PRONUNCIATION GUIDE - GLOSSARY (updated regularly)

Vodun: VOH-doon

Yaaba B'awoo: YAH-bah B-AH-voh *

Paige Arrephoros: Page Ah-REH-foh-rus *

Tekahentahkwa Ashroot: Teh-GAH-hen-TAH-kwah ASH-root *

Onwu Legba'ume: ON-voo LEG-bah-OO-meh *

Legba'ke: LEG-bah-keh *

Legba'wa: LEG-bah-wah *

Legba: LEG-bah

Mawu: MAH-voo

Simbi: SIM-bee

Agwe: AH-gwey

Xévisio: Sheh-VEE-see-oh

Sakpata: SAHK-pah-tah

Gû: Goo

Erzulie: Air-ZOO-lee

Kente: KEN-teh

Kitenge: Kee-TEN-geh

Kaftan: KAHF-tahn

Kufi Cap: KOO-fee Cap

Posede: POH-seh-dey *

Ezéto: Uh-ZEY-toh *

Nguvawé: N-goo-VAH-wey *

Zawadilé: Zah-wah-DEE-ley *

(* partly or completely fabricated)

Language/Culture References: African and diasporic traditions: Fon (Vodun), Kiswahili (Bantu), Arabic, Caribbean Creole (Voodoo), West African Vodou, Haitian Vodou; Indigenous North American: Kanien'kéha (Mohawk); Classical and liturgical: Ancient Greek, Latin

GENERAL DISCLAIMER: The tribes, characters, spiritual systems, mythical creatures, and Vodun-inspired magic in this story are purely fictional. While largely influenced by elements from the Fon People of Benin (West Africa), practicing Peoples of the West African Vodou, and the Maasai People of the Kilimanjaro Region (East Africa), they are not intended to represent any real-world ethnic group, religion, or Vodun tradition. The language used on occasion is a constructed blend of mainly the Fon language and Kiswahili, created solely for narrative purposes.

I encourage my readers to explore authentic sources to learn more about the rich, diverse, and living traditions of Vodun and African cultures. My work is created with deep respect for the cultures that inspired it. If you find any errors or misrepresentations, please feel free to reach out.

Chapter 21: Crystal Clarity

Skulduggery walked into her grand hall and stopped at a distance to the protective titanium symbols that surrounded her velvet chair. China mustered him up and down. He seemed equally tense and determined, as to be expected in times like these.

"Good morning, China," Skulduggery formally said.

She gifted him with an agreeable smile. "Good morning. I hear you have been making some progress on the abduction cases?"

"Some."

As this cued their meeting to begin, Riordan Wayward seemed inclined to join them. He got up from his chair nearby and walked closer with a pen and a note pad at the ready.

Skulduggery nodded to him. "Welcome back, Riordan."

Wayward reciprocated the courteous nod. "Thank you."

"I read that you had a surgical intervention," Skulduggery mentioned with something like approval in his voice. "Quite the radical choice."

China couldn't be sure, but she thought to see Wayward blush a little. She felt almost privileged at the sight; seeing him in a state of unmistakable awkwardness was a brand new experience.

"Yes, well..." Wayward elaborated, clearly trying his best to maintain an air of professionalism. "The chemical interventions didn't agree with my body. I couldn't see myself taking it for the rest of my life. Having the glands removed seemed like the simplest option."

Skulduggery approvingly inclined his skull at this. "And have you been feeling better since the operation?"

"Oh yes, much better," Wayward sincerely replied. He jokingly added, "ever since I've been able to walk without a waddle, that is."

Both men amusedly chuckled.

China had no idea what any of this was about. She of course knew that her right-hand-man and spokesperson had taken a longer hiatus to recover from a vital surgery. Even though Tipstaff had temporarily filled in the role, she had mostly been the one to deal with the sudden influx in paperwork and phonecalls, as well as the lack of information that had partly led to the current state of things.

