Secrets

50. God, Give Me A Break...

"Hey, did you ever find what you were looking for on the case?" Valkyrie asked when they were in the Bentley.

"No, not exactly," he replied, changing gears.

"Why?"

"I had to come home, after the incident with the snipers."

"Oh, yeah. Right, I forgot about that, sorry."

"It doesn't matter."

She grinned. "So what were you investigating anyway?"

Valkyrie saw Skulduggery stiffen, and she was going to reach out and put a hand on his arm, but he took a deep breath.

"Valkyrie... Remember a few months ago, when we found the Book of Names?"

"Yeah, you never told me what you saw in that either."

"I'm about to tell you."

Valkyrie shut up.

"You asked me why I looked so freaked out, it's because when you found the book and handed it to me, I saw three names on the page. And whoever had the book, deliberately left it open on those two pages."

"Three names?"

"Yes."

"Whose?"

Skulduggery didn't reply straight away, and kept his eyes on the road. Valkyrie waited until he continued.

"Three names I never expected to hear about again. Gabrielle, Jacob, and Evanlyn."

Valkyrie's jaw dropped. "Evanlyn's alive?!"

Skulduggery nodded. "Seems that way."

"What are you going to do? Gabrielle and Tyrell don't have a clue that she is!"

"I don't know what I'm going to do," Skulduggery said softly. "I guess we'll have to tell them and then track her down."

"You really want to do that, Skulduggery?"

He hesitated. "I don't know."

"It's weird," Valkyrie said.

"What is?"

"You've said 'I don't know' twice in less than a minute. What is happening to you? Are you feeling okay?"

He shook his head in amusement, and Valkyrie saw him smile for a split second, before staring blankly into space again. She sighed.

"You have to tell them. They need to know."

He didn't reply. Valkyrie turned and looked out the window until she realised something.

"Hey, when you saw their names, you must've seen their taken names too right?"

The Bentley screeched to a halt so fast that Valkyrie fell forwards in her seat, and the seatbelt locked. She groaned.

"What the hell did you do that for?"

"I caught a glimpse," he said, ignoring her question.

"What were they?" She asked, readjusting herself as the Bentley started forwards again.

"I saw Evanlyn's, but I can't remember it clearly."

"What do you remember?"

"Her taken name was, Fared something."

Valkyrie thought for a moment before shaking her head.

"Nope, there's no one we know called Fared is there?"