I'm giving you two chapters at once to make up for the lack of them recently. Hope you enjoy them :)
"You actually sold your soul to the devil?" Skulduggery repeated slowly, his skull tilting to the side in obvious disbelief.
"It was years before I met you," he said, turning to Tanith. "He said he'd save my father..." The sun finally disappeared behind the buildings. Johnny stopped mid-sentence and screamed.
Valkyrie leant forward but Skulduggery held her back.
The skin on his face turned bright red then started to burn and blister off.
They all stepped back from him as one as he clutched at his burning face.
And the Ghost Rider looked up. Valkyrie tensed up and Tanith's eyes widened. Skulduggery didn't move.
It threw a ball of fire at him. Skulduggery ducked and held his skull at the usual cocky angle. "I can do that too"
He clicked his fingers and let out a continuous stream of fire at the other skeleton.
The rider walked through it, not even staggering. He grabbed Skulduggery by the lapels of his suit and pinned him to the wall.
"Look into my eyes" the Rider commanded.
Valkyrie stared as her partner's bones started to rattle.
"Hate to be the one to inform you this, but neither of us actually have eyes. If you could just put me down for a moment, I'm sure I could find some" Skulduggery said in his usual cocky tone but Valkyrie could sense his fear.
It carried on staring at him.
Water condensed in the air above the Rider, cascading down but only making the flames steam slightly.
"Your hands are stained by the blood of the innocent" the Rider said. "Now... Feel their pain"
Skulduggery started shaking more. "...Help..." he managed.
Valkyrie thought she heard a quiet, agonised "no..." and the shadows in the car park started to swirl around him, beginning to engulf the two skeletons.
Tanith's sword raked along the Ghost Rider's jacket, tearing the leather. It dropped Skulduggery and turned its attention to them. The shadows dissipated.
Tanith grinned. If she was worried about the man trapped inside the Rider, she didn't show it.
"Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough"
There's a sneaky little Lord Vile reference in there, couldn't resist...