Yet, China hadn't been privy to any details or patient files, and she found herself uncharacteristically clueless about the noticable innuendos in the room. She didn't quite know what to make of this odd sense of familiarity between the two men, which seemed to have popped up from seemingly out of nowhere.

When the precarious exchange appeared to have ended there, China raised her brows with a nasal inhale to remind them of her continued presence. The men seemed to remember this, as they expectantly looked up at her.

China locked gazes with Skulduggery. She tried to sound as sincere as possible when asking, "how is she?"

Skulduggery curtly nodded off the question. "Recovering well. Looks like her arms should regain full motor function."

"Very well," she moved on, "and I'm assuming you've found more information on Bax Hench, since?"

To her surprise, he shook his head at this. "We have been focused on containing the monster-attacks. Which is what brings me here. I'm told that the Ghanaian Sanctuary hasn't been especially cooperative, and I'm afraid we're running out of time for drawn-out negotiations."

"Grand Mage Onwu has been cooperative, to an extent," China specified. "He simply claims not to know which Queen Mother is behind the attacks. As his Sanctuary hasn't experienced them, there aren't many clues to collect on Ghanaian soil."

"Unsurprisingly so, Grand Mage Onwu isn't interested in selling his people out to be labelled as terrorists," Riordan rephrased, "let alone the Queen of one of his major tribes. The power dynamics between tribes are rather fragile, and there's no telling the amount of chaos this would cause in the region."

"So, because his sanctuary isn't under attack, itself," Skulduggery irritably summarized, "Onwu will just continue to let his citizens take over the rest of the world? That sounds like he wants this to go on."

"That's unlikely," China deflected. "We've just renewed a humanitarian aid contract with them; one that Onwu personally fought hard to secure."

"He did give us this," Wayward said and reached into the inside of his jacket for a paper envelope. He walked closer and handed it to Skulduggery. "It's a list of all the tribe leaders who would have the resources to start a campaign of this scale."

Skulduggery accepted the envelope, pulled out and opened up its contents, and took one look at the letter. Then, he looked up at China in disbelief. "This is it? A list of a dozen High Priestesses across three countries? This is a joke, right? He might as well have given you a list of every single Queen Mother out there!"

"It's a start," China said.

"No, it's not," he rebutted, as his bewilderment slowly transformed into outrage. "That's not a start, that's a slap in the face! Valkyrie and I don't have jurisdiction in Ghana, let alone in Togo or Benin. How, exactly, does Onwu expect us to narrow down this list, if he can't even do it himself?!"

"I'm sorry, Detective," Wayward uncomfortably said, "I've tried my best."

"Then what is the point of you?" Skulduggery snapped at him. "Your entire job is to relay information between sanctuaries!"

Wayward seemed to have no problem with keeping a straight face. "The African Sanctuaries are allies of ours, yes, but they aren't part of the alliance you speak of. I have no leverage over them, unless what you're suggesting is military action."

"This conflict has already taken on a global scale," Skulduggery sharply argued, although his voice settled just a bit. "It's going to turn into a war any day now. Are we going to just wait around for them to make the first, the second, and the third move?"

"I was hoping, you and Valkyrie would do what you do best, identify the perpetrators, and figure out what their next move is," China encouragingly smiled.

He scoffed abstrusely. "So, what you're saying is; you could get us better resources, you just choose not to."

China's smile dropped and she made sure to make her next point heard loud and clear. "We will not be the aggressors this time, Skulduggery," she declared. When he paused at this, she continued, "in case you've forgotten, the Irish have been the root cause of the vast majority of global conflicts in recent centuries. We are now in a unique position of being a victim within an alliance, and I won't be wasting the advantages that come with global support, so that you may go on yet another war-path to satisfy your thirst for violence."

"Well, isn't that just typical," Skulduggery sourly shot back. "The Sanctuary gets to take the high-ground and posture a bogus peace, while we're getting our arses handed to us by hordes of enemies!"

