let me be the one you call / if you jump I'll break your fall

[impudentsongbird]

Book Four: Dark Days
1 | into the breach
2 | finding skulduggery
3 | retreat to the tunnels
4 | into the cacophony
5 | sanctuary in the cathedral
6 | reuniting old friends
7 | kenspeckle's new patient
8 | holy water and disinfectant
9 | objecting to china sorrows
10 | the roadtrip
11 | baffling guild
12 | shenanigans at the safehouse
13 | reassuring fletcher
14 | valkyrie's intervention
15 | solomon's revelation
16 | visiting the edgleys
17 | recalled to the sanctuary
18 | guild's confusion
19 | gabe is busted
20 | the psychic tattoist
21 | envisioning the cacophony
22 | angel's first migraine
23 | the morning after
24 | china and solomon
25 | detectives' council of war
26 | china's foolishness
27 | the collector dethroned
28 | finding crux
29 | skulduggery's vileness revealed
30 | sorrows in aftermath
31 | finding equilibrium
32 | the devil's number
33 | at the carnival
34 | meeting authorities
35 | solomon's confession
36 | the stray soul
37 | sanguine unsettled
38 | solomon's choice
39 | a cowboy underground
40 | in scarab's basement
41 | striking midnight
42 | craven contested
43 | emergency services
44 | on your feet
45 | and don't stop moving
46 | easy recognition
47 | a deuce of an evening
48 | engines roaring
49 | compromising judgements
50 | solomon's conflict
51 | axis turning
52 | thinking circular
53 | blasting the past
54 | reviling vile

Book Five: Mortal Coil
55 | sanctuary unsanctified
56 | shudder unravelling
57 | catching an angel
58 | layering dimensions
59 | dead men meeting
60 | when it rains
61 | power plays
62 | sing on gold
63 | the valley of death
64 | grand aspersions
65 | no evil feared
66 | new days rising
67 | angelic neuroses
68 | step-brothers working
69 | the many sorrows of china
70 | peacefully wreathed
71 | tarnished gold
72 | the secret in darkness
73 | magical intent
74 | scars worth keeping
75 | benefits of a beau
76 | grand magery
77 | lighting the darkness
78 | old dogs and new tricks
79 | flouting traditions
80 | drawing lines
81 | brothers and sisters in arms
82 | channelling angels
83 | return of the carnies
84 | the death bringers
85 | meriting agelessness
86 | knick knack, paddy
87 | give a dog a bone
88 | americans propheteering
89 | the right side of honour
90 | tailored shocks
91 | hosting angels
92 | elders anonymous
93 | rediscovered strays
94 | changings and changelings
95 | a state of reflection
96 | adding hope
97 | the devil's truth
98 | dead mens' hospitality
99 | lives half lived
100 | next to godliness
101 | devilish plans
102 | beached angels
103 | lights of revelation
104 | heroes worshipped
105 | new devilries
106 | angels under the yoke
107 | brains frozen
108 | father, mother, daughter
109 | parental guidance recommended
110 | driven round the bend
111 | ongoing training
112 | privileged information
113 | reasonable men
114 | passing the buck
115 | gifting magicks
116 | strengths and weaknesses
117 | immaturity's perks
118 | priests and prophets
119 | scaling evil
120 | blowing covers
121 | marring an afternoon
122 | lie detection
123 | five-dimensional pain
124 | reliving nightmares
125 | taking stock
126 | sampling spices
127 | sleeping prophets lying
128 | rueful returns
129 | dead men reunion
130 | medically-approved hugs

The life of an angel was a contradiction in changes and stability. On one hand, they understood very well the way the cosmos was shaped by events within it. On the other, they stood at one step apart from it—or at least had, for a very long time, up until their Master's recent wager with Lucifer. Changes in the recent past had, even for angels, been fast and turbulent, but there were none that concerned Raphael more than Gabriel's abrupt reserve.

In the aftermath of the wager Gabriel had been almost the only one to know where their Lord was at any given time, a fact which had put the Archangel very firmly under Lucifer's radar. Raphael had joked that Gabriel ought to arm himself with more jokes or worse clothes to drive the fallen angel away; Michael had offered the peace of the Garden Coast. (Rafe thought his idea was better.)

Either way, even though their Master was fair hidden, every angel knew that they had only to ask Gabriel and the Archangel would pass on a message.

Then Gabriel had simply blipped off the radar himself. Poof! Gone! No one had noticed at first, because, well, they weren't exactly in constant connection. It was just when Raphael had taken a whim to seek out his younger brother that he'd noticed it, and let it be, because there was absolutely a reason for it. Gabe did not just off and vanish, except that once with his self-exile, and that didn’t count.

But when Gabriel had come back, he had been strangely agitated and yet close-mouthed. The younger Archangel had vanished off to wherever their Master was hidden for a long chat Raphael was dying to have listened into, and yet couldn't (but only partly because it would have been rude). Now he was here, floating among the stars and examining a black hole with unnerving intensity.

For a time Raphael watched without letting on that he was there, but eventually Gabriel spoke. “I’d rather you came to join me instead of lurking, brother.”

Absolutely refusing to feel chagrined, Raphael let himself manifest with an arm around Gabriel’s shoulders and ruffled the younger angel’s hair. Gabriel threw a fond, longsuffering glance up at him, but there was something in his eyes, something distracted and sharp, which indicated that Gabriel still wasn’t truly present. Raphael only wished he knew where the other Archangel was.

