Skulduggery could not stop staring at the picture, even though it made him nauseous. He wanted desperately to look away, but it was as if a magnetic force pulled his eye cavities to the phone screen. He found himself beginning to analyse the picture piece by piece to see if he could figure out where Valkyrie was. The detective in him never missed an opportunity to try to figure out a way to solve a dilemma.

The picture was blurred and did not show much of the room Valkyrie was in. She was clearly the centre of the picture and what was behind and below her was just there as a filler. Skulduggery could nevertheless see that Valkyrie had a mattress to sleep on and that she was in a room with stone floors and stone walls. Judging by the light there was at least one small window, maybe two, which let in a dim light.

More than that he could not figure out, but it was at least a beginning.

"Elizabeth has sent these things to me for a reason. She wants to get me out of balance and tease me, so much I know. I also have the feeling that this picture is a clue to figure out where she is. She wants me to find her, but notbeforeshe has had her little fun with Valkyrie..."

Skulduggery took a last look at the picture before putting the phone back in his pocket. He put the car in reverse and backed on to the road before turning the Bentley and drove to the Sanctuary. The car journey there gave him time to gather and put away all thoughts on Valkyrie and her pain far behind in his consciousness. He knew he could pick it up again later when he needed it.

"IfI will need it," he said to himself while the road curled in front of his eyes.

The only thing that was heard was the sound of the Bentley's engine and the tires that spun on the road. Skulduggery turned on the car stereo in an attempt to get rid of how quiet it was and how lonely he felt. Ever since he got to know Valkyrie 13 years ago, there had not been a lot of occasions he had spent alone in the car, except for the short trips between his house and the place he would pick up her at as well as in the years she had been gone to find herself and understand her new powers.

A jazz song came on the radio. Skulduggery turned his head and looked at the passenger seat for a few seconds before he understood what he was doing. He had waited for Valkyrie to comment on his choice of music, since shelovedto make fun of him and his music taste, but also because she hated when he put on a jazz channel, since jazz was the music genre which she liked the least.

Now when he was alone in the Bentley and had time to think about it, there was not much she didnotmake fun of him about if she ever got the chance.

God, how much he missed her, and it had not even been more than a couple of hours since she had disappeared! The missing was not easier when he knew that she was in a place where she was treated badly by a necromancer who wanted revenge on him for things he had done hundreds of years ago. If he could only turn back time! Then he could have protected Valkyrie better and then she would not have had to withstand the torture Elizabeth exposed her to right now and would continue with until she either let Valkyrie go or killed her...

Skulduggery clenched his fists hard around the steering wheel and felt how a wrath towards Elizabeth started to build within him. He should have checked once more that he had killed her that time several hundred years ago... He had made a big mistake then and it had now come back to bite him in the ass.Big time.

Let me help. I'm a necromancer and can find Elizabeth in no time. All magic leaves traces, right? Necromancy is a kind of magic, which means I can see it but not you.

Skulduggery clenched his fists harder around the steering wheel and ignored Vile. He knew that Vile was right, but he did not want to let him out unless he absolutely hadno other choice. Skulduggery knew that if he let Vile come back out again after such a brief time span there would be a risk that he would be too weak to resist him. If he could not resist Vile, there was yet another risk, and that was that Vile could hurt Valkyrie on such a plan that he would never get her back, but she would be mad from the pain that Vile would inflict on her.

An evil laugh filled Skulduggery's head. He realized that Vile tried to psyche him and make him lose his concentration so Vile could get a chance to slip out. Skulduggery was not, however, going to let him take over that easily. By now, Skulduggery had learned most of Vile's tricks since they had shared the same body for several years.

"You can always try..." Skulduggery muttered and swung into the Sanctuary's garage where he parked on his place.

He got out of the car and went to the elevators just as they opened and China came out with two Cleavers, one on each side. She wore a blue pantsuit that fit tight against her perfect body and highlighted her blue eyes. She walked up to Skulduggery with a serious expression on her face. "Any new leads?"

Skulduggery shook his head. "Not yet. Her bodyguard did not want to reveal anything, and I have not managed to find any traces of her. All I have received is two messages that she sent through Valkyrie's phone."

"Can I see?"