China sharply sighed and shot him a facetious smile. "So far, it seems, you have been doing rather well by utilizing the resources of MI6."

Skulduggery stopped and stared. It was clear that he hadn't expected her to know anything about this. China had no idea how he thought that the word about his public appearance wouldn't somehow make the rounds to her.

This rare move of lacking calculation brought a bit of a smile to her face. "Don't you talk to me about alliances. I warned you not to overstep your bounds with Grand Mage Penn. Instead, you chose to drag your new girlfriend into the issue. So, instead of letting her distract you from your job...? How about you ask Miss Irie for some more intel?"

Abruptly, Skulduggery moved towards her. China didn't flinch, knowing that the symbols around her chair would take him out before he could get in arm's reach of her.

Skulduggery didn't try to step over the symbols, however. He stopped right in front of them. He came as close as he could, demonstrably setting the very tips of his shoes down by the very edge of the circle.

Wayward moved towards him, and the Cleavers pulled their weapons. China raised her hand, and they all paused where they were.

When Skulduggery spoke, his voice was clear and steady at first, but it grew darker and more threatening as he got to his point. "The last time we spoke, I mightn't have made myself entirely clear. So, listen to me very carefully now. We have a complicated history, and we have been working together to keep Valkyrie safe for quite some time now. I appreciate your confidentiality, and I appreciate that you have grown as a person. But don't you think, for one single second, that I have forgotten about what you did to my family."

At the mention, China felt her own spite fade away and make room for a terrible nagging feeling in her gut. She didn't respond and listened carefully as demanded.

"If you ever touch Diamond," he growled, "if you ever just so look at her the wrong way; you and I are going to have a big problem. And the next time around, I won't be so quick to move on. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Although it wasn't easy not to react to his snide threat, China didn't remove her gaze from his skull. She curtly nodded. "Yes, I do."

"Fantastic," Skulduggery spat. "Don't you believe that our little secret gives you any sort of leverage over me. I'm prepared to carry the consequences for my own mistakes. Are you?"

"I already am," she quietly said.

Skulduggery said nothing in response to that. China found her gaze being drawn over to Wayward. He was watching and listening attentively as well. The look on his face told her, he was prepared to step in. She gave him no signal to do so.

Instead, China looked back at Skulduggery. "I'm sorry," she told him. He faltered and precariously mustered her up and down. "I've said it before and now I've said it again," she therefore added. "I have no intentions of repeating my mistakes, and that includes the ones concerning warfare, as well as the ones concerning you. Unfortunately, at the moment, those seem to be opposing forces. You might be used to preferential treatment, but neither your nor my personal feelings have any bearing on this conflict, whatsoever. You'd be wise to remember that."

When a moment of tense uncomfortable silence followed, Wayward calmly spoke up. "The negotiations are still underway. I will pass on your concerns to the Ghanaian Sanctuary, that might light a fire under them."

Skulduggery critically mustered him, next. It seemed, he had run out of ways to start another argument.

"You've made your point," China cuttingly concluded. "Now, leave."

Skulduggery sharply nodded and stepped away from the protective symbols. He spun around on his heel and strode out without another word. The heavy door loudly slammed shut behind him.

"Ma'am?" Wayward worriedly asked.

"You too," she said without looking at him. "Everybody out."

Diamond woke up to the familiar scent of Dexter's miracle cure. She smiled and glanced over at her bedside table.

There was a mug filled with bone broth along with, Diamond knew, a curious powder mixture that always made the broth taste a bit funky and oddly earthy. Dexter swore by this 'remedy', and he hadn't allowed any complaints while convincing her to drink it. At first, she had disliked the side taste, but nowadays it caused an undeniable notion of nostalgia in her.

