Disclaimer in chapter one.

Reviews:

Sarah Carter: Hewro buddie! ;) Awww thankies! I'm glad you liked it. And yes, I kick old man ass ;) xxxx

ElenreailSparks: YOUR BACK! *Hugs you* Thank you! I have missed your reviews! Haha. Erskine eh? ;) He might be in this a lot more I hope - which will be good for you ;) Yeah Aqua does doesn't she haha, but she doesn't do stupid things lol. Thanks for reviewing again! :D Enjoy this chapter!

Okay - I wasn't too sure on this chapter but I hope you all enjoy it! x

Chapter 14.

Autumn was tempted to carry on with her plans to go home, but she decided against it. Ghastly would have to get up soon and she was pretty sure if he wasn't wakened gently and with a cup of tea, he was going to be grumpy for the rest of the day. Quietly she opened the door and smiled, he was still fast asleep and she decided to sit and practise her powers until it was time for him to wake up. Quietly she made her way over to the couch and sat crossed legged on it, kicking off her shoes.

"Right… How do I do this…" her voice was quiet and she tried conjuring a flame, like she had seen Skulduggery do. Autumn took a few deep breaths, calming her mind before focusing on the fire inside of her. Once she found it she directed it to her hand and sparks began to flicker before her hand was covered with vivid blue fire. In surprise she squealed and swung her hand to dry and put out the flame, but it just sent a ball of fire onto the carpet. "No…!" Quickly she jumped up and started stamping her foot down to put out the fire. Once it was out she saw the black singed mark on the carpet and she fell onto the sofa, pressing her face into a cushion. Great she thought as she let out a muffled groan into the cushion, this wasn't exactly what she planned – Ghastly was going to go crazy, the man was a crazy man went it came to organisation and mess.

Autumn must have dozed off as when she woke up it was noon and somebody was knocking at the door. When she stood she walked over to the kettle and switched it on, letting the water boil as she wandered over to the door. When she opened it Erskine Ravel was standing the tapping his watch.

"It's time for Ghastly to wake up." When he looked at her, he raised an eyebrow and grinned – holding back a laugh.

She sighed and looked at him, her eyes finally focusing. "What are you finding so funny…?"

"Oh… Nothing…" He chuckled and she rolled her eyes and walked back to the kitchen and took out two cups.

"Tea?" she called as he walked into the room, leaning against a kitchen countertop. For a moment he was silent, she guessed it was a pretty hard question to ask and it must have taken a while for him to figure it out.

"Sure. Shall I wake Ghastly?" The Grand Mage straightened and she watched him, peeking round the corner.

"Good luck." She muttered before taking out another cup before dropping a tea bag in each one. While she waited for the kettle she caught her reflection in the metal tin, her hair was a mess! It looked like she had just been dragged backwards through a hedge. After she sorted her hair the water boiled and she finished making the tea, walking into the living room, handing Ravel a mug as he just stood there, watching the fellow elder. "What are you doing?"

Erskine smiled and held the cup and tilted his head. "Well… Actually the last time I woke him up he got really annoyed with me. So I decided it would be safer for me to let you do it."

"Oh well… Thanks – you're too kind." Autumn rolled her eyes and placed the tea on the coffee table, sighing as she walked over to Ghastly. "Ghastly… Time to wake up… Don't kill me… It's all Erskine's fault… Blame him…" Quickly she nudged him and took a step back, standing behind Ravel who glared at her.

"You are a very evil person…" he whispered as Ghastly woke up, clenched his fists and turned to see the grand mage standing there, staring at him. "Morning sunshine…"

Ghastly stretched his arms above his head, stood and walked towards Ravel who tensed up and shut his eyes. "Morning Erskine." The elder walked towards Autumn and kissed her forehead before picking up his tea.

"Um… It's actually the after-noon." Erskine added before watching him warily. "You seem… Happy."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Ghastly nudged Autumn and she smiled brightly before sipping her tea.

"Uh I don't know…. Well we actually have matter's to discuss so if you would like to, you know… come with me then we can sort it all out." The grand mage got a little flustered and Autumn walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You really need to chill out." She paused and leaned in to whisper in his ear. "I'll distract him, you run." She pulled away to see him grinning.

"Good idea." He whispered back and Autumn turned and wandered back to Ghastly, who was currently glaring at Ravel.

"Anyway… If you wait outside I will be with momentarily." The elder narrowed his eyes and Ravel nodded and walked passed Autumn and winked.

"I'm sure I will see you soon." He whispered to her and Ghastly began shoving him from the room.

"Yes. Okay. Bye Erskine!" The elder pushed him out the room and slammed the door in his face and turned to look at her. "You two seem cosy."

Autumn raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "We were just having a little fun, nothing to worry about." She smiled softly and she heard him scoff. After a few seconds of silence he walked past her and picked up a large box and handed it to her.

"This is a little something I made; I thought you might need it." He smiled and she sat down, placing the box on her lap while she lifted the lid. Inside contained the most beautiful clothes she has ever seen, the jacket was gorgeous – it was made out of a strange material and it was pitch black. It had silver buttons and buckles on the sleeves and the inside lining was midnight blue made of silk. Underneath was a pair of black skinny trousers made from similar material and a dark grey baggy t-shirt.

"W-wow… Ghastly…" Autumn looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "These are amazing, thank you so much…" She stood and went on her tip toes to hug him. "You're incredible."

"Well I have some boots too, if you want them?" He chuckled and pulled away picking up a pair of black lace up boots. Autumn's jaw dropped as he gave them to her.

"You were up all night doing this? For me?"

The elder nodded and a heavy bang could be heard on the door. "Ghastly! Get your butt out here!" Erskine shouted impatiently.