“Just wondering what you’re doin’ all the way out here,” he said teasingly. “There’s a party going on down there on Earth, Gabe.” There was always a party going on down on Earth. “You oughta be down there bobbin’ for apples and switching up party-hats!”

“I can’t,” Gabriel said quietly, with a sort of seriousness Raphael had, for all Gabriel’s literalness, rarely heard from him. So Raphael fell into the same seriousness, lost his playful accent, and spoke directly.

“Why not, brother? You’ve been reserved of late. I conf—I’m worried for you.”

For a very long time Gabriel said nothing and stared into the slow-turning swirl of the black hole. Raphael waited patiently, his arm still companionably across the other Archangel’s shoulders. Eventually Gabriel spoke. “Did you know, Raphael,” he said, “that the universe you see around you here isn’t the only one our Master has created?”

Raphael was so startled that he couldn’t answer. That wasn’t what he was imagining. He hadn’t been sure what he’d been imagining, but that wasn’t it. “I’m not sure what you mean, Gabriel,” he said after a moment. “Our Lord told me the story of Creation not all that long ago, and he never mentioned anything of the kind.”

Gabriel nodded. “He told me that story as well. And then He asked if I really wanted to know details.” He hesitated. “I … admit, I declined. It’s something He said—about faith. I decided I didn’t need to know details. But it’s true, nevertheless. Just beyond this …” The Archangel reached out his hand and touched that gossamer and unbreakable fabric that supported reality. “There are other universes, even with different versions of us.”

“Different versions of us?” Raphael repeated, appalled and uncertain and entirely confused. How could that be possible? What could their Master want with more than one of any of them? What was going on? Where had Gabriel gone in that time he’d vanished? Then something occurred to him and he smiled with relief. “This is a joke, right?”

Gabriel looked up at him and smiled back with such a gentle understanding that for a moment Raphael felt very small indeed. “No, Rafe. I’m not joking. It was a shock to me too. That isn’t the point, though.”

“Isn’t it?” Raphael asked, feeling as dazed as an angel possibly could, especially when he wasn’t even inhabiting an actual physical body.

“No.” Gabriel returned to watching the black hole intently. “I met some people from other realities. One of them is in a kind of Hell, and he very much does not deserve it. I promised him that, if I could, I would save him from it.”

Which did not in the least explain why Gabe was staring at a black hole, let alone a million other questions Raphael would have liked to ask and for which he couldn’t find the words. Finally he found one. “How?”

“First,” Gabriel said with a sort of tranquillity Raphael had heard in his brother’s voice a million times but never after delivering so turbulent a piece of news, “I’m going to jimmy open a crack in the door through this hole.”

Raphael stared at Gabe, and then at the black hole, and then back at Gabe. He opened his mouth to ask whether their Master knew he was planning this and then closed it, because that was a stupid question. He opened it again to query if Gabriel had asked whether he could go around lifting the sheets and then realised that was also a stupid question, because whether he had or not, their Master probably would have told him to do what he felt was best.

It was equally clear that Gabriel very much planned to go through with this, no matter what Raphael said, and really, did Raphael have the right to object? Surely if this carried a risk, their Master would have already forbidden Gabriel from making the attempt?

“I’ll come with,” Raphael said at last, and this time when Gabriel glanced back the younger Archangel’s expression was startled. A moment later that expression shifted into grateful apology.

“I’m sorry, Rafe, but I’m not entirely certain I’ll make it through, and we can hardly leave Michael here alone.” He grinned. “Did you see what he was wearing last festival day on the Garden Coast? He hasn’t moved out of the eighteenth century yet. How would he possibly handle the rest of the world?”

Raphael laughed out loud, warm but startled, and the sound of it rang through space. Gabriel chuckled quietly beside him, and for a few minutes there was just companionable humour that faded into an equally comfortable silence.

Still, Raphael had a lot of questions. How did Gabriel plan to find his friend, let alone the universe he was in? How was he going to get back? What would he do if he met another version of himself? Or, worse, Lucifer? Finally the Archangel just asked, “Have you figured out how to crack open the door?”

“I think so,” Gabriel said, considering the black hole. “Once I figured out what to look for. I wouldn’t have gotten even that far if it weren’t for some things our Master said.”

Which meant that, in some fashion, this expedition was sanctioned by their Master, Raphael translated, and something tense in him relaxed. “Something do to with this drain here, I’ll bet,” he said, falling into his casual accent once more. “Gonna rip out the kitchen sink, li’l brother?”

“Just to see what’s hiding underneath,” Gabriel said with a grin.

“I’ll try’n keep it open for ya,” Raphael promised, and Gabriel sent him a smile which lit up the very space around them with its brilliance.

“Thank you, Rafe,” he said, and straightened. Raphael took his arm away as Gabriel lifted his hands, not exactly stepping back so much as giving Gabriel space. The youngest Archangel didn’t often reveal his power, but it was always a sight to see, a song to hear, when he did.

As it was now. Gabriel’s voice started deep, lifted high, split and wove and became more melodies than one would think a single being could possibly sing at once. The sound of it made Raphael’s heart soar, made him want to fly and laugh. It was so deep, so light, so resonating that it was physical; it touched the slow turn of the black hole and made it, for just the briefest of moments, still. In that moment Gabriel sent a carefully-aimed bolt of energy into the heart of it.

