There were many, many answers to that question. Valkyrie debated them all silently and quickly - or tried to. She seemed incapable of experiencing anything other than raw emotion right now, though. So Valkyrie took the instinctive response, the truthful one, the one that would stop her parents from freaking out before they knew everything. "I'm fine," she whispered. "Totally fine. It's magic, Mum. If I ever do get hurt, I can get healed in two hours."

Valkyrie's father, meanwhile, had turned back to Skulduggery again. "You taught her?"

"I'm teaching her a bit of magic, yes." Skulduggery had done his best thus far to stay on the sidelines, but he knew that wouldn't last. He knew that, sooner or later, Valkyrie's parents would start taking an interest in the one adult they knew had been in the young girl's life since Gordon's death.

"Is that all?"

Skulduggery hesitated. Lies were all well and good, but Valkyrie was trying to break through them now. More of the same wouldn't help. "No. It's not. Stephanie should be the one to explain the rest."

"What has she been doing with you for the last three years?"

"Detective work. Again, she should be the one to explain the rest."

"Detective work?"

Skulduggery sighed. "I can see where she gets her inability to listen to simple instructions from."