Lucifer's arrival might be stalled, in that case - give them some time to try and prepare while he searched for another way. But if Bible scripture was to be believed, it wouldn't stop him from coming over. Hopefully, Raphael and Merlin would get here first, and be able to help. Although if the trip took as much out of Raphael as it did Gabe, there might be a whole new set of problems on their hands.
... Was Skulduggery actually hoping for more Archangels to appear?
His face settled into a frown. This was going from inexplicably bad to impossibly worse.
At least Raphael wouldn't have been attacked by a Faceless One on the way here. He might be exhausted and need rest, but they shouldn't need to take him to Kenspeckle Grouse. Which was a very good thing, because Skulduggery suspected that if they tried to bring the Professor any more injured Archangels, the old man might really have a heart atta -
"No." Skulduggery stood up, face and tone impenetrably firm. "No. You're not doing anything that might put even a small amount of strain on you. I wasn't happy about what happened with Finbar, but you had to do it. I understand that. This... Gabriel, if you keep trying to take shortcuts, we are going to find out very quickly what happens to Archangels when they can't die. You might be fine with that; I'm not. We've been managing on our own for quite a long time, and we can do so again. Give us a little more credit."
Granted, they'd never tried to stop Lucifer from coming into their reality. But they had taken on three Faceless Ones - and won. It was possible. And Professor Grouse's punishment aside, Skulduggery was not going to let Gabe strain himself to the point where he just didn't come back again. Last night had been frightening enough.
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... Was Skulduggery actually hoping for more Archangels to appear?
His face settled into a frown. This was going from inexplicably bad to impossibly worse.
At least Raphael wouldn't have been attacked by a Faceless One on the way here. He might be exhausted and need rest, but they shouldn't need to take him to Kenspeckle Grouse. Which was a very good thing, because Skulduggery suspected that if they tried to bring the Professor any more injured Archangels, the old man might really have a heart atta -
"No." Skulduggery stood up, face and tone impenetrably firm. "No. You're not doing anything that might put even a small amount of strain on you. I wasn't happy about what happened with Finbar, but you had to do it. I understand that. This... Gabriel, if you keep trying to take shortcuts, we are going to find out very quickly what happens to Archangels when they can't die. You might be fine with that; I'm not. We've been managing on our own for quite a long time, and we can do so again. Give us a little more credit."
Granted, they'd never tried to stop Lucifer from coming into their reality. But they had taken on three Faceless Ones - and won. It was possible. And Professor Grouse's punishment aside, Skulduggery was not going to let Gabe strain himself to the point where he just didn't come back again. Last night had been frightening enough.