Many decades ago, whenever she'd just endured an especially tough night of shapeshifter growing pains, Dexter had made her one of these tinctures. It made her feel warm and energized. She never did figure out whether it actually made any real improvement on her health, or whether it was merely a placebo effect at this point. Though, she never complained anymore about this gesture, she appreciated it all the more as it happened so rarely these days.

Diamond slowly propped herself up to sit against the headboard. She was still careful not to put pressure on her arms, but thanks to some actual medical remedies and several mud baths, the pain had mostly receeded. At this point, her body was left recovering from the massive blood loss.

Diamond carefully reached out to touch the mug. The ceramic felt luke warm. It seemed, she had overslept the morning.

"Knock knock!" Dexter said from the doorframe. When she looked up, he gestured beside himself. "You've got a visitor."

On cue, Nuke stuck his head into the room. Diamond smiled and demandingly held out her sore arms. Nuke reciprocated the smile as he bridged the distance to her, but he was soon pouting with defiance of her past debacle. She reciprocated the notion with an empathetic thinning of the lips.

Their silent exchange concluded with a big hug. Squeezing him back hurt her arms, but she ignored it and did it anyway. Nuke gave excellent hugs, and she surely wasn't going to miss out on this one in particular.

Meanwhile, Dexter joined them by the bed and climbed onto the empty spot beside her. When the other two were done hugging and Diamond leaned sideways against him, he gently pulled her in and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

Nuke settled onto the edge of the bed and uneasily mustered her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thanks to you lot," Diamond lovingly responded.

"Don't give us all the credit; you were tough as nails. And that idea with the Morse code directions? Brilliant move."

She tried not to blush. "Thanks love. I heard you got to make use of your land-mine trick?"

His face lit up a bit at the mention. "Oh yeah, that was fun."

She sniffed amusedly and craned her neck to glance up at Dexter. "I've been wondering; how did you get me out of there, anyway? Hench couldn't have made it easy for you."

Dexter cheekily smirked about something. He and Nuke exchanged some sort of amused glance.

Diamond confusedly frowned at them. "What?" she asked with growing dread, "what are you two smirking about?"

Dexter's smirk developed into a grin, as he meaningfully said, "we had some help, from an old friend of yours..."

Her face dropped and her eyes grew round as marbles. "No. You're not saying..."

"Uh-huh, yup," Nuke amusedly said.

She stared at them in horror. "Please don't tell me... Skulduggery and Erick...?"

"Y-yup."

Diamond whined and covered her face up in despair. "Oh gosh, oh no..." she whimpered. "It went terribly, didn't it..."

Both men chuckled. "Two pumped-up idiots with egos that big, fighting over your unconscious body...?" Dexter confirmed, barely hiding his glee behind dry casualness. "Yeah, that went about as badly as you'd expect."

Diamond whined again, this time her wail ended in a long self-pitying grumble. "You should've just let me go in peace..."

The men uneasily laughed at that.

"C'mon, it's not that bad," Nuke chuckled. "It all could have gone way worse."

"Skulduggery's a big boy," Dexter agreed, "he can handle your jealous ex."

Diamond pulled her hands away in order to raise a brow at him. "Is that the sound of approval I hear?"

He snorted. "You wish."

She curiously mustered Nuke closer. He looked upbeat but a bit tired. "Seems like you've been busy. Does that mean the investigation is finally going somewhere?"

"Somewhere, yeah," he vaguely shrugged.

"Several scouting teams have gone into the sewer systems to find the monster lair," Dexter informed her, "but they haven't found any of them. Only... parts of them."

She grimaced with disgust. "Right...?"

"Skulduggery's theory is that they used to roam free in the sewers, but now that there's so many, they are kept as individual packs somewhere. The attacks seem to be fully coordinated now."

"In good news;" Nuke announced, "we've caught one of their sensitives."

Those news indeed cheered Diamond up much more than the ones before. "Did you now?"

"When we heard there was another monster-attack nearby, we came prepared," Nuke proudly elaborated. "We split up and scouted the area around the battlefield, and Valkyrie found a woman watching us, like the one you saw. So, Skulduggery arrested her."