It was the kind of sight Raphael hadn’t seen in thousands of years, a play of physics and metaphysics which he hadn’t thought possible, let alone imagined. There was an eruption in the centre of the black hole, where gravity was condensed; the cascade of energy plumed upward and was dragged back down as quick, a tear in the fabric of the reality not allowed the time to widen or become a danger.

Raphael didn’t even know Gabe had moved until the younger Archangel was gone, he was so busy staring in awe. With a start the Archangel stretched out his senses and just barely managed to catch a glimpse of his brother shooting toward the hole at speeds few angels could have achieved through such a gravity well. Raphael certainly couldn’t have.

How, he suddenly wondered, was he meant to keep that open if he didn’t even have the speed of thought to track Gabriel’s movements through it?

Desperately the Archangel cast about for something to jam in the door, as it were. There was some dark matter nearby and with a thought he fashioned it into a spear and pitched it toward the centre of the black hole. It struck just as Gabriel flitted through the crack nearly wholly collapsed in on itself; the star’s gravity caught it, pulled it in, and plugged the opening like a metaphysical sink.

Slowly Raphael made every part of himself relax. For good or ill, Gabe was gone on this quest of his, and now Raphael should probably go and round up some of their younger siblings to guard the area. Just in case.


Book Four: Dark Days
into the breach | finding skulduggery | retreat to the tunnels | into the cacophony | sanctuary in the cathedral | reuniting old friends | kenspeckle's new patient | holy water and disinfectant | objecting to china sorrows | the roadtrip | baffling guild | shenanigans at the safehouse | reassuring fletcher | valkyrie's intervention | solomon's revelation | visiting the edgleys | recalled to the sanctuary | guild's confusion | gabe is busted | the psychic tattoist | envisioning the cacophony | angel's first migraine | the morning after | china and solomon | detectives' council of war | china's foolishness | the collector dethroned | finding crux | skulduggery's vileness revealed | sorrows in aftermath | finding equilibrium | the devil's number | at the carnival | meeting authorities | solomon's confession | the stray soul | sanguine unsettled | solomon's choice | a cowboy underground | in scarab's basement | striking midnight | craven contested | emergency services | on your feet | and don't stop moving | easy recognition | a deuce of an evening | engines roaring | compromising judgements | solomon's conflict | axis turning | thinking circular | blasting the past | reviling vile

Book Five: Mortal Coil
sanctuary unsanctified | shudder unravelling | catching an angel | layering dimensions | dead men meeting | when it rains | power plays | sing on gold | the valley of death | grand aspersions | no evil feared | new days rising | angelic neuroses | step-brothers working | the many sorrows of china | peacefully wreathed | tarnished gold | the secret in darkness | magical intent | scars worth keeping | benefits of a beau | grand magery | lighting the darkness | old dogs and new tricks | flouting traditions | drawing lines | brothers and sisters in arms | channelling angels | return of the carnies | the death bringers | meriting agelessness | knick knack, paddy | give a dog a bone | americans propheteering | the right side of honour | tailored shocks | hosting angels | elders anonymous | rediscovered strays | changings and changelings | a state of reflection | adding hope | the devil's truth | dead mens' hospitality | lives half lived | next to godliness | devilish plans | beached angels | lights of revelation | heroes worshipped | new devilries | angels under the yoke | brains frozen | father, mother, daughter | parental guidance recommended | driven round the bend | ongoing training | privileged information | reasonable men | passing the buck | gifting magicks | strengths and weaknesses | immaturity's perks | priests and prophets | scaling evil | blowing covers | marring an afternoon | lie detection | five-dimensional pain | reliving nightmares | taking stock | sampling spices | sleeping prophets lying | rueful returns | dead men reunion | medically-approved hugs

Comments

[impudentsongbird]

"That's exactly what it means," Gabriel said with a grin. "It only feels like you're the one moving because you're used to having to move through the world, instead of the other way around. It's not an easy concept to understand, because most people aren't ever able to reach that far."

Angel flight was something different. It wasn't a movement of the world, or the angel, it was some combination of the two--a riding of the resonances from this to that in a manner which took them outside the time of the physical world. Like dipping under a fence to take a short-cut.

Gabriel looked at Valkyrie, nodding, but then said, "Sort of. It's a few steps past illusion. It's not going to go away, by any means, but I didn't simply create something out of nothing--only my Master can do that. I just ... bent the resonances of the under-layer around, the ones belonging to Skul's suit, until they were loud enough to push through to the physical. It's ... hard to explain, really."

[skeletonenigma]

While Fletcher was trying to muddle through that one, Valkyrie was having trouble with the explanation of Skulduggery's suit. She briefly wondered if even Skulduggery understood any of it, but it was impossible to tell. The skeleton's skull wasn't even tilted in thought. "So is this an actual suit somewhere in his house that you're just borrowing?" she asked Gabriel. "Or did you sort of... make one up?"

Silently, Valkyrie imagined what she was going to tell her parents the next time they asked how her day went. It was never an easy question to answer, even with all of the reflection's memories crowded next to her own. But something told her it would grow even harder after this. 'Oh, I just watched a skeleton argue philosophical theory with an Archangel. Did I mention that Archangel rescued him from hell? Oh, and he's trying to explain science to me. It isn't working well.'

