A/N: I don't own Skulduggery or Valkyrie, Val is like, scary old now compared to the novels. Like 27 or 28. Gods. BTW, story is in Skul's POV this chapter. Think he's due one, don't you? Oh, this is about a day after the last chapter.

I smiled to myself as we sat down to breakfast. Poor Valkyrie hadn't showered yet, tending to the kids before herself. I liked that in a woman, I needed that in a woman. I never worried for the children's welfare with her around, and she seemed to always be near them. I was a lucky man, I knew that. Even though now a skeleton I had a good wife, the type who accepted I'd been married before, who loved me for still loving my first family. Though if she knew the entire truth, I couldn't be sure of her reaction. Joy, or anger that I hadn't told her sooner?

I was happy though. Valkyrie was the woman I wanted and craved beyond all reason, and our children were the finest I'd even seen, mostly because of her. She was flexible and indulgent with them, almost like a big sister, but strict enough that all it took was her flashing eyes or warning growl. Like the vampires we were both appalled at the idea of hitting a child.

All being hit as punishment ever taught a child was to not get caught, and I should know. I shook my head inwardly, coming back to the present. Our daughter Val was going on about something she'd dreamt about. "You should have seen him dad, he was huge! Kind of fancy with green scales, and really friendly. I mean bigger than Uncle Gordon's mansion huge. Are there real dragons?"

I looked at her and smiled, she was describing Ye Ye. The dragon who had, for a time, fed Valkyrie and I in his restaurant near the Sanctuary. Not that we'd known him for a dragon until our last meeting of course. Well I hadn't, but Valkyrie hadn't looked too surprised. But of course she hadn't been, I was that good a teacher. I could feel Val's hollow sockets on me, could see what passed for her eyes staring at me, waiting for a response.

"Yes, yes they are, Val. Your mother and I were lucky enough to befriend a very friendly dragon we called Ye Ye, that's grandfather, since he wanted to be your mother's grandfather. I'm sure if it was him you met he is checking in on the family in his own special way. I know he'd love you, but then anyone would. You're my daughter." Valkyrie snorted back laughter as did the kids but I didn't mind. Why shouldn't I have a healthy ego? Wasn't I proving to be a wonderful father and husband? I didn't even mind our down time, strangely enough. There was always some nutcase, sooner or later that wanted the world to end.

Nutcase? Wonderful, now I was picking up words from Valkyrie. Still, all in all it was a good day. We'd put up the tree the day before, my sweet little Val had Taken her name and instead of whining to go to the mall or tying up phone lines the kids went to find something to do after breakfast. I watched Valkyrie as she cleaned up, setting the dishes in the sink. I'd always disliked housework so of course the dishes cleaned themselves as did the entire house. I saw no need to ruin good suits or her hands doing work that magic did better and faster.

Val left the kitchen returning with our daily libation of bakery confections and a paper. She frowned at it. "Not that I mind, Skulduggery, but did you start ordering a paper?"

"No, perhaps Mrs. Gintlíocht left it for us or forgot it? We could ring her and ask." I did just that but she had no idea where the paper had come from and was more worried if it had been thrown and hit the box she had left. Valkyrie shook her head 'no' when I asked and I rang off. Strange. Stranger still was that Valkyrie was seemingly enraptured by it. We'd had a contest once to see who could read a paper longer, and neither one of us was the layabout and read the paper type. But now she seemed to be reading as if her life depended on it, flipping rapidly through the paper.

"Look at this." She tossed me the paper and I was appalled and a little more than fascinated. Although printed on newsprint it was clearly a paper with a circulation of one. Every page had stories about people in the Sanctuary, pictures included. We never did this, never risked exposing magic. I looked at Valkyrie worriedly, but she was already shrugging into her jacket and out the door. That's my girl. I thought. Make sure there are no more copies on other doorsteps.

I made several discreet calls, but happily we both came up empty. We were dividing the paper to look for clues as to the sender when Cain and Val appeared.

"Can we help too, dad?" Cain asked and I nodded, handing him a section and explained we were looking for the sender. Val sighed in exasperation and asked for the first section. I handed it over and she flipped through until she folded it with a grunt of satisfaction.

