It had taken Skulduggery a moment to realise, after Gabe's earlier metaphysical wing-touch, that it was a metaphysical wing-touch. Of course, by then it was a little too late to reprimand him, so Skulduggery had grudgingly moved on ahead of everyone else, resolving to mention the oversight to Gabe later. Maybe the angel didn't think a mortal would run screaming from the idea that he was moving an invisible wing, but Skulduggery knew for a fact that mortals tended to get overexcited about things like that.
So he was pleasantly surprised when Gabe caught himself out loud before summoning anything, and Skulduggery didn't try to stop the brief approving smile before his expression soured again.
So they were really going to sit down and play a game of cards while the world was crashing down around them. It went against every single instinct Skulduggery had, but he'd said it himself - there really was nothing they could do until Valkyrie was able to contact Caelan. They might as well have some fun while they were at it. To be on the slightly pessimistic side, it might be their last chance at a little bit of fun for a while.
"I've got a couple of decks at my shop," Ghastly suggested after a moment. "Fletcher?"
When Ghastly and Fletcher returned with said cards twenty seconds later, Skulduggery turned to Gabe with a hint of a smug smile playing around his lips. "Would you look at that. We solved a problem without you, and the world didn't end. One wonders how we managed for centuries without the proverbial angel on our shoulders."
As it turned out, Gabriel really wasn't kidding when he said he played a lot of poker against an undisputed Master of the game. The Archangel was good enough to give even Skulduggery a run for his money - Skulduggery, a man whose normal undisguised head embraced the very definition of a poker face. But Gabe's expression was just as hard to read as that of the skull, because like the eternal grin of the skull, Gabe never seemed to stop smiling. He might have gotten the worst hand in the game, and you would not be able to tell.
A couple of times during the various games, in order to give someone else a chance to win, Skulduggery left the table to either meditate or - the second time it happened - take Valkyrie aside and give her that overdue lesson Ghastly had mentioned. She'd been neglecting her Elemental powers, but that was only to be expected, and Skulduggery didn't mention it out loud. She knew she was behind, and she was already working hard to catch up. That was what mattered.
A different time, Tanith expressed hunger that Valkyrie and Fletcher both leaped on, so she'd left to find some food. There was yet to be a kitchen among all the living rooms, apparently. Ghastly, after a silent and encouraging prod from Skulduggery, followed after her. They were both gone for about an hour, but the smiles on their faces when they came back were identically bright and, as far as Skulduggery was concerned, very promising. Maybe it was the looming threat of Lucifer that finally pushed Ghastly into it, but really, it was about damn time. Now, if Valkyrie would just admit that she was talking to her dead uncle almost regularly in the office of Gordon's old house, everything would be dandy.
The time passed much more quickly than Skulduggery thought it would, to his surprise. Poker turned into blackjack, whereupon Gabe started winning almost every hand, and Fletcher finally gave up, storming off in a huff.
~~
China did not usually enjoy having to deal with enclosed spaces for longer than perhaps an hour, but she could make an exception this time. Not a full exception; she still didn't enjoy it, she merely tolerated it. It was an immense relief to finally arrive and step outside of the car into the fresh morning air.
She had, in fact, driven herself. It raised the eyebrow of her usual driver when she made the request, but he didn't object. He liked his job too much, happily enough. China didn't want to entrust this to anyone else. That added to her irritable mood, certainly - three hours of being stuck in an enclosed space while driving - but even that seemed to drift away in the cool breeze and country smell of the woods the safe house was under.
Her skin where the fresh symbols were engraved still felt slightly raw. The three-hour trip had faded most of the angry red color, but it didn't change the fact that symbols of magic were carved into more than just skin - they were carved into China's identity, her very essence. The librarian winced slightly as her arms gave a pang of protest, but she ignored it. She felt alive again. Back out in the field with nothing to rely on but her magic, the next few hours wonderfully clouded from predictability. One shouldn't make a habit of this, but since this was the first time in a long while, China drank in the exhilaration.
Exhilaration, that was, until the tree she'd used as the doorway no longer responded to her touch.