Skulduggery glanced up after changing lanes. "I'm tempted to ask if He would make me an endless supply of clothes. But I wouldn't want Ghastly to lose some of his best business."

'Oh, right. And God exists. Well, somewhere, anyway.'

[impudentsongbird]

"It's more like a copy," Gabriel explained. "A copy of a suit he had at the Institute." The one he'd been wearing when he was in the Faceless Ones' reality. "But it is an actual suit, yes." He grimaced a little, ruefully. "I could have just made one up, but that requires a depth of manipulation I don't think I ought to risk under the circumstances."

Gabriel grinned at Skul. "We wouldn't want that, no. I'm afraid I don't have Ghastly's knowledge of tailoring and that suit isn't the slightest bit magical, so please do try not to get shattered, impaled or cleaved in the meantime."

[skeletonenigma]

'And he's injured,' Valkyrie belatedly added to her silent speech. 'A Faceless One raked at his wings, which yes, he also has. He's drinking holy water right now. We're going to be helping him recover. Is that okay?'

Somehow, explaining the entire situation to someone else - even if it was only in her imagination - was helping Valkyrie accept it. Suddenly it was less fantastical and more solid fact. She tried to imagine how her parents would react, but quickly stopped when the trail ended at a mental hospital.

"I will do my best," Skulduggery nodded. "I won't guarantee anything, but I will endeavor to remain in one piece until we get there." He paused, and some more amusement crept into his tone. "Valkyrie and Fletcher can pray for our safety, if that would help."

[impudentsongbird]

"Seeing as I'm, as far as I'm aware, your only prayer-respondent, it doesn't really, no," Gabe said dryly. "Not unless you want to go back to the professor to tell him why I need more tending because you chose to be reckless."

He smiled wryly at Valkyrie, half in response to what she was thinking given the irony of his and Skul's conversation. He wasn't eavesdropping on the words, but her internal monologue concerned him very directly, so he could get a sense of it. Not that he was going to bring it up, partly because of how Skulduggery had reacted and partly because ... well, it was hers. Even if he heard it, that didn't mean he had to advertise that he had.

Fletcher had been very quiet, though, so Gabriel turned instead to him and asked. "How are you doing? Was I making sense, or would you like a bit more help figuring things out? your Teleportation isn't exactly the same as flight, but it's near enough that I should be able to help you get some control of it. If you'd like."

[skeletonenigma]

Gabriel probably meant the comment as a joke, but Valkyrie flinched at the idea of telling Kenspeckle they'd been reckless. She was never completely comfortable watching two of her closest friends fighting, no matter how many times she had to see it. She'd been hoping Kenspeckle would forego picking a fight this time because of the recent rescue, and while he sort of had, it still hadn't been fun. "Let's not do that," she suggested quickly.

"How does that work, by the way?" Skulduggery asked the Archangel. "Can you hear the prayers of everyone in this reality now? Or are we just special?"

"I think we're special," Valkyrie said with a frown.

"Well, that goes without saying. I'd just like to know if this is another reason."

The conversation wasn't totally lost on Fletcher, but it was Gabriel's question that startled him out of his thoughts. "It made sense," he claimed, even though it really didn't. "I just don't see how it applies to me. I have control. I only ended up inside a wall once, and that was years ago and it was because someone distracted me. I'm fine now."

[impudentsongbird]

"Not everyone," Gabriel said. "Only those praying in my name, or making a general prayer in my vicinity--several miles, perhaps." Most of them were prayers that he couldn't, or had no need to, answer. Some were ones he would have, if only he could know he'd be more help than not in his condition. Most of those again were ones that weren't urgent--a blessing for an expectant mother, for instance. Michael and Rafe were the ones who most often received prayers that needed swift action.

Truth to tell, it was one of the reasons his headache hadn't quite left yet. Not that he blamed those praying, because they weren't to know and he didn't begrudge them their desire for comfort--and it wasn't as if he was unused to hearing prayers anyway. But it did make his head ring.

Gabriel smiled gently at Fletcher. "Your talent is a difficult one, and the fact that you've been able to control it like you have, without guidance, is amazing. But that doesn't mean there isn't still more you can learn about it. What are some things you've been finding difficult, or which have been limiting you?"

[skeletonenigma]

"Isn't that a lot?" Valkyrie wanted to know. "How do you handle it? What do you do on Sunday mornings?" She paused, staring distantly out the window. "Is it something you can turn off? Because Kenspeckle isn't going to be happy if you're constantly straining yourself."

"If I didn't know any better," Skulduggery interrupted, "I'd say you were becoming a detective."

It was a mark of how much had happened in the short space of time since Skulduggery's arrival that Valkyrie obviously didn't see anything wrong with punching him on the arm, even though it must have cracked painfully against her knuckle.

"Nothing," Fletcher answered Gabriel defiantly - although his face fell almost immediately afterwards. "Well... I can only teleport to places I've been before. But there's not much I can do to change that." Short of trying to visit everywhere at least once before he died, but that could take a while. Although, Fletcher realized with a growing smile, he was going to live longer now, wasn't he? He kept forgetting that.

