Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! I'm updating this story as a Christmas present to you guys!

IMPORTANT NOTICE!

Beauty and the Beast will not be updated regularly. The updates will be erratic, but there will be updates! ; )

Enjoy!

Ink…

Chapter XXXIV

Valkyrie rushed forward and jumped into Skulduggery's arms. "Honestly, Skulduggery, if you die, I'll never speak to you again!"

Skulduggery blinked and then stared down at her placidly. "True that."

She rolled her eyes.

"SKULLY!" Valkyrie moved aside to make way for Sparrows flying top speed. Skulduggery braced for impact.

Valkyrie looked around and saw Ghastly and Tanith doing a more tender welcoming. Her eyes narrowed when she noticed Dexter studiously avoiding anything to do with China.

He's been doing that for the entire war now. What is going on? Is he doing this because of China's actions against Skul? She sighed and decided to get to the bottom of it. They couldn't have arguments during battle.

"Sparrows, go to Wreath and help him with the ghosts, okay?" The ghosts seemed to regard Sparrows as a beacon to them. They followed her around like a little, rock star, until Valkyrie put a stop to it. Wreath and the other Necromancers started treating her like a mystery that they had to solve.

Sparrows wrinkled her nose. "Do I have to? He smells like death."

Skulduggery snorted, trying to stifle his laughter. Valkyrie rolled her eyes and sighed. "Just go, sis."

Sparrows sighed and trudged away, after stealing one more hug from Skulduggery. "Bossy."

Skulduggery looked at Val. "Yes?"

Valkyrie just shook her head and started walking to the Throne Room. "It's bad. This is a war of attrition, Skul. And, I'm afraid that we'll run out before Mevolent does."

Skulduggery frowned. "No sign of him or his scepter?"

"None." She sighed and looked at the rising sun. "How can the sky look so pretty when the ground is covered in gore." She groaned. "And each night we add to Mevolent's forces."

Skulduggery shook his head slowly. "We need to find him. We need to grab that scepter. The war will be over once we have control over the ghosts."

Valkyrie stared at the throne room. Ghastly, Erksine, and China were all arguing over something. They stood around a large map. Skulduggery quickly moved up to them, his hand still tightly wrapped around his wife's waist.

"Well?"

Erskine looked up and groaned. "Nothing. Mevolent knows that the scepter is our only hope. He's keeping himself well hidden."

Wreath walked in quickly. "Some of the ghosts have come back. They have some bad news."

Everyone stifled their sighs. It was always bad news. Wreath continued. "Mevolent isn't exactly hiding. He's doing research. He's trying to find out where Vile is."

Everyone went still. Valkyrie bit her lip to stop a sob of panic. She tasted blood. Curse these blasted hormones! She had been on the verge of crying all day. She stopped herself from looking at Skulduggery. Instead, she bent over the map.

"Then he's still in the underworld. The one place we can't get to. He came up to the surface to threaten me. Then he went back down. There's got to be something that he's up to, besides the obvious. Mevolent isn't an obvious person. He isn't. He's tricky."

Erskine sighed. "And? What are we going to do? Our hands are tied! None of us are dead, so we can't go down there. The ghosts can't go down there, because the scepter is too powerful for them to fight against. How can we possibly-"

"Nye!" Valkyrie's dark eyes gleamed. "Get Nye!"

Skulduggery growled. "I hate that thing."

"It's the only thing that's lived near death! It knows the Coachman!"

China frowned. "But how do we know if it will cooperate?"

Valkyrie waved her hand dismissively. "We don't know until we try!"

The scientist was brought in front of them. Valkyrie moved up to it. "Tell me, Nye, have you heard anything from the dead?" She spoke quietly, soothingly.

It looked at her quizzically. "Yes, in fact I have. They are torn between liking Mevolent and hating him."

Skulduggery muttered something indelicate. "We already knew that moron!"

It bristled. Obviously, it didn't like having its intelligence doubted. "There are also rumors about him taking roost in a place where the living and the dead are balanced."

Wreath looked up in interest. "Oh?"

China frowned. "Where do you stand on this whole war, Nye?"

It looked at her, its face the paragon of boredom. "I have no opinion about this skirmish. The struggles between humans, whether living or dead, do not concern me."

She nodded slowly. "And do you know where this secret location is?"

It's mangled lips twisted painfully into a shadow of a smile. "If I knew of the location, then it would not be much of a secret, would it?"

Ghastly sighed while Skulduggery moved threateningly closer. Nye inched away. "However, in order to preserve a more healthy atmosphere for myself, I will tell you that I have heard that the ghost king is holding court in my old laboratories. It is not a proven theory, however, as I have not been able to find out for myself if the rumors were true." Its head swiveled back and forth. "Is that answer satisfactory?"

Erskine sighed. "It doesn't matter if it's satisfactory or not. Is it true? That's all we really want to know."

Nye stared at the golden eyed man. "I can assure you that I do not know if this rumor is true. I am merely reporting the possibility of it being true. I believe the term is 'gossip'." Its voice was dripping with silent disdain.

Skulduggery growled. "Get it out of here, or I swear, I'm going to drop kick it to the next century!"

Nye leveled a stare at him. "I do not understand why you dislike me so." He simply shrugged and let the room.

Skulduggery's dark eyes moved away. "You don't need to know. Just know that I hate you." He turned away and stared at the map. Picking up a marker, he pushed it into the paper. "Here is the approximate location of Nye's old laboratory."

Valkyrie shivered. "Not everyone can get to it. It's a perfect place to go. The ghosts can go to and fro, but the living struggle to survive it."

Skulduggery saw the look in her eyes. "No."

She stared at him. "No what?" they quickly became oblivious to the people around them.

"I will not allow you to endanger the baby's life by traveling on the coach!"

Valkyrie bristled and then slowly exhaled. She sat down on a seat with a sigh. "Alright."

Skulduggery stared at her, his eyes widening in shock. She had given in so quickly. He stared at China and then at Tanith and Ghastly. They looked slightly shocked too. Well, not China. She was too busy staring past them all.

"Oh dear."