"The masthead, dad. It tells you everything you need to know about a paper." She handed it back and I scanned the masthead, rather annoyed I hadn't known that but nodding as if I had. I couldn't be expected to know everything, after all. As I read my mood darkened. Kenny Dunne was not only editor-in-chief, he'd written the entire rag and taken all the photos. The man had to be mad if he'd thought he'd scare me by threatening to expose magic. I wondered where the hack writer had been hiding.

I rang the Sanctuary and in twenty minutes received a reply. Kenny was in handcuffs, absolutely bewildered and had no idea what anyone was talking about, or so he said. I had a feeling this rather annoying mortal knew everything we were talking about as I leaned forward in my chair in the interrogation room, Valkyrie beside me.

It didn't take long for Kenny's story to fall apart, and then he grinned wickedly. "I'm only here to distract you. I won't even remember any of this after I tell you something: I was set up and the clever little distraction has kept you away from your home, and your kids." I snapped out of meditation abruptly. How had I dozed off? I looked over to see Valkyrie glancing idly through a normal mortal paper. She frowned over at me. "Are you all right, Skulduggery? You were talking to yourself."

"Nightmare." I admitted. For as wonderful as things were I knew how easily they could be taken away from me. I resolved to calm myself, to not show the anxiety on my impassive features, but Valkyrie read it all the same.

"Hush." She said, coming to sit on my lap. "It's all right, the kids are all right, I'm fine. I've been having bad dreams myself. We aren't used to peacetime, we're used to putting all the fear and everything else aside, then ignoring it. But cheer up. Some nutcase will want the world to end soon and things will be back to our type of normal."

I grinned at her. What a thing to wish for! But it was true. I didn't feel useful if I wasn't out chasing bad guys, and now I would've settled for separating cantankerous old people at a bingo game. I sighed. We'd done our jobs so well we had peace. But we also had kids so I told myself to enjoy it for their sake.

I stretched and got up going in to admire the tree. I'd never had one with electric lights before, though I'd seen plenty and I'd enjoyed putting it up with the kids though I'd thought more of how sturdy the wire was and wondered if it would make a useful garrote for some yet unknown bad guy since the only ones left were really rubbish and took stupid names.

This one, I had decided would name himself something truly rubbish like the Kringle Killer. Or the Yuletide Strangler. Maybe, I thought idly, I should become a writer. Hadn't Valkyrie offered me lessons? I wandered into the kitchen but had to go to our office to find her. She was looking at the paper, then her computer screen with interest.

"Look at this, Skulduggery. A rash of killings, all with a Christmas theme. The mortal police are calling him the Candy Cane Killer. He's only offing known offenders so they've been a bit slow to catch up with him." She laughed, amused. Like the Sanctuary the mortal police at times welcomed killers who cleared the streets of even worse people, but of course, justice had to be served and I wondered if we'd be brought in on the case after the mortal police had talked with Geoffery Scrutinous.

We were indeed called to the Sanctuary and the entire family was cheered, all of us having had all the Yuletide quiet family time we could handle. Now we wanted action, though I still worried a bit about Val. She was so small, though with a Taken name and her fighting ability, plus Lord Vile as a father I supposed I was being over-protective.

The killer it turned out was indeed a sorcerer, just a rubbish one intent on ending the world because the tacky blow-mold ornaments and decorations had driven him mad. I had to agree with him there. He was calling himself both the Holiday Helper in his rant-filled letter to the Sanctuary, and also the Yuletide Strangler, promising the next victim would be strung up with lights and I applauded my own foresight and cleverness. After all you have to think like a killer, even a rubbish one, to catch him.

We were just starting to discuss the case, being mindful of the children's attentive ears when Tipstaff burst into Ghastly's office excitedly. "The killer, the Christmas whatever, he's been caught, we're locking him up in the gaol now. Isn't that wonderful?" He exited and I sagged in my chair, but Valkyrie looked over at me.

"Cheer up, Skulduggery. I thought maybe since we are this close we could go over to Ye Ye's and see if he's back. I'm sure he'd love to meet the kids and I know we're all starving."

I grinned, cheered. "I was going to suggest that myself." I admitted. "Unless you need us for another case?" I asked, but Ghastly waved us off.

