He emerged, his footsteps silent. He was tall and slender, his hair black and his skin pale. He had died as a nineteen-year-old, and it was in this form that he was frozen. He would never grow old. He would never fade. His face would never lose its beauty.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” Caelan said, his voice barely audible over the gentle lapping of the waves.

“Couldn’t you have found a safer place to wait?” she asked, hooking her thumbs into her pockets. “People like you really shouldn’t be hanging around the waterfront, you know. If you swallow any sea spray, your throat’s going to close up and you’ll die.”

“And would you be sad?”

“Sure I would. I once lost a gerbil. I’d imagine the pain would be similar.”

He moved closer to her. “So I’m your pet, am I?”

“Of course. You’re my vampire.”

He was right in front of her now, and he leaned in and they kissed. “And are you my human?” he whispered.

“So long as you’re OK about sharing me, sure,” she said, and they kissed again.

His hand went to her face. “I don’t like sharing things.”

“And I don’t like being called a thing, but life isn’t fair.”

“You should be mine alone.”

She gave him a smile. “Have you taken your serum tonight? Because you’re sounding awfully territorial.”

He stepped back. “The serum is not to be joked about. Without it, I would tear off my skin and devour you.”

“Sounds tempting, doesn’t it? But I can’t tonight, dear, I’m on babysitting duty, which I’m actually quite looking forward to, and then it’s bedtime.”

“Then I will remain beside you while you sleep.”

“My folks would love that,” Valkyrie said with a chuckle. He didn’t smile. “You’re not going to watch me sleep.”

“I have made up my mind.”

She looked at him. “Eh, what?”

“I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you, Valkyrie. But you needn’t worry. From this moment on, you are mine to protect.”

“I’m a little stuck for words here,” she said. “I’m just trying to get my head around it, trying to find the right way to… OK, yeah, I have it now. Caelan, cop on to yourself.”

He blinked his beautiful eyes. “I’m… I’m only doing this because I care so much. I’m here to protect you.”

“See, that’s where the problem is stemming from. I don’t need you to protect me. I’m not saying I don’t need protection. My God, the amount of trouble I get into, I could use all the help I can get. But my protection comes from people like Skulduggery, and Ghastly, and China – you know, people who are powerful enough to protect me from the things I can’t protect myself from.”