"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?"
"No, there's not."
"So where were you?"
"Liverpool."
"Liverpool?!"
"Yes."
"You know what? I'm not even going to ask."
He laughed lightly, and the mood was suddenly lightened.
The Bentley pulled up outside their house, and Valkyrie saw Gabrielle running out to meet them, and Tyrell standing with his arms folded in the doorway. Gabrielle ran straight to Skulduggery and pounced on him.
"Aidan, you're back!"
"I am," Skulduggery said, and Gabrielle broke away.
"I'm so glad!"
Valkyrie smiled as Gabrielle wrapped her in a hug.
"I was gone for a few hours, Gabby."
"I was still worried," Gabrielle replied, pulling away, and Valkyrie laughed. She looked up and saw Tyrell staring at her intently, before his gaze turned to his brother. Tyrell always watched Valkyrie now, and it was unnerving. He gave her shivers whenever she had to stand near him, and he always had that same look in his eyes. The look of a shark...
Valkyrie stepped closer towards Skulduggery, and he wrapped an arm around her waist, and she gratefully leaned against him. Gabrielle walked up the stairs first, Skulduggery and Valkyrie following. Tyrell stepped to the side to let them through, and Valkyrie felt his eyes still trained on her back as they walked into the kitchen. The front door clicked shut after them.
"So," Gabrielle said once they were all sitting at the kitchen table. "How was the trip?"
***
Valkyrie laughed as more paint dribbled to the floor, making a yellow blob. She already had it all over herself, and Skulduggery had it in his hair, much to Valkyrie's amusement. Half the room was painted so far, and Tyrell and Gabrielle had joined in after Skulduggery had told them all about Liverpool and the snipers. Gabrielle had almost cried, and Skulduggery had left out the part about him and Valkyrie talking about the fact of Evanlyn Farell being alive...
"Oi!" Tyrell cried out as Gabrielle flicked yellow paint at him. He dodged, and it hit Skulduggery's arm. He turned his head towards Gabrielle, who was trying her best to look innocent, but it wasn't working very well. Skulduggery was also trying not to show that he was amused by it, but couldn't. Valkyrie was doubled over with laughter by this time, and Gabrielle shrieked when a wet paint brush smacked her in the side of the head. Even Tyrell was laughing by this time, and Gabrielle glared at Skulduggery, dipping her own brush into the paint can. She pulled it out and some of the paint dripped to the floor. She chewed on her bottom lip and aimed, pelting the brush at her brother. Valkyrie laughed as Skulduggery was splattered with yellow paint. He smirked and came after Gabrielle, who squealed and tried to hide behind Tyrell, but he just teleported away, leaving her exposed, and Skulduggery tackled her to the floor.
Valkyrie was too busy cracking up to notice that when Tyrell had teleported, he had appeared beside her. She suddenly stopped laughing, and froze, the sounds of Gabrielle and Skulduggery mucking around still echoing through the room. Paint splattered onto the ground, and Valkyrie turned to see Tyrell staring at her with that same creepy expression stretched across his face. She shuffled away from him and tried to smile and laugh at her husband and his sister wrestle with each other. Although, she could still feel his gaze on her, and it raised goosebumps on her arms...
***
After Gabrielle and Skulduggery had calmed down and stopped throwing paint at each other, they had finally gotten back to painting, Valkyrie staying as close to Skulduggery as she possibly could. And now, the room was done.
They all stood back and admired their work, Skulduggery with his arm around Valkyrie's shoulders.
"Well," he said, catching everyone's attention. "That worked out quite well."
"You have yellow paint in your hair," Tyrell pointed out.
"That's the spirit!" Skulduggery cheered, and Gabrielle giggled.
"That's great for an afternoons work," she said, turning to Valkyrie and looking at her bump. "Sophie is going to love this."
Valkyrie smiled, looking up at Skulduggery and he gave her a quick kiss on the lips. Gabrielle jumped up and down in excitement.
"You guys are so cute!" She exclaimed. Tyrell groaned.
"God, give me a break," he breathed, walking out of the room. The rest of them laughed.
"I think it's time for a well earned drink don't you think?" Skulduggery asked, and Gabrielle and Valkyrie nodded eagerly.
Skulduggery walked out first, and the two girls followed, chatting away to one another about what else Valkyrie was going to be doing with Sophie's room. She had an idea to have Tinkerbell with her wand and sparkles up on the wall above Sophie's bed, with her daughter's name being magically drawn out from the wand. It would look beautiful on the yellow background. Skulduggery didn't let on, but he was listening in on their conversation, and he smiled.
They walked through the kitchen door to see Tyrell already sitting at the table. He looked around when he heard them come in.
"You decided to join me then?" He chuckled.
"Yes," Valkyrie said, humour in her voice. "We did."
"Didn't want to leave poor little Tyrell Vizzini sitting down here all alone," Gabrielle teased and Tyrell rolled his blue eyes.
"You two are so annoying."
Gabrielle and Valkyrie looked at one another. "Thank you," they said simultaneously, and then laughed. Even Tyrell grinned at them, and for the first time in weeks, Valkyrie felt calm around him. It surprised her.
The two girls sat down beside Tyrell, and Skulduggery brought the drinks to the table, placing them in front of everyone.
"What is it?" Valkyrie asked. Skulduggery sat across from her.
"Pear Cider," he answered, and Valkyrie smiled. "Be careful though, that stuff has a real kick to it."
"Are you sure Valkyrie should be drinking?" Gabrielle asked.
"No, she shouldn't be," Skulduggery replied. "Which is why she has Apple Juice."
Tyrell snorted and Gabrielle giggled. Valkyrie didn't look too impressed, and shook her head at Skulduggery.
"You're a moron."
"I love you too, Valkyrie."