Nuce shook his head. "Not happening."
"Why not!?" Betty exclaimed, hopping up and down on her butt like it was Christmas.
And it was.
Diamond watched on bemusedly as they argued playfully, wearing their fanciest shirts and dresses with their silly Santa hats and reindeer hairbands, talking about magic, while surrounded by the usual, colorful and wooden kitsch that Diamond remembered from her mortal youth.
Christmas had always been good, much better than her birthdays, since it had been one of the few days Uncle Alvertos had had the day off, and thus the time to make a big deal out of it.
The warm atmosphere of the house had never had an issue to suit the candle light, and cookies, and subtle, golden, and red, and green decorations, some of them the very same Diamond had used to decorate the house with, along with Alvertos, on the seventh of December every year.
Finally, in a corner, where two wall-sized bookshelves met, Diamond and Nuce had set up the Christmas tree, and decorated it with standard red and golden ornaments and a bow decorating the tip of the tree. Underneath, they had left their unwrapped presents.
"Because I blew up two Sanctuaries and boasting with my magic is the last thing I should do." Nuce replied unimpressively, as the little bell on his green elf-hat jingled along to his movements.
"Oh, come on. Those are separate things, yeah?" Betty pressed on excitedly. "You can do cool stuff that's not at the same scale."
"Like… this?" Nuce suggested skeptically. he raised a hand and snapped his fingers to a small detonation, however, just as the fire was about to scorch the sofa or Betty's hair, Nuce quickly formed a fist around his thumb. Now, instead of blowing in all directions, the explosion squeaked and rattled through the gaps of his fingers like a ridiculous fart.
Betty laughed. "You know what? Sure. That works."
"See, the thing is, your magic is already a show. You don't need to make a show out of it," Nobody agreed.
The white rim of his Santa hat was hanging low into his raised brow. He was wearing short, dark bown hair today, brown eyes, and black jeans, with a grey dress shirt.
Today, he was speaking with his own voice; smooth, with that hint of cockiness seeping through at any given moment. His face was made to look more angular, yet it was close enough to his actual, boring face that Diamond thought she could see through it, from time to time.
Nuce threw him a look. "That's easy for you to say, when people barely even remember you."
Nobody smirked, and personality slushed over his bland face for a moment, making him less forgettable. "That's why I get to make it a show."
The doorbell rang. Diamond immediately waved at them and got up, pulling the hairband from her head. "You keep chatting," she said and made her way out of the living room.
Keeping the door open at a gap, she walked through the hallway. Since Diamond had not expected any other guest, it took a moment to unlock all of the security measures and open the front door.
She blinked at Skulduggery standing on her doorstep, hands in his pockets. He had already deactivated his façade, was wearing a three-piece suit that was pine green, yet so dark it was almost black, only lightly shining through on the folds of the silk-laced fabric under the dull streetlights. Overtop, a black coat, and the usual suit-matching hat, with a matt black hatband.
"Skulduggery, hey." Diamond said surprisedly.
"Merry Christmas," he greeted.
"Merry Christmas."
"I hope, I'm not intruding."
She frowned, still surprised, yet shook her head, and stepped backwards out of the way. "Of course not, come in."
Skulduggery seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then took her up on it and slowly stepped in, so that she could close the door.
"Dye, who is it?" Nuce called from the living room, where everyone had apparently paused their conversation and was waiting in silence to find out.
Before he could stop her, she called back over her shoulder. "It's Skulduggery."
"Eyyyyy," Betty made.
"Eyo," Nobody said.
Diamond looked back at him with a smile.
"Who else is here?" Skulduggery asked with a lowered voice, as the conversation next door picked up again.
"Oh, it's just two friends of ours," she replied cheerfully. "We used to celebrate in pairs, then we put them together, and voilà; a quadruple."
"I see," he said quietly.
Diamond frowned at him again, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him over into the kitchen, a little way away from everyone else's ears. There, she mustered him seriously and lowered her voice to match his. "Hey, are you all right?"
"I'm fine," the immediate response came.
She decided not to play along this time. "You don't seem fine."