"And they've been interrogating her?" she assumed.

"They've been trying, but..." Dexter hopelessly shrugged. "She's tough. Won't say a word."

"Can't you get a sensitive to read her thoughts?"

"We've tried that too," Nuke unfortunately said, "but they can't get into her brain, they can't get a clear signal so-to-speak. It's the same as with those sensitive channels we can't access."

"Skulduggery's and Valkyrie's sensitive informant told them that - if it's vodun magic we're dealing with - it's probably impossible for our sensitives to gain access," Dexter elaborated. "We would need someone who serves under the same God as her."

"So, could we find a vodun mage to help us out?" Diamond was curious to know. "Which vodun spirit bestows their servants with sensitive magic?"

"That's not how that works, apparently," Nuke said. "Lots of them can do that."

She glowered. "Oh, great."

"You can't compare our disciplines to theirs one-on-one," Dexter stated. "Vodun mages don't choose sets of abilities like we do. They practice magic based on the area of responsibility of their assigned spirit. Their abilities very much depend on their spiritual connection."

"Huh," Diamond muttered, "looks like I might need to do some research on this..."

"It's not been easy," he admitted, "navigating this without the help of the Africans. The information we have access to is rather scarce and, I dare say, that's not by chance."

She confusedly frowned. "Why haven't the African Sanctuaries been helping?"

Dexter shrugged. "They don't sell out their own. China's no help either, apparently."

"But that's outrageous!" Diamond offendedly proclaimed, "we're at the brink of war!"

"Don't bother. Skulduggery already gave China a piece of his mind, and that changed nothing."

She softly growled in frustration. "Ugh, I can't stand that woman."

A twitch of his lips barely hinted at a cheeky smirk. "Well, looks like the feeling is mutual."

"Fine," she spat, "suits me just right. She can hide in her fancy high castle for eternity, for all I care."

She heard someone snort with amusement, out in the hall. Diamond looked up and spotted Fletcher standing in the doorway.

"Oh, umm, hey." He awkwardly waved. "Sorry, didn't mean to intrude."

"You're not intruding," she confusedly objected. "Pretty sure you saved my life just recently, no?"

He pulled up his shoulders with a growing sense of shyness. "Guess so..."

"Well, thank you."

Fletcher blushed. "You're welcome..." Then, he seemed inclined to address another visibly uncomfortable topic. "Betty called, by the way..."

Despite his glum demeanor, Diamond felt herself cheering up even more. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, she said to get well soon, and all that..." he hesitantly passed along the word.

She wasn't sure whether to smile or be increasingly skeptical about Fletcher's behavior around the topic. "That's nice."

"She also said she's leaving town for a while," Fletcher added.

"Ah yes," Diamond grimly cued in, "she'd mentioned something along those lines. Did she seem alright?"

He made a face and uncertainly shrugged. "She, uh... she seemed pretty shook by everything."

"Hmm," Diamond hummed as her gaze wandered down to her lap in thought.

She could of course understand why Betty would be upset, watching her best friend get tortured on live tv. Though, she wondered if something had happened between her and her shady family yet again. If it had driven Betty to indeed return home, it must have been something major. The whole thing left an eerie feeling in Diamond's gut, but she couldn't pinpoint it.

"Gentlemen," a welcome voice said from the door, "if you might excuse us?"

Diamond smiled as she found Skulduggery standing next to Fletcher. The other men tried to hide their awkwardness to varying degrees of success, as they moved out to clear the room. Dexter paused by the door for a moment. When they both expectantly looked at him, he cleared his throat and walked away.

Skulduggery moved his skull like he was rolling his eyes. Diamond chuckled and held out a hand for him, and he walked inside to accept the offer. He settled down on the edge of the mattress where Nuke had sat a moment earlier.

"Hey love," Diamond smiled. "The guys just caught me up."