In almost no time were were at Ye Ye's restaurant and he was indeed there, greeting us warmly. I realized then he never seemed to have any other customers and wondered if our first meeting had been pure chance. He was certainly taken with Valkyrie. Greeting her as granddaughter, and the children as well. He seemed to exult in picking up Val and hugged a surprised but happy Cain to him tightly. "It is so good to see my granddaughter again, to see all my family. Pease be seated I will bring you your tea and we will have a lovely meal. I have many things to tell you."

He bustled off to the kitchen and we settled in a booth. Cain sat beside me and I sensed something was wrong but not what. His sister was watching him closely but he shot her a look and she nodded. Now what were they up to? The children were all too happy to have taken their necklaces off so perhaps it was just excess energy, but if they took after me they were up to no good.

I was wondering what their future lives would be like when Ye Ye returned with tea and cups for everyone, laughing with delight to see us all join him. There was something about the dragon I liked, a pure joy about him even though I sensed he'd seen much sorrow. "Now the food will be ready in no time, but we must discuss the children. I have been watching over you two always of course," He paused to sip his tea, nodding to me and Valkyrie, "but ah, the little ones. You see, they are growing quickly as young dragons do in size and intelligence, but they are still, and I mean no harm, babies."

Instead of getting angry both children sighed in relief and Ye Ye smiled. "You see? They are babies still despite the bright minds and outward appearance, so it would please me greatly if they remembered it is OK to want things for their ages."

Cain spoke up first. "So it is OK to feel, well, little?" He asked, seemingly ashamed and I worried I'd failed him. He acted so maturely that I treated him as a young man.

"Of course, young one, for you are. You will not be ready to be an adult for many years yet. Rejoice in being young. Enjoy TV shows you like, play with your sister, find other things you like to do. It is fine for you to like toys you know. You may look like an adult, but you are still a baby yet. I hope I'm not hurting your feelings. You've been very brave but you don't have to be an adult, not yet."

Ye Ye got up for our feast, letting Cain help him and I realized he was just a child. Not much over a year old and although Ye Ye certainly trusted him to help serve, he still treated him gently, like the baby he would have been if he hadn't aged so quickly. Valkyrie had taken the news well and was now happily fussing over a giggling Val. She seemed relieved to have her babies back in the nest, no matter how big they were, and I was too. I had, after all been terrified of the prospect of letting a two-year-old son date and was relieved I wouldn't have to.

Ye Ye talked happily as we ate and I noticed an understanding look pass between him and Valkyrie who then went white as a sheet. "You saved them, our children, you saved them." She breathed, and he nodded, suddenly serious but his tone was kind when he spoke.

"Compared to dragons you are both infants yourselves so I knew you knew no better. But while training them is fine expecting them to fight an adult would be a disaster. You wouldn't take a mortal child of say five, black belt or not and make them fight an adult, even if they were as big as the adult. But it wouldn't have been on the case, you know when I saved them. But on to other things."

"Wait." I said, slightly confused and not liking it a bit. "You saved them when? No, not last night. That noise, I thought it was just the wind or the house settling." The children looked scared but Ye Ye assured them he had protected us all the night before, even with the killer landing on our roof, frightening him away, then today leading to his capture. He'd already seen to it mortals would remember nothing, and he assured us we had no way of knowing about the killer until he'd put the paper on our doorstep.

"Mom, can Ye Ye come to dinner, we should thank him for saving us." Val put in, tugging on Valkyrie's jacket and Valkyrie nodded.

"We'd love to have you, Ye Ye. It's the least we can do and if you will be back for a while, we'd love the children to see you as often as possible, us too."

Ye Ye smiled kindly. "I would love that but only if you let me cook and I insist. It has been a long time since I have been invited into a home, Valkyrie Cain and I thank you, You too, little blossom." He smiled at Val and I saw her blush.

"Do you have a place to stay?" I asked wanting to make some gesture to repay the man's kindness.

Ye Ye shrugged. "I will find a place or be here, I have a cot in the back. Quite cozy."

"Absolutely not. I insist you come stay with us. You saved our children, we'd be delighted to have you stay with us, at the very least until after the New Year, and I don't mean our New Year either." I insisted and saw happy tears prick Ye Ye's eyes.