[impudentsongbird]

"It depends on where I am and what's happening, really," Gabriel explained, and then grinned. "On Sundays I just pick a church. Close-in, the worship can drown out everything else, and with the right church ... it's beautiful." He laughed at their camaraderie, and grinned ruefully at Valkyrie. "It's not a thing I can just turn off, no. It's part of how I was made, more so than my siblings. It's not a strain, though. Not really."

Just a little bit, where his head was concerned, but not really worth mentioning.

"There might be," Gabriel said thoughtfully to Fletcher. "I mean, my flight is different, but I'm not bound to only places I've been before. Maybe there's enough of a similarity that I could show you how to travel to places you don't know."

[skeletonenigma]

Skulduggery had spent so long not knowing who Gabe really was, getting to know him as a fellow sorcerer, that even now it was a challenge trying to merge that version of his friend with Gabriel the Archangel. On the surface, it sounded just like Gabe to find such things beautiful - he'd always described them with such passion from the very beginning. It only took on a mildly creepy undertone when Skulduggery imagined him sitting there and hearing everyone's thoughts - no matter how natural or ancient the process was. Of course, there would always be people who would be comforted by the thought.

Fletcher was looking stunned in the backseat, much to Skulduggery's amusement. "Really? You... you think I could actually do that?"

"Why not?" Skulduggery replied. "All the Teleporters I knew could do it. And far more, besides."

"That," Fletcher finally managed, breaking out of his paralyzing surprise, "would be brilliant."

Skulduggery's skull tilted with the intent of a grin. "And you couldn't ask for a better teacher."

[impudentsongbird]

"Thank you, Skul," Gabriel said with a laugh, and then turned to beam at Fletcher. "If it's something that's part of the talent, then sure! In that case, it's only a matter of your needing a bit of guidance. I wasn't certain where the limitations lay, here--in my world, as far as my siblings' descendants are concerned, it works a little differently."

He grinned encouragingly at Fletcher. "But it sounds like it's well within the constraints of your abilities. Skul, would you mind telling me what else your Teleporter friends could do? I could watch Fletcher at work, but ..." He glanced apologetically at the young man. "It might take more concentration than I have to spare. This way would be easier."

Chances were, some trial and error would still be necessary. Maybe it would even be helpful for Gabe to take Fletcher for a ride, instead of the other way around; if so, Gabe would rather spare himself for the more important tasks like that, after being forewarned.

[skeletonenigma]

"I wouldn't call them 'friends,'" Skulduggery contradicted Gabe's wording. "Teleporters were a very suspicious and paranoid lot. Anyone who chooses a discipline of magic like that would have to be, I suppose."

"Hey!" Fletcher looked affronted. "I'm not paranoid!"

"No, but you're very spoiled," Skulduggery informed him gently, making Valkyrie laugh. "And very entitled. You fit in just fine, Fletcher, don't worry." Skulduggery glanced once again into the rear view and quickly changed lanes. "Peregrine and Light were able to teleport everyone in a city if they were all connected. I have yet to see Fletcher teleport more than ten."

Valkyrie frowned as a road sign flashed by her window. "Why are we going back into Dublin?"

"We're being followed," Skulduggery answered. "We have been for a while. I'd rather they didn't even know we were leaving the city. This should only take a few minutes."

[impudentsongbird]

"We are?" Gabriel was about to twist around to try and look, and thought better of it when his body twinged. Then he cast his senses out to try and find the sense of pursuit, and thought better of that, too, when his head throbbed. Instead he smiled wryly. "I'm glad one of us is paying attention."

Still, that description of Teleportation was really quite ... impressive. And since Skulduggery had things well in hand, Gabriel turned back to Fletcher. "None of the magical folk from my world can carry so many at once," he said. "At least, not those alive; the blood of the Ancients has thinned too much, so even those who have the skill are limited. Even angels can carry only so many."

It was mostly a matter of physical limitations. Angels flew, and they could only be so burdened because they had only so many limbs. Then again, they rarely flew others with them, let alone at great numbers, and so the exact boundary of their magic in that regard hadn't really been tested. This sounded like an actual linking, a chain of magic, and it was fascinating.

"In fact," he continued, "I think I can learn a lot from this myself. Your magic sounds just similar enough that I can work with it, but just different enough that it's new to me. I'd love the opportunity to learn with you, Fletcher."

[skeletonenigma]

Skulduggery tiled his head in a way that Valkyrie could already easily recognize as pride. "Well, to be fair," he told Gabriel, "you did just carry me through countless realities with a Faceless One slashing at you every step of the way. I think we can forgive you."

The detective probably meant that in a metaphorical sense, but all Valkyrie could imagine was an Archangel physically carrying Skulduggery across the sky, enveloped in his wings. She was having immense fun with the image until Gabe's words finally hit her.

"Oh, great," she huffed good-naturedly from the front. Gabriel had basically just told Fletcher he was more powerful than angels, or at least implied it; the ego boost was going to be frightening. "Now you've done it."

To her surprise, though, Fletcher wasn't immediately boasting. In fact, when she twisted around, he looked almost impressed. And not with himself, for once. Valkyrie watched with growing awe as the Teleporter's expression practically turned sheepish. "And I..." he stumbled, "I would... I'd like to learn with you, too."

[impudentsongbird]

The beam Gabriel gave Fletcher then implied nothing more or less than the fact that Fletcher had just made the Archangel's day, as if he'd wanted nothing more than the opportunity to learn with the young sorcerer. "Great! Between the two of us we shouldn't get into too much trouble."