"Well… I have to go, will you be okay?"

Autumn kissed his check and nodded. "I will be fine, I'm just going to have a shower and put on my new clothes." She grinned and walked over to the door and opened it, seeing Erskine sorting his hair out. "Stop fussing you look fine…" She laughed as he shifted, he did amuse her.

"Right well… I will be back later to check on you okay?" The elder picked up his robe and put it on, walking past her and into the corridor.

"I will be fine. Go." The two men nodded and reluctantly walked away.

Skulduggery and Valkyrie was at that warehouse for hours last night. Ruess was good, better than good in fact, he left no trace that he was here – nothing the detective could find that would lead to Ruess's current location. Valkyrie was exhausted and all she wanted to do was have a shower and go to bed.

"Skulduggery, we have walked around here for hours. The sun is up… Can we please go now?" She moaned, scuffing her boots on the ground with boredom.

"Were detectives Valkyrie, the whole point of being here is to detect things." The skeleton stated, before straightening. "Well I guess we have found our match, he cleaned up the place leaving no trace… of anything not even a food wrapper."

"Oh thank god... Does that mean we can go?" Valkyrie walked over to him and he nodded. When they got to the Bentley he stopped and stood there for a moment.

"After we go check on Autumn, we will visit China – maybe she knows something about this Ruess character."

"Yes fine, but I'm taking a shower at first."

Autumn just got out the shower when there was a knock at the door; quickly she wrapped a towel round herself and walked to the door, opening it to see Skulduggery and Valkyrie standing there.

"Hey… Val you look exhausted…"

"I only had time for a shower… I haven't had time to sleep." Valkyrie walked in and Skulduggery followed.

"Oh stop being so dramatic. Have a power nap and you will feel fresh as daises." The detective looked at Autumn and took off his coat. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine… Tried using my power and I burnt Ghastly's carpet… Don't tell him." She smiled nervously and tucked a strand of wet hair behind her ear. Valkyrie was currently lying on the sofa, drifting to sleep.

"You burnt his carpet… How?" Skulduggery crossed his arms and shut the door, leaning on an arm of a chair.

"Oh I tried making a fire ball but instead the fire engulfed my hand and I tried shaking it to put it out but it just sorta… caught fire…"

Skulduggery couldn't help but laugh at that. "Why don't you let me and Ghastly help you. Just in case you turn the whole building to ashes."

Autumn nodded slowly and she looked at him and bit her lip slightly. "So if I want to evaporate the water on my right now, how would I do that…?"

Skulduggery tilted his head and looked at her. "Well you manipulate the water, but I suppose you could try using the fire to dry yourself. Instead of conjuring the actual flame, just conjure the heat and project it."

"Right…. Okay I think I understand."

"Try it. I will be here to put out any fires." He said with a smile in his voice.

Autumn nodded and shut her eyes and focused on the heat, she imagined projecting it from her self – imagined turning the water on her skin to steam. After a few seconds she opened her eyes and began to push out a wave of heat. Slowly her skin dried and as did her hair.

"Well done, you perfected that skill quicker than Valkyrie did." He turned and walked to a chair and sat on it.

"If you would excuse me for a minute…" She smiled, happy with herself and walked to the bathroom to change, returning back into the room in her brand new outfit. "How do I look?"

The detective looked at her for a moment before speaking. "Ravishing." Autumn chuckled and looked at Valkyrie.

"So what's your for plan today? Any news on Ruess?" She looked at him and pushed back the bad memories, she just wanted this man gone – out of her life.

"Nothing, he is a clever man. Well not as smart as me obviously but we don't need to go into that. When Valkyrie wakes up, we will take a short visit to see China – she may have some information we need." The detective shoved his partner with his foot and she groaned, shoved his leg back and rolled over to fall back to sleep again. "Magnificent isn't she?"

Autumn couldn't help but laugh – Skulduggery was sarcastic and funny all the time, sometimes it would be irritating but right now, it was just what she needed.

Autumn managed to worm her way into coming on the trip to China's library, she sat in the back seat of the Bentley and watched the world blur by the window. Eventually they arrived at a rather run down estate, stopping outside a large apartment building. It towered over them and looked like it would topple over at any moment.

"This is where China lives?" she asked looking at Valkyrie.

"Yeah… It surprised me too when I first came here. Don't worry though, the inside is better." Valkyrie smiled and walked beside the detective.

"Is it safe to leave the car here?" Autumn asked walking after them.

"Why? What's wrong with parking it there?" Skulduggery questioned while looking at her.

"Well… what if someone steals it."

"It has a car alarm Autumn." He said tilting his head.

"There's nothing else to like... Protect it?" She asked and he sighed.

"No it's a pretty good car alarm."

She nodded and followed them into the building. When they finally got to the floor China lived on she noticed the difference. This floor wasn't stained with graffiti and it didn't reek of damp, this floor was clean and tidy. As they walked to the library Autumn heard a struggle on the inside and she tried unlocking the door but it wouldn't budge. "Skulduggery… Something doesn't sound right…" her voice was quiet and shaky.

"No it doesn't…" He kicked down the door and Valkyrie and Autumn stepped in behind him. China was surrounded by two large looking men, Ruess was about to strike her until he turned and saw her.

"Oh crap…" Autumn whispered, Skulduggery turned and shouted to Valkyrie while he whipped out his revolver in a blink of an eye.

"Get her out of here!" he ordered and Valkyrie turned and grabbed her wrist hauling her from the room. But before she exited Autumn got a glimpse of the girl she saw yesterday, Aqua, being forced against a wall with a strong hand wrapped round her throat and fear in her eyes.