It was obvious what must have happened. Professional pride was now at stake here. China glanced around at the dozens of other trees in the thicket, then sighed and pulled out her phone to dial Ghastly Bespoke. She may as well simply ask to be let in. Most of her plan hinged on none of them knowing that she knew about Saint Gabriel, after all.
no subject
So he was pleasantly surprised when Gabe caught himself out loud before summoning anything, and Skulduggery didn't try to stop the brief approving smile before his expression soured again.
So they were really going to sit down and play a game of cards while the world was crashing down around them. It went against every single instinct Skulduggery had, but he'd said it himself - there really was nothing they could do until Valkyrie was able to contact Caelan. They might as well have some fun while they were at it. To be on the slightly pessimistic side, it might be their last chance at a little bit of fun for a while.
"I've got a couple of decks at my shop," Ghastly suggested after a moment. "Fletcher?"
When Ghastly and Fletcher returned with said cards twenty seconds later, Skulduggery turned to Gabe with a hint of a smug smile playing around his lips. "Would you look at that. We solved a problem without you, and the world didn't end. One wonders how we managed for centuries without the proverbial angel on our shoulders."
As it turned out, Gabriel really wasn't kidding when he said he played a lot of poker against an undisputed Master of the game. The Archangel was good enough to give even Skulduggery a run for his money - Skulduggery, a man whose normal undisguised head embraced the very definition of a poker face. But Gabe's expression was just as hard to read as that of the skull, because like the eternal grin of the skull, Gabe never seemed to stop smiling. He might have gotten the worst hand in the game, and you would not be able to tell.
A couple of times during the various games, in order to give someone else a chance to win, Skulduggery left the table to either meditate or - the second time it happened - take Valkyrie aside and give her that overdue lesson Ghastly had mentioned. She'd been neglecting her Elemental powers, but that was only to be expected, and Skulduggery didn't mention it out loud. She knew she was behind, and she was already working hard to catch up. That was what mattered.
A different time, Tanith expressed hunger that Valkyrie and Fletcher both leaped on, so she'd left to find some food. There was yet to be a kitchen among all the living rooms, apparently. Ghastly, after a silent and encouraging prod from Skulduggery, followed after her. They were both gone for about an hour, but the smiles on their faces when they came back were identically bright and, as far as Skulduggery was concerned, very promising. Maybe it was the looming threat of Lucifer that finally pushed Ghastly into it, but really, it was about damn time. Now, if Valkyrie would just admit that she was talking to her dead uncle almost regularly in the office of Gordon's old house, everything would be dandy.
The time passed much more quickly than Skulduggery thought it would, to his surprise. Poker turned into blackjack, whereupon Gabe started winning almost every hand, and Fletcher finally gave up, storming off in a huff.
~~
China did not usually enjoy having to deal with enclosed spaces for longer than perhaps an hour, but she could make an exception this time. Not a full exception; she still didn't enjoy it, she merely tolerated it. It was an immense relief to finally arrive and step outside of the car into the fresh morning air.
She had, in fact, driven herself. It raised the eyebrow of her usual driver when she made the request, but he didn't object. He liked his job too much, happily enough. China didn't want to entrust this to anyone else. That added to her irritable mood, certainly - three hours of being stuck in an enclosed space while driving - but even that seemed to drift away in the cool breeze and country smell of the woods the safe house was under.
Her skin where the fresh symbols were engraved still felt slightly raw. The three-hour trip had faded most of the angry red color, but it didn't change the fact that symbols of magic were carved into more than just skin - they were carved into China's identity, her very essence. The librarian winced slightly as her arms gave a pang of protest, but she ignored it. She felt alive again. Back out in the field with nothing to rely on but her magic, the next few hours wonderfully clouded from predictability. One shouldn't make a habit of this, but since this was the first time in a long while, China drank in the exhilaration.
Exhilaration, that was, until the tree she'd used as the doorway no longer responded to her touch.
It was obvious what must have happened. Professional pride was now at stake here. China glanced around at the dozens of other trees in the thicket, then sighed and pulled out her phone to dial Ghastly Bespoke. She may as well simply ask to be let in. Most of her plan hinged on none of them knowing that she knew about Saint Gabriel, after all.