The last was said with a laugh and a grin at Valkyrie and Skul in the mirror. "At least, nothing the two of you wouldn't be able to rescue us from, I'm sure."

[skeletonenigma]

"If the two of you manage to get yourselves stuck in the ether somewhere," Skulduggery answered without looking up, "I'm not coming to find you. I've had enough of the ether. You'll be on your own."

Fletcher's face grew pale. "Is that... can that happen?"

"He's just poking fun at you," Valkyrie tossed back over her shoulder, although she had been wondering too. Strange how she'd gone from being totally paranoid about the Archangel, to fascinated by him, to trusting him despite his injuries, and then to being vaguely discomforted by his words - all in the space of a couple of hours. Valkyrie was never going to be able to take any religion seriously ever again.

[impudentsongbird]

"I'm fairly sure I'd be able to tell if I stumbled into the ether again," Gabe said dryly. "And to be honest, I've had enough of it for the moment as well. It's very ... loud."

He shot Fletcher a sympathetic and reassuring smile. "It can't happen accidentally, though. It took a lot for me to just do it once, when I left home, and then I had something very specific to track when I brought Skul here. The walls of realities are just more solid than that. I didn't even know they could be breached until my Lord told me how."

[skeletonenigma]

So basically, Valkyrie silently summarized for herself, God knew about alternate realities. He probably created them.

She tried to figure out how that was making her feel, but it was like she didn't have any more room for shock. It had all been used up. It had probably broken with the image of God carrying a teddy bear, honestly. She didn't know if anything was ever going to top that. Even realizing that just thinking about God could be construed as a prayer He might hear didn't do much for her anymore, although Valkyrie still made a mental note to learn how to control her thinking better.

"That was quick," Skulduggery murmured next to her.

She glanced over, suddenly worried. "What was?"

"Our shadow. I thought it would take more to shake him."

"He's gone?" Valkyrie looked behind them, but she hadn't been able to see anything there before either. "Are you sure?"

Skulduggery gave her a nonexistent Look.

"I mean, is it at all possible," Valkyrie insisted, "that whoever it was is better than you thought?"

The Look didn't vanish.

Valkyrie slumped back into her seat. "Fine. Let's chalk that up to good luck and just go, then."

"What a splendid idea."

[impudentsongbird]

That was pretty much Gabe's thinking too, and the reason why the Archangel felt so certain that his Master was present in some even here, despite the lack of overt proof. (Overt for him, of course, being the presence of angels, even alternate versions. Castiel's world had had them, after all, but that didn't mean the lack of them was proof his Master wasn't in attendance.)

Gabriel watched Skul and Valkyrie banter, grinning. "It's good to see you here, my friend," he murmured. The love was so clear, just as it had been in the church, even before Valkyrie had arrived. Then the Archangel added with mischievous brightness, "Shall we play a game while we're travelling? I Spy, maybe?"

[skeletonenigma]

"The last time Valkyrie and I played I Spy," Skulduggery broke the uneven silence that followed an Archangel's suggestion of playing a travel game, "there was nothing but white rock."

"What?" Valkyrie stared at him. "I don't remember that."

"You wouldn't," Skulduggery agreed. "You were a hallucination at the time."

"I wouldn't mind playing," Fletcher spoke up. "Can I start?"

Valkyrie groaned and slid back in her seat, even though she was still smiling at Skulduggery's comment and, to be perfectly honest, kind of looking forward to this. "Fine."

"I will warn you that eventually, all we'll see is grass, road and sky." Skulduggery merged onto the highway they would be spending most of the next three hours on, and the Bentley settled into a comfortable speed. "If you think you can stay intellectually stimulated just with that, by all means, have fun."

Valkyrie grinned. "I call the sky." At the very least, the next three hours should go by quickly.

~~

"Anything?" Tanith asked.

Ghastly lowered his hand and shook his head. "Nope."

This was still a bad idea, but Tanith knew better than to try arguing now. She and Ghastly were crouched a short distance away from the cinema, facing the empty van still parked by the curb. Ghastly's manipulation of air was telling them the coast was clear. Call her old-fashioned, but Tanith didn't like relying on magic. Sure, it was useful, but if a girl couldn't make her own way in the world under her own power, magic wasn't going to be of much use in the end.

Maybe they were getting overconfident. Under normal circumstances, they would have given up the van for lost. But neither Tanith nor Ghastly had much felt like spending three hours under China's watchful eye in the library even if there wasn't a chance Guild might find them there, and there weren't many safe places to go. After half-an-hour in a street cafe where even Ghastly started to get antsy (although his new disguise facade from China had settled in nicely and minimized the amount of strange looks they were getting), Tanith hadn't put up much of a fight when he suggested trying to get the van back. After all, if they got caught, all they had to do was pray. It was selfish reasoning, but...

"The Cleavers are fast," Tanith pointed out. Her hand, as always when she was nervous, rested on the hilt of her sword.

"They are," Ghastly agreed.

They crouched in silence for a few moments. Then, as if on an unspoken command, Tanith and Ghastly both moved forward towards the van at the same time.

Nothing else moved on the street. The cinema was a run-down remnant of a forgotten time; there was no reason for anyone to come here. Ghastly took the right side of the van and Tanith took the left; they met up again on the other side without seeing anyone else.

