Skulduggery Pleasant_ Death Bringer - Derek Landy [102]
“And whenever she or Skulduggery, or even Tanith, was in danger of taking something too seriously, they turned to the easy target. They turned to me and made a joke. I was OK with it, actually. It meant something, at the time. It meant I was part of the group, I was one of the gang.”
“And it meant you could spend more time around her,” Ghastly said, sitting on the edge of his desk, “which is all you really wanted.”
“Yeah,” Fletcher murmured. He looked at the mug of tea in his hand, but didn’t drink from it. “But all that’s gone now. She’s with Caelan. Did you know that? She was seeing him behind my back.”
Ghastly hid his surprise. “That… doesn’t sound like Valkyrie.”
“Well, there you go. She cheated on me with a bloody vampire. A vampire. Are… are you smiling?”
“Yes,” Ghastly said sadly. “I am. I never thought we’d have so much in common, to be honest. The girl you love is in the arms of another, and that other happens to be a murderous monster. And the woman I love is in the arms of a psychopathic hitman. What a pair we make.”
“I can’t help it,” said Fletcher. “Images of Valkyrie and that… thing, of the two of them together, keep coming into my head.”
“I’ve been living with something like that for the past few months. It makes your insides go cold, doesn’t it? It makes you want to kill someone.”
“I want to kill the vampire,” Fletcher said softly.
“The feeling is natural. I don’t blame you for that at all. And while I know you’re a good kid, and you’re not a killer, I am going to say this – that’s a road you don’t want to go down.”
Fletcher put the mug on the worktable, spilling some of his tea. “I just need to show Valkyrie that she’s wrong,” he said. “I just need to show her that she’s made a mistake. I need to prove myself.”
“You want to make her beg to take you back.”
“No. No, of course not.”
“You want to punish her.”
“Fine,” Fletcher snapped. “Yes. Is that wrong? She’s the one who cheated on me.”
“It’s never going to happen,” Ghastly said. “This is Valkyrie we’re talking about. She doesn’t beg. If she changes her mind, she’ll come at you with a very practical reason why you’re getting back together. If you put her in a position where she’d have to beg, she’s going to walk away out of sheer principle.”
“So… how do I get her to take me back?”
“I don’t know. But my first suggestion is to take some time.”
Fletcher frowned. “What? No. The longer I leave it, the more Caelan will sink his fangs into her.”
“Caelan doesn’t matter. He’s never mattered. That’s not going to last. Guys like that never do. But you’ll do yourself no favours if you run up to her with tears in your eyes.”
“I never mentioned tears,” he said defensively.
“A friend of mine once said that a man never got a woman back by begging on his knees. Give yourself some time. Get over the pain. Man up. Then go back to her. Let her see what she’s missing. I’m not saying it’s going to work, but I’ll be honest, it’s your best shot.”
Fletcher nodded. “Thanks, Ghastly. I didn’t have anyone else to talk to. I’m pretty sure I don’t even have any friends. Valkyrie was my only friend.”
“Then you need to get yourself a life, kid.”
“Yeah,” said Fletcher. “Yeah, I do.”
Chapter 38
Back at the Window Again
tapping woke her.
Valkyrie groaned, turned over in bed, cracking her eyes open to look over at the window. The morning sunlight framed the curtains, and through a sliver of an opening she saw Skulduggery’s gloved hand. Her parents were gone but she still lay where she was, unsure if she even wanted to talk to him. Then she got up, wrapped the sheet around herself, and walked over. She pulled the curtains apart and undid the latch, then returned to her bed. She was snuggling down again as the window opened and Skulduggery climbed in. Valkyrie turned so she was facing the wall.
“I’m in bed,” she told him. “I’m having a lie-in.”
“I can see that. Do you plan on rising any time soon?”
She shrugged.
“Oh,” he said. “So that’s it.”
She waited for him to continue.
“I was wondering how you were going to punish me for not confiding in you.