There it was again, the main trait Gabe shared with Valkyrie, the uncanny ability of making Skulduggery feel uncomfortable with only a few words. Even Ghastly hadn't been nearly this adept at it. Of course, the implication that simply thinking about God was an invitation to eavesdropping didn't help, and the overall tone that put Skulduggery in mind of getting gently chastised by a priest did nothing but remind him of why he didn't trust religion in the first place.

"If He can listen to my thoughts," Skulduggery carefully responded, "then yes, I'd call that eavesdropping. Nothing wrong with it in principle, I do it all the time. I'd just be happy with a little forewarning."

Skulduggery didn't try to pretend that he knew what Gabe meant by sigils - he was pretty sure his limited knowledge of the symbols of magic weren't going to cover it. He was pretty sure China's complete knowledge of them still wouldn't help. "If they have to collapse half the tunnel," he warned, "they will. But it couldn't hurt."