The silence that filled the room was not the first one, and it probably wouldn't be the last. It wasn't even the longest one yet, nor the most physically still.
But it was, by far, the one filled with the most absolute shock and the most outright stares - the most meaningful silence. The one most filled to the brim with dread.
"You're kidding," Tanith finally tried weakly.
Skulduggery sorely wished he was. He sorely wished he could go back to when they were bidding Valkyrie good night and she was demanding to be called if and when anything important happened. Maybe if he hadn't joked about it then, it wouldn't have happened. Or would happen. Or... had already happened? Damn it. Time tenses were going to be the death of them.
What was Skulduggery thinking? Lucifer was going to be the death of them.
The naked terror on Valkyrie's face tore at Skulduggery's lack of a heart. She was a fifteen-year-old girl who hadn't grown up in magic and who had only just learned what real power felt like. She, more than any of them, shouldn't have to deal with this, with Skulduggery's mistake - because it was his mistake, despite what Gabe might think. "But... you said there was no chance," Valkyrie told Gabe, and her voice rose with the next few words. "You said there was no chance anybody could follow you."
"But," Fletcher chimed in, quiet until just this moment, of course, "if the Devil's coming, then... God could too, right? Couldn't you just sort of... ask Him to handle it? Why do we have to?"
It was a very good question, and it was probably why everyone was now looking towards Gabriel for the answer. Skulduggery didn't say anything; he didn't trust that his voice would be completely free of any sarcasm or bitterness, and while he believed that he deserved hell, he wasn't particularly in a hurry to get there.
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But it was, by far, the one filled with the most absolute shock and the most outright stares - the most meaningful silence. The one most filled to the brim with dread.
"You're kidding," Tanith finally tried weakly.
Skulduggery sorely wished he was. He sorely wished he could go back to when they were bidding Valkyrie good night and she was demanding to be called if and when anything important happened. Maybe if he hadn't joked about it then, it wouldn't have happened. Or would happen. Or... had already happened? Damn it. Time tenses were going to be the death of them.
What was Skulduggery thinking? Lucifer was going to be the death of them.
The naked terror on Valkyrie's face tore at Skulduggery's lack of a heart. She was a fifteen-year-old girl who hadn't grown up in magic and who had only just learned what real power felt like. She, more than any of them, shouldn't have to deal with this, with Skulduggery's mistake - because it was his mistake, despite what Gabe might think. "But... you said there was no chance," Valkyrie told Gabe, and her voice rose with the next few words. "You said there was no chance anybody could follow you."
"But," Fletcher chimed in, quiet until just this moment, of course, "if the Devil's coming, then... God could too, right? Couldn't you just sort of... ask Him to handle it? Why do we have to?"
It was a very good question, and it was probably why everyone was now looking towards Gabriel for the answer. Skulduggery didn't say anything; he didn't trust that his voice would be completely free of any sarcasm or bitterness, and while he believed that he deserved hell, he wasn't particularly in a hurry to get there.