'Till Death Do Us Part || A Skulduggery Pleasant Fanfiction

Chapter 2: Duke Street

Tanith and Ghastly sat across from each other in the little café on Duke Street. Tanith was looking out the window, and Ghastly had his arms folded on the table, head down.

"Have you heard the news?" Tanith asked, looking at Ghastly. "Dreylan Scarab was released from prison yesterday."

He looked up and shook his head in disgust. "He should be dead, not free."

Tanith nodded, looking back out the window. As it had so often this past year, her mind drifted to Vera and Skulduggery.

"Do you think they're with each other?"

Ghastly looked up. "Who?"

"Vera and Skulduggery. Do you think they're still with each other?"

He sighed. Tanith knew what he was thinking. He was thinking, If they're even still alive. Everyone thought that. People got this solemn look about them whenever they were mentioned, and Tanith hated it. She couldn't blame them, of course. Skulduggery may be hard to kill, but the Faceless Ones were gods. It would be pretty difficult for him to get back up if his bones had all but been turned to dust. She didn't even want to think about Y/N. She glanced down at the duffel bag at her feet, and, satisfied that it still carried all the money they had come with, looked back out onto the street, watching for Chabon.

The bell chimed and in walked a man carrying a suitcase. He spotted them and walked over.

"Afternoon," he smiled, nodding to them. "Is that a sword or are you just happy to see me?"

Ghastly had warned against bringing the sword, but Tanith wasn't close with Chabon like that.

He raised an eyebrow when nobody said anything. "I presume you have my payment?"

Tanith allowed him a peek inside the duffel bag before setting it back down on her lap. He nodded and placed the suitcase on the table, flattened his palm against it, and the locks sprang open. He raised the lid, revealing the skull inside.

"You're sure that's it? That's the Murder Skull?" Tanith asked.

"Positive."

She looked at Ghastly and they nodded to each other before she lifted the duffel bag and exchanged it with the suitcase. Chabon reached in and briefly sifted through the money, savouring each piece between his fingers.

"It's all there," Tanith said.

"Yes, it is." He looked about ready to take out the money and start smelling it, but he withdrew his hand and closed the bag, lifting it. His gaze lingered on the two of them for a moment, and something flickered in his eyes.

"Pleasure doing business," he said, more to the money than to them. Tanith examined the skull.

"It's cracked."

"It has had a long life," Chabon licked his lips.

"Hold on, how come-" Tanith began.

"I best be off. Places to be, sights to see, and all that." He turned and strode away.

"Hey!" Tanith shouted after him. He had left his money on the seat

Chabon panicked, thinking he had been caught, and ran straight into the café door. The door, being a pull door, shuddered upon impact, and he dropped to the floor, nose bleeding, the patrons around looking on with startled faces.

Tanith and Ghastly walked over, looking down at him. "He tried to leave without paying for his croissant," she explained, shaking her head sombrely.

Tanith held the suitcase in one hand and the duffel bag in the other as Ghastly dragged Chabon into the side alley, leaning him against the wall.

"I think my nose is broken," he moaned.

"Where is the Murder Skull?" Tanith asked him.

"I gave it to you," he tried.

She crouched down, unsheathed her sword and held it against his throat. He recoiled.

"OK! I had it, when I talked to you on the phone, I swear I had it!"

"So what did you do with it?"

He swallowed. "Look, there's a... there's a sort of rule in this business. If you find someone willing to buy something, chances are, there is someone out there willing to pay more."

"So you advertised? We would've paid you more had you asked!"

"I didn't- I didn't know if anyone else would be interested, so yes, I mentioned it, here and there, and someone came with a better offer."

"Who?" She demanded.

"I don't know."

She squeezed his nose.

"A woman," he gasped. "I met with her about an hour ago. She paid triple what you did. What's so special about this Murder Skull anyway?"

"What did she look like?"

"Dark hair, pretty enough. Oh, and she had that eye thing, where one eye is different to the other. Chronically hetero or something... I don't know.

"Heterochromia," Ghastly said, looking at Tanith grimly. "Davina Marr."

"Dandy," Tanith sighed. "Just dandy."