"Excellent," Skulduggery nodded.

She could tell that he was hiding something behind his back. But she couldn't tell what it was, as he set it down on the mattress out of her sight.

"How are you, my dear?" Skulduggery asked before she could comment on it.

Diamond shrugged lamely. "A little sore still. But I'm beginning to get quite restless, hearing about all the monster sightings. Sitting around here while you guys are out there... It makes my legs all tingly." She excitedly wiggled her feet. "Couldn't we at least move over to my place in Roarhaven? I want to stay in the loop."

Skulduggery didn't seem to be a fan of the idea, so he teased her instead of answering. "Are your secret agent instincts kicking back in?"

Diamond shot him a scolding smile, but she quickly gave in with a sigh. "To be honest? Yeah... All this talk about MI6, seeing General Stein again... And then, there's the part where you've met Erick." She made wide exasperated eyes at him.

"Charming man," he facetiously commented.

"I don't know what he was thinking, showing up like the hero..." Diamond grumbled.

"Well, he was coming for your rescue," Skulduggery pointed out. "That's the one thing him and I seemed to agree on."

As she couldn't cross over her arms without causing discomfort, she defiantly raised up her chin. "I didn't need him to rescue me. I knew you were on your way."

"Neither of you could have known that for certain."

"Well, I did."

"I might have been kidnapped too."

"I knew you weren't."

"In fact, judging by recent history, me needing rescue would be more likely."

She sighed impatiently. "None of this is helping with my restlessness issue."

"Well, I'm only returning the favor, in making sure you don't go out there before you're ready..." Skulduggery said warmly. "I wanted to thank you, by the way."

"You don't need to thank me," she softly smiled. "You've done the same for me."

"I didn't quite mean that..." he diverted. "I was less talking about what you did for me in that moment... and more about how your words have rung out for me, since. I'm sure this isn't news to you but, well... They've been rather helpful."

She found herself smiling coyly at the welcome line of flattery. "Always happy to help."

"Indeed you are. And I don't think I tell you often enough, how much I appreciate that."

Diamond shrugged and tried not to be awkward about it. "You do. In your own way."

"Such being the case..." Skulduggery finally reached behind himself to reveal the hidden item. It was an elongated rectangular box, folded in black wrapping paper, decorated with a silken bow. "I got you a gift."

Diamond stared. "You did what?"

Skulduggery hesitated at her reaction, the package hovered uncertainly in the air. "I called a manufacturer, made an order, payed for that order, and proceeded to receive the delivery. As it was already wrapped up, I'm now handing it directly to you. You know... a gift."

Diamond blinked as she caught up. "But... I never get gifts outside Christmas."

"Well," Skulduggery joined in on her surprise, "then it's high time that changes." He invitingly inched the box towards her.

"Thank you..." Diamond muttered in awe and slowly accepted the package. She carefully begun to unwrap it, plucking at each piece of tape individually, as though the paper itself were the present.

"I do admit, this impulse originated from somewhat self-serving motives," Skulduggery added as he watched her fumble with the packaging.

"So, two birds with one stone?" she approved.

She made it through to the next layer. It was a slim, long box that had a pitch black sheen. Stamped on it in gold; the sigil of a weapon's manufacturer. Her expression of wonderous excitement faded away.

"Oh," Diamond disappointedly said. "I see."

"Now hear me out!" Skulduggery immediately elaborated, "I know you said you don't like to carry a weapon..."

"No, I told you that, when I left MI6, I made a conscious decision to lay down my weapons." she distinguished importantly.

He decided to outmaneuver this particular topic. "I thought about what you said to me..." he soberly clarified, "...about worry being a fuel to my rage."

The slight of irritation passed by as an approving smile snuck onto her lips. "A good way of putting it."

"This is merely a request," Skulduggery continued at her agreement. "You can strike at close distances, yes, but with hordes of monsters running about...? And with Hench still on the loose... I'd feel safer knowing you have a ranged weapon. Would you at least consider it?"