Tanith finally started to relax. "Maybe they left as soon as they saw we weren't there."

"Kenspeckle would certainly be happy about that," Ghastly nodded, pulling out his mobile. "Let's see if we can catch up with Skulduggery and the others."

He'd barely started dialing, however, when Tanith caught a flash of silver off the side of the van, and she spun around as she whipped her sword out of its scabbard. A Cleaver had come around the side, scythe out and brandished threateningly forward. Tanith paused, considered her options, and then sprang.

She knew from experience that scythes were practically useless within a few feet of the Cleaver itself, and Tanith's sword had much more maneuverability in general, which gave her the advantage over its speed. One Cleaver was easy enough; Tanith parried its blows and struck back without much fear of harm. Her sword cut a nasty slash through the Cleaver's arm, but it left her open, and Tanith had to leap back to avoid a second strike from a second Cleaver.

Great. Two of them. Where was Ghastly?

Cleavers were designed to work together, so this time, they really made Tanith work just to stay level. With no ceiling she could use to adjust her center of gravity, Tanith was forced back onto her defense almost instantly. It took a while for an opening to appear, but the moment it did, Tanith angled her sword and made to use it.

"Tanith," Ghastly called out. "Stop."

There were a lot more Cleavers than she had thought, and the two of them were surrounded. Tanith's body shuddered with indignation, but she forced herself to back off and sheath her sword. Ghastly was right; it wasn't worth it.

"Should we be praying now?" she asked the tailor quietly.

His head moved a fraction of an inch back and forth. "Not yet. Not in the middle of this. It'll be easier for them to sneak in and out if we're alone in a cell."

Tanith hesitated. "I really wish it was easier not to think about something."

A moment later, though, it was made much easier; Davina Marr was leaving the cinema and stalking over to them. Apparently, the area hadn't been quite as empty as they hoped.

[impudentsongbird]

"Maybe that's all you'll see," Gabriel said in a sing-song tone. Nothing in the rules said they couldn't look at things inside the car, after all. (Even though that's not what it sounded like. That was the point--distraction. If the others were trying to imagine what he might be able to see that they couldn't, they wouldn't stop to consider what he was looking at that they could.)