"Ah, well, you might be confusing bother with boredom. I was driving home from work and realized how uniquely distasteful most Christmas decorations are today..."
"Yeah...?"
"And I thought, I wonder if Diamond Irie is someone that likes decorating."
"She is," Diamond hesitantly affirmed.
"Apparently," Skulduggery gestured at the classic pieces that surrounded them here. "Quite well, too, I should add."
"Thanks."
"So, now that I've figured that out..." He moved as if he was going to walk out again.
Diamond stopped him by his upper arm. When he abandoned the frivolous attempt at leaving, she threw him a gentle yet confused look. "Why aren't you with Valkyrie?"
"Valkyrie spends Christmas with her family," Skulduggery informed her factually.
"Right," Diamond comprehendingly sighed. "And where do you usually spend Christmas?"
"It used to be with Ghastly, at his shop."
"And where have you been, since?"
"Oh, you know; solving mystery murders, fighting dragons, saving the world... the usual."
Even though Skulduggery sounded casual, she did not buy it. The way his jaw moved forward lightly, she could tell that he was pushing through stone mountains of pride. When Diamond did not reply, he caught her eyes, but then avoided them again almost immediately once he found sympathy in them.
"Look, we're all in the same boat," Diamond said softly, as she kept her hand on his arm. "None of us celebrate Christmas with our families, some of us haven't for a long time. You'll fit right in here."
"Do you want me to…? Fit in here?" Skulduggery asked doubtfully at a spot beside her head.
Diamond threw him a somewhat disapproving glance but stepped closer to take hold of both of his arms now, further up, where they connected to his shoulders. "Hey."
Uncertainly, Skulduggery turned his head all the way back to her now. She let him muster her, look for whatever he was hoping to see, or not to see, keeping steady eyes on him.
"I'm glad you're here," she told him calmly.
They stayed like that for another brief moment. A moment, which Diamond would have loved to see through his eyes, or eye sockets. Whatever was going on in that skull was still a mystery to her. But if there was one thing she wanted least, in this situation, it was to watch him walk out of here.
"Come on," Diamond gently ordered, and Skulduggery did not argue, so she let go of his arms to walk around and take off his topcoat, as if to make it official. The gesture still seemed to surprise him as much as the first time weeks ago but, just as then, she ignored it, folded over the large fabric and laid it over her elbow.
With the other hand, she pulled Skulduggery out of the kitchen, hanging the coat up in the large closet that was inserted in one of the walls on her way.
"You'll like them," Diamond told him with a smile and ushered him to the living room, one hand pushing him lightly forward by his shoulder blade. "Alright," she said as she leaned forward and opened the door in front of him, walking in the both of them, "and then, there were five."
"Welcome to the Club!" Betty announced. "We offer cookies you can't eat and punch you can't drink."
"I suppose, the thought counts. I cannot offer anything," Skulduggery admitted.
"He already spent his budget on Valkyrie," Diamond joked teasingly and stepped past him to return to the others.
"Merry Christmas," Nobody said. He leaning relaxedly sideways in his spot on the couch, one cheek resting on the back of his hand, elbow propped onto the backrest.
"Merry Christmas," Skulduggery nodded.
Diamond plopped down on the couch, back onto her spot on the left, next to Nuce. "Betty, do your thing."
She beamed, jumped up from her chair, and walked straight up to Skulduggery, who looked ready to bail. The plushy deer-ears that poked out between Betty's curls, along with her round eyes, did indeed make her look like a pretty antelope. A pretty antelope with big hair.
"Hi, I'm Betty."
"Hello, Betty," Skulduggery replied, as a hint of renewed uncertainty crept into his voice.
Betty grabbed his shoulders with a stern but friendly grip, and made him walk backwards, to her chair, pushing him down onto it. She crossed her arms and looked at him coyly through her long lashes. "We've met before, you know. With our voices."
At the memory of that day, Diamond nudged Nuce's shoulder with her own, who simpered quietly to himself. He seemed relaxed, yet his eyes never left the newcomer in their midst.
"You are the friend from the filing department," Skulduggery followed.