Skulduggery handed over the phone without a word and braced himself for what he knew would come in the next few seconds. Nevertheless, he still winched when Valkyrie's scream echoed around the garage walls. He could see that even China thought it was hard even though she was doing well hiding it. When the last of Valkyrie's screams disappeared, China scowled, and Skulduggery understood that she had seen the picture.

She looked up at him with anger radiating from her eyes. "Who is this woman? Why does she punish you this way, Skulduggery?"

"Revenge, what else?"

China laughed mirthless. "Of course. Is there someone out there you havenotupset in any way?"

Skulduggery shrugged his shoulders. "What should I say? People seem to have a difficulty understanding my humour."

A shadow of a smile spread on China's lips before she turned around and went back to the elevator. Skulduggery followed and stood next to China before the elevator doors shut. As the elevator lifted upwards, not a single word was said, which suited Skulduggery excellently. He was not in a talkative mood and woulddefinitely notwant to hear China say how sorry she felt about his and Valkyrie's situation.

The elevator stopped and they stepped out. Without still saying nothing, China led Skulduggery to her office. Once there she sat down on a chair and gave a deep sigh. "Oh, Skulduggery. Unfortunately, I have not been able to get much information about Elizabeth other than that she is a Necromancer, fought on Mevolent's side during the war and that she is believed to be dead."

"All of that I already know."

China's perfect eyebrows went up and she looked surprised at him. "How can you...?" she began but was interrupted.

"We encountered each other during the war. She was not a nice woman then and does not seem to have changed even though it has been hundreds of years, despite having had plenty of time to think about her choices and what she did. She just wants what Ravel wanted: that we mages control the mortals. That's why she fought on Mevolent's side and that's why she hates me so much. I took her dream away from her."

It got deadly quiet in the room. China stared at Skulduggery, and he could see how the thoughts spun around in her head. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall, as if what he had just had said was the most normal thing in the world to say.

"So, what youreallyare saying is that Valkyrie has been kidnapped by Elizabeth Gregory so she can access you without having to contact you personally. Smart, it must be acknowledged. What I do not understand, however, is why she has been waitingthislong for revenge? She would as well have been able to attack Ghastly or any of your other friends long before Valkyrie entered the picture."

Skulduggery shook his head. "No, she could not. I suspect that she first needed a long time to recover from her injuries and then even longer to regain her strength. Remember China that a necromancer needs to channel his or her power into an object to both being able to control their power and not go mad.

I have a strong suspicion that when Elizabeth got back her strength, she needed to find a place to hide and then a plan for her next move: How she could get her revenge on me because I let her lose her dream. I also believe that she quickly understood that she could not access me through my closest acquaintances since they were members of 'The Dead Men.' As you very well know, we were not that easy to overpower during our glory days and even after the war."

"I understand. Since Valkyrie is still young and does not have the kind of experience that you and your other companions do, she was a simpler target. I suppose Elizabeth also has found out what you two have been going through together since day one and heard about everyone else who has tried to get to you through Valkyrie." China closed her eyes and sighed tiredly before she again looked up at Skulduggery. "I hate having to say this Skulduggery, but Valkyrie is your Achilles heel."

Skulduggery stretched to his full length and his body language told China that he was angry. She had known in advance that her words would have just that reaction but had chosen to say them anyway. Skulduggery needed to hear someone tell him the truth and she knew she was one of the few who could tell him it without having to worry about getting into too much trouble.

"Do not dare, China." Skulduggery's voice was cold. "You if anyone should know that what I and Valkyrie have is something special. If you so much as suggest that Valkyrie would in any way, be a burden to me, I will not hesitate to hurt you, even if you are the Grand Mage. I have killed people in charge before and can do it again."

China laughed just as coldly and gave Skulduggery a smile. "So typical of you, Skulduggery. You've always had a tough time listening to the truth."

"If I were you, I would choose my next words with care, China. Remember, the only reason I have not hurt you is because you're a Grand Mage and because I know that you will be of use to me in the future. It hurts me to say this, but I prefer that you remain as the Grand Mage since you have succeeded in the challenging task of creating something that can resemble peace."

"Thanks for the praise, Skulduggery, even though I must, in the power of the Grand Mage, warn you to threaten me again. All I must do is wave my finger and these nice Cleavers will arrest you." China continued to smile as she let her hand swing back to the Cleavers standing behind her.

Skulduggery exclaimed a sound that sounded like a snort and turned around to go. "I'm going to forget that this conversation has ever taken place. Thank you for your information, but I can manage this myself from now on."