He grinned at Fletcher and drawled in his Midwestern accent, "Hit us with it, pardner."

~~~

"Well, well, well." Davina Marr sighed and shook her head, one hand on her hip as she glanced from Ghastly to Tanith and back again. Her tone and posture spoke of a disappointed adult, but there was a vague hint of victory lurking around the corners of her mouth that she didn't bother trying to hide.

These two had been too much a thorn in her side for her to care. Valkyrie Cain and her Teleporter were young upstarts--children. They could be manipulated or coerced into their proper place. But Bespoke and Low had to be taken care of in an entirely different manner--a more permanent manner. Davina didn't have to bother pretending too hard to be their friend, which was, frankly, a relief.

"I didn't think," she said, "that anyone would have been idiotic enough to come back for a van, but you two really took the cake." She pursed her lips and tilted her head. "Then again, you are two of the people who were intending to open a portal into a dimension of evil gods to rescue a man who, let's face, isn't a man and is probably insane. So I can't be expecting too much from you."

She flashed them both a smile which dropped into cold satisfaction. "Ghastly Bespoke, Tanith Low, you're both under arrest for conspiracy against the Irish Sanctuary, theft from the Sanctuary--" She raised the hand not on her hip, shaking open a bag to reveal Pleasant's head rolling inside. Even if it wasn't his real one, who was going to know? At the least, the charge could be used as leverage. "--and resisting arrest. Among a whole heap of other little misdemeanours over the course of your stumbling around this past year."

She jerked her head at the Cleavers, not even waiting for a reply. "Bring them."

[skeletonenigma]

Even Fletcher and Valkyrie had grown familiar enough with Gabriel by then that neither of them particularly reacted to the first part - even if Gabe was quite correct in assuming they were all quietly curious. Fletcher was just about to start his first turn, however, when he stopped and stared at the Archangel, followed very quickly by Valkyrie. Even Skulduggery seemed to tilt his skull around slightly. Putting on an accent was one thing; Gabe had almost seemed to become a different person for those few words.

"Right," Fletcher finally answered, wondering whether that would still have felt so strange if Gabriel was just a regular person. He managed a smile at the angel, anyway. "So, I spy with my little eye, something beginning with 'S.'"

"Sky," Skulduggery guessed.

Fletcher's smile grew wider. "Nope."

~~

When Skulduggery first complained about Marr's unbased dislike for him, Ghastly had assumed that his friend was exaggerating. Then he'd met Davina Marr for himself, and had to admit that the woman just didn't seem particularly fond of anything, let alone Skul. This wouldn't be the first time he'd had to deal with her, but it would - hopefully - be the most satisfying one.

It was impossible to tell if Marr actually knew whether Skulduggery was back or not. From the urgency of Skulduggery's request for help, it was clear Guild had seen enough of Skul and Gabriel for them to be worried, but maybe Guild was keeping it to himself for the moment. He would definitely be very interested in who Gabriel was, after all; maybe trust wasn't running rampant in the Sanctuary these days.

Ghastly didn't say anything as he let his facade drop. It had no point anymore, and it would just be draining valuable magic.

He did have to wonder why Skulduggery wasn't completely unstable, though, as Marr so helpfully pointed out. Did Gabriel have anything to do with that? Was simply being in the proximity of an Archangel helping Skul heal? Ghastly made a mental note to ask about it later. He would much rather not get surprised if his friend went through a sudden relapse once Gabriel had gone home.

The ride to the Sanctuary was long, uneventful, and frustrating, and it wasn't until near the end that Ghastly took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Gabriel, he prayed, feeling more foolish by the minute. We've been arrested. We're being taken into the Sanctuary now. He paused, then continued: Don't strain yourself. We're not hurt and we're safe for the moment. But whenever you have a minute...

He and Tanith would likely take it in turns to be questioned, and Ghastly held no false hopes that Guild might go easy on them.

[impudentsongbird]

The reactions only made Gabe's grin widen. With a flick of his wrist (and a mild throb in his head) he constructed a cowboy hat, flipping it easily around so he could put it on his head. A roadtrip called for proper apparel, and just to have a bit of fun with the others, he kept the Midwestern accent.

"I say you're lookin' at a skull," he said, grinning at Skul in the mirror.

Valkyrie was right; the time did pass quickly. You might not have thought that a game of I Spy could be rousing, but this one was--guesses were belted out quickly, a competition to get there first, no matter how silly or ridiculous the guess was. (And some of them got pretty ridiculous. Especially when someone, Gabe was denying responsibility, starting bringing alliterative I-Spies into the equation.)

They were in the middle of debating whether or not they could count words from other languages, especially since Skul and Gabe had a clear advantage in that regard, when Gabriel's head rang and he cut himself off with a sharp inhale.

'Gabriel, we've been arrested. We're being taken into the Sanctuary now. Don't strain yourself. We're not hurt and we're safe for the moment. But whenever you have a minute ...'

"Ghastly and Tanith have been arrested," he said, effectively killing the friendly argument entirely. "They're being taken into the Sanctuary. I can--"

[skeletonenigma]

"No," Skulduggery cut him off. "You're not doing anything. In case you keep forgetting, Gabe, you're hurt. You're essentially on vacation." Skulduggery banked the Bentley into a curve, braked, and came to a smooth stop on the grassy hillside next to the empty highway. He stepped out almost immediately, pulling out the wooden box with his gun.

"Fletcher," he directed as the others got out, quickly slipping a bullet into each of the gun's chambers. "Take me to the Sanctuary. Have you ever been inside it?"

"Once," Fletcher nodded, looking a little shaken.

"Good. Anywhere will do, so long as you warn me. Then come straight back here and take Valkyrie and Gabe to the gas station we passed a few minutes ago. Wait for me there."

"What are you going to do?" Valkyrie demanded as Skulduggery finished loading the gun and locking the Bentley. "You're not going in there alone!"

Skulduggery cocked his head at her. "They might send Cleavers after me."

"Exactly!" Valkyrie was laughing the laugh of someone who was sure the other person wasn't being serious. Unfortunately for her, Skulduggery was completely serious. "Skulduggery, nobody there likes you right now. Guild is just looking for an excuse to have you arrested."

"But he doesn't have one yet. You, on the other hand, have presumably opened a portal into a dangerous dimension of dark gods. I'd be surprised if you're not already on their Armed and Dangerous list. You're not coming."

"I've actually gotten pretty strong while you've been gone!"

With Necromancy? Skulduggery almost snapped back. He hesitated, taking a moment to get the ever-present anger back under control. "I have no doubt you did. If you think you can take on a full Cleaver by yourself..."

Her silence spoke volumes more than anything she might have said. Skulduggery nodded once to himself. "Look after Fletcher and Gabe. Keep your phone on. Gabe, keep your... phone line open. Everyone clear?"

[impudentsongbird]

"But--" Gabriel began, and was cut off again when Skul pulled up and stepped out of the car. The Archangel was the last one out, if only because he had to move a lot more slowly than the others, and he remained seated sideways on his chair, listening to Skul's orders.

"No," he said once the detective had stopped steamrolling over everyone else. "Val's right. From what you've said, and from what I glimpsed when I flew through him, Thurid won't need to have any excuse to arrest you other than just being in his office. You can't go in there alone, without backup."

Gabe wasn't going to bring up the necromancy. He saw the retort edged in Skul's aura, but a moment later that was gone, and the Archangel wasn't going to broach the topic now. He opened his mouth to keep arguing and then stopped when Ghastly reached out to him again.

'Gabriel, remember what I said about us being safe? I take it back. They're separated us, and I don't know where they've taken Tanith. So ... any time now would be good.'

"There's no time for you to wander around the Sanctuary," Gabriel said firmly, pushing himself to his feet and taking Skul's arm. The instant he had, the Archangel traced the sound of Ghastly's prayer, spread his wings and beat them once, taking a single step. A moment later they were in a room, a small room with a desk and chair facing the doorway. Gabriel just managed to keep himself from collapsing by clutching Skulduggery's arm, biting his lip hard to contain the pained whimper.

The room wasn't empty. Ghastly was handcuffed to the desk, and Thurid was standing aside, and across from the tailor sat a woman with one blue and one green eye. Gabe caught glimpses of them all, but mostly, he was just working on mastering the fire spreading through his wings. At least it wasn't as bad as it had been. Even so, Gabe still managed to smile rather weakly at Ghastly. "Howdy, pardner. We're here to rescue you."