"I am!" Betty agreed, pointing at him, then her posture changed, and she frowned at him. Then, turned around to Diamond inquisitively with her upper body only. "Is he always this tense?"
She snorted but did not reply. Betty had counted on that since she turned back before Diamond would have even had the chance to.
Skulduggery gave an empty, slightly irritated exhale, crossed over a leg, leaned an elbow on the armrest, and took his hat off. "Better?" He asked ironically.
"Way better," Betty nodded happily. She pointed at the array of Christmas accessories lying around on the table.
"You've got to wear at least one accessory. Rules of the party."
He put his hat back on.
Betty did not seem entirely convinced, so she stole some golden tinsel from the sill of the fireplace and laid it on the rim of his hat. Skulduggery moved a bit, like he was about to stop her, but then did not.
Diamond grinned at him cheerfully and put her hairband on as well, which had a Santa hat attached to it at an angle, which was far too small to actually fit her head.
Meanwhile, Betty got comfortable on the remaining spot on the sofa, next to Nobody.
Skulduggery looked at Nuce. "Nuce."
"Skulduggery."
"How are you?"
"Fine."
Nobody looked back and forth between them interestedly, which made Skulduggery turn his attention to him. "And who might you be?"
"Oh, I'm Nobody," he shrugged.
"Pleasure."
Nobody grinned and Diamond thought to see a hint of surprise in his eyes.
Skulduggery tilted his head at him. "You seem familiar."
"A lot of people say that about me," Nobody replied and waved a hand in front of his own eyes. "I'll give you a hint. It's the face."
"No," he said.
Nobody frowned. "No?"
"No," Skulduggery confirmed, leaning forward a bit to muster him closer. "It's the voice."
"Ah," Nobody understood and leaned forward as well, tilting his head suggestively. "We also met with our voices, that same day."
He gave a nod. "The mysterious friend on the phone."
"That would be me," he smirked and nodded back.
"All coming together to save yours truly…" Nuce muttered from his sunken-in spot between Nobody and Diamond.
"Hey, why does he get a cool name?" Betty complained. "Why is he the mysterious friend and I'm the friend from the filing department?"
"Ah, well, the thing I know about you is, you work in the filing department. The thing I know about him is, he is mysterious." Skulduggery explained, lifting a hand before leaning back.
"Oh," Betty said and looked up thoughtfully, then nodded. "Right. Makes sense."
"That can't be all," Nobody challenged and leaned back. "Come on, Detective, you must have a couple more clues than that."
"Are you expecting me to do a Sherlock Holmes investigation montage?" Skulduggery asked, with what sounded like a raised brow.
Nobody snorted and lifted his brow. "I like you." He looked at Nuce. "I like him."
Nuce rolled his eyes. "Good for you."
"But you don't like him."
Nuce frowned, then looked up at him offendedly. "What, why do you have to put me on the spot, mate?"
"It's creating a vibe," Nobody said unfortunately.
"I'm not creating anything..." Nuce grumbled defensively but stopped staring down Skulduggery. Diamond put an arm around him to pat his shoulder.
"Well, then you could just give him Extra Santa, right?" Nobody said as if it were a challenge.
Nuce glared, but then thought about it and sniffed. "You know what? Why the hell not."
"Extra Santa?" Skulduggery asked.
"We usually do Secret Santa," Betty told him. "You know, a present for whoever you draw from the ruffle? And a stunt from my family: Extra Santa. It's one randomized present, given to a randomized person, just for fun."
"I got it this year," Nuce added.
"You should keep it," Skulduggery disagreed.
He shook his head. "You can use it way better than me, trust me."
"Yes, you missed the funny part of Nuce opening it," Nobody noted.
"Look, it's not that absurd," Nuce snarked.
"It's a bit absurd."
He sighed and threw a little green present bag over to Skulduggery, sealed with a Christmas tree sticker. Unsure of how to read the situation, he caught it, opened it carefully, and pulled out the tube of black shoe cream inside.
Skulduggery snorted and looked back at Nuce. "This is, in fact, extremely useful."