Diamond sighed but with warmed appreciation. "Okay, fine. Let's have a look at it."

"I can always return it, should you hate it."

"I won't hate it," Diamond predicted as she lifted the lid off the cardboard box with renewed curiosity. Sitting inside it was a carry belt made of grey leather. And below it, a matching grey silken soft cover, which held something slim and elongated.

"How can you know, if you haven't seen what it is?" Skulduggery pointed out.

"I would never return it; it's a gift!" she clarified, opened the draw string of the soft cover, and tipped its contents into her hand.

It turned out to be an elegantly shaped rod - a handle of sorts - which had neatly been wrapped in strands of a grey material alike leather.

Although the rest of the weapon was missing, Diamond could tell that it was neither the handle of a gun, nor of a blade. In fact, the more she stared at it, the more it reminded her of a horseback riding crop.

"I... still don't know what that is," Diamond admitted. "You didn't get me a horse, did you?"

Skulduggery chuckled. "Wouldn't think of it." He reached out to make sure the firing end was pointed away from her. "Did Dexter train you in Kung Fu?"

"Sure?"

"Then it should take you no time to familiarize yourself." Skulduggery stood up from the bed and stepped aside, gesturing at an unspecified part of the room before her. "Go ahead."

Diamond looked up at him precariously. "Go ahead... how?"

He tilted his skull at her. "Have you never used a magical weapon before...?"

"That wasn't my area," she shrugged. "Salient and Erick handled the special weaponry. The rest of us carried the same standard concealed weapon, the Glock 19."

Skulduggery paused and suddenly sounded stunned. "Your main weapon used to be... a semi-automatic handgun?"

"Yeah?" Diamond raised a brow. "Is that an issue?"

He stared at her for a moment longer. Then he shook his head, as if to shrug off whatever thought had just gone through it. "Of course not. But this isn't a gun," Skulduggery succinctly specified and gestured to remind her of the mysterious crop in her hand. "It's a magical item that was specifically made for you. So, rather than something to wield, you'll want to view it as an extension of yourself."

She tried to focus on the grey handle and following instructions. "Okay..."

"Besides, this will be much more fun to watch, if you have no idea what's going to happen," he added cheekily.

"Wonderful..." Diamond ironically murmured. She focused on the empty space between herself and the door, imagining a threat there.

Above the door was a mounted wall clock. Its ticking had been setting a background tune to her recovery time. Diamond tried to blank it out and looked back down at the leathern handle, as it sat comfortably in her grip.

It was just long enough to stick out slightly on both ends of her fist. She tried to imagine it wasn't really there; that her hand happened to have this shape. Finally, she raised her eyes and snapped her arm forward.

Abruptly, a long strand burst from the end of the handle. With the crack of a whip, it zipped through the room and hit the clock. The glass cover shattered even before the fixture came off the wall.

The lash immediately zipped back into its handle and disappeared. The clock fell past the door, down onto the parquetry, and loudly smashed into a hundred sad pieces.

Diamond turned to look at Skulduggery, eyes wide. He shrugged, unbothered by the loss.

Once quiet had settled, she realized it was a relief to have silenced the constant ticking. She glanced at the handle, which now looked just as it had before.

"You got me a whip?" Diamond ambiguously asked.

"You can't simultaneously shapeshift and move, yes?" he said instead of replying. "You also need to be in physical contact to shift someone else. If you want to protect, say Nuke, you'd have to compromise your own safety as you catch up with him."

She nodded along. "True...?"

Skulduggery got up from the bed in demonstration and walked backwards as far as possible, until his back was up against the wall. "Well, then," he said and held his arm out to the side. "Go ahead. Catch me."

Diamond's eyes grew wide again as the possibilities already opened themselves up to her. It took no time until she followed his prompt. She focused on his boney wrist, as it patiently hovered in position.