"You want me to live with you? You are sure?"

"You saved our children." I managed.

"You saved us as a family." Valkyrie added. "We'd have made terrible mistakes with both of them, judging them by their outsides. Please, Ye Ye, come live with us." Valkyrie hugged him tightly. "We can manage a room for you, I'm sure, and now that Val and Cain will be staying home from now on," she paused to stare at them both firmly, "they need a grandfather to keep an eye on them. Please? We need you."

I could see Ye Ye's heart melt and he bundled Valkyrie into him and he nodded too overcome to speak. Then he was happy, singing to us as we finished our meal. He came with us when we left, making sure that Val was secure between him and Cain and checking that their necklaces were on. He fussed like any good grandfather and my non-existent heart swelled to see the sight.

We arrived home to a shock. The house seemed brighter. It had always been a good home, but now it seemed larger somehow and I recalled legends of dragons that granted wishes, large homes included. But it still seemed to be our home, with just a bigger kitchen and a room for Ye Ye added in the back.

The kids were enchanted with the new kitchen, and they explored excitedly. Ye Ye smiled at them, looking at his own room in delight. Valkyrie gazed on him lovingly then looked at the kids. She sighed. "I should have thought of it before, Uncle Gordon is due a visit and I think two children here might find something they like in my dragon collection."

"Your what?" I asked, not recalling Valkyrie collecting anything. And she grinned in reply, happy to have surprised me.

"My dragon collection. I was born under the sign of the dragon, so was dad. I just never told you because you laugh at that sort of thing and you hate kinckknacks." She ended with a growl. Ye Ye laughed.

"Dragon statues are pure art, young lady, not knickknacks." He turned to the children. "But yes, she is indeed a dragon. Bet you children didn't know that. And it gets better. Being magical by birth you inherited your mother's sign just like you got your father's appearance, hence your fast growth to, shall we say, dragon-size?" He giggled slightly at his own joke, amused.

I was about to agree to this outing when my mobile rang, I answered, annoyed. What did the Sanctuary want now? "What?" I growled and heard silence on the line. "Who is this?" I snapped, slightly louder. The caller ID had been Erskine's but the caller said nothing. Then was a further silence, then the line went dead. I dialed back instantly, and was told the number was no longer taking calls.

I walked a short distance away to ring Ghastly. I told him what happened and he grunted as he got up from his desk, taking his mobile with him. I could tell he'd left his office then was knocking on Erskine's door. Erskine's door was never closed. Ever. "Ghastly, get away from that door, evacuate the Sanctuary now!" I barked and he didn't hesitate to listen. I hurried back to Valkyrie.

"The Sanctuary's in trouble. Somebody dialed me through Erskine's mobile and his door is closed. Ghastly is evacuating everyone as we speak." Ye Ye agreed to watch the children and we were off.

"Seatbelt." I said automatically as we got in, then I was driving as fast as possible, the streets a blur. We were almost to the Sanctuary, about a block away when my mobile rang again and I whipped it out. Erskine's mobile. Again.

"Erskine, is this you? Speak to me!" I ordered but again eerie silence met me. Then there was a sound I hadn't heard in decades, a needle being placed on a record. There was the familiar hiss then a song started to play, but the music was distorted as if the record was playing at the wrong speed.

It sounded like an evil version of a Christmas carol but I couldn't say which one. I pulled to the side of the road, putting the mobile on speaker and Valkyrie just stared at the mobile with me. The song ended and there was again the hiss, then a rhythmic noise of the needle bouncing at the end of the record. Then the line went dead.

We were just getting out of the Bentley and heading towards the Sanctuary when an explosion threw us to the ground. I looked up in dull horror. We were both all right but the Sanctuary wasn't. It was in flames, and the worst thing was I could see that not a single person had evacuated. We ran forward, into the smoke that rolled towards us, but it was useless, there were no stunned victims on the lawn, no huddled groups of people who had escaped.

The Sanctuary was gone and so were all our friends. Ghastly, Tanith, Erskine. All of them. Gone.

Ta-da! How is that for a cliffhanger? Hope you liked it!