"He just wears sneakers," Nobody waved, "it would have been lost on him."
Nuce glared. "I have dress shoes."
"One pair."
"Alright, alright, you two. We know you've been married for a long time but keep it in the bedroom, yeah?" Diamond jumped in teasingly.
"Spoken like a true old Lady," Nobody teased bemusedly back.
She just smiled back at him.
"Well, thank you," Skulduggery finalized the discussion and pocketed the shoe cream.
"Hey, Dye, let's get the punch," Betty suddenly said, got up, and held out her hand.
"Sure," she smiled and joined her in it, grabbed her hand, and let Betty pull her out of the living room, into the kitchen.
Here, the punch was steaming, slowly heating in a pot. Pieces of oranges and whole spices aesthetically floated on the surface.
Betty grabbed a thermos jug with a wide opening, and started ladling punch into it. "Sooo… you and Mister Detective?" She asked suggestively.
Diamond leaned sideways against the counter and frowned at her. "Hm?"
"Did you invite him?" Betty asked curiously, keeping her voice low.
She shook her head. "No, he just showed up."
"Really?" Betty prodded, leaning closer. "I didn't peg him for the type."
"Neither did I," Diamond murmured back.
"So, he's into you."
She rolled her eyes.
"Not that I don't get why, Irie," Betty clarified with a meaningful glance. "But I mean, why else would he come here? Do you even know him at all?"
Diamond sighed and uncomfortably shifted her weight onto the other foot. "We've been meeting."
Betty dropped the ladle into the pot. "I knew it!"
"Shh!" Diamond scolded.
She grinned. "Since when?"
Diamond sighed and looked up at the ceiling in thought and frustration, then replied in a quiet voice, "a month or two ago? Kinda hard to tell where the job ended and the friendship started."
Betty propped a hand on her hip so that she could lean closer sideways, with a bemusedly unbelieving look from underneath her dark brows. "And you're going to stand here and seriously tell me that friendship is what you're after."
"I'm not after anything..." Diamond tried to defend.
Betty chuckled playfully, then murmured in renewed excitement, "why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I knew you'd react like this," she hissed back, gesturing at her energetically.
That did not foil her enthusiasm in the slightest. "Are you kidding? Of course, I'll react like this! Since Erick, you've been a romantic wreck."
"Wow, thanks," Diamond glared as she grabbed for the four Christmas themed mugs, standing ready on the counter next to the stove.
"Pretty good upgrade," Betty teased on.
"We're just meeting, alright? You know, not everything evolves around-"
"See, I just have to mention it, and you're already getting defensive again," Betty interrupted, held the jug in one hand and wrapped her free arm around Diamond's shoulders to pull her back to the other guests. "Go back there, he seems to relax you, for some confounding reason."
Diamond surprised herself by snorting bemusedly.
By the time they came back to the living room, they found Nuce watching on with a grin, as the other two men talked.
Skulduggery had long caught up with Nobody's subtle attempts to mirror his posture, and so they were both sitting with their arms and heads in odd positions, copying each other in a silent dare.
Betty and Diamond stopped, punch and Christmas mugs in their hands, and joined Nuce in watching amusedly.
"You still cannot be nobody and everybody at the same time. You have to choose one personality at a time," Skulduggery currently challenged.
"I do."
"So, technically, you aren't Nobody. You're just… someone."
"Are you sure about that?" Nobody smirked.
Skulduggery mustered him curiously in response.
"Hey, Skulduggery?" Betty asked as she held back a laugh.
He looked up surprisedly, undoing the unnormal posture of his skull. Some tinsel fluttered off his hat. "Yes?"
"How are you doing?" She asked, a grin slowly spreading over her face.
"Oh, I'm fine," Skulduggery said, sounding convincing this time, "I have Nobody to hang out with."
Nuce was taking a break in the garden, his hands clamped around the warm mug of punch as it threw small billows of steam into the cold night air. He had not felt as much like being alone, as not meaning to be a buzzkill. So, he just sipped at his mug and let bored eyes wander over the familiar space, natural grass patches, wild bushes that only bloomed in the summer, and clean-cut hedges.
"How is the punch?" Skulduggery suddenly asked next to him.
He almost made Nuce jump, having appeared silently, yet the voice itself did not surprise him. "Pretty good," he said and took a sip.
He could see Skulduggery muster him, from the corner of his eye. "Nuce, if me being here 'creates a vibe', I can just leave."
Nuce frowned up at him. "What? No." He shook his head quickly. "No, mate, don't take it personally. Today's just been full of surprises."
"Not the good kind of surprise, I take it?"
He made a face, pulling up his shoulders. "Not good or bad, really, just… odd."
"Well," Skulduggery said cheerfully and joined him in sitting on the bench, "I am considered an expert of all things 'odd'."
"Right, but are you an expert on dealing with parents?" Nuce asked bemusedly. "When was the last time you had a fight with your parents?"
He snorted vaguely. "Too long to say aloud."
Nuce nodded, feeling a grin coming up. "See?"
"I have dealt with other people's parents, plenty of times, however," Skulduggery noted.
"Have you dealt with Valkyrie's parents?" He asked curiously.
"I have."
"Do they all still get along?"
"They do."
"Well, that's good then, at least..." Nuce muttered.
Skulduggery leaned his head sideways towards him. "One thing I do know, which applies to all parents, is that they aren't perfect."
Nuce sighed and adjusted his seat on the bench. "Look, I had my last Christmas with my parents a while ago, and it was bad. I mean, just awful," he told him glumly. "That was a 'vibe'. So, for the last years I've been spending it with those three and that's been fine..." He straightened up to dig his phone out of his pocket and go into his messages. "And a couple of hours ago, I get a text from my mum... Merry Christmas," Nuce read.
He snorted. Then, snorted again, bitterly, staring at the lonely message on his screen. "Merry Christmas. Like nothing ever happened. Like I didn't blow up the Sanctuary, and we haven't been talking for years. Just. Merry Christmas."
"Maybe, she was trying to start a… an inelegant first approach?" Skulduggery suggested.
"I just don't understand them," Nuce said with a headshake. "They've had so many opportunities to insert themselves, and they just don't. And every time I feel like I've moved on, at least a bit, they just show up with something completely useless."
"Then, they might just feel the same way."
Nuce frowned at him puzzledly. "Hm?"
Skulduggery pointed a hand at him. "Maybe, they have tried to move on, and then decided they cannot."
He snorted sourly. "Cool, so what am I supposed to do about that?"
"Whatever you like," he shrugged. "You could let them try, or you could shut it off."
"Here's one problem, though;" Nuce announced, "they hate you."
Skulduggery's head nudged back an inch. "Have they ever met me?"
He shrugged. "You think a suburban housewife cares about your personality? Sorry, but you and Valkyrie are the epiphany of weird. My mom doesn't understand weird, yeah. She still keeps her savings under the mattress."
"So, you think, us being around you would make the relationship even more complicated."
"No, mate. You're on the wrong track." Nuce disagreed bluntly. "I don't care what they think, ok? I stopped caring ages ago, and that was exactly our problem. So, if me getting back in contact with my parents just means giving them more ammunition to criticize my life and my friends, it's just not worth it."
"Your friends," Skulduggery repeated skeptically.
He looked at him unimpressively. "I'm talking about Diamond."
"Ah." He said.
"Anyway, the point is, what I have been trying to decide all night is, if I should reply or not," Nuce concluded.
"You could give them a second chance." Skulduggery mentioned nonchalantly.
Nuce chuckled without humor. "That would be more like… their fifth chance."
"Well, I'm probably long past my hundredth, by now."
That got an actual chuckle out of him. "Who keeps handing out these freebies to you?"
"Honestly? I would love to know that, myself," Skulduggery replied bemusedly.
The sliding door opened to the patio and Nobody stuck out his head. "Hey, I'm heading out. As much as might not seem that way, I don't actually have time off, currently.
"See you, mate," Nuce said.
"You should tell your boss to give you the holidays off," Skulduggery said.
Nobody snorted. "I don't think she cares. Bye, now."
"Goodbye," they both echoed, as he disappeared back into the house.
Nuce sighed and stuck his phone back into his pocket.
"Not replying?" Skulduggery prodded.
"No, I will," he decided. "Just not tonight."
As the conversation faded out, Nuce spotted Diamond through the sliding glass doors, as she left the living room and heades out into the hallway. Next, he saw Skulduggery's skull nudge the same direction, his gaze following for just a moment.
"Well, in that case, I suppose... good talk."
Nuce smirked slimly, "sure, mate."
"Alright." Diamond said as she walked Skulduggery to the door. "This is you."
He tilted his head at her. "I trust you will have a good rest of the night?"
"With those morons?" She asked bemusedly, pointing a thumb at the living room door. "Always."
Skulduggery nodded, then seemed to be mustering her, trying to decide whether to say something. "Diamond, I…" He paused.
She went back to keeping eye contact and waiting with a smile, which had shown itself to be a somewhat effective strategy, when it came to his hesitations.
However, Skulduggery did not seem to opt for whatever his initial idea had been. "It was a nice evening. Thank you." He said instead, sounding sincere, and she smiled wider.
"Are you coming back, next year?"
"I would love to."
"I'll send you the group-invite," Diamond replied, and opened the door, before throwing him a warning look. "Secret Santa budget is twenty bucks."
Skulduggery sniffed, seemed to look down, but then did not really, and she opened the door further, to which something caught the corner of her eye.
She turned and looked down at a little, white, cardboard box, with a red bow on it. Diamond frowned.
Having noticed her distraction, Skulduggery opened the door all the way to watch her bend down and pick it up.
"Huh," Diamond made, looking at the little present puzzledly. "And what are you doing here?"
"Secret admirer?" Skulduggery asked teasingly.
She raised a brow at him and pulled open the red bow. "You aren't messing with me, are you?"
He tilted his head at her. "If I were to give you a present, you would know it's coming from me."
"Fair enough…" Unsurely, Diamond opened the paper lid and peeked into the box. Inside, on a little white cushion, sat a diamond. A separate, single, beautifully cut diamond, and a huge one at that. With an impressed face, she carefully picked it up and held it up in front of her face.
"Wowzah," Skulduggery said. "What is that thing worth?"
She closed her eyes, focusing on the diamond between her fingers, and its composition and forms, the lines that had been edged into the material by a capable hand. "This is about 3.5 carats, round cut, D color…? E, maybe. But definitely a VVS1 clarity… It's very pure, excellent polishing work… really, this is the best quality you can get at this size. So, without encasing, I'd say…" Opening her eyes again, she swung the diamond in the air, estimating, "About a hundred-thousand Euros? Depending on where they got it from."
Skulduggery looked at her for a moment.
"Sorry, was that a hypothetical question?" Diamond blinked.
"It was," he confirmed, "but it is good to know. Can you sense the make-up of it?"
She shook her head. "I can sense the purity; the rest is experience."
"Experience from being a diamond?"
Diamond sniffed. "More like… experience from polishing several thousand of them."
Skulduggery tilted his head, as if he were raising a brow. "Free time activity?"
She laughed. "That would be a very expensive free time activity. No, it was a job. I did it on the side for a while."
"I see," he nodded. "Was it a good job?"
"Yeah," Diamond nodded back positively. "I liked my boss, he was a mortal, here in Brighton. At first, he would make me come to the shop, but the more I worked for him, the more he trusted me. So, eventually, I just did it from home, whenever I had time. At that point, I was just churning them out."
"He lost a valuable employee, then." Skulduggery said.
"He did," she agreed contritely. Then, looked back at the box in her hand. "Anyway, what do I take from this, then?"
"There is a card," he noted, nodding to the box.
Diamond looked closer and, indeed, there was a tiny red card, the same size as the box, sitting at the bottom of it, and peeking out from beneath the white velvet patting. She pulled it out and found a small poem, printed on it in golden, curvy letters.
Roses are red.
Your belly is blue.
A diamond for a diamond.
A clue for a clue.
Her eyes widened. She looked up, at the empty street ahead. Looked around.
"Diamond?" Skulduggery probed worriedly.
She handed him the card and the box without looking and walked down the pathway to the street. Crossing the sidewalk and stopping in the middle of it, she looked back and forth to each side, around, mustered corners and shadows where someone might have been hiding.
Diamond could sense something. Something like danger. But it was not really there, was not really a threat. It just hovered, stood by, watching her.
She turned to where she thought it was coming from. Yet there was only the yellow neighbor's house on the other side of the road, lit up with a bit of decoration and some wall lamps in the entrance area. There was no one there. She stared at the spot of empty air with a frown, tried to make something out, anything.
A hand grabbed her wrist, and Skulduggery started pulling her backwards.
"We should get you inside," he murmured sharply, and she turned to follow him back to the house.
From the corner of her eye, she could see him snuff out a little spark he had been holding loosely in his fist.
Diamond locked up the house, and Skulduggery walked to the living room, calling in. "Alright, party is over."
"What? What's going on?" She could hear Betty ask, before she and Nuce joined them in the hallway.
Skulduggery handed them the box and the card.
Betty looked sincerely horrified, wide eyes flipping over the card a couple of times. "Oh no."
Nuce mustered Diamond worriedly. "These are the guys that killed the girls in Roarhaven."
"Looks like they have unfinished business," Skulduggery said coolly.
"Unfinished business!?" Betty called in worriedly. "Didn't you say this is a crime ring?"
"I did," Diamond said.
"Oh, no," she whispered, and let Nuce take the card, so she could cover her face with both hands.
"I don't think I'm in any danger, right this moment," she quickly told her. "If they just wanted me dead, they wouldn't play games."
"That's worse!" Betty hissed distraughtly behind her fingers.
"It is?" Diamond asked confusedly.
"It is!" She called out, ripping her hands down, to show a strained face. "Look, I see this stuff all the time, once the investigators file their reports. They play with you for years, make you do what they want with blackmail, and then maybe even still kill you, afterwards."
Diamond sniffed and walked over, so she could rest her arms on Betty's shoulders. "They aren't going to make me do anything, love. We will follow this 'clue' like professionals and find out who is behind this, way before any of that can happen."
Betty seemed to have no reply, just made a sad face and a desperate noise.
"How about you go home and get some sleep? And tomorrow, I'll text you and let you know what the plan is."
"I'm coming with," she said insistently. "Whatever you guys are going to do, I'm coming with. So, you better text me, or I'll just… show up."
"Your threats make me shake to the core," Diamond smiled.
Betty exhaled heavily. "Yeah… you know… I think you're right. I'm going home."
"Maybe, you should wait for a moment, in case anyone's out there..." Nuce said unsurely.
"No, no, it's fine, my car is right out the door." She said and started putting her shoes on.
"I could walk you out," he suggested.
"I'm good, I'm good…" She quickly said unconvincingly and straightened up. Diamond was not happy about letting her go in this state but she hugged her goodbye.
They all said their greetings and Merry Christmases, then Diamond briefly undid the security measures, to let her rush out.
When she was done locking up, Diamond found Nuce and Skulduggery watching her.
"Are you ok?" Nuce asked.
"Guys," she said amusedly. "It's just a box. Let's find out what they want, first. Then, I can decide if I'm worried, yeah?"
"It's most definitely a trap." Skulduggery said.
"Of course, it is," Diamond snorted. "So were the girls. Since when do you have a problem with walking into traps?"
"Since we don't know how far their reach is. They know far more about us than we know about them."
"Alright. Here is an idea," Diamond sighed, arms up halfway. "Nuce and I are nowhere near sober enough for this. So, how about we all go to sleep, and tomorrow morning, we can decide."
"I'll keep watch," Skulduggery said.
Diamond's first instinct was to argue with him on that, but then she registered Nuce standing beside her again and decided that there was no use.
"Thank you. See you tomorrow." She pointed at Nuce warningly. "You. Bed."
"Yes, mum," he said with an eyeroll and followed her up the stairs.