouldn't be you. But then, you've always been a bit of a backstabber, haven't you."

She shook her head with a hint of resistance. "I never betrayed your family. Your father and I parted on good terms."

Bax spread out his arms, presenting himself. "I don't see him anywhere. Do you?"

"I never saw him," Harmony shot back. "He was a cold lonely bastard, and you're growing up to fit perfectly in his shoes!"

His eyes narrowed for just a split second. Harmony was happy to have hit a nerve on her way out.

Then, the look of irritation was gone from Bax's face, and it was replaced by the previous sad smile. "I'm here, aren't I?"

Harmony sniffed at the silent tears in her eyes, which yet didn't seem to want to flow. "Yeah, at least you do your own dirty work."

"Work is work," Bax unimpressively retorted, "you should know that better than anyone."

She bitterly snorted. "What on earth are you thinking, anyway, involving Pleasant and Cain in this? Are you really so megalomanic to start a war with gods? You're just a man!"

"Don't you worry about me, darling," Hench facetiously smiled. He began to slowly wander towards her, casually gestured along to his points. "So far, they've been doing exactly what I want them to. Besides, I knew that one of you would lead them to me. I knew they would pass along the word to other agents. Those agents would then snoop around in my pantry and leave behind a trail of breadcrumbs. I followed those breadcrumbs and, would you look at that...!" Bax arrived in front of her and feigned a look of surprise. "...They led me straight here. To you."

Harmony smiled again. Resistance was pointless so, at least, she wanted to go down with a semblance of dignity.

"Now, of course, I've known for a while that you were an informant for the Irish Sanctuary. I just didn't do anything about it, because... Well, I like you. You're one of the smartest people I've ever met. I wasn't surprised that you led them to me, I just didn't think you'd be so stupid to ever tell them anything of actual value. But here we are."

"Here we are."

His voice growled just a tiny bit, at his next statement. "Fire is in the hospital because of you, did you know that?"

"I didn't. I'm sorry that she got hurt."

"No, you're not."

She shook her head. "You should know that I would never tell anyone about..."

Bax cut her off with his instant reply. His voice remained smooth, but she could tell that he had no interest in indulging her any further.

"Maybe, maybe not. But there's no way for me to trust you now, is there."

Harmony didn't argue with him.

His index finger zipped through the air. "Stand up."

Harmony stood up.

Bax walked around her and stood with his chest flush against her back. His left arm wrapped around her chest and held her in place. His right hand lifted a familiar blade to her throat. It was a slim magical dagger, entirely made of white marble.

"Any last words?"

Harmony sniffed again, as the tears welled up for a final time. Then, she went back to smiling for a final time.

"Tell Chris I said hi, when you see him in hell."

Bax chuckled. "Fine choice," he said, and cut her throat.