After a more precise hand gesture, the whip extended on cue, zipping towards Skulduggery at high speed. He didn't flinch as the lash cracked and wrapped itself around his wrist. For a moment, she had his arm trapped. Quickly after, she made the whip retract and turn back into a handle.

Diamond grinned. "Awesome."

"There are two more features," Skulduggery declared as he returned to her, settling back onto the edge of the bed.

She blinked. "There's more?"

He sounded contented with the renewed awe on her face. "It's locked to a number of magical signatures, currently five. If anyone other than those people tries to use it, the thong won't extend."

She faltered. "The what?"

"The thong," Skulduggery repeated. "The lash of the whip."

Diamond defiantly shook her head. "I'm not calling it that."

He tauntingly tilted his skull at her. "Immaturity doesn't suit you, dear."

She exhaled sharply. "Fine. The thong will only extend for five people. And that's you and me, Nuke and Valkyrie, and... Dexter?"

He nodded approvingly. "You can add anyone you trust, by deliberately handing it over to them."

"Very secure," Diamond approved, "and the final feature?"

"This might be your favorite part yet," Skulduggery predicted. He gestured at the whip. "It's made of the same type of material as my suits. To be specific, the same as my shoes and belts. It's not only resistant to magic for the purpose of protection. It also allows magic to travel through the material without affecting its pliability."

Diamonds eyes grew ever wide. "You're saying..."

"Yes."

"That means it can probably..."

"Yes."

Diamond sucked in a little excited breath and held the handle upside down. Softly shaking the front bit, she teased out the thong until it hung from the handle. It stopped extending before it could touch the mattress, but she kept the movement going. The lash wiggled itself into an even rythym as it swung and flexed in the air.

She called upon her magic and directed it from her chest, through her arm and her hand, into the whip. A wave of crystals turned the handle to diamond, followed by the thong and its fall.

Usually, this would make any material stiff and immobile. But impossibly, the lash continued moving and flexing, as if it were still made of leather.

All the while, the soft angles of the shapeshifted material glimmered and glittered at the slightest agitation. It soon reminded of sparkling water, as a stream of liquid crystal flowed down onto the mattress.

"This..." Diamond muttered as she stared in awe, "I've never seen my magic like this."

"It is quite pretty," Skulduggery agreed as he watched with her. "Additionally, this should give it a considerable punch."

She snorted in agreement, but her eyes remained attached to the dancing crystal strap with disbelief. "Yeah, I'd say."

"I take it, you're considering liking the gift?"

Diamond shook herself from her state of awe and let her magic and the whip retract. Once it was back to its most inconspicuous version, she put the handle down on the mattress.

She leaned forward and cupped Skulduggery's jaws with both hands, looking straight at him and the shadows that gently flitted inside his skull. "I love it."

"That settles it, then," Skulduggery softly replied as he sorted out a wayward strand of her hair. He carefully picked up her wrists and pushed up her sleeves to inspect the scars on her forearms.

The bandages had long been removed. There was still some faint bruising, especially around the fault line and in her fingers, but someone had thankfully regrown her missing nails during surgery. And where gaping drill holes once were, the skin was already scarring; an unwelcome addition to her collection of scars thanks to Bax Hench.

With her skin in its most natural state, it was impossible to tell that the scars ran all the way through her forearms. The marks appeared like pink cylinders that had inexplicably sunken into her arm on each side.

When her skin was shapeshifted, one could see these marks deep inside - albeit only with a trained eye. Unfortunately for Diamond in this case, she had a trained eye and she could spot them at a single glance. An eternal mark, a crystal tattoo, that she could never get rid of; not with any amount of polishing.

"Also..." Skulduggery said after a moment of evaluation and set down her arms. "Yes, you can move back to Roarhaven, closer to the action."

She looked up in excitement. "Really?"

He picked up her new whip's handle and demonstrably pushed it back into her grasp. "Now you can."