"As usual, in other words."

Skulduggery did not answer. Instead, he went out of the room with determined steps. He did not stop until he got into the elevator and the doors were closed in front of him. Once in there he drew a deep breath while he clenched and opened his hands a few times. When he felt that the worst anger had run off him, he got out of the elevator and sat down in the Bentley. He started it and drove out of the garage, away from the Sanctuary.

He did not think about where he was going but let the car roll along the road. The thoughts went around inside his skull, and he wondered if China's words could be true to some extent. Whenever something happened to Valkyrie, he reacted strongly and was always careful to ensure that she did not get hurt if he could avoid it.

If something happened to her, he was the first to respond and did everything in his power to help her, that was true, but isn't that what you do for your friends? Valkyrie was after all his best friend, and she understood him in a way no one else did. She accepted him for who he was without judging and that was something not a lot of people in his life had done.

He continued to drive for a few more minutes during silence and the next time he became aware of his surroundings, he found himself in Haggard. More specifically, outside of Valkyrie's parents' house. He drove slowly past the house and thought he saw a glimpse of Valkyrie's little sister Alice and her father Desmond. They were busy with what looked like a card game where Desmond was on the losing side.

Skulduggery smiled at the sight and wondered when Valkyrie had talked to her parents and little sister last. He had encouraged her to reconnect with them after returning from her five-year-long break from everything magical. He did not want her to lose time spending time with her family as they would not be there forever.

Valkyrie would after all live much longer than her parents and little sister.

He threw a final look at Desmond and Alice before turning the car around. He decided to go home and think through his next move. Perhaps he could use the transmitter in Valkyrie's phone to see where her phone was. Skulduggery knew there was a chance that Elizabeth had thrown the phone away or put it in a place other than where she held Valkyrie prisoned, but still thought it was worth a try.

Skulduggery noticed that he once again began to think of what China had said. Valkyrie wasnota burden, rather an asset. She had more than once saved him from death or fates which could be considered worse and, in turn, he had helped and rescued her when she had needed it.

They were a team, and they stood up for each other.

"The only reason my enemies use Valkyrie as bait is because they know it's harder to overpower me because all I'm living for is to fight. This is what I was born to do,thisis what's my destiny."

As if Elizabeth could read his thoughts, she materialized next to him in the passenger seat.

Skulduggery slammed the brakes and drew his revolver which he directed at Elizabeth's head. His finger was against the trigger and all he had to do to finally kill her, for real this time, was to apply a small pressure with his finger.

Elizabeth turned to him with a large smile on her face. "Hi, Skulduggery. Nice seeing you again. How have you been doing close to the three hundred years that has passed since we last saw each other?"

Skulduggery did not answer but just looked at Elizabeth with his black eye cavities. His entire body language radiated anger and Elizabeth knew that it would not take much for Skulduggery to get off. Nevertheless, she continued to smile and let one of her shadows pass over the phone to Skulduggery.

"I thought you might want to see how Valkyrie is doing. You must be really worried about her by now. Especially considering my messages..." Elizabeth laughed before she continued "Here, another gift to you. If you want to talk to Valkyrie, you can use her phone. I have given her a new phone that cannot be traced. I do not want you to find us. Notyet."

"You are very calm for someone who has a gun aimed at her. What makes you think I will not pull the trigger and finally get it all over with? It would be a pure pleasure..."

Elizabeth laughed again. "Because if you kill me, you will never find out where Valkyrie is. If you do not know where she is, you cannot save her."

Skulduggery took a harder grip on the revolver and pushed it against Elizabeth's forehead. "If you tell me where she is,maybeI'll let you go. I might be satisfied just to put you in prison where I can greet you daily and see how you slowly fade away increasingly for each passing day."

Elizabeth smiled and tilted her head. Skulduggery thought he understood why she did it. She tried to resemble Vile, hoping to psyche him further. "I would not think so, Skulduggery. I enjoy this too much to want to refrain. In addition, I love my life as it is right now. Thanks to you, I have developed and become stronger. See my little game as my way of repaying the service you made me three hundred years ago."

Before Skulduggery had time to respond Elizabeth shadow-walked and left him alone with his revolver in one hand and Valkyrie's phone in the other, and with a fury that would not be stilled until